Rocket Surgery Made Easy

A colleague recently recommended taking a look at Steve Krug's Rocket Surgery Made Easy, as although it is primarily aimed at individuals/companies who wish to conduct their own usability testing, some of the insights and ideas are useful from the perspective of a consultant.

Krug gives clear and succinct instructions for running tests, as well as guidelines for identifying and fixing issues.

There were some really good points to consider, particularly when it comes to considering how to making findings actionable. There were also a few good pointers in regards to a few of the basics which can sometimes get lost/forgotten.

Will need to have another look at Don't Make Me Think, as well as some of the suggested reading.

Mementoys

Last week I attended an interesting talk by Walid Hassanein, help by the SUPA. Walid's presentation gave an interesting insight into his project, which explored the emotional connection we have with physical objects, and looked at how memories could be stored by the objects themselves, and in particular a child's toy.

By using digital technology, such as audio recording that would be triggered by manipulating the toy, they hoped to capture different memories of childhood, and store them in a way to be accessed in the future.

The Q&A brought up many questions on data storage, but the more interesting topic discussed was how to distinguish between what the toy should store as a 'memory' and what to disregard. The concept of value vs. quantity is relevant in many other devices that we use today.

I wonder if the ability to store large amounts of photos on digital cameras/hard drives has led to less 'quality' pictures e.g. memorable and cherished photos.

Gotomedia

Whilst researching into mobile communication I found the Gotomobile blog, which looks at it usability and user experience.

This led me to the company Gotomedia, who create interfaces for mobiles, products and the web. It was interesting to also look at their strategy and process in regards to the My Strategy exercise for the DLPSI module.

Kelly Goto is involved in both the blog and the company, and the blog states that she is "dedicated to understanding how real people integrate products and services into their daily lives". I also found an interview with her here, where she explains the process and project management involved in producing online brands.

I hope to take some of this onboard, as I am interested in people centred research for the creation of new products and ideas.