[personal UX reflection: holistic approach] an enlightening thought about product development at a civil-defense training

story: At a civil-defense training today esp. on fire prevention, a thought came up that designers and engineers need to take a great consideration even in selecting materials for doors knobs because the knobs can become a guiding signal whether the room behind is on fire or not by transmitting heat on the material. By making it with perhaps copper or heat-transferable material, the careful selection of material may save lives for people who are trying to escape in a panic room caused by fire. 

lesson: all people involved with product development (e..g product managers, designers, engineers) need to approach the product's design with a holistic and inclusive perspective to think beyond its directly intended function; though a decision made for a material choice for the product may seem small, the decision can save lives. 

[personal UX/UI review] information design for Google Knowledge Panel's "You will get updates on Google Now"

• feature: Knowledge Panel feature on Google Search product
• issue: not clear usage of words by "updates"
• recommendation: if the "updates" is referring to Google+ posts, how about 
• (1) using "Google Plus post updates" instead of "updates" to send a clear message so that users can not just be assured by where (i.e. Google Now card) the updates will be displayed and what kind of information (i.e. Google+ posts) will be updated
• (2) removing the line under "Get updates about Kevin Kelly" and somehow put the get updates and "Recent posts" modules together so that information hierarchy is clear to understand
• (3) inserting a new line between "Recent posts" and Books module because they are two different entity
• lesson: in UI design, to avoid confusion sometimes it is important to specify what and where users get when they press a clickable link or button

[tool recommendation] cloud-based, annotate-able and share-able screenshot software: Monosnap

 The best screenshot tool ever for your desktop (both PC and Mac), iPhone, and iPad to annotate and share seamlessly. 

The best part is that this tool is FREE even for the usage of its cloud system! 
Because of this tool's user-friendliness, functionality and perhaps most importantly simplicity, I just couldn't close my mouth after install the program on my PC and iPhone and use it. 

Thanks to whoever designed and developed this tool. Highly recommended!

- URL: http://monosnap.com/

[Personal UX/UI review] unnecessary interaction to see iOS's Messages's time stamp

• app: Messages (iOS's default text message app)
• issue: the time stamp appears when swiped to the left although the space doesn't change after swiping interaction
• recommendation: just display the time stamps so users don't even need to swipe to see when each message is sent or received