CollectiveLab

Cherry Picker UI

I've had this image of the Cherry-Picker Operation Interface in my phone for a while.  Although graphically it's a bit inelegant (arrows too large, too contrasted from the white outline) it definitely provides a clear illustration of how to operate each distinct element of the device. 

I appreciated the simple premise that you overlay the functionality against the subject itself.  The Table of Contents page from Allure provides this handy little "widget," which operates on a similar principle.  And the most successful web interfaces do this as well.  

Vending Machine UI Gaffe

Although I was initially attracted to the sudden appearance of a tantalizing new option in our brand spanking new vending machine, I quickly noticed a funny little UI gaffe.

Super handy braille on the keypad, but no way for a blind person to know what number sequence corresponds with which selection, right?

The only scenario this would work for is if a colleague was nice enough to read off the options to you, but then didn't quite have the extra couple seconds to stick around and key-in the corresponding code.  Otherwise this is basically torture to a snack-hungry seeing-impaired person. 

(Not Quite) Unboxing Porn

 It appears that I'm the only one who was super curious when the Tuna Salad Kit showed up in our vending machine.  Co-workers were surprised at how thrilled I was.  I gathered together $2.00 in mixed change and went to town. 

I liked the cross branding, that Hellmann's was in the box along with Bumble Bee.  I liked my little plastic mini spoon, a real "kit" indeed.  I had hoped that I could mix the mayo into the can, but no, it's a regular can of tunafish, filled to the brim, so basically you're only option is to spread the mayo onto a cracker and pile tunafish onto that.

Which means that sometimes it falls off and goes onto your desk, and the spoon-device is useless in picking that up, so your fingers have to get involved.  I was very careful, but one cracker broker in half.  If you don't eat them quickly they get soggy.  That's gnarly.

Office smelled bonkers when I was done.  My hands too. Food advertised as a "kit" (that includes canned fish) served out of a box from a vending machine is ultimately a pretty wretched experience.  As if you didn't already know. 

Will You Ever Share Your Purchases or Location through Facebook?

Mashable posted this question on their Facebook Page and the response was a resounding "Hell No."  Going through the comments I counted the following somewhat surprising results:

I've found the commenters (commentators?) on Mashable's Facebook postings to be a fairly inane bunch, but I don't mind having a back-of-the-envelope view of their sentiment.  And, given my relatively low opinion of the quality of their responses, this is my deduction: basically the idea of "Share" needs to be caveated (again, not a word).

1. Would I share purchases to my network of friends? 

My Answer: It Depends (which in this case I think equates with "sometimes")

If I just bought a book that makes me seem smart or clever, why the hell not?  I've seen people proudly announce purchases quite frequently.

2. Would I share purchases to BRAND PAGES that I already LIKE (ie., I'm already a fan of on FB)?

My Answer: It Depends

Given that I'm a fan of Ralph Lauren, would I want to let that page know that I just copped some new gear?  Fans do that a lot already, I read pages fan-comments regularly.

3. Would I share my location to BRAND PAGES that I already LIKE (ie., I'm already a fan of on FB)?

My Answer: It Depends

Fan-dom of brands is huge and growing.  Mobile / Location Aware couponing is often a brand's first foray into Location Based Services.  Foursquare is banking on that model.  Cross-channel marketing hopes to tie online purchase-intent with offline conversion.  It's projected that 50% of all offline sales will be driven by online research in 2011.  Etc.

4. Would I share my location to my network of friends? 

My Answer: Yes / It Depends

People seem to love doing this on all sorts of other services, so why not through Facebook? 

5. Would I share my location to GROUPS or EVENTS that I'm already part of on FB?

My Answer: Yes / It Depends

Groups on FB don't seem to schedule reoccurring events (I don't see a lot of DJ parties or after-work sports teams using Groups, for example), but there are lots of Invites and Bars and Bands that people "ACCEPT" or "LIKE" and I'm sure posting your location to these will make sense to some users. 

So, my conclusion is that, like their adamant rejection of UI changes to their profile pages, newsfeed features and every new bit of functionality, the FB community is not particularly adept at knowing what they'll end up using.  And maybe it's easier just to repeat "no" than sit back and think, "well, maybe, yes."

Huffpo Gets It

 

Oh look, my little mug is up on the Huffington Post. 

And it's not just placed on the article-page, where I might share or email the article.  Nor is it placed within the various right-column boxes on the homepage which contain their "Follow" links, "Social News" and "Hot on Facebook" stories - where it would be right at home.

No, they've put me above the fold, above the top nav, right next to their frikkin logo. 

In this one placement they're making a couple of healthy statements:  you are here, you are with us, we're a community made up of people, writers and readers and commenters, and you like us, and we like you, now share some of our content.