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(image source | Sindya N. Bhanoo via The New York Times)

Remember when you didn’t have to leave your house when you were sick because your doctor made house calls? Yea, well I don’t either, but I saw it in a movie once. However, getting to a doctor is a routine part of many individuals lives, especially the elderly. Many need to have weekly tests performed to manage health conditions. Beyond the inconvenience of constantly needing to visit your doctor and adhering to their appointment hours, many who experience severe difficulties with their mobility simply cannot make these trips without help and/or more suffering. Beyond the burden on the patient, this routine visits incur financial and administrative strains on doctors and hospitals, raising health care costs and delaying service for everyone. As a solution Denmark is pioneering in “telemedicine”. The NY Times recently ran an article in regards to the evolution of electronic medical records into home medical tests. Through the use of technologies and a few computer accessories individuals can take certain exams in the privacy of their own home and electronically submit the information gathered to their physician. Prescriptions can even be electronically sent to pharmacies to be filled, and if that pharmacy delivers, well you get the point about how these technologies can be a great benefit for all. Be sure to read The New York Times article after the jump for a personal take on this emerging technology.

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(image source | COPE2 Blog)

Finnish fashion house Ivana Helsinki partnered up with Love Contemporary to jointly open a pop-up store here is NYC. Located at 238 Mulberry St. the space is billed as both a store and an art factory. Living up to the latter part of it’s title the store will be hosting the Graffiti Galore show, curated by participants COPE2 and RUBIN, this Friday. Starting at 7pm the show will feature works by COPE2, RUBIN, INDIE, SEN2, FLITE TDS, BATES, Ellis Gallagher, KONGO, LAZOO and THEMO.

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Users. Kind of an ugly euphemism for the people who depend on your product or services. It is an ambiguous term for actual individuals with whom you may have a surprisingly intimate relationship. One of interdependence and hopefully affection. In short, you need them – to buy your software, to use your service, to patronize your website.

But the relationship goes two ways. They need you, too. They need your software to help them get their work done every day. Or your website to help them get the best price on insurance. Or, in the case of one of our clients, they use it to save people’s lives. Heady stuff. And, while the term “user” is usefully generic in all sorts of situations when discussing system design, it can be the death of real goal-focused decision-making. How cleverly it hides:

• The guy who is baffled an annoyed that clicking on a product on your website adds it to the cart automatically, rather than showing him the details he needs to make an informed buying decision.
• The woman who uses your software to do one task every day and can’t stand how the button she needs is hidden under an avalanche of cascading menus.
•  The salesman who just plain hates computers and doesn’t understand why his company won’t send him his weekly reports by mail anymore.

These are people with potentially solvable problems who can be your antagonists or your evangelists.

Much digital ink has been spilled debating the appellation “user”, and this isn’t meant as a screed. It is just a friendly reminder: people aren’t using your software as a favor to you. For the time that they engage with your product they are as engaged with it as you ever are. They may not be thinking about it consciously, but every mouse-click is a commitment to use your tool to accomplish something that’s important to them. It may be because they want to, it may be because the IT guy at work insists on it, but either way you have created a cog in the wheel of their day.

So, let’s find out who they are. They’re names, their needs. Let’s find out how they do their jobs (and how they wish they could) so that we are empowering them to do excellent work. Or let’s simply get the tools out of their way so that they can get their information and move on to the things that are more important to them. They’ll thank you for it. Or not. But some percentage will act out their gratitude by buying your products or recommending your services. Or wanting to join your team to help make your products even better.  We see it happening all the time.

 Your users are your people. And, speaking from experience, they are waiting for someone to engage with them, to watch them work and understand their challenges. It is simple enough to find out what they need.

 Let’s learn their names. And then let’s delight them. 

Adam Lerner is an Information Architect and User Experience Designer. He has been on the ASD Labs team since 2008. 

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(image source | gestalten)

Referred to as “war paint” (think Mel Gibson in Braveheart) racing cars of the 1970’s were decorated in an array of colors and complex graphic patterns. Author Sven Völker dives into the graphic design behind these machines in the book “Go Faster: The Graphic Design of Racing Cars“, a first of it’s kind to focus on the creative element of race cars. In addition to the book, Sven Völker also brings us into this world of driving Skittles in a short film available on gestalten.com.

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(image source | Geek and Hype)

(image source | Geek and Hype)

Unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show, the Porsche 918 Spyder is not only a high-performance, sexy sports car, but a planet loving hybrid too - so suck it hippies! Click here for the official Porsche press release and be sure to check out this video for the behind the story behind the making of this dream machine.

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(image source | The Marketplace Gallery)

Albany’s The Marketplace Gallery is showcasing works by the always amazing CAKE, along with RADICAL! and Travis W Simon. The show opens tomorrow evening and runs only through Sunday, so you better move fast if you want to see this show before it disappears like a NY governor.

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