[app review] Delight Room's Alarmy service

Positive 

1. [business idea] Solving common challenges of many people 
2. [operation] Prompt CS: testimony 
3. [UI] putting four services in one place based on users’ journey 
• Sleep Music, Alarm, Weather, News 
4. [UI] Displaying two examples on screen already: http://take.ms/0fx4j
5. [UI] 몇 시간 이후 울린다는 것: 자는 시간 자동 계산 
6. [interaction] Clock 컨트롤 화면 아래 끝까지 계속 pull 할 수 있음 
7. [interaction] focused news reading experience by automating background page color and font size and more 

Negative

1. [Maslow’s hierarchy of needs] 100% 울리지 않음 => 알람으로 가치 없음 
2. [general] file size too big (78 MB or )! http://take.ms/1tFB5
3. [web] No download button header: https://monosnap.com/file/qGb7vqPwrs75S6jpU27w25dhRdjWZG
4. [web] Add links to testimonials: http://take.ms/dTR5P
• To increase credential authority 
5. [Web] Icon not following common practice: https://monosnap.com/file/7FUSZExXNMFqOsp7kS1AzxYUCZ3ZIR
6. [both] Too techie description: http://take.ms/4l7j5
7. [UI] URL => make it as clickable hyperlink: http://take.ms/8t25x
• To provide an easy access to QR code 
8. [iOS and Android] Different pricing: http://take.ms/SSQK3
9. [URL] NGO? Why delightroom.org? http://take.ms/ZtW1V
10. [UI] No default setup button for font size and color? http://take.ms/EwV9H
11. [content] Dup news content: http://take.ms/IVIRE
12. [UI] Icons close to each other: http://take.ms/Z9cHT
13. [UI] Flashing 3D Touch menu on iPhone: http://take.ms/9HXOu
14. [SNS] Icon on LinkedIn is official company logo? http://take.ms/ZtW1V

Competitors

1. 알람런 => (taking advantage of accountability) if not waking up, the fact will be shared on SNS 
2. 글리머 => Philips’s waking up light idea 

Feature idea

1. [core] One-click accountability feature: e.g., share wake-up info 
2. [core] Light sensor <- turn on light to quit alarm (c.f., how) 
3. [business] Pro ($2.19) vs remove ad ($1.09): are they the same thing? 
• Reason: Can be confusing to users; if different, state the difference in Appstore Description 
4. [UX] Reverse clock 일 때: 00 45 30 15 순으로 
5. [plus alpha] Things ppl do as soon as they wake up: listening to news, weather, 
• Make info (eg weather) intuitive with visual cues e.g., raining 
• Users may want to see weather info for more hours since they may get out of their sleeping place after an hour or more 
6. [resource management] Measure traffic for all supported platform (e.g., iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet, etc.) and remove support 
• C.f., banks removing support for devices (i.e., tablet) for banking app 
7. [business] Collaborate/partner with best wake-up solutions or sleeping health solution

[personal UX/UI review] as-is analysis and to-be recommendation for dailyGOURMET and dailyHOTEL

case: dailyGOURMET and dailyHOTEL app service
my analysis: here

[personal UX/UI review] the power of "Reply" button on review page (e.g. Chrome Web Store)

<case: Chrome Web Store's product detail page>

positive: the existence of "Reply" button on review page

reason: because of the button, the review page can be used as a terrific communication channel: 1. allowing users to answer questions of another user, which reduces communication cost of the app creator 2. working like a CS (customer service) channel, providing the app creator an opportunity to directly respond to eliminate frustrations of users, which may help reduce "bounce rate" of the app use 3. displaying interactions among users so that each thread can be more open and transparent


<case: iTunes App Store's product detail page>

[personal UX/UI review] thought on displaying product images on websites

<case: product page for Nest Cam >


<case: product page on Amazon>


<case: product page on Amazon>

positive: Can see how big the items are intuitively

reason: Putting a universally recognized size standard object such as a deck of cards, coins, silverware, etc. next to a foreign product helps viewers' understanding of the product size.  Also, if the product can be placed at a context such as a hand or an arm, that would be a bonus. 

 

[personal UX/UI review] why we need word-breaks for Korean

case: parts of Korean words along with numbers chopped off from right edge of web documents

issue: viewers need to go back and forth from line to line to make sense of chopped-off texts

recommendation: implement Korean word-break system onto Korean websites! (e.g. Hyung Woo's jQuery plugin) 

[personal UX/UI review] USB port at Chunil Express bus

case: other side of seats contains a USB port
positive: lifesaver power source for many travelers
alternative: instead of a USB port, what about an outlet for each seat?

[personal UX/UI review] Coupang's UX issue and my recommendation

Coupang's UX Issue Report

- Found through user interview and heuristics

Below is my findings from using Coupang's web (i.e. PC) and mobile (i.e. iOS) app service and having user interviews.  Majority of e-commerce services in Korea has somewhat similar issues.  My hope is that many of them deal with significantly important service challenges hindering user experience to reduce unnecessary hassles among buying users to serve them with quality solution and at the same time gain fruitful business outcome. 

1. product searchability
1. not available product
1. issue
1. [data] not available products at "Zero Moment of Truth"
2. evidence
1. [user interview] 3 out of 3 users says they were not able to find products that they needed at the moment that they needed
3. recommendation
1. [operation] list up all possible products in Korea if not the world via seller mobilization

2. too long product description
1. issue
1. [UI] page content requiring too much scrolling (e.g. link)
2. evidence
1. "Aesthetic and minimalist design" principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [system] succinct product info through "1 item 1 description" operation on product detail page

3. text in image
1. issue
1. [data] displaying text in image format (e.g. link)
2. [data] description not searcheable
2. evidence
1. "Flexibility and efficiency of use" principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [data] separate product image from text through redesigning product detail page and educating and supporting stakeholders (e.g. sellers) (e.g. Amazon: link)

4. not standardized product info
1. issue
1. [data] not canonicalized product information, not allowing users to compare (e.g. link)
2. evidence
1. "User control and freedom" and "Consistency and standards" principles from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [data] standardize product information per product category
2. [UI] allow users to filter products (e.g. link)

5. fake product listing
1. issue
1. [data] decreasing users’ trust on products at the site
2. evidence
1. “Error prevention” principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. either (1) [MD] removing not authentic or misleading products on display or (2) [UI] clearly telling users whether the products are authentic or not

2. purchase flow
1. many steps to go through for a purchase
1. issue
1. [system] operation model requiring users to select once more after they choose a product (i.e. link1-> link2), hurting user experience due to not leading to purchase right away but asking for more reading and selection
2. evidence
1. [user interview] too many steps
3. recommendation
1. [operation] change the current product listing system from many selectable items to only one item on product page to remove users' additional selection step on product detail page (i.e. link)
2. [user flow] select a product on first or search page-> select purchase button on product detail page-> Coupang ships the product

2. plethora of coupons to select to get discount
1. issue
1. [system] blocking convenient and pleasant shopping experience due to too many things to pay attention to to get discounts (e.g. link)
2. evidence
1. "Aesthetic and minimalist design" principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [system] either (1) change the current coupon system (i.e. an added process for users to go through before purchase to get discounts) to a pricing system where discounted prices are already implemented in product detail page or (2) remove the coupon system to provide streamlined purchasing experience

3. using too many colors and items
1. issue
1. [UI] distracting users from fluid flow of purchase (e.g. link)
2. evidence
1. "Aesthetic and minimalist design" principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [UI] minimize color variety perhaps less than 3 (c.f. Amazon: link1, link2)

4. no LBS (location-based service)
1. issue
1. [system] no nearby info option on mobile device (e.g. link)
2. evidence
1. "User control and freedom" principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [system] providing "nearby" options whenever appropriate for users and products' context

3. ads
1. celebrity ad
1. issue
1. [user flow] obstructing users' primary activity (i.e. browsing and purchasing) flow on website; putting celebrity images to leverage brand recognition may bring a short win but the strategy may hurt the company in the long run by potentially distracting users from their focus of purchase to an interesting person to have a look at (e.g. link1, link2)
2. evidence
1. "Aesthetic and minimalist design" principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [branding] to build brand equity in a sustainable and long run, remove celeb ad and focus on creating quality service which will be a good strategy for both short and long term

2. too many ads
1. issue
1. [system] distracting users from browsing and purchasing (e.g. link)
2. evidence
1. "Aesthetic and minimalist design" principle from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Jakob Nielsen (i.e. link)
3. recommendation
1. [system] remove ads; if ads are needed for business purposes, think of other ways to show them but not obstruct users' browsing and purchasing flow

[personal UX/UI review] Amazon's rating algorithm

<source: link>
case: Amazon's rating system

positive: effort to provide useful customer review information to users by including multiple factors into rating algorithm.

The explanation states "Amazon calculates a product’s star ratings using a machine learned model instead of a raw data average. The machine learned model takes into account factors including: the age of a review, helpfulness votes by customers and whether the reviews are from verified purchases." 

[personal UX/UI review] after watching Apple Special Event on September 9, 2015

<source: http://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2015/>

When watching Apple Special Event today, below are some thoughts in my head.

I liked Tim Cook's explanation on what components needed to be prepared for Apple TV to come to life.
1. powerful hardware- e.g. new Apple TV set-top box
2. modern OS- i.e. tvOS
3. new user experience- i.e. Siri Remote
4. developer tools- i.e. tvOS SDK
5. app store- built-in App Store

Due to contextual design, I also liked below features of Apple TV.
1. Cinematic screen saver displays relevant aerial videos of scenic cities and landmarks depending on user's time of day.
2. [show that modern family episode with Edward Norton] displays relevant contents of user's query (this feature has been introduced by Android TV already, though)
3. [skip ahead seven minutes] skips 7 minutes of video playing on screen.
4. [what did she say?] rewinds 15 seconds and temporarily turns on captions.
5. smooth transition from an item selection to detail page by displaying blurry contextual color on screen's background (c.f. Google's Image Search provides a different approach like below with similar idea to bring smooth transition in users' eyes)

[personal UX/UI review] PowerMockup by Wulfsoft

case: PowerMockup by Wulfsoft

positive: searchable module UI in the figure above, some updated wireframe shapes (e.g. Android Lollipop on phone, Bootstrap), easy drag and drop for fast and convenient wireframe design

c.f. 1. The tool doesn't include interaction feature. 2. No iPad or Android tablet mock-up included in the tool. 3. The tool is only available on Windows. 

[personal UX/UI review] Jura's automatic coffee machine

Case: Jura's coffee maker

Positive: contextual menus on machine screen; see how the menu screen changes from normal (photo above) to in progress (photo below) 

Positive: displaying "visibility of system status," the first principle of the 

"10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" by Nielsen Norman Group so that users can know their coffee brewing status