One of the best lessons I learned at school was to always start with a plan. In exams where you had an hour or so per essay question, the worst mistake you could make was to go straight into writing and to try and pull the essay together as you went along. The smart approach was to spend five to ten minutes planning out the essay, thinking through the arguments and structuring your writing. What a great life lesson that proved to be. I’d say the same principle has applied to all projects that I’ve run or participated in, and the difference is very visible as they get into full swing. The projects without forethought and planning get stuck in quagmires and require painful upheavals late in the day to get them on track. The projects with a plan may not go 100% smoothly but with the benefit of a structured approach they have a clear direction and far fewer issues to distract from the core problems to be solved.
The biggest irony, it strikes me, is that making a plan sounds so simple and is so simple, yet so often people don’t think to do it. My advice is to always take a moment, even in the most time-pressured situation, and think through your plan. Ideally seek out methodologies that you can leverage for the specific challenges at hand. Tap the knowledge of people who are critical to the success of the work. Gather and assess research or data that will inform your challenges. Most importantly, question how your plan will deliver on the objectives and work it over until you are satisfied it will answer them.
Filed under: creative delivery, method , essays, exams, method, methodologies, plan, projects, school, structured approach, think smart
So apparently the Xbox 360 user interface is getting a total overhaul. I’m impressed at how aggressive they are about innovating the product experience with this move. It’s very daring, and certainly a first among game consoles, to completely change the UI from what people have become familiar with over the past years.
We’ve entered a new era of in-life OS upgrades for online consumer products (thinking of the major game consoles, Tivo, the iPhone and iPods). Although the benefits are evident with each valuable feature added, I’m perturbed by the overall experience:
- The products are a work in progress – I’m not entirely OK with buying at full price an unfinished product
- Updates are not always for the better – for example, the Tivo interface has been on a downward slide with each new addition
- The upgrade processes are mostly laborious and time-consuming – can’t they update themselves without any work on my part?
Back to the Xbox’s new interface. Although I’m pleased to see that they’re giving it a clean-up, I’m somewhat underwhelmed on first impression:
- Looks a lot like coverflow - positive points for looking good but negative points for being derivative
- Bright white and new avatars – seem inappropriate for the established gaming user base and reminiscent of the Wii
- Fit for purpose – coverflow seems overly simplistic given the inherent tasks of managing messages, game lists, etc.
We may be seeing phase 2 of the Master Plan here – Xbox was originally developed as a trojan horse for Microsoft to get into the living room. With this UI change and the growing video rental capabilities of the console it appears they are finally making good on that strategy. However I am skeptical that this device, which has established itself as the choice of the hardcore gamer, and which sits firmly in the ‘Games’ aisle of major stores, will transition to a general entertainment device. If they pull that off it will be a stroke of genius.
Filed under: 3D, folly, presentation, revolutions, style, user interface, user-centred , announcement, engadget, in-life, strategy, trojan horse, user interface, xbox 360
I’ve noticed a phenomenon many times over where a product is launched with a clean, simple customer experience, then over time the owners of the product tinker with it. They add a little something here and a little something there, and before long what they have is no longer clean and simple but scrappy, inconsistent and clunky.
Often it’s the result of good intentions. When you are focusing hard on product details it’s quite easy to lose sight of broader issues. The solution is about staying true to a broad vision for the user experience. When the product was first developed there should have been an overall experience vision that guided design choices and consistency. It’s when products deviate from the vision that they get messy.
Often that vision exists but it’s not articulated anywhere – it simple lives in the minds of the original product team. I’m an advocate of getting this vision* down in a PowerPoint deck or some form of document that can be passed on to future caretakers of the product. When people making updates have a vision document to refer back to, there’s a better chance they’ll take a smarter approach when making changes instead of tinkering with details.
*Note this is different from a styleguide – the vision is the articulation of a justified thought process or decision explanation – it’s not a bunch of ‘thou shalt’ standards
Filed under: creative delivery, folly, method, user interface , design, details, product design, product managment, standards, styleguide, tinkering, user experience, vision
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