Connecting to Real Experiences

October 30, 2007

I came across Baldwin Wallace’s Web site as I was thumbing through Step Into Design magazine at Barnes and Noble. This is another example of a trend I have seen in college Web sites.

This site is drawing you into the world of being a student at Baldwin Wallace. Jared Spool classifies this kind of content as Inukshuk content (see previous post to find out more about Inukshuk content).

One thing that got my attention is that it looks like once you are a student at this college, you are able to create an action plan online that your professors access and make recommendations based on what is in that action plan. I think this site uses Flash well to create a good user experience as you meet 4 different students and hear their stories.

A Bad Experience with Bank of America

October 17, 2007

I just received a new business credit card. As with all credit cards, you have to activate it by calling a phone number. I called the number, pressed 2 for English and then entered my card number. Then I was asked for a verification code.

What? I look through the letter that came with my card. There is nothing that says “verification code.” The instructions tell me if I do not have the code to enter my business phone number. I try that and told I am not in the system.

My colleague had just finished talking to a person so I ask him how he got to that point. He said that he just did not enter anything when asked for verification code. I decided to press “0” and I talk to a person. So after three phone calls, I finally activate my card. It would have been a whole lot nicer if I had been given better instructions on the front end and the telephone menu had told me that I could press “0.” I have learned that through experience but it still would be helpful. The phone system did not have an “escape” clearly noted (I’m learning about that in a book on interaction design).

Just another reminder of how important experience design is.

Sundance Film Festival Site Design

October 11, 2007

I came across the Sundance Film Festival site from Cameron Moll’s Premium Linkage. I liked the design of the site. There are several elements that I found interesting:

• Right navigation on the secondary pages
• Overhanging graphic on that navigation bar that indicated “you are here”
• Colored drop down boxes of links on the horizontal navigation bar. The designer uses the same color for a “stripe” that goes down the left side of the page and for the background of the secondary page right navigation
• Use of sIFR for page titles
• Color palette and “feel” of the site

My Pictures of Budapest included in Travel Guide

October 8, 2007

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by Schmap.com about a couple of my Flickr pictures. They were considering including 2 of my pictures in their third edition of their Budapest Guide but needed my approval to do it. I was excited that they liked my pictures. Several weeks after I approved it, I was informed my 2 pictures are being included in their guide.