The Design Critique podcast celebrates its tenth anniversary! While others have podfaded, we have persevered. In this anniversary episode, show co-founder Tom Brinck returns to discuss the customer experience of Starbucks coffee shops with Tim Keirnan. Tom is the power user and Tim is the newbie. Two very different perspectives. This anniversary episode's album art features a cake with a Star Wars action figure on it, as befits any ten-year-old's birthday cake. And you must admit it's cool to ha...
Jul 09, 2015•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this first audio editorial episode, Tim relates how he rediscovered the advantages of small electronics devices over their larger-screened brothers. Thanks to Dad for inspiring this one. Besides mobile phones, cars are another example of a product range that used to punish customers who wanted a small size by not allowing superior materials or features in them. Thankfully for small car fans, it's getting better. Smart companies recognize that small size product buyers actually have two catego...
Jun 13, 2015•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hi everyone, this is a reminder that Internet User Experience is coming back to Ann Arbor, Michigan this June. Also, we have email falling out of the previous episode about the Beluga Razor design. Visit the IUE2015 website at http://www.iueconference.com/
May 18, 2015•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Zac Wertz, inventor of the Beluga Razor, joins Tim Keirnan for an interview about the design of both the Beluga Razor prototype and the BelugaShave.com website . Across 80 minutes of uninterrupted, commercial-free conversation, Zac and Tim discuss hardware and digital designs, including * Their mutual dissatisfaction with modern cartridge razor shave quality, its high cost, and environmental problems * Their appreciation for traditional safety razor shaving * Zac's origin story for inventing the...
Mar 22, 2015•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jonathan Tilley, voiceover professional, joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion on how user experience professionals can find freelancing opportunities, either full or part time. This episode is about designing one's career instead of designing a digital or hardware experience, and closes with a discussion of how college students could use list building to find an internship or first job. Jonathan's websites are: www.leagueoflistbuilders.com and www.jonathantilley.com Audiophiles take note: As a pro...
Feb 17, 2015•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Melissa Smith returns for a special Human Factors News Desk episode that reports on the HFES 2014 annual meeting. If you missed the conference, or if you want to hear about sessions other than the ones you attended and the overal trends and themes she noticed, listen to this half hour with Melissa! Link to HFES2014 twitter hashtag: https://twitter.com/hashtag/HFES2014 We also read email from listeners Costan (about GPS unit designs) and Reed (about interactive voice response systems)....
Jan 19, 2015•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brad Jensen returns to help Tim critique the Magellan RoadMate 2230T-LM portable GPS. This completes our series on portable GPS for the car and provides a fascinating look at how three manufacturers have designed similar solutions. The strenghts of the Magellan include * Text entry is spoken by the unit to confirm input * Dynamic rerouting around traffic problems works well * Effective use of corners for touch points * 4.3 inch size is not ungainly as the 5 inch Garmin was Usability problems wit...
Sep 01, 2014•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Velasco returns to discuss the Windows Phone 8 duo from Nokia, the Lumia 520 and 521. These smart phones may be the best value in a phone ever sold to this point. The guys explain why the design, including the price point, is so attractive. Paul Thurott inspired this episode with his article here: http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/nokia-lumia-520-best-tech-deal-2013 Melissa Smith returns with the Human Factors News Desk to discuss the following: Gaspar, J. G., Neider, M. B., Crowell, J....
May 29, 2014•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Human Factors PhD student Melissa Smith joins Tim for an experiment in bringing human factors-related research to you in three short summaries. Melissa is at George Mason University and donated her time to discuss recent human factors research with Tim. Learn more about Melissa on her website at http://mabsmith.com The articles Melissa discusses are: --Beller, J., Heesen, M., & Vollrath, M. (2013). Improving the DriverAutomation Interaction An Approach Using Automation Uncertainty.Human Factors:...
Feb 11, 2014•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Robert Youmans from George Mason University joins Tim Keirnan for a wordcast episode on verbal protocols. Why and how do we ask usability research participants to think aloud about their task performance, and what does using this method do to our data? Dr. Youmans covers four different methods of thinking aloud: 1. Concurrent Verbal Protocol 2. Retrospective Verbal Protocol 3. Interruptive Verbal Protocol 4. Prospective Verbal Protocol The remainder of the episode covers research on how usin...
Nov 29, 2013•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Velasco joins Tim Keirnan for an episode to discuss the customer experience of two Android smart phones: the LG Motion and the Google Nexus 4 (also manufactured by LG). These two very different Android phones each have their own advantages, as do the carriers Tim used them on (MetroPCS and Solavei, respectively). LG Motion: * Small size easy to hold and put in pocket * Fast data speeds * Replaceable battery * Custom Android user interface by LG that isn't bad * Outright purchase from MetroP...
Oct 30, 2013•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus returns for a wordcast episode on the user experience profession that probes the origins of our field. Where did it come from, and how did we come to have jobs in it? And is "customer experience" a better phrase for what we do? For us, UX is about managing risk on projects by doing our trio of research, design, and testing to ensure products and services will meet business goals. And it's about taking pride in one's craft. Learn more about a foundational book on our user ...
Sep 01, 2013•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast On the 8th anniversary and 100th episode of Design Critique, Timothy Keirnan is joined by a celebratory guest who is no stranger to long-time listeners of the show. Our topic is the design of an everyday object that helps everyone reach a little higher in life: the step stool. We like how such a simple object has so many facets, features, and personas for design consideration. We'd like to thank everyone for listening the past eight years and helping us reach the milestone of episode 100. If you...
Jun 30, 2013•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast In an audio editorial, Tim asks if the supposed death of bricks 'n mortar stores at the hands of online sales is greatly exaggerated. What do you think? The article mentioned in this episode can be read in full at http://blog.intuit.com/trends/browsing-fees-a-new-retail-strategy-or-the-end-of-bricks-and-mortar/ Design Critique does not accept advertising, but the following merchants deserve honorable mention due to their bricks and mortar customer service: Averill Racing Stuff, Inc. (customer ed...
May 12, 2013•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brad Jensen and Tim Keirnan present a longitudinal review of the Garmin Nuvi 50 portable GPS. What does it do well, and how could its interaction design and interface design be improved? An earlier episode of Design Critique reviewed a TomTom portable GPS and you might want to go back and hear that along with this episode. http://designcritique.net/dc86-longitudinal-review-tom-tom-xl335tm-portable-gps Both TomTom and Garmin solve the navigation problem for their customers in ways that are both f...
Mar 31, 2013•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast The first in a series of Bad Button Labels We Have Known. Brad Jensen joins Tim Keirnan to discuss the Chaos button on his father's new microwave oven. Why do companies allow such dreadful UI labels? Mr. Jensen's microwave is the first of many terrible examples we plan to cover on occasion in future episodes. Desiree Scales has a website called Online Website Degree where students, teachers, and potential returning students can learn about the interrelated fields of web design. Lots of free info...
Feb 24, 2013•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Caitlin Potts discusses using using site maps as website design tools. You can have her Omnigraffle template for free at the following link: http://michichi.org/helping-sitemaps-get-their-groove-back/ Note: Caitlin based this episode off a presentation she gave the Michigan chapter of ACM-SIGCHI in December 2012, called "Helping Site Maps Get Their Groove Back". Thanks to MichiCHI for a great holiday event and speaker. You can find Michigan Chi at www.michichi.org . Caitlin Potts is a User Exper...
Jan 27, 2013•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast A heartwarming holiday tale of good customer service after the sale. Nokia politely and efficiently repaired Tim's Lumia 710 Windows Phone, using a combination of good website design, excellent customer service desk people, and a "do it right the first time" service department. Companies that care about their customers will save the brand's relationship with the customer when something goes awry. In particular, Nokia did three things to keep Tim's loyalty to the brand when disaster struck: 1. Ef...
Dec 21, 2012•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Even when the initial user experience of a product is good, the total customer experience suffers when a company ignores service after the sale. We at Design Critique argue that service after the sale IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A PRODUCT'S DESIGN because it directly affects the customer experience. Only bad companies isolate product design from customer service design. In Tim's case, T-Mobile destroyed a loyal, 8-year customer relationship for its monthly prepaid service by * Refusing to help replac...
Nov 21, 2012•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tobby Smith returns to help Tim provide a longitudinal review of Nokia's Lumia 710 Windows phone. After over eight months of use, the Lumia 710 proved itself a terrific value in smart phone quality, including * Convenient, portable size with grippy back cover that can be switched with other colors to personalize the phone * Hardware buttons for the three standard Windows Phone buttons, instead of the soft buttons so often found on other models. We find dedicated hardware buttons much more usable...
Nov 05, 2012•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listener Costan Boiangiu rejoins the show for a wordcast on haptic feedback in product design. What is it, how is it used currently in product designs, and how could it be used? We discuss designs that have haptic feedback innately as well as designs where the haptics have been added. Thanks for Tim's coworker, Gary, for suggesting this topic for the show. Check out Costan's automotive design blog at http://www.drivingroom.com And remember to visit Haptics-e: The Electronic Journal of Haptics Re...
Oct 21, 2012•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast "From Information Architecture to Ambient Findability to Intertwingularity: An Inspiring Conversation with Peter Morville" Recorded June 18th, 2012 at IUE2012. Peter Morville (above, left), best known as a founding father of information architecture, co-authored the profession's best-selling book, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web . That was 1998. Since then, Peter continues to be a prolific author, practitioner, and thought leader for our industry and profession amidst this ever-e...
Sep 13, 2012•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tobby Smith joins Tim Keirnan for a longitudinal review of the Windows Phone 7.5 mobile operating system. Both guys have been using it on Nokia Lumia 710 handsets since last winter and are ready to explain why they enjoy the Windows Phone customer experience, as well as complain about the negative points which they hope Microsoft will fix in the upcoming Windows Phone 8. Tobby is a long-time veteran of smart phone use, while Tim is new to smart phones, so both ends of the user continuum are incl...
Sep 01, 2012•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast A very special mailbag episode in which * Internet User Experience 2012 is promoted. Check it out at www.iue2012.com * Costan refers us to a terrific article on Airbus airliner cockpit interface design. Read it at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/9231855/Air-France-Flight-447-Damn-it-were-going-to-crash.html * An anonymous listener complains about Tim's articulation. When is enunciating for intelligibility a problem, if ever? Do listeners speaking English as a second language appreciate cle...
Jul 12, 2012•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listener Lynn Leitte joins Tim for a discussion on how a fad of low-contrast visual design is hurting readability of text and usability of interface elements. What say you? Episode was recorded in late April but for a plethora of reasons is only available now.
May 29, 2012•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dana Chisnell from Usability Works discusses her latest project, Field Guides for Ensuring Voter Intent. This Kickstarter crowd-source funded project will design, write, publish, and distribute concise design guidelines for usable ballot design to public servants around the United States. And, eventually, beyond. Learn and contribute (up until April 14th) to the project at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/civicdesigning/field-guides-to-ensuring-voter-intent Read Dana's thoughts on civic desig...
Apr 03, 2012•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast The GoldStar MA6511W microwave oven is a triumph of kitchen appliance interaction design. Featuring only two mechanical controls that are all too rare in an age of overly-complex digital designs, the MA6511W deserves as much praise as can be put into this 16 minute episode. The adjective "intuitive" is often over-used, but it applies to this small microwave oven. Microwaves are functionally simple devices often made difficult to use by manufacturers who put frivolous features and buttons on some...
Mar 31, 2012•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listener Costan Boiangiu joins the show with comments on episode DC84, The State of the Internet User Experience 2011 panel session from Internet User Experience 2011. Costan shares his ideas on * The lack of usable bookmark titles on etail product pages * Some websites' frustrating lack of consistent overall navigation * Some websites' not revealing their national identity up front, especially if it's an etail site You can find Costan at his photography site here: www.costanimagelab.com and his...
Feb 24, 2012•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Attack of the Pointless Modal Confirmations" Tim critiques almost two years of experience with the TomTomXL335TM portable GPS in a longitudinal review plagued by a ragged voice from a nasty January filled with mishaps, and a mental wooziness that we hope isn't too obvious. But food poisonings, auto wrecks, and seasonal colds cannot prevent the fact that the XL335 is a GPS that has terrific voices which sound wonderful, but unreliable software and horrid modal confirmation abuses throughout. Jus...
Jan 31, 2012•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast A new Design Critique episode type is born. When someone sends feedback on an episode, they may be asked to come on the show and discuss what they had to say. That's how Eric Gauvin from the USA got roped into doing an episode with Tim regarding Eric's email comments on episode DC84, The State of the Internet User Experience 2011 panel . Thanks to Eric for making time to talk with me. And season's greetings, everyone!...
Dec 14, 2011•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
