We have been heads down lately working on V2 of the ConceptShare interface and I want to share with you an example of how we are using ConceptShare internally to get the job done quickly.
With some bugs or changes you can get away with email or textual bug trackers with screens attached. I personally think it is much easier and faster to use ConceptShare. We built this tool for almost exactly this purpose and it maybe how a 3 person startup could launch an application so quickly.
In the first example you can see that I can quickly illustrate a change in the application visually. I need to make the developers understand a very specific visual change and the intended result without interrupting their work flow or scheduling a meeting. I usually upload 5-7 of these at one time. The change is that the zoom tool is too close to the menu side and I would like a bit more padding. Most bugs/visual changes are more complicated than this is a quick example.
I can’t even imagine describing this change in email or text but it might go something like this.
“Hi Guys,
The zoom slider is off a bit a bit too close to the menus and needs to be shifted to the side a few pixels I am not sure how many.
Bernie”
Responses:
” The whole slider or just part of it?
How many pixels?
Too close to which menu?”
ConceptShare reply feature enables an unlimited number of questions from development or beta testers with easy management and NO MEETINGS.
The other neat thing we are doing is using the Concept Folders feature to drag and drop concepts into the Done Folder or into the appropriate folder for each development team the Workspace or Web Manager. The entire team is in the workspace and have their opinion about various visual changes to be made before they are implemented.
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Posted in Business, ConceptShare, GUI, Usability, Visualization ~ 2 Comments
Written by Bernie
Ok, ConceptShare has launched now, so there’s no more excuses to send designs by email anymore right?. (Free to try)
I have learned alot watching people using ConceptShare what I found most intriguing is that the design is now being used to initiate conversations. People now are just getting an invitation with a link to a workspace with a bunch of visuals and then they just start talking. - no verbal cues - no phone calls - Its an interesting thing to watch. If you show any one that walks by a few logos and ask what do they think, you will get an answer. For some reason people feel very comfortable giving opinions on visuals rather then obligatory politics or world issues. Visual feedback is usually easy for people because it is in their gut, it’s personal, yet they know they won’t be judged by it. And it’s faster for them to point out what they don’t like about something rather than write a story about it.
A lot of people from an outside perspective that hear about ConceptShare in passing like to say, “It’s neat but not sure I would use something like that, I’m not a designer…”. Trust me I have invited alot of these people into a ConceptShare workspace, and they have ALOT to say once they are in there. Almost anyone can make comments about usability of both interfaces and objects. Comments about color choices, ease-of-use, hard to read text, wrong language. You don’t have to be a designer to play, just a human. Sure, designer to designer feedback is always good but remember wisdom of crowds?.With email alone people are reluctant to share early designs or concepts. I say screw that. Put stuff up early and often. Scan sketches and post them. Do anything… just start a conversation. You would be amazed and how fast and how far you can take simple ideas when you have the frequent evolving feedback of others.
Have fun,
Bernie
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Posted in Ideas, Innovation, Product Design, Usability ~ No Comments
Written by Bernie
With World Usability Day on the horizon I thought I would make a post about how ConceptShare is used for usability design. We certainly use it for everything here (marketing, inteface, web) and a lot of our testers are using it for their web apps interface design along with general web design interfaces and navigation.
ConceptShare works best when it is initiated early in the design process. It’s the equivalent of “Hey check this out so far tell me what you think”. That’s easy if you are all in the same room, but that’s not always the case.
Usually someone mentions an feature requirement and the first step is to jump into Photoshop and quickly mock something up. I have a library on my computer of blank interfaces, buttons, dropdowns etc so I can mash up something pretty quickly. I then upload it in to workspace inside of ConceptShare. Because it’s not a live site and just a mockup I start by adding comments and draw arrows indicated what I meant to happened when buttons are clicked. Depending on the action I will also upload the end result of a click like the form that would open etc. ConceptShare makes it easy to describe what I had in mind for the actions and point to the button in question in context..
Previously I would have to send the screen.jpg by email and try to describe the actions and design intentions in the body of the email. Or if I had more time I would use the brush and text tool in Photoshop to draw and comment . Neither of these methods are very interactive for my partners of who I need their feedback to continue. They would have ended up replying to my email with small useless feedback that doesn’t help me out much, stuff like ‘looks good’. Providing them more tools and the ability to reply to my initial comments put things in context and lets them know what I want feedback on. Now I get comments like “Do we really want this to be a pop-up? I think this should open inline”.
I usually invite Scott first because our developers are busy building the last features we requested. We go back and forth over the next little while entering the workspace at different times and differently locations and I get the first feedback from another person that can comment on if the interface feels natural and they can understand what happens next. This would be the equivalent of the a paper prototype I suppose. After Scott’s comments and maybe a few others. I go back to the drawing board and make some changes and start the process again. Sometimes we go through 4-7 versions before we bring the developer in. We then bring the developer in, again these are all flat screens. The development team can now comment from 2 perspectives. 1) another voice about how natural the button location or actions are and 2) a development perspective on implementation and perhaps insight into what would take longer or changing things because we did this same function somewhere else so let’s keep consistent or save some time by making it similar. The developer has the ability to see how the screen developed to this point and I have the ability to reply to their comments to answer questions or debate decisions. This all happens over time and we don’t all have to be in the workspace. When we are we use the real-time chat quite a bit. If the comments require it. I go back for a final screen with the new comments and all user get a email letting them know a new design is there for the picking.
Overall this really speeds our development process because after I upload a screen I can then start working on something else in ConceptShare like our brochure or our website. I don’t have to wait or book a meeting at 1pm so we can all be there at the same time. We don’t work like that and most people don’t as much anymore.
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Posted in GUI, Usability ~ 1 Comment
Written by Bernie
I was very impressed with the new menu graphics a few days ago on a random visit to Harvey’s. (That is a well know fast food chain in Canada.) This is one of those rare times that you see that alot of thought and design has gone into the design of the new menu’s. They are simple, elegant, visual and to the point. This photo is just of the drive thru, yet it still managed to say everything it needed to say. I commend the use of spacing and vibrant colors and imagery in the design. It breaks up a typically cluttered text based menu system you see everywhere else with a natural visual selection experience. Check out the condiment area near the bottom right. Such a visual design also transcends language barriers. The prices are simple and to the point as well.
I also noticed they did not give a lot of attention to the fast food staples such as fries and soft drinks, but theres no mystery there anyways. Showing a plastic cup with condensation on it doesn’t do much for my thirst anyway. They captured their core essence, their marvelous tasting, custom topping burgers. And did so in a way that makes you wonder what they filled all that space up with before. It’s nice seeing UI design thought in other places.
Good job,
Bernie
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Posted in Business, GUI, Innovation, Usability ~ 1 Comment
Written by Bernie
I love great products. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I get home and the thing I bought is as good as it thought it was. Nothing burns me more then having one pulled over on me.
A few weeks ago I needed a new drill to do some work around the house I headed over to the local Canadian Tire …(they sell alot more then tires)
As I looked through the different drills i found a skil drill and I figured the price was right and i looked pretty dam cool.
What they did right
- they put a light that actually works ….lights up the work area
- they intergrated a removable stud finder
- they intergrated a removable laser level
- arrows that tell you which way the drill is going
What is the one thing i would change in version 1.1
The light goes on when the trigger is pulled. That being said the light should go on before the bit starts turning….
Here is to great product design and having no excuse not to do the work around the house.
Cheers
Scott
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Posted in Product Design, Usability ~ No Comments
Written by Scott
Yes …..i finally won. I bought a Herman Miller Aeron for $20CDN
I felt like one of those people who have bought a precious painting at a yard sale. I know there is no way that I would have bought one of these at full pop ….
But you never know what you will find at your local office surplus place. This one was piled amongst chairs needing some repair before being resold. When i spotted the webbed back and seat rest I instantly knew what I had found.
When I asked the guy at the place how much he looked at me with a puzzled look …..”it’s broken …..you want a broken chair? …I can let it go for twenty bucks …..twenty bucks I respond ……is that too much, he quips …….i couldn’t get the 20 spot out of my pocket fast enough.
I will probally have to spend a hundred for a new lift cylinder ….but aside from that the chair works well.
So …. I wanted to know a bit more about my chair. My gut told me it was a left over relic from the internet boom bust …..I really wanted to confirm. I did some checking on the chair …..to know the history and to find it’s part in history.
…..and the chair is from a company Accelight Networks Canada Inc.
January 2000
” Although AcceLight Networks is young – born December 1999 – the company is ambitious. Their goal is to be the world leader in all-optical Internet switching. By the end of the year, AcceLight plans to begin manufacturing the “core optical switch” that will route the flow of data over the Internet faster and in greater volumes than eve
before.
November 2001
AcceLight Networks Raises $60 Million for Photonic Service Switching
AcceLight Networks, a start-up based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced $60 million in new equity and debt financing to support its development of its photonic service switching platform. The funding will also be used to expand the company’s sales and customer engagements in key North American and international markets. In addition to AcceLight’s initial investors, Menlo Ventures and Venrock Associates, the company attracted new venture capital from the investment firms CDIB Ventures, Granite Global Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation, NIF Ventures, Stonewood Capital Management, Western Technology Investment, Whitecastle Investment and Vertex Management.
January 2003
AcceLight Networks Inc. closed its doors for good last Friday and sent its last 60 employees home, according to industry sources. Word is that in the end, the company’s photonic switch fabric didn’t work as advertised; and the company even tried to replace it with an electrical fabric in a last-ditch attempt to raise more money and keep potential customers interested. The company’s managers did not return phone calls. Short of an official casket viewing and ceremony, several Light Readers have already started chiseling AcceLight’s tombstone.
From what I can see they raised well over 100 million ……and all that is left is my $20 Aeron …..
I suggest you check your local surplus suppliers …..but don’t bother going to mine ….
Cheers
Scott
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Posted in Product Design, Usability ~ 3 Comments
Written by Scott
