Saturday, March 31, 2012

Rick Santorum's Anal Jihad

It looks like people from the fringes just go to the sources that reinforce their pre-conceived views. It doesn't matter if they are from the right or from the fascist left.

Having legislation that would require that political bloggers have a degree of transparency is a good thing. Anonymity is not a good thing. 

Friday, March 23, 2012

Quizno's is inconsistent and awful

The later adjective is not fair. In fact I have had a couple good sandwiches from Quizno's but my last experience was bad. Really bad.

I could not see the staff make the sandwich. Furthermore, the tongs were not cleaned between orders. In other words, they may have come in contact with cheese or other foods and contaminate an other sub.

In regards to my last order, I would usually have Guacamole with my sub, as it is included. This last time I requested it, but was charged. For 1.59$, I got about a teaspoon of Guacamole. If I would have seen the preparation, that is if the preparation table would allow customers to see, I would have contested.

I contacted the company through their website, but got no response. This is a public complaint of the quality of Quizno's.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

more complaints of trying to use an iPad

- No fixed buttons : from a design and manufacturing perspective, it makes total sense. However, not having fixed buttons for page down, back and maybe "enter" makes no sense to me.

- Although the product is generally well balanced, it may not be the best ergonomic design. It can be intuitive to hold, but not really the best when the centre of gravity is out side of the palm of your hand.

It should be fun to use out of the box. When that is exhausted, then make your way to the Apple store etc.

I bought it, I returned it in less than 72 hours. Impatient, maybe. It may really be that I had big expectations, but was really let down.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Making an instructional video

Youtube has millions of instructional videos. Some done by enthusiasts, novices, professionals, and of course, some videos have been produced by companies which provide the service for internal or commercial use.

Like any presentation, the rules of making an instructional video are simple :
  1. Tailor your message, vocabulary and tone for your audience;
  2. Tell the audience what you are going to say;
  3. Tell the audience how, in which order the message or instructions will be told;
  4. Say what you have to say;
  5. Tell them what you have just told.

Although the above instructions may sound like a video based off broken record, there is nothing wrong with repetition. There no guarantee that the more often we do something, the better we will be at it, however there are better chances that one will not stumble, or forget how something is done or said.

An instructional usually involved a certain degree of editing, as opposed to teaching a group of individuals in real-time, I nonetheless recommend ( a personal note as I am planning a video while writing this blog entry) planning how the video will be made. For example :
  • Will the video use text slides for summaries, part or product lists?
  • Will the video be recorded with or without audio?
  • How many people will be involved in the process? Does the camera need to be positioned in a fixed location ?
  • How much more information do you want to provide the audience ?
  • Should you note what could be improved ? Previous mishaps or mistakes which one may encounter ? Will such experiences discourage the audience ?
  • Should the video be modelled on another video?
  • How can the written instruction replicate, compliment or substitute parts of the video?
  • Does a photographic image provide enough clarity for a task? Would line art ( or sketches of major features ) be better suited ?

Personally, I prefer reading instructions rather than watching a video. However, I know that hearing the human voice can be insightful. A transcription of unprepared speech can be painful to read, therefore voice-over instructions should be written and rehearsed.


( This blog entry will be later update with links to suggestions on how to prepare an instructional video... )

Ease in consuming - challenge to participate

By trying to gather my thoughts on something that has been discussed at length, or from what I remember seeing on my father's bookshelves, discussed on the radio, and this very action of writing a blog, society is making more and more of a shift from one where the individual's experience is solitary rather than communal. It may be wrong for me to start with such a statement, as it is a reflection of what I experience, however no act of expression can be objective and detached from the author's experience.

There is an invitation to whoever lays eyes on this entry to make a comment, share it and so on. Comments do nuance and inform thus asking the readers and author to be open to another perspective. The same argument could be made about consumer products, whether they be ball point pens, cheese or tablet PCs. Using forums, participating in surveys and making a personal blog entry, and god-forbid using Facebook, all provide some form of publicity, feedback and data that designers, or data analysts may be able to use in future products.
We as consumers sometimes embrace what is available, complain about the way we have mishandled a product, or try impress other with what we have.

The two paragraphs above do little to summarize the differences and similarities between consuming and participating (would this entry be done in a participatory manner, editing would that opening sentence). However, the alienation from production and consumption that is lived today was the luxury of the minority of the elite, that is those who may have chosen, or have been restricted, from engaging in productive and creative activities... That is too simplified a vision - I should follow up on the lives of the aristocracy of different societies and see what was their relationship to the activities of consumption, design and participation.

Monday, March 5, 2012

(forgive me) iHate iAppleProducts

Yeah. It works, but I want to change something.

Oh, it is locked. I cannot change it without getting into really advanced command line functions. (font size for different parts of the windows or commands - I do not want to reduce my screen resolution to make the text bigger.)

No designer can think of everything. For the very least, they should consider that their users are not stupid. Apple, unfortunately, wants its users to be stupid and be satisfied with the "functionality" that they determine being sufficient.

I hate Apple products. (maybe I hate myself for trying to use one) - Individuals become iDiots.