We all know what 3D glasses are. We know where they are used, how they are used and what they can be used for, the purpose of its use. But in essence I want to talk about the usability of these glasses. I’m not sure we realize how detrimental they can be sometimes! Read more…
The new 2 rupee coin glistened under the KFC lights and as I took a closer look at its over-simplified imagery and smooth form, it looked unlike any other Indian coin I had ever seen. The lucky coin landed itself with a bunch of quirky designers on a hungry Saturday afternoon. Read more…
Psychologists believe that emotions play an immense role in our reaction to a situation in an environment. Emotions bring about physiological and cognitive changes in the body when reacting to a stimulus. That is, it is developed though a physiological arousal and expressed through behavioral expression. Read more…
Psychologist, Carl Jung studied human behavior deeply and passionately. He studied the behavior and knowledge of the human mind and developed theories of how the dynamic brain functions. This article is essentially concerned with Jung’s understanding of personality types. I would encourage you to sieve out knowledge from this section and weave it into your daily work of usability studies. There is an enormous need to understand and interpret the behavior of our users in the models that we design. And Jung’s ideas will help us achieve this. Read more…
Ever seen shoes with pockets or a wrist watch that does everything but read time? I’m sure you have. We come across such products everyday but we just don’t pay attention to its unusable nature as we have been ‘conditioned’ to its use. Some of you may disagree, calling it style. But the others who would agree with me, call it a ‘user fatigue syndrome’. With the use of some common everyday products, I will postulate the essence of simple, good design principles that we can adopt while designing for an effective online experience. Read more…
Last night as I was flipping through the channels on the television, I stumbled upon a show that is ever so famous among teenagers today. Yes, you guessed that right- I am referring to American Idol. I came across something so regular. Yet, it was alarming to see the same sight on national television- a place where everything is expected to be perfect and flawless. It always portrays everything to be so perfect doesn’t it? Correction- it seems like this world has its glitches too!
Let us first understand what a mental model is. It is an explanation of a person’s thought process of how something works in the real world. In other words, it represents human emotions, feelings, perceptions and other psychological processes that surface externally. Let us explain this with the help of an example. We know exactly how a telephone looks and functions. It would typically have buttons to punch in a phone number and a receiver to communicate. Have a look at the figure below. We know how exactly this telephone would function. Right? You pick up the receiver, wait for a dial tone, punch in the number, wait for a ring tone, and you’re connected.
