Good Design

A great product that is exceptionally well designed?

A great product is one that leaves the user oblivious to the fact that they have just used a product as a great product will “just work”, but at the same time leaving the user with a lasting connection and feeling of warmth towards the product. The Qantas in-flight entertainment system does this through its design, customer experience and finally its relevance and emotional connection.

The Qantas in-flight entertainment system is a product that is exceptionally well designed this is due to a number of factors. Firstly, using the system itself the buttons are large and use images vs. just using text only button labels which are small and often result in a user pushing the incorrect button and having to go backwards on an already turbulent plane ride. Using images not only provides a larger surface area but also provides more context and information for the user when deciding which option to select.

The second key feature making the Qantas in-flight entertainment system exceptionally well designed is the end to end customer experience. Not only does it have the categories displayed in the most relevant order, but the entire experience working seamlessly together from in-flight shopping to providing relevant landing information allowing you to quickly change to your next connecting flight, without hassle or need for further information.

The third key feature that makes the Qantas in-flight entertainment system exceptionally well designed is the taxonomy and relevance.  By understanding who its key users are, they provide categories and enough hours of entertainment of these categories for a long haul flight. This understanding and service leaves its users feeling, that yes it is just completing a service but by proving the personalized context and relevant categories for example Bollywood sitcoms. This provides relevance and an also the emotional connection. They are not just providing the user with what they need, but what they want.

Building a great product is not a simple task as so many products and services demonstrate, as they fail to achieve this. It requires brilliant design, a great customer experience, ensuring the process is seamless, while ensuring relevance and a lasting positive emotional connection with the user.

Tips for growth from the lovely men I have met through Online dating in London

I'm not 22 anymore, "dress for where you want to be in life"  – Mr South Africa

Success isn't just luck, "work hard, get up early and achieve what you want in life."  Mr Harvard, Saatchi Man 

Ask for help, you don't have to do everything by yourself. -  “Englishman living in France”

"Focus and do less"  -  Saatchi Man

Do nothing……..mmmmm maybe one day. “Englishman living in France”

Sleep in every once in a while and recharge. Saatchi Man

Investing in New Zealand Honey is a smart move and helps with English hay fever. Mr NZ

What I learnt from them….

  • I can’t date someone who is basically looking for a mother to pick up after them. (when I want to be a mother, I will have kids)
  • I can’t date people who have an obsession with goats. (Only in London????, probably not I asked where are these apparent goats, Hampstead apparently)
  • I want to be with someone who will once in a while do brunch or drinks with my friends as well. (you don't have to drink alcohol)
  • No I don't eat dinner at 3.30 pm in the afternoon, I'm not 3 years old.
  • I can’t sit at dinner night after night in a Michelin star restaurant debating the difference in the coco bean types and the impact to the chocolate soufflé.
  • No weird stuff...... ???
  • If I don't take note of these lessons, then I contitue to meet guys who remind me of them again and again, so fail fast, learn fast and succede sooner.
  • Don't settle
  • And no I'm not that kind of girl who is just going to do what you say, good luck with that I'm sure you will find your someone, just accept that this is not me.
  • When you stop looking, then you find who you really need

Goals - making them more fun : )

One of the things I have definitely learnt in the last couple of months is that I’m not a perfect finished human funnily enough ; )

I still have a lot to grow and learn.

And that I get really excited and passionate about learning new things.

But I have also learnt that using my creative side also makes me really happy, so this year instead of just writing my goals I made them into a fun way to focus and stuck them onto my wall.

While like my brain there is just so much information flying around, I still have some constant themes that I want to make happen.

So this is my 2016 goals in a more creative way, normally they are just typed out and stuck to my wall (and this works) but hopefully making them more fun and pretty also makes me more focused to achieve them.

FinTech

Talk @ Google Campus London on FinTech

MasterCard
Using its sponsorship of golfing tournaments to test out payments and wearable technologies. This has included providing Virtual Reality (VR) experiences at these events where users are able to purchase items of interest such as shirts, golf clubs during the VR experience .

Additionally Mastercard has confirmed it will accept selfie photos and fingerprints as an alternative to passwords when verifying IDs for online payments. “92% of its test subjects preferred the new system to passwords.” And that “biometric checks had the potential to cut fraud”.

Number26
Mentioned as an inspiration by a number of UK, Fintech start-ups (companies looking to get their banking licence in 2016)
German start up bank, leveraging Master Card which allows you to open your bank account vie video identification in 8 minutes.
• Additionally send money to contacts vie text message or email.
• Users master cards network to access ATMs worldwide free of change.
• Real-time push notifications on all transactions through your bank account.

Fidor Bank
UK Fintech start up, leveraging the Master card debit cards.
• Interest based on number of Facebook Likes
• Send money to friends vie email address or mobile number.

Mondo
UK Fintech start up Alpha and Beta launches.
• Goal to become a bank in 2016.
• Honest about what didn’t work in 2015 Alpha launch, made changes based on the feedback into its 2016Beta launch.
• Integrated algorithms and emoji’s e.g. Dunkin donuts connected to the donut emoji on your online spend details, Nado’s the chicken emoji.
• When you lose or have your card stolen, your card “freezes up”  (the picture of your card in the App actually freezers over and your left with a picture of ice.)

Secco Bank
Vision for its customers to become 'data brokers' – treating their data as a currency to spend, lend and invest.
Plan to use cryptographic keys where both secco and the user's keys will be required to confirm a transaction.
Using a distributed database model, similar to blockchain, where the data of the bank is spread across
everybody's phone. So owned by everybody and nobody.

Drive now was raved about and shown as an example of great user experience and just making things work. Drive now is a hire car service similar to Zip car, which is owned by BMW. The User just taps’ there memberhips (once they have already signed up) and they can just go. No insurance or monthly fees and no petrol costs. Park anywhere within the Zone’s, where you can park a car. Fords Go Drive is a cheaper option but unlike BMWs drive now has set parking spaces.

Good Design

Last night in London I went to the screening of Design Disruptors, I tried to find another screening as I wanted to stay in, but apparently not in London.

I https://www.designdisruptors.com/ 

The points that stood out for me around design


(1) You shouldn't notice it - which is what I have always believed, that good design means you don't notice the experience. (thought from a branding or financial sense for a company you want the user or customer to remember the experience and the brand. So finding the middle ground on this one could be the sweat spot.
(2) Its a feeling, well lets hope its a good feeling then ; ) though I agree with this point as well.
(3) its a connection with a system - this sounds a little too mechanical  to me, but anyway. Technology for Technologysake drives me crazy. Technology shouldn't define the product or the solution to the problem.
(4) it just works - This I love. Very similar to to number #1.
(5) Its salving a problem


The best design and tips
(1) Is removing a feature
(2) Asks why, why and why again
(3) Have empathy for your users
(4) Facebook have 2G Tuesdays and many of the product people have switched to Android so they can feel how their users use the products

3D Printing

FabLab London

Today I had the opportunity to make the trip to Cannon street to visit FabLab London, to learn about 3D printing. So after a tour of the 3D and lazer printers. We then went online to thingiverse and looked for ideas around what we could make quickly (as this was a very quick visit) .

Then using Cura we edited our products and saved them onto an SD Card.

Using a 3D printer, we added the colour that we wanted, inserted the SD card into the machine and 12 minutes later (plus a  few minutes to cool our creations) where ready to go.

It was interesting to meet a number of London bloggers, who also introduced to me paper art and modelling, which I may have to add to my project list.

One of the students was making his own Clarinet, which might take awhile.

Additionally finding out out about this recycle project going on in London.

 

Mindfulness Colouring

The Psychology of Colour

On the 15th, 16th and 17th of January, 2016 I had the opportunity to attend Creative Retreats weekend. I got back to London feeling amazing, totally relaxed and blissfully happy.

The weekend was about walks in the lovely English countryside, dancing, Drawing, Art and Craft and I also had the opportunity to run a session on Mindful colouring in.

I have been taking Mindful Art classes and also reading a number of blogs and books on the Psychology of Colour, which I find really interesting how the colours of your environments like your bedroom, workspace or office space affect not only your creativity but also you concentration and happiness levels. So to be as efficient as possible, I’m trying to leverage this knowledge to improve not only my own but, others lives as well.  This is also useful for when your thinking about websites, logos and marketing material and even with regards to how the colours of the clothes you wear affect your mood, attitudes and actions.

Creative Retreats UK