“We see things as we are, not as they are…” Isaac Asmiov
Hat tip to my old colleagues at ntl.
The new ntlworld site has gone live. One of the last things I worked on within the Internet Product Development team 20 months ago (before I moved to a new role) It metamorphed a few times, from an internal project to using outside contractors to outsourcing, however it was always something I have a soft spot for… strange that I am. So congrats to Peter, Steve, Chris and anyone else working on the project. You’ve got it out there!
The new front page of ntl.com went live today. Not only a much better design, this one is
all CSS and valid XHTML Transitional. Told you it wasn’t a one off!
The progress continues - updating sites so that they look and hopefully function better and are properly standards based. Good progress from Alex and his team, by the end of the year all sites should be much easier to use and make sense… fingers crossed 
Update: Much more detail about what’s been happening at Danny’s site here. Including the new weather channel - which looks very good.
Another interesting article about gadgets in yesterday’s New York Times, this one about people who buy lots of new gadgets and then never end up using them:
People acquire these things — hand-held personal digital assistants, flatbed scanners, compact disc copiers and a host of other objects — because they promise to make life more efficient, more fun, or, some confess, simply because they appear to help them keep up with what their “wired” friends and neighbors have. But many such products are simply too complicated for their own good. And all too often, the buyers find that they cannot really change their lives just by acquiring something new and different.
Back to my recent mantra about making technology that benefits the customer - that I think is exactly the point this article is making. New technology - great stuff - we love to play with it. Innovators and early adopters often spend small fortunes on technology that quite frankly looks good, suggests fantastic functionality but doesn’t deliver. Why? Because usually its designed by engineers for engineers. You might have noticed that most people aren’t that technical.
The effort has to be focused around marketing and design. Products need to be developed for the customer, they have to be simple to understand and most importantly simple to use, and in Europe (although apparently not the US) they need to be aesthetically pleasing (probably should say something about an aspirational tone as well but then its getting into marketing speak).
Get a grip - invest in people who understand people, then talk to the engineers.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Web wizards weave their magic
Tog has been looking at how people interact with their computers and the net.
He has found a surprising number of similarities between magic and web design.
“Both are based on illusion and misdirection, making us believe something which is not real and doesn’t actually exist,” he says.
More from Nielsen Norman Group (is there a conference going on I wonder?) There is nothing particularly deep here only the key point that keep it simple to the user and hide the complexity, after all they don’t care about the mechanics only the benefit (just like me and cars really )
Sometimes, as I have said before, people in technology forget that important principle - customers are interested in how clever you as a developer, designer are , they just want to understand how to carry out the task and get on with it.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Technology to make you go ‘wow’
“Wow!” I exclaim, smiling.
“You see, that’s what I’m all about now: none of this website stuff, none of this digital stuff,” explains the man who has published extensively on design and how people use objects in their everyday lives.
“I want to make products like this fountain pen that creates such joy when you see it, and you say ‘oh wow’ and the first thing you want to do is try it.”
Beauty, pleasure and simplicity of use are what people care about now when it comes to technology, according to the design guru.
Don Norman is a very interesting character and in my humble opinion worth listening to. Is he right? Do people not want ‘digital stuff’? Quite devastating for the Broadband/Internet / Electronic industry if he is right. Or is it an opportunity to make the virtual more real? By that I mean making the intangible become more tangible by designing ‘objects’ that interact with the virtual but have the emotional appeal that Norman speaks of.
The closest I can get in my mind to this at present is something like the Philips Streamium 
or maybe the Linksys Media Adapter but they are not quite there, either aesthetically or functionally.
From the excellent Column Two:
Fubini’s Law, which goes like this:
1. People initially use technology to do what they do now - but faster.
2. Then they gradually begin to use technology to do new things.
3. The new things change life-styles and work-styles.
4. The new life-styles and work-styles change society
… and eventually change technology.
I thought this neatly summed up some of my thinking around design and markleting. The key point being that while you can develop products with certain functions or market segments in mind, people who buy the products may do something very different with them and force you to change your thinking.
I would estimate that M$ have cost me 3 days of lost productivity just over the last week with having to reinstall and then another 2 hours this morning trying to debug this fscking problem.
You better believe I will be buying a Mac next time around.
Yet another disatisfied MS customer. I know for a long time that MS have been up against the firing line, after all they are the dominant player in the market with limited (despite all the fuss about Linux and Macs) competition. The recent viruses with the obvious focus on MSBlaster, have done them no favours. I know that ntl’s technical call centre has been in melt down with customers who were not aware of needing to patch their computer (or Firewalls or Anitvirus software for that matter).
While I understand the reent change in approach at MS to focus on secuirty, it does feel too little too late. I wonder whether future products will start to address this public concern properly?
Postcards from the Bleeding Edge
Wonderfully funny story posted by Mike on Postcards. A serious point is the one of over complication in the marketing / design /product development arena. It reminds me of the Swiss Army pen knife approach to products rather than designing a product to suit its function. (Perhaps Jack of All trades and Master of none). It is also a striking difference between consumer electronics and PC manufacturers. One approaches things from the idea that lets make it as easy as possible but we know this has a short shelf life and we’ll bring out a new model soon, to make it do everything, make it complicated and sell it on numbers not on what it does or how to use it!
Really must read Don Norman’s The Invisible Computer
BBC NEWS | Technology | Games suffer from ‘geek stereotype’
“Games are still too difficult for a mass audience,” she told the Game Developers Conference, held at London’s Earls Court last week. “People don’t focus on gameplay. Instead they make a beautiful game that is no fun.”
One of the main obstacles was the complicated controls of many of today’s games, as well as tough levels which left many players frustrated.
“You want a game that is challenging but never frustrating,” said Ms Fryer.
She urged game makers to come up with titles that would appeal to a hardcore 15-year-old gamer as well as someone older who just wants to have fun.
Absolutely. The figures point to gaming being a mass market phenomena and revenues rising, people are spending more and enjoy the experience but gaming needs to broaden its appeal.
Sony’s Eye Toy for the PS2 is a big step in the right direction. A brillaint idea, with simple, annoyingly addictive games for everyone to play. They may not have the beauty or the depth of something like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City or Halo but my 6 year old can play, even my 2 year old can play and know (roughly) what they are doing, and moe importantly compete against me and their grand parents.
If you have a PS2, I wholehearted recommend the Eye Toy - buy it now!
UIE: Field Studies: The Best Tool to Discover User Needs
“The most valuable asset of a successful design team is the information they have about their users. When teams have the right information, the job of designing a powerful, intuitive, easy-to-use interface becomes tremendously easier. When they don’t, every little design decision becomes a struggle. While techniques, such as focus groups, usability tests, and surveys, can lead to valuable insights, the most powerful tool in the toolbox is the ‘field study’. Field studies get the team immersed in the environment of their users and allow them to observe critical details for which there is no other way of discovering.”
Some very powerful points here. How can you know how your customer (the user) behaves and hope to deliver to them the best product unless you get a better understanding of how they interact with it ‘in the field’. In the context where it is designed to be used.
Although it is extremely important to get customer feedback, in whatever form , it doesn’t substitue from seeing your product being used, abused,broken and applied in ways you would never had dreamed. Go do some field work! I’ll be joining you just as soon as I’m let out.
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