The IRC has a great website and online presence. That coupled with a very efficient organization makes them one of the most well respected humanitarian groups in the world. One thing they clearly lack is a mobile presence that will take advantage of the boom in mobile smartphone use. Fortunately, their competitors for donation dollars aren’t mobile yet either…even more incentive to get started.

Playing off the basic concept of the DIY fundraising opportunities on the IRC website, I would like to create a link between my network and the network of those in need. The idea is to make each user feel like a partner to the IRC rather than just a contributor. Lowering the barrier for the user to bring in additional contributors and partners is key. As a partner, using the IRC app, one can ask their friends to give them world necessities like food and water instead of the typical gifts for a birthday or holiday. The idea is to make it almost like a social game that brings friends together and displays their connection and contribution.

I had a recent unfortunate Photoshop explosion and lost my pretty mockups so I have quickly recreated them in Balsamiq for the time being until the Photoshop versions can be visited again. The main screen of the app will allow sign in through Facebook and Twitter for automatic contacts population. From there the user can either create an event or give a gift to a friend for their event. There will be a few basic representative gifts rather than a dollar amount entry as life necessities offer a greater psychological connection to the situation of the people who will benefit from them. When a gift is given to a friend’s event a network of all givers will be displayed creating an instant community that will only motivate further giving. The “owner” of the event and the contributors can then see the aggregated donation which clearly shows the power of positive groups.

Great Buildings is a website that documents architecture around the world.

The database is large and there are a lot of details about many of the buildings, however, the layout of the website is redundant and lackluster. A couple of basic flow representations of the site, using post-its, follow.

One of the main problems is that the links to the few functional pages of the site are repeated on every page. The flow through the site is uncontrolled and not in an appropriate sequence. The hypothetical RFP for Great Buildings lays out the objectives, desired content, priorities, and target audience. The primary audience is students and architecture aficionados.

Based on these objectives, I have created a new basic flow diagram for the Great Buildings site. The highlight is the sharing space where the user can save the information they have found (pictures, text, etc) as well as discuss and navigate material with peers in a visual chat community. Options for distribution to Facebook and Twitter will also be available in this space.

I hate to beat a dead horse but my feelings about the MTA and MetroCard system are strong… -ly negative. I can’t get over how poorly designed and run the entire system is. When it comes to user interface and experience, the design is dirtier than a bums bench on a weekend. The MetroCard machine was redone by a prominent designer but can still take 10+ steps and a lot of grumbling to get the card. The magnetic strip readers ALMOST ALWAYS take multiple swipes to read the card as well! Overall the system is way too complex and it is making users think way more than they need to. My simple product design for a new MetroCard follows some practices already used by other cities’ (better) transportation systems as well as by other retail businesses.

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Keychain MetroCard
- Has a RFID chip that can be passed over a sensor rather than swiped through a slot
-Easy to remember as it hangs on the users keys, something everyone must carry
-Smaller and longer lasting for less waste
-Easier to keep track of and not lose

Sticky MetroCard
-Also uses RFID chip rather than magnetic stripe
-Can be stuck on the back of a cell phone, another object everyone carries
-Speeds up lines as sticker can be affixed to the users most commonly carried object

The main difference in the “Keychain” and “Sticky” MetroCards is the RFID chip. This, similar to the Oyster Card in the London Underground, allows users to simply touch the card to the reader or pass by it to scan. The chips can be added to almost anything as they are small and thin but these two designs were chosen because keys and a cell phone are the two most common objects that passengers carry and they are often already in the users’ hands when they are near the subway. Saving time and aggravation makes riders happy, will make passenger flow faster and will save money for the MTA in the long run. The RFID readers could be added to the current turnstiles and the swipe readers could be phased out once old MetroCards are used up so transition would be smooth and cost minimized.

There have been many products and services that have changed industries and lives over time…the internet, email, everything new that Apple makes…but few have had such a direct and literal effect on human lives as the AK (Kalashnikov) assault rifle.

This product, developed starting in 1945 at the end of WWII, was one of the first true assault rifles meaning that it had characteristics of both a rifle and a machine gun. War research performed by the Soviet Union showed them that they needed a weapon that was effective and deadly within a 300 meter range. The user experience problem with current weapons was that they were too heavy to be carried VERY easily, had excessive power for their typical use, were unreliable in poor/dirty/wet conditions, and were unable to fire rounds rapidly and automatically in sequence. Basically the users did not have an efficient  low cost weapon for close combat and tough conditions that was extremely easy to use and would give them the ability to be deadly while surviving themselves.

In Luke Williams’ book Disrupt he addresses the questions that must be answered to focus one’s creativity toward innovation: There’s an opportunity to provide (who?) with (what advantage?) that (fills what gap?) In the case of the AK, there was an opportunity to provide the Soviet Union with a weapon more suited to the type of war being fought (than those of the Germans) that is cheaper, more reliable, more effective, and easier to use than the current Soviet weapons.

The AK has taken more lives than any other weapon in history and is the most copied weapon design ever. Although the AK has come to be used more for evil than for defense and protection of Mikhail Kalashnikov’s motherland, the designer clearly took user experience very seriously. He designed in a way that has become very common today, by taking the best aspects of several products and combining them into one. Kalashnikov modeled based on the gas return system of the German Sturmgewehr 44, the trigger and raceway of the American M1 Garand, and the safety mechanism of the Remington Model 8 rifle.

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Three main aspects of the design contribute directly to the low cost, ease of use, and reliability of the weapon. First, the tolerances between moving parts are large. This means that machining standards can be relaxed and cost lowered and that the gun will not jam when debris gets inside it. Second, the control points of the weapon, including the safety, trigger, and bolt mechanism, are over-sized so that the user can operate them quickly and easily. Finally, the magazines have a large capacity and the rate of fire is high giving even the inexperienced user the best possible chance of hitting a close range target even with unskilled shooting, increasing his chance of survival.

Here is my new app designed to collect and distribute information about the endless number of free events going on in New York City! As recession continues, more and more of us want to enjoy the city at lower ( or no!) cost. A simple representation is shown here using Balsamic Mockups.

Three primary players exist in the online music streaming race; Pandora, Grooveshark, and Spotify. This website analysis will only include Pandora and Grooveshark however because Spotify’s interface is not on its website but rather in an application that must be downloaded before use.

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Here is a quick analysis based on Steve Krug’s Unofficial Top 5 Website Usability Rules.

Those “Rules” in brief are:
1. Don’t Make Me Think!
-The Back button is still the most used for a reason, users will rarely slow down to think.
2. Satisficing
-People choose the first reasonable option, not the optimal one.
3. Billboard Pages
-For navigation at 60mph
4. Mindless Choices
-Each decision has a mental cost.
5. Omit Words
-Cut writing in half…and then in half again!

1. Don’t Make Me Think!
Winner: Grooveshark
The first thing a user will notice when they get on both sites is that on Grooveshark one is able to start a song easily within 15-20 seconds. A new user on Pandora is REQUIRED to register. Other than trying to force retention, it seems that there is no reason for this.

2. Satisficing
Winner: Pandora
Assuming that they make it through registration, user satisficing will begin quickly. After entering one song or artist, Pandora will continue to provide reasonable options automatically, taking all responsibility off of the user.

3. Billboard Pages
Winner: Grooveshark
Grooveshark’s simple, large, dead centered search dominates that page and gets the user to music quickly. Furthermore, once the first song is selected on Grooveshark, a list of others related to the initial search remains on the screen for users to scan through. With Pandora, newer users will have few or no other “stations” in their list to look at after their initial entry. Attempting to search for something else on Pandora at this point will automatically stop the current song that is playing. At this point many users would just leave Pandora “on” in the background rather than actively participating anymore.

4. Mindless Choices
Winner: Pandora
Pandora gives you a mindless playlist of music similar to or at least related to what you like with just one search. Their algorithm is quite good at this.

5. Omit Words
Winner: Grooveshark
Grooveshark gives many song choices (which is why users are there) instead of text, but still allows access to artists info, lyics, etc with just one click. This keeps the main page focused.

I like the app used for Spotify but the app requirement prevents users from being able to access their music and preferences on computers other than their own. For this reason along with the extra time and effort it takes to install an app, I think the  streaming music services fully contained online fit best with the “Don’t Make Me Think” mentality. Grooveshark seems to be the best at offering a combination of speed, ease of use, and a large, user-controlled and contributed library. The questions of legality will be Grooveshark’s main concern in the future.

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Water War – Fun Theory
Water

• Everyone needs it…and more of it
• Good for hydration and healthy body
• Heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are all top 10 causes of death and in the US these all relate to diet and obesity
  • Drinking more water reduces appetite and increases metabolism
    • America is FAT and needs to drink more water

• Secondarily, water is a great substitute for soda and juice
  • Americans drink way too much soda and it accounts for massive caloric surplus
  • Soda is full of sugar
    • Diabetes is rampant, and growing among children

Bottled Water

• Hugely detrimental to the environment
• It is unhealthy to drink from petroleum based bottles
  • And these millions of bottles contribute to our oil dependence…war

Public Water

• New York has very few public drinking fountains
• Globally, water is becoming the new OIL
• As an example, in the city of Munich, all public (architectural) water fountains contain safe drinking water (by law)

PROBLEM:
How to get more Americans (New Yorkers) to drink more water, get healthier, and use less oil resources?!?!

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