Posts Tagged "design"
A much more usable way of visualizing product reviews
I was just using Google Product Search and noticed they have this rather ingenious way of visualizing the totality of all the reviews that have been submitted. Instead of averaging everyone’s scores together, a bar graph shows how many people gave each ranking of 1,2,3,4 or 5, with each person’s vote counting for the same “length” of the overall bar. The ratings are colour-coded so you can see at a glance what the general consensus is.
Good advice for writers and software designers alike (from Neil Gaiman)
Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
Just came across these handy writing tips by Neil Gaiman. The one I’ve quoted above is particularly interesting, I think, because it can apply to both creative writing and software design.
It’s fine and right that readers, or users of software should tell you when there is a problem, and what problem it is that they are experiencing (perhaps how their expectations were not met, or how they felt).
But it’s definitely not alright for them to tell you how to fix it. That is the job of the writer, or the designer. Understand how what you have created is affecting people, and use that knowledge to adapt, tweak and improve so that it affects them in the way you intended, or in a way that doesn’t cause them the same problems.
But never let them tell you exactly how to fix it. Take their input by all means but do not be swayed from doing what you think is right to fix it. You are the creator, you are the designer, and it’s your skills that will make the work a success.
How to harness user power
Having discovered that Google Chrome now supports extensions (Hurrah!), I had a go at installing the rather excellent Cool Iris image previewing plugin, and was greeted with this screen, which basically advises anyone wanting to use the plugin on Chrome that they can’t implement it until Google add additional functionality.
Thumbthing – A brilliant new invention for reading books
The most innovative products are often the simplest!
The thumbthing lets you hold a book open with one hand.. perfect for reading while standing and holding the pole with your other hand on a crowded tube/metro for example.
Awesome new UK plug design
I really hope somebody picks this up and makes it a reality. It’s sheer genius and solves a lot of space problems with UK plugs. And it allows sockets to be reinvented while remaining fully backwards compatible too. Great innovation!