Comments for John McRee - UXD

Comment on iPad app by EffectiveUI: ideate by John McRee

John McRee — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:38:39 +0000

I'm with you Tink. I want to see how 2010 shakes out before I lay down $500-800 on a device. I'm really curious about some of the other devices real or imagined for 2010, especially the Notion Ink Adam. I'd love to see this ported, and if I end up with some non Apple device you can bet that I'll be a very squeaky wheel around the office on the porting subject.

As far as the Adobe product, they do look similar. Ideate has a bunch of cool templates that get the user going, and I'm sure there will be more options as updates are made. I loe seeing free or cheap apps like this. Super low risk to find the one you really like to use.

Comment on iPad app by EffectiveUI: ideate by Tink

Tink — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:48:01 +0000

Looks cool, although it won't seel an iPad to me, you guys will port it to other devices right

Bit like Adobe Ideas? http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-ideas-1-0-...

Comment on About by Jon Kocen

Jon Kocen — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:31:52 +0000

Thanks for sharing, I am not a UI person but I am learning and try to keep the user's needs in mind. I work on apps that were built in a vacuum without too much user input. The users don't complain to much, but I know they would like something easier to use that is more intuitive.

Comment on Usability is NOT user experience by Debbie Stocker

Debbie Stocker — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:28:08 +0000

Love this article and your distinction between usability and user experience. I've begun noticing a real disconnect between great visual design and the design trends that are emerging and showcased in places such as Smashing Magazine and the designs that are produced in the usability field. It seems to make sense to me that there must be some way of uniting the two but they seem so disjointed at present. Your clarification of usability and user experience really hits the nail on the head!

Also, to add some more food for thought. Tractinsky, Katz & Ikar conducted some research back in 2000 with ATM machines and came to the conclusion that "What is beautiful is usable" (the title of their paper). They found that after use, users perceived an attractive interface to be both more aesthetically pleasing and more usable, whereas the degree of actual usability had no such effect. In the same way, Donald Norman, in his book 'Emotional Design', wrote about the idea that attractive things work better, because we are more engaged with them and we feel happier about using them. Obviously, we can all think of exceptions to the rule, both for attractive items that are impossible to use and ugly things that make life really easy, but it's definitely an idea to bear in mind.

For me, I see no reason why usability and user experience cannot go hand in hand, in many cases creating a win-win situation for both, where user experience in fact adds to usability, making a more pleasurable, usable experience all round.