In the Blink of an Eye

Posted by Doug on Sep 8, 2009 in Thoughts | 6 comments

There has been a lot of discussion about new hyper-productive input devices since Tom Cruise wowed us all in ‘Minority Report’ in 2002 and since the unveiling of the iPod and ‘finger gestures.’ We now have display platforms from Microsoft and others that work with gestures and various ‘hand waving’ motions. But are they really that efficient?

Seems like a lot of work. The special effects in the movies make it appear to be easy and fun. MSNBC and other news channels use the new Microsoft display to move things around for news and it is impressive stuff. But what about actual information design? Seems that what they have done is allow you to use your hand instead of a mouse. That’s great, but not enough.

What we don’t see yet is true innovation in UI design. The graphics tablet made it easier for artists to input directly into a computer in a ‘art like’ way. But what about those of us who are artistically challenged? How can the common person be more productive with a man-machine interface.

When I want information from the internet or from my computer in general, I want it now. It goes back to an old adage I coined circa 1985 – ‘you can tell you really are in the information age when nothing but instantaneous response is acceptable.’ This means getting what you want in the blink of an eye. Instant gratification – is it too much to expect? Of course, hardware and software are key components in the performance game. But we have come a long way since 1985 and I am ready for the revolution!

They key to a successful input device is the ability of a human to control it accurately, quickly and intuitively. Awkward motions (golf swing) may yield success to some but simple motions (kicking a soccer ball) yield results for many more. Too many new products are over complicated. I don’t want a four-button mouse. I want to blink my eyes and have the computer know what I need. Is that too much to ask?

Here is a test I’d like you to participate in. Sit in front of your computer and start performing your regular duties. It doesn’t matter whether it is writing a blog, or playing a game or doing your work. Take a minute and think about what would make your life easier. Don’t put any physical limitations on your wants. Just dream. Then tell us here in comments. Maybe your idea will change the world.

20 Words are Worth at Least One Picture

Posted by Doug on Aug 30, 2009 in Thoughts | 0 comments

I cannot stress enough that you should never use words to convey a thought in a presentation when an image will do better. Yes, it takes more brain power and yes, it takes more work. But the results are worth it. When conveying a message in a remote presentation, it is important that the audience receive your message quickly and and clearly as possible. This is especially true if you want the audience member to interact with the slide and provide input. The clearer your image and message, the more accurate and honest the response to your query will be.

Many years ago, I put the creative team at GRAFX into the conference room and put a task before them. I set a shiny, new, all white porcelain coffee mug, full of steaming black coffee  on the center of the conference table and put a pad and pencil in front of each member of the team. The task was simple: using no more than 20 words, completely and accurately describe this mug so that someone who could not see the mug, but only their paper, would know exactly what it looked like. I left the room for 15 minutes.

When I returned, the results I got back were as expected. They came up with a grand total of 53 words between them, words such as:

White
Shiny
4″ Tall
Coffee
Mug
Curved Handle
Porcelain
Glazed
Flared
Smooth
Hardened
Hot
Steamy
Dark Fluid

Lots of words that covered every aspect of the mug’s shape, color, size, hardness, usefulness, reflective properties and so on. All in all a good exercise in marketing writing. But there was one artist all by herself in the corner of the conference room. As we discussed the words the others submitted, she sat quietly. In fact, I didn’t notice her at first. Finally I saw that she still had her paper so I asked to see it. She was clearly embarrassed and didn’t want to give it up easily. “I don’t think I understood the assignment’ she said. I told her it didn’t matter and asked if she would please share the paper with the class. Here is what was on her paper:

“No Betsey, you understood perfectly”, I replied.

One Slide, One Thought, One Objective

Posted by Doug on Aug 28, 2009 in Thoughts | 0 comments

I thought this topic was serious enough to write  short piece on it. How often have you been giving a presentation when up on the screen popped a nice big slide full of bullets? If you want to lecture people, then this is fine. But if you are trying to communicate effectively, then you might want to consider a different approach. I recommend one slide, one thought one audience input. With this approach, you’ll have the entire audience focused on one thing. You’ll be able to tickle their emotions along that one idea and you’ll receive the most sincere, most honest answer to any query you pose.

Look at this slide:

This is a typical, clean, nicely designed slide. It contains a statement, a list of features and a summary. There is even a small image to help sell the features. After viewing this slide, the user is left with a general feeling that this  jet service offers a nice set of interior features. But the objective of your presentation should be to lead to a decision to take action. To do that effectively, you need to provide focus so that every audience member gets the same message from the same slide and you get something back from them in the way of information that you can use to process that lead. This slide simulates a different response in every audience member and doesn’t focus in on any action.

Consider this alternative slide:

This slide communicates most of the bullets by using a larger image and goes straight to the heart of the proposition and its benefit. It essentially says ‘Our service is impressive’ and then asks the user if they have a need to impress clients. If the audience member’s answer is ‘yes’, then a seed has been sewn towards taking an action.

Look at your slides and see if perhaps they couldn’t be made clearer and more direct. You’ll find the path to a close quicker and more effective.

The slide presentation system I used to generate the sample slide with the questions embedded on the slide is PresenterNet.

Squeak went the Mouse

Posted by Doug on Aug 25, 2009 in Thoughts | 0 comments

No, I didn’t spell it incorrectly. Squeak is the name of a project created by Alan Kay and others some many years ago at Apple. What makes Squeak unique is that it is a truly interactive programming language. Not an input device, wireless or corded, but an object oriented language that has both a wysiwyg interface and a complete code view for the hackers amongst us. To quote from their website:

Unlike the standard static, file-based approach of other languages such as Ruby or Python, Squeak offers a true uniform fully reflective environment – real live objects. In this environment, when a change is made to an object, its behavior changes immediately without having to restart the system. You can even modify or create objects while the application is running.

Think about that for a minute. You can make changes to a system while it is running and immediately see the impact of those changes on the system.

Squeak promises to provide an environment where education flourishes. Interactive learning ‘toys’ are bundled in the system and can be manipulated by users as young as 10. And no knowledge of programming languages is required.

A few years back at Telluride Tech Festival I had the opportunity to meet with Alan Kay and get a full overview of the system. He showed us an ‘object’ that was a cannon that fired cannon balls that were affected by gravity as they flew across the screen. A student makes adjustments to the formulas governing the motion and immediately see the impact on the trajectory of the balls. This provides a robust learning environment much improved over the traditional paper and pencil method of learning physics formulas.

Have a look at Squeak. It is easy to install and run on any system.