You might have noticed that despite my promises I haven't billed you all for the new year's access to all these training materials. That's because it's not performing as awesomely as I hoped. So, I am going to switch sometime soon here to a new learning service.
It is supposed to be much more focused on community and discussion, so they have a system for TA's (they have some other silly name for it I've forgotten). So, I'd like to invite any of you who wish to get free access in exchange for promoting, helping other students, etc. Just contact me and I'll get you on a list and give you a form to fill out in the next few weeks (I hope!) to get up on this.
Monday my uxMatters column came out Build a Mobile-Device Lab!. The exclamation mark isn't my idea. It's got a lot of tips and tricks about building a device lab, but also talks about the principle of having one. My key tip is: if you have one phone, you are doing it wrong. You should have Android and iOS, and probably a couple Android OEMs. You should have Windows and Mac, and so on. Believe the global usage numbers (iOS is 20% of the smartphone market) and be able to design and test for what's in the world, not just what you love personally.
The planetary median phone One key think I mention is that you can save money on your phone library by not getting brand new flagship models. Not just to save money, but because not that many people have that. The average phone is still 3G, is prepaid and 15 months old. And a 4" android with a 3 MP camera. If you are designing for 5.5" 4GLTE phones, much less only iPhone, and don't change now that you know, turn in your empathy card please.
Silicon Valley Decides It’s Just Too Hard to Build a Car I need to have time to think about this for a few days or weeks, but my basic thoughts are that we've maybe found an undisruptable industry. Or maybe they self-disrupted. I've spent some time lately at big automakers and riding around in test cars, and the programs for multi-fuel vehicles say a lot as well. The big automakers, somehow, turned it around and make pretty high tech devices that address all market segments, and are ready for a changing world. No fuels? No drivers? It will probably still be a Ford, GM, FCA, Audi, Toyota, Honda, or Daimer built car as it is today. I would love to find out how they did this, as it's a roadmap for any industry to not be disrupted out of business.
The Myth of Invisible Design Dan Saffer talks about...
http://fortune.com/2016/10/28/internet-use-mobile/ data, but best is that approaching 75% of all Internet traffic going to our between mobile. Remember when it was 50%, when it was 10%?
https://www.1843magazine.com/features/the-scientists-who-make-apps-addictive?utm_content=buffer679ec&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer interesting rules for approaching design from a behaviorist pov, but also some scary ethics points.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161116005308/en/Report-Shows-720x1280-Smartphone-Screen-Resolution best of the numbers (because who cares about resolution) "Samsung Browser is now the third most used mobile browser worldwide, after Safari and Chrome Mobile"
http://www.superlinguo.com/post/153441950023/what-do-emoji-sound-like What do emoji sound like?
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2016/11/q3-smartphone-market-numbers-top-10-brands-os-wars-installed-base-oh-and-our-brief-smartphone-market.html Tomi report time! World has 2.8B smartphones in use today. Android 80%, iOS 19%. Others 1%... and Android outselling iOS as before. Apple sales are flat, while market growth continues. iOS on track to be as important as macOS.
Fast Path to a Great UX — Increased Exposure Hours Go see users, every 6 weeks, everyone. Not just designers...
Don’t say what you think, but do what you feel I guess I am removed enough from the ad world I missed David Ogilvy saying long ago "The problem with market research is that people don't think how they feel, they don't say what they think and they don't do what they say." This article... Meh! But the quote is awesome!
Winced my way through this article against progressive enhancement The Case Against Progressive Enhancement's Flimsy Moral Foundation Winced harder when I saw myself quoted Twitter thread with many fun responses -- Also this rebuttal https://www.aaron-gustafson.com/notebook/insert-clickbait-headline-about-progressive-enhancement-here/
Information Overload I have long thought very little of the many tech self help gurus who insist we're all overwhelmed with information and technology. Why do we keep buying such devices then? Well, it's broadly untrue. Pew now says 80% prefer their information. So keep it up. Send more info this way, please!
2018 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct: Draft 1 I have long thought that as designers and engineers we need to do what we can (usually, short of getting fired) to encourage ethical behavior. Partly as I've worked for unethical folks. While I have long promoted the ACM code of conduct, politics lately has drawn it to the forefront, and it turns out ACM has been revising it. As it stands, pretty good. This is one I really encourage you to read, in full. There's a lot not just about how to be a good practitioner, but how to be a good human, and how to build good systems.
A Primer To Vestibular Disorders - 35% of americans over 40 have one, so stop your parallax, etc. At least until you read this, and my Accessibility training, and start getting the basic gist of what is involved in it.
Notes: Look up design ethos (simple vs decorative) and try to find why the women's pavilion used the Qing (simple) and men's used the Ming. Add to flat design maybe. Not all rooted in Swiss modernism maybe!