Tuesday, October 15, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] empty space utilization of Yangjae Station

I was just passing by Yangjae Station and realized there have been too much empty spaces which could have been utilized for passers-by and the New Bundang-line company. 

Positive: good usage of empty space

Lesson: space= opportunity

Saturday, October 12, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] Google Plus,Google Drive API,G+ comment UI,G+ mobile menu,Ads made in Korea

Positive: great UI. Under one line restriction, the designer managed to show multiple comments by showing overlapped images

Lesson: to provide a great UX, no need to have a large space

Positive: same UI as desktop to reduce learning time 

Positive: efficient API allowing easy slide switch

Issue: terrible cases of Korean company ads. They almost always have to use pretty models for getting their message crossed to viewers. How sad!!!

Solution: make products to become viewers' attention by displaying common looking people without distractions; learn from ads made during Steve's reign! 

Friday, October 11, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] Korean design, rice pack seal, McDonald's doorand trash can

Positive: using Korean alphabets to create beautiful consumer products

Issue: no intuitive way to know how to open rice pack

Solution: follow people's mental models by imitating other common tearing solutions with popular FMCG products 

Lesson: we often hear differentiate, differentiate and differentiate your products from others; however, copying the best practices may not necessarily a bad thing

Issue: people accidentally bumped into this glass without knowing that the glass is not a door at least once in every hour of my sitting

Solution: put some ads or visual stuff to cover so that from afar people can perceive the glass not as a door or path 

Issue: I don't know where to put my trash separately

Solution: display a visual key by adding a territory sign e.g. plastic cup, mug cup, water dispensing area

Lesson: make customers' last journey or touch point of their store visit a pleasant memory by intuitively guiding them with stress-free design



Tuesday, October 8, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] designing signs on architecture

I was passing by below buildings the other day and what designers did to their buildings caught my eyes. 

Positive: displayed a communication channel to passers-by

Positive: targeted on one thing instead of many: positioned its place for studying people 
Issue: displayed no recognizable signs (though its services may be provided during day time, the color is not noticeable); repeated same logos all around without sending a particular message

Solution: color SONY sign to be catchy; put some catch phrase around the building to both improve Sony's image and increase the center's physical presence 

Lesson: convert architecture signs to a communication tool to passers-by

Saturday, October 5, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] Android KitKat promotion

Received below KitKat from a YouTube event and now I finally participated in the new Android's promotional campaign. 
Issue: wrong URL, QR code not working, wrong location for both URL and QR code

Solution: use kitkat.co.kr instead; place URL and QR code below "STEP 2"


Issue: too much scroll to get to the bottom of the page

Issue: hard to find country section

Issue: color not too much recognizable

Issue: entry style looks dramatically different from others

Solution: make it look similar to others
---
[overall] Lesson: make it easy for customers to participate promotional campaigns

[overall] Evaluation: 2/10 (this promotion could have been easier to participate) 



Wednesday, October 2, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] Google Analytics delete menu

Just realized that I didn't put my blog on Google Analytics to track down users' behavior to improve the blog and found my old websites. Tried to delete them but couldn't find delete button so youtube'd how-to videos and finally deleted them. 

Issue: über hard to find delete an account and view

Solution: make the delete menu as an icon and place the icon next to Account ID or somewhere visible

Lesson: if a function of one's business is too difficult to find or use, people will start youtube or blog about it and that may not be pleasing to the brand 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] road sign nearby Yongsan US Military base

Today was my first day co-facilitating a small group in Yongsan Military base. I couldn't pass below designs without recognizing them. 
Issue: both a kid with a guardian and cyclist are allowed in the same road 

Solution: choose one group or the other

Lesson: there are some group just can't go along with each other 

Issue: only cyclists are allowed in a narrow sidewalk

Solution: erase the bicycle sign

Lesson: if given only one option, choose for larger coverage

[Personal UX/UI review] Yonsei Uni. Severance Hospital Funeral Services

I happened to be recruited as a pallbearer last weekend and here are some observations I made on the way.


Issue: Emergency Room sign doesn't look like urgent

Solution: color it in red

Lesson: when design, going along with people's mental model can bring intuitive understanding

Positive: though the color can be distinctive, You Are Here sign was fairly easy to catch (c.f. many maps I've seen in the past failed in this regard)

Issue: eyes move much in finding information

Solution: place the legend right below of the map

Lesson: like Fitts's Law popularly applied in web design to reduce mouse pointer movement from one sequential action to the next, the Law also needs to be applied in print or sign board to reduce eye movement. 


#1
Issue: though the information is sorted by funeral home number, floor info is displayed first; viewers in a rush may spend a couple more seconds to find their place

Solution: make first column as sort-by (e.g. Funeral Home special 1, 3, 5, etc.)

Lesson: in designing a table, try to sort its content by first column or so

#2 
Issue: too many repetitive basement texts

Solution: use B1 (basement 1) and B2 only once and sort the table by floor

Lesson: in designing information architecture, consider applying MECE (mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive) principle

#3
Issue: fourth column title is missing

Solution: simply add one ;)




Saturday, September 28, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] YouTube date location issue

I like YouTube and use it for finding video resources because videos are almost always easier and clearer to understand than text-only info.  However, many times I find myself frustrated with situations like below.
Issue: must select About tab whenever I want to see uploaded date. 

Solution: make the date information always available (e.g. put it next to the subscriber number)

Lesson: sometimes some information needs to be always there (e.g. time, battery, network info on iOS) 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

[Personal UX/UI review] iOS App Store search box size


Issue: App Store's search box is too small to see what you are typing in both vertical and horizontal mode (c.f. Google Chrome browser search box size)

Solution: though taking some space, reserve a real estate for a search box so that users can see what they are typing

[event] YouTube Pulse- Moving People to Choose Your Brand via YouTube

Title
Moving People to Choose Your Brand via YouTube
Place
Blue Square nearby Hangangjin Station
Time
September 25, 2013 3PM~6PM
Speaker
Simon Kahn, 서황욱, 김범휴, 이선정, 조유미, 김형준, 박준철, 김혜진, 정진향
Organizer
Google Korea
Focus
New media, YouTube stat., success case, YouTube strategy

I.       YouTube Vision: New Opportunities Placed upon Us [Simon Kahn, Google APAC CMO]
1.       Message
1)      Age change: broadcast age-> participation age
2)      Media industry change: one sided-> multi-sided
3)      Generation C= curation, creation, connection, and communication
4)      Stat: 65% share videos, 58% find interesting contents on YouTube easier than TV
5)      Success case:
  Dove’s beauty campaign- brand as creator?
  GoPro camera- brand as curator
  Chevy OK Go- brand as collaborator
2.       Takeaway
1)      New media era sharing videos has arrived

II.      10 Fun Facts about YouTube [김범휴 차장, Google Korea 전략광고주 사업본부; 이승엽 부장, TNS Korea]
1.       Message
1)      [YouTube Korean User Report] 6/5~7/9/2013, 16~60 year-olds 2,000 users in Korea
  Top of mind (TOM): 6 out of 10 chose YouTube
  Reason for TOM: content coverage, availability of when, where, and any device access
  Content category consumed: information search > music > leisure
A       C.f. Music video 53% > professional video 14% > how-to video 13%
  Activities after watching YouTube videos: search for related video 60%, other video search 59%, website visits 58%, SNS sharing 44%
2.       Takeaway
1)      Content characteristic to increase brand engagement: humor
3.       Reflection
1)      Professional and how-to video contents will be more popular in the near future

III.     Dialogue with YouTube Content Creator [이선정 이사, Google YouTube Partnership; 대도서관]
1.       Message
1)      Trend: personal entertainment (reason: mania related, curiosity, hobby group)
2.       Takeaway
1)      Build contents consistently so that users can come back for more
2)      Differentiate your content with your own competitive edge aka personality
3)      If you’re a broadcaster, create 짤방 version so that users can easily share without editing your original content

IV.    What is the Future of Content: We God Married Global Edition [조유미 대표, Leo Burnett Korea]
1.       Message
1)      People respond to emotional and storytelling contents
2)      Make content bring vicarious satisfaction to viewers
3)      Create
  Also teaser contents and link them to original full contents
  Making film
4)      Connect almost all content to e-commerce

V.      Beyond TV: Cross and Link Media [김형준 수석 프로듀서, KBS]
1.       Message
1)      Case: A Song for You program
  Increase retention rate
  Use PPL-allowed platform to advertise partners’ products

VI.    YouTube Success Case with Loen [박준철 수석 프로듀서, Loen Entertainment]
1.       Message
1)      Content
  Official content
  Original content
  Mobile friendly
  Engagement
2)      Exposure
  Relationship- it’s okay to include mistakes
  Thumbnail- show more contents
  Channel art- daily update the art
  Translation- English and Japanese will bring more engagement of international viewers
  Monitoring- analyze in-flow and user pattern
3)      In-flow
  Annotation- take advantage of in-video (e.g. next video annotation), special effect
  Linked

VII.   Realizing “” YouTube [김혜진 부장, SKT Marketing Communication]
1.       Message
1)      Use multising (definition: an advertising method which advertises on online and social network first, then expands to traditional media such as TV and newspaper)
2)      Technology change changed content consumption type from audio in 3G to video in LTE
3)      Annotation: somewhat like long tail, only about 1% viewers click but it’s worth it.

VIII.  Creative for the Digital Age [정진향 팀장, Yuhan Kimberly]
1.       Message
1)      Find common denominator between your audience and company

IX.    Question:
1.       How do you make your client to come to your event to talk about partnership?

X.      Other insight from David Chung (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD7pKlitEPc)
1.       “People don’t lie when they search”- search queries reveals my true interest
2.       Google is trying to show you relevant and current data.