User Experience and Interiors

When people walk into an office, they consume the space contrastingly differently from the way architects/ interior designers understand it.

I asked a couple of interior designers / architects to design our office space. Here is what I went through:

-  Some looked at the space and said ‘its Lilliputian’ – we can accommodate 8 work stations.

-  Some did not apprehend the concept of open office with no cabins (They thought an office is unpolished without cabins!!).


-  One interior designer said that he needs to break the ceiling because the current ceiling does not give enough light.

When I was tired of their advices, the User Experience designer in me thought of taking the onus of design on me.

What we now have is an office with 22 work stations with no cabins (except mine ;)). We did not break the ceiling for lighting because our office has natural light which everyone loves. 


Here is some assimilation from this:-         

-  Cramped space..Is it? Yes, it is..It may be a bit tight but everyone snugs and works together. It has led to camaraderie since they are always there for each other and not fortified by dividers.

-  People love natural light. They don’t feel weary like they would in a dingy room lit by tube lights. They look out and feel that there is so much more in office to just DARN COMPUTERS!!

-     No one is a boss since there are no cabins. Everyone respects everyone like they agreeably should.

-  I maintained the mirrors on walls. It’s entertaining to watch people walk into office and look at themselves (and redo their hairstyle). It also helps in turning a gloomy face into a smile since everyone wants to look good at all times.

-  There is glass everywhere which does not mean ‘YOU ARE BEING WATCHED’. It in turn means ‘I AM BEING WATCHED!!’

We all duck into this space when we need to get-away.

Tip for Interior designers – It’s not always what the ergonomics says, sometimes it’s what the users want!!!

A special invitation for all of you who like what you have just read, please come by..

Our office

http://www.shoogleit.com/1865-0_Techved-Consulting-Pvt-Ltd

Fashion and Facebook...eeh

Watching Ftv is always amusing. They dish out the hip and avant garde in fashion. Its doubly interesting to see same patters and styles being donned by people in parties and later in the neighbourhood. Its an anticipated progression of fashion into society. It starts from the designers who present their designs on ramps to be copied by tailors in masses.
I sometimes wonder why this trend has not taken off on web portals. Web portals like Facebook which claims to have 800 million active users does not seem to be accomplishing any trend in fashion of web portals. Facebook is a web portal that has features added every fortnight with no design for the chic and swanky. It would be fun to see facebook giving out fashionable templates which I can don on my page and brag - A 'Versace Page' perhaps and I may pay facebook for the template and for increasing my onlne social status and more importantly for letting the Punjabi in me feel blissful with social accolade. 

Sue your Clients!!

There are two kinds of clients –

- Clients who pay

- Clients who do not pay

We have through myriad experiences learnt to deal with both. In my opinion, clients who pay are irksome when compared to clients who do not pay. Surprised, are you!! Well, this is how it goes.

When you approach a client (or a client approaches you), he expects that you would create everything for him – Web strategy to graphics to development. However, when you get talking and enumerate price for doing everything, he suddenly flinches and wants to trim the scope of work on paper (subconsciously, he still knows that he has to get all of it accomplished from YOU).

Then it comes to collecting advance which he happily gives away. You slog and slog till the deliverable date. Now, the client who is serious about paying will ignore your slogging and gesture to say that he is not satisfied. Well, he is paying and you better sharpen your skills and improve your work. You slog again to satisfy him. You keep slogging till he is satisfied and pays you!!

Now lets peek into the scenario where the client does not pay. He has no intention of paying and would say that I do not like your work and will not pay for it. Easy, he is out of door and you are back in office. No more slogging for him. You know he would not pay and that is the termination of the story. Well, you can sue him if you want to but you are still a jubilant man since work with this client is over and you can spend your time transacting with another client.

Workshop - Conducting Successful Usability Test

Would you like to have lifetime access to the most groundbreaking thinking in the world of Experience Design?

Workshop Description:

Usability testing is a powerful tool. It guides the design of products. It informs us on the behaviors and expectations of users. And, it gives teams a way to measure how close they are to achieving their goals.

Most companies, universities, and government agencies are regularly conducting usability tests. But many clients tell us they need help. Every week we hear questions like these: Are we getting the most out of every test? Are we as prepared as we should be? Is our design team receiving the information they need from the test results? How many users should we test?

To get the most out of every usability test and make the biggest impact on your designs, here’s your opportunity to learn the essential fundamentals of usability testing. Techved Design's Neha Modgil has put together a fabulous Workshop designed explicitly to share the basics of usability testing. As one of the premier usability experts in the field, Neha Modgil has helped dozens of companies and agencies bring usability testing into their processes. If you're just starting out with usability tests, you'll learn insightful tips and effective techniques from her years of experience.

In this session, you'll learn:

§ How to set up your usability testing lab, including an overview of User Interface Engineering's typical test set-up

§ How to recruit the right users to get the most accurate test results

§ How many users are really necessary for a usability test

§ The basics of task design, including the different types of tasks: verb-based tasks, scavenger hunt tasks, and interview-based tasks

§ How to become a better facilitator including how to communicate with the users and the test observers

§ How to collect the test results and evaluate what makes an effective report

§ The fundamentals of remote usability testing

Who Should Attend

This is a wonderful usability testing refresher. It's perfect for product managers, designers, engineers, and technical writers who are just starting out with usability tests. Or, if you have already conducted some tests but want to share this information with your team, this Work Shop is a great way to get your colleagues onboard.

Date and Time:

8 January

10:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Venue :- The Mirador,
131 B New Link Road,
Opp. Solitare Corporate Park,
Chakala, Andheri (E)
Mumabai 400 099

Workshop fees**: Rs. 5000 for corporate registrations.

** Bulk Registration: Registrations will get discount on Registration fees.

Workshop Registration
For workshop registration, you can call at:

Hand phone: 9768885552

Landline: 022 40163004

You can also write to us at:

Email:- info@techved.com / saurabh@techved.com

User Engagement Design

‘User Engagement Design’ is the ability in Design to engage and occupy users on your website. The users should be able to discover and grasp the website and its

features as he browses along. Every time he stops by your website, he should

find something significant and should want to come back and explore more.

As the Business owner of your website, you undoubtedly want to augment ‘Unique Visits’ to your website (and thanks to SEO, SEM and other marketing efforts, users do end up reaching your website). The key now is in retaining them and engaging them so that they go back delighted and return awaiting.

The aim of a designer should be to progress users of the website in the following order (Ref – ‘Designing for the Social Web – Josh Porter’)

Some tips that can help in better User Experience Design of your Website:

1. List down User’s ‘Intent and Primary action’ on any landing page. Also create a list of tasks aligned with his Primary action on that page. Present access points into these related tasks.
   Eg. When user is browsing through ‘Services’ section of your website, pictures of the work that you have done and client feedback on those services may appeal to him. Provide access points to these.

2. Understand features / functionalities that your user would require for the ‘Primary task’ completion on any page and provide Action buttons for that task. (highlighted, if you can).
   Eg. I have come across a few job portals that do not have ‘Apply’ button on the ‘Job Search Results Page’. Website forces the user to read job details and then Apply!!

3. User may have abandoned your website while he was in middle of a task (eg Creating Profile). Remember the task where your users left your website. Prompt him on Emails that he has an incomplete task. Also, when he returns on your website, display the incomplete task first.

4. Keep innovating and providing something new for your Returning users and give them the ‘cheese’ to keep coming back. Remember to notify them on Email about the au courant features that you have introduced.

5. No points for this – Provide a graphically amiable page for your target audience. (Does not mean a razzle-dazzle page!!)

6. Provide an experience to the user that delights him and he wants to delve deeper.

How does good ‘User Engagement Design’ help:

1. Good ‘User Engagement Design’ results in higher number of page visits and extension in time spent on your online product. (which also means higher Alexa rating J)

2. It increases the ‘Repeat User’ visits to your website.

3. It also increases loyalty, integrity (adherence) to your brand and website.

4. Users complete more tasks than they would have otherwise completed.

5. Users talk about it and help in viral-ity of the product. There is hence, ‘Social Marketing’ of your website.

Lets look at a good example of ‘User Engagement Design’ on Linkedin -

I run my own company and barely have time to browse through websites. I would at no time anticipate and go to Linkedin to check the number of people waiting to associate (connect) with me. Hence, when Linkedin sent me the ‘Connection Request’ in my mailbox, it helped.

I may not recognize the invitee by his name OR I may not even know him. Linkedin realized this and on opening the mail message, LinkedIn told me how I could be associated to him (of course

based on what he chose when sending the invitation to me).

They now prompt me with an action button of ‘Accept’ which is a smart hook to get traffic to the website.

They also understand that I may want to read if there is any personalized message for me and thus the action of ‘View Invitation from..’ has been provided.

When I accept the invitation, Linkedin shows me other pending invitations. I may have seen these in my mailbox but may not have had the time to accept them then. Later, I may have forgotten about them. Hence, great idea to show them here. Also, since I have accepted one invitation, I may have time to spare and accept more. Hence, super idea to show them now.

On the same page, Linkedin also shows me (based on some back end algo logic) people I may know. Now Linked has pulled me into some action and enticed me to discover and browse further. Notice how they keep the page simple and do not show me anything more

When I get awed by the fact that I know someone in the suggested list and send him an invitation, it throws a list of more people that I may know. Well, now they have got me completely immersed in finding old / new contacts.

Wow, I enjoyed the Experience since all the actions I was meant to do on that page were clearly defined and I was not distracted with any other information.

What benefits did Linkedin derive from this Task Flow:

• It helped in increase my Network on Linkedin and hence assured that I go back to Linkedin whenever I need any assistance from anyone in my Network.

• They increased their metrics of ‘Average people in each Network’.

• They also increased their metrics of ‘Invitations Sent’ by every individual and ‘Invitations Sent’ that month

• On a subtle level, they increased the invitee’s motivation to send more invites.

Job Posting - Flash Programmer

Job Posting for flash Programmer

Location: Mumbai

Employment Type: Full TIme / Freelance

Work Experience: at least 2 years

Position Requirement:
- Should be proficient in flash, actionscript, as2, as3, javascript, css, animation and Object-orient code practices.
- Strong background of Flash animation techniques using both timeline and programmatic animation
- Ability to take/provide creative direction and work independently and proactively

What you will be doing:
- Develop engaging, interactive rich-media ad units for world-class brand campaigns
- Write clean, reusable, and scalable ActionScript code
- Work closely with a creative director to collaboratively come up with concepts and execute those concepts using Flash
- Adhere to time-sensitive deadlines and remain responsive and reactive from concept to launch.

Interested? Please leave a comment here with your contact details or give me a buzz at 9967621912.

Office - Hangout party

Who - TVDians in Mumbai

When - Last month when we were all tired of working and just wanted to break free

Occasion - One of the many to celebrate. I guess we were out to celebrate the heat wave in Mumbai

Where - Phoenix Mall, Mumbai

Posting some pics. Many more such occasions and pics to come. Cheers Techved Design!!!

haha!! thats me.

Before drinks!!

After drinks!!

The talented ones

Me and Shiv (my son)

Looking for a satiating Italian dish

Devesh in action

The delightful Nachos in creame'

Cocktails and Mocktails!