Design Hotels: An Interview with a Fan

Part 5 of 8 in the series Deliverables.

My boyfriend Bernie is an avid fan of Design Hotels, a company that represents and markets a hand-picked collection of hotels from across the globe. Bernie appreciates the curation work that Design Hotels has done and especially likes that he can get to know the persons who have built and now run the hotels. However, after a redesign of the designhotels.com site two years ago Bernie could no longer log in to his account or book stays via the site. Hear my interview with Bernie.

A better blog with Series’ and Collections

My blog suffered from not having an easy way of grouping posts about the same topic. I solved that by build functionality to represent Series'. The blog software did not give me the possibility of giving more valuable posts more focus. Collections are my reply to that challenge. Together they make my blog more fun to play with, and more expressive. What I built to make it better.

What I experienced at SVT

I worked for three years as an Interaction Designer at SVT, the Swedish public service TV broadcaster. While helping to build some great video services (and games) I developed my ability to think strategically, learned to appreciate Scrum and met hundreds of persons to validate interaction concepts. Strategist, inclusion, Scrum and more.

My origin story

University made me want to understand you. Marsupilami was part of my first collection. And my dad helps people have great experiences. "A bedrock account of the transformative events that set the protagonist apart from ordinary humanity."

Drippler – a quick heuristic evaluation

When reviewing Drippler I found one "catastrophic" issue and two major problems. Transcript and all problems I found.

androidpit.com – a quick heuristic evaluation

A “heuristic evaluation” is a review of an interface based on best practices and academic research. This valuation found some major problems with the androidpit.com site on my Android phone. Transcript and all problems I found.

Groups are hard to change. That’s ok.

A concept should always solve specific problems or create a clearly defined new opportunity. There is always more then one solution to any concept task so chose a solution that can be created within the boundaries of your available resources. "It's ok, just chose an other concept."

Relationships change

If we want our services and products to be used over time we need to remember that many aspects of its use changes over time, just like my relationships to B does. One often forgotten aspect of Interaction Design is Time.

Experience creationism

I am not divine. I can not design experiences. But you can expect me to enable experiences. I will help you.

Visual representation

Part 5 of 5 in the series Content Types.

I have created a system where content types are represented with a shape and an integrated preview of the content. SVT News, BuzzFeed and my visual system.

Content atoms

Part 4 of 5 in the series Content Types.

Cirka has chosen to forgo the traditional monolithic news article format. Instead, they provide news in small chunks. This enable me to get quickly updated on stories and enable Cirkas editors to reuse content. Self contained units of content.

When video is not enough

Part 3 of 5 in the series Content Types.

Many Swedish video on demand services are great successes. They receive millions of visits each day and a ridiculous amount of video is streamed from them. But, they are completely based on video. So, what happens when the episodes can not tell the whole story? The Mello Problem.

Information architecture based on Content Type

Part 2 of 5 in the series Content Types.

One all to common organizing principle is Content Type. It is easy to spot when it has been used by looking for words such as "downloads", "publications", "videos" and "forums" in menus on sites and apps. Sometimes it's a problem, sometimes it's not.

Content types

Part 1 of 5 in the series Content Types.

In the first of a series of posts about Content Types I define the terms content types, content repository, goal, information architecture and organizing principle as a foundation for coming posts. Assumptions and definitions.

9 keys to getting great work from me

I like making money. But there are much better ways of getting me to do stuff then to pay me. Understand, Prove, Changed minds and more.

Plazas and digital places

I recently found the video The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1988) by William H. Whyte that I just have to share. The hour long movie is about what makes a successful plaza but I can see clear parallells with how we can create successful digital artefacts. A list that gives me chills!

“Love me, don’t insult me”

At SVT we design our web sites upon a philosophy called "progressive enhancement". One reason for that is Love. "Those persons who use IE7, for whatever reason, deserve much more respect..."

“I can’t watch my favourite show. So I found an other. I love it!”

We had a problem at Barnkanalen.se, the website for kids from the Swedish public service TV provider SVT. A lot of our content – shows and games – is not accessible to all. Many shows are restricted to being watched on devices in in Sweden. Most games are created with Flash and thus not usable on iOS and Android devices. "Go explore, we think you will find a new favourite!"

Summary & Comparison

Part 5 of 5 in the series 4 ways I meet "users".

As the final part of my short series about participatory design I have created a comparison table to help you chose the best method for the current phase of your project. A table of pro's and con's.

Long-distance relationships

Part 4 of 5 in the series 4 ways I meet "users".

A longitudinal study with up to 100 participants has the potential to combine the best of quantitative and qualitative metjods. A bonus: no need to constantly find new "test subjects". "Is the service valuable over time?"