May 2012
3 posts
8 tags
Keep the Spirit of Cash Alive
It’s true, Humans in Design has money on the mind. We’re really proud to have been featured on an awesome episode of 99% Invisible talking about the differences between American and Australian currency design. It’s something I’m so interested in that I even got a tattoo of it.
But we also know that David Wolman is right, and the use of physical currency is diminishing,...
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Humans in the Design of Yellow Lines
A little while back, I blogged my observations on the effectiveness of a yellow “do not cross” line at Helsinki Airport. The line worked for awhile:
Until it didn’t:
I compared this to previous broken windows studies which we’ve reported - In short, in small social situations a rule works, until other start to break it. Then we all break it.
In response to this...
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Humans in the Design of Door Handles
As a ‘human factors’ guy, one thing that bugs me about the interaction design community is a feeling that they created the concept of intuitive design.
Many assume that usability started at Xerox PARC or with Jonathan Grudin, but intuitive design was not created with electronic technology such as web pages and mobile apps.
Designers have always used shape, orientation, color,...
April 2012
1 post
4 tags
Next Steps for Banks
We’re excited and honored to be speakers at Next Bank Asia in Singapore in a couple of weeks. Our talk will build on our still-popular mortgage statement redesign. We’ll deal with how banks can make both their paper statements and mobile applications into tools that customers want to use. Here’s a taste of what we’ll say:
“Every month when I get my mortgage bill I’m...
February 2012
1 post
January 2012
3 posts
11 tags
Humans in the Design of Festival Timetables
Okay, so I am going to Laneway in Brisbane. For those who don’t live in Australia, Laneway is a music festival that tours major Australian cities including Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.
The lineup is always pretty great for me. But, at times, the way they’ve organised things has been a bit of a letdown. A lot of people complain about it — my ears pricked up when a friend...
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Will a line around an Airport Baggage Conveyor...
I’ve written before about how I hate the design of airport baggage conveyors. At the type I wrote:
I hate is because everyone huddles around the conveyer.
It’s a catch 22 or prisoner’s dilemma. You can’t see your bag coming unless you’re close… But by everyone moving closer you clog the view.
Not only can’t you see your bag, but it’s difficult to get off.
My idea for a solution was to...
December 2011
1 post
November 2011
1 post
October 2011
3 posts
8 tags
WatchWith an IKEA table, an old trackball, and an exercise ball we made the word explorable with your fingertips.
(EDIT: If the video isn’t loading here, try watching it at the SAP TechEd Web site.)
Last week I (Tom) went to Bangalore, India with two other Master of Interaction Design students from the University of Queensland to present Globemaster at SAP TechEd DemoJam. Tristan blogged about...
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More on the Steering Wheel
We recently did a 99% Invisible Podcast with Roman Mars.
Please listen to the amazing job Roman did before reading on - it won’t make sense otherwise. Let’s focus on the last part of it. In summary, when a driver’s vision is blocked:
They turn corners instead of changing lanes
They change lanes instead of avoiding obstacles
But it still begs the question: why do we make...
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September 2011
4 posts
6 tags
13 tags
4 tags
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August 2011
12 posts
8 tags
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Humans in the Design of First-World Poverty:...
After reading Vicky Cattell’s study on social networks in two London project housing neighborhoods I started thinking about the health impacts of design, and how the architecture of project housing affects the health and attitudes of the people who live there. Vicky looked specifically at the Keir Hardie and Cathall estates, both in East London, north of the Thames. Think Eastenders.
Though...
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Did Ballot Order Decide the 2010 Australian...
Most people assume (or hope) that voters choose candidates based on informed opinions and not on factors big (like race, gender, or religion) or matters small or local (like weather or polling place). But this “rational voter theory” isn’t always true — something as simple as the order of candidates’ names on the ballot can affect the outcome of elections.
There is...
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Do playground ‘safety’ measures work? Humans in...
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Continuing the Census Discussion
We’re really happy with the response we’ve gotten to our critique of the religion question on the 2011 Australian Census. Jessica Enders from Formulate, Ash Donaldson, David Ingram and many others engaged in a thoughtful and interesting debate in the comments and on Twitter. Census participation ended for most people on August 9, but we’d like to continue the discussion.
...
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We got on 99% Invisible! Welcome 99th Percentile!
The fantastic Roman Mars from the 99% Invisible was kind enough to include us on his podcast. If you’ve come across here from 99% and Roman our twitter is @humansindesign
99% Invisible-33- A Cheer for Samuel Plimsoll by Roman Mars
You can find our original post on the Plimsoll line is here.
Peruse the blog for many more posts - but here is a bonus video that we’ve not yet...
9 tags
My Mortgage statement was rubbish. So we fixed...
My mortgage statement makes no sense to me. This has been pissing me off for quite some time.
Individually, this is only an issue for me. But collectively, if we don’t understand our finances, it is a massive issue. ***cough… GFC… cough**
So, Tom and I nerded out and fixed it:
The Mortgage Statement Fix from Tom Nelson on Vimeo.
Download a description of the redesign...
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Humans (in the Developing World) in the Design of...
The Core77 design awards are an amazing little treasure trove.
My favorite is the winner in the best product design category: the $7 Carryall.
I think the pictures and the price tell the story:
However, the pictures above don’t quite show the problem.
So here are some pictures and videos below that do:
Guys do have some wicked skills…
… but it’s...
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Humans in the Design of Mental Health Facilities
...
July 2011
21 posts
2 tags
What can check cashing stores teach banks about...
Heaps, according to 99% Invisible (my favorite new podcast).
I recommend downloading all of the podcasts.
Find Roman and 99% on Soundcloud, Itunes and Tumblr.
There are only 30 so far and all between about 5 and 10 minutes.
99% Invisible-18- Check Cashing Stores by Roman Mars
More on the issue in the NY Times - which sums it up in one sentence:
“It doesn’t feel like a...
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Honesty (used) in Advertising an Australian Bank
As a follow up to my recent post on Honest Tea, a bank in Australia has tried a similar “experiments” as part of a marketing campain:
Interesting to watch… but I wish they’d contact a uni so we could get some peer reviewed research out of it.
I do like the angle of personalizing this as a way to sell lower rate cards. Less people might see it than a regular...
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What is Inclusive Design? A Full Video...
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Humans in the design of bike lights for night-time...
I recently blogged about awesome wheel lights to increase rider visibility at night.
Well today I came across this another fascinating concept: the portable bike lane.
It comes from the light on the back of you bike.
In their final concept they are going for a red and including a ‘bike’ symbol:
Bascially, they are making the space around the rider definite and visible.
SO...
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WatchHow can you turn what your design ideas into a business? I’m all ears Jim! #Blog2Business (via fuckyeahservicedesign)
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How do you get people to check books out...
So much like airlines, grocery stores and trains, my local public library is pushing for customers to look after themselves during the checking process.
In this case checking out books on stations like this:
Looking at the above image the first thing that interaction designer types will think about is the usability of the equipment. This is certainly important.
But getting it to be used...
1 tag
Humans aren't in the Design of this clock - but...
So I came across this clock online on a design blog.
Do you know what the time is?
Me neither.
This it how it’s intended to work:
My usual bell went off “form over function”.
It’s the battle that this entire blog is about.
First make it useful - why do we need to use it.
Then design to make it usable - can we figure out how to use it.
Then...
1 tag
Check out this presentation on Persuasive Design...
Persuasive Design: Encouraging Your Users To Do What You Want Them To! View more presentations from Andy Budd
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Why do I keep crushing my cold and flu tablets? ...
So I recently had the winter blues - a cold/flu thing.
To help myself push through, including important blogging, I bought some cold and flu tablets from the supermarket.
The first time I pushed one out went like this:
I’d cracked the whole capsule:
When I tried to get it out the inner powder blew onto my hand. I wasn’t sure whether to wash it off or suck it down like a cut...
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Humans in the Design of Kitchens
Click here to go to a fascinating* series by Core 77 on how the design of kitchens has changed across history.
The brief image rundown, to get you interested, is below:
Series continues from here next week!
*Fascinating if you are a design, usability, human factors nerd.