UserZen

With the new world full of interactive smart phones, Geo-aware devices and augmented reality, we need to be aware of the real world experience that consumers want and need. It is not enough to test and analyze products in 1 or 2 dimensions or just looking at how users interact with a website or product in their home.

We need to investigate how people interact with their environment as whole. People are using the Internet, their smartphone and cell phones in conjunction with other people in meatspace as well as wanting to utilize technology in conjunction with brick and mortar storefronts and their friends in real time.

It is not enough to have a website or an application for mobile phones. These interfaces need to take into account all the other ways people accomplish tasks and search for information or products.

Samantha Stormer talks about designing for the Space Between.

She says;

UX professionals can’t constrict a user’s experience to specified devices, touch-points, or time periods. As devices integrate with each other and with the real world, we have to design for this integration and blurring. This new world requires a different way of thinking about UX and design.

The new way of thinking would involve assessing the usability of your service or product at all the touch points with your consumer. This means that as researchers, we would need to talk to people about all the ways they hear about a company, through Facebook, magazines, billboards, television, etc.

We need to track how a person makes a decision to purchase or use a product, which could involve something shared on a friend’s Facebook wall, a notification to their smartphone based on the fact that they are close to the store, checking out reviews on Yelp,  a similar consumer website or Twitter posts.

The new technology users have all this literally at their fingertips and we shouldn’t ignore their impact on behavior and opinion. The experience of consumers today is not limited and our research needs to reflect that.

I will be following this new analysis as I think it points to the future of usability and marketing research.

Motorola and Verizon have announced the availability of DROID 2, a new smartphone that for first time will have Flash Player 10.1 pre-installed and benefit from H.264 HW decoding of all H.264 video profiles. DROID 2 will be available starting August 11 on www.verizonwireless.com and in stores on August 12.

Have a look at the demo…of a very NICE phone: http://bit.ly/FP101-droid2

Adobe is working with Motorola, Verizon, and Google on plan to deliver Flash Player 10.1 to the original Droid and will provide an update as soon as possible.

Some ideas on professional development, learning and growing within your area of expertise, or even expanding your horizons to include those skills that are associated with your field.

This list was taken from an article on UX Matters about Career Alternatives to Management

These are generally good for all professions, but are applied here to the UX field.

• read—Create a routine for reading that ensures you keep up on the latest industry knowledge.
• follow—Use tools like Twitter and discussion lists, which are handy for following people with UX knowledge.
• network—Connect with the UX community.
• debate—Engage in spirited discussions—not for the sake of debating, but to see whether there are better ways of doing something.
• contribute—Write articles, submit papers to UX conferences, and present your ideas. Put yourself out there and test your own thinking.
• meet—Take the time to meet fellow practitioners.
• lead—Facilitate a workshop, walk through a design, moderate user research, or find your own way of taking ownership of a piece of something.
• interview—Get out of your comfort zone and interview for a challenging job—you may learn something along the way.
• be open—Always be open to other roles you might be able to play. Don’t confine yourself to one UX specialty, skill, or discipline.