From Usability Engineering to Experience Design
A few days ago, while reading a book on a traditional user-centered design (UCD) methodology I caught myself thinking: “This is sooo engineering!.” It was solid UCD, but it felt old fashion. It made me realize how radically my concept of usability has changed in just a few years. It made me also realize that if many people in web and software design have pushed new ideas and evolved, the traditional view of usability and interface design is still very much alive.
Ghana beats Czech Republic 2-0, Italy and USA tie
I love when the underdog wins. It upsets the boring course of reality and makes the future so much more interesting. Surprise is an exciting feeling.
Ghana played a true team game and the Czechs never quite recovered from the surprise of the first goal. What can I say, I love soccer.
On the other hand, I almost had a heart attack watching the USA-Italy match. I could not decide who to root for and I got what I deserved: a tie. In addition to be too nervewracking (I freaked out every time the ball went too close to either net), it was a gruesome game that included a lot of physical contact, blood, and a referee from hell who ejected 3 players.
Even though the Italian team wore blue jerseys and I can’t resist that hue of blue, their performance was truly disappointing: they were not able to score in 10 against 9 and their game was just so-so. There is little doubt that the moral victory goes to the USA team.
What I know for sure, though, is that I am never going to watch a Italy-USA match again. I swear.
Technorati Tags: World Cup, Ghana, Czech Republic, soccer, Italy, USA
The chronicles of bad experience: Verizon and Symantec
Everybody knows that bloggers like to bash companies that have displeased them. We do it because we feel angry and betrayed and want to get back at them. We also do it because we want to save others from unpleasant experiences and avoidable frustrations. Today it’s my turn to rant: let’s talk about Verizon’s greed and Symantec’s pitiful and misleading customer service. Fasten your seat belts.
World Cup fever and the beauty of scarcity
In Italy, professional sports are played once a week, with few exceptions. Among the sports, soccer is The Game. On Sundays, people watch the game. The rest of the week they talk about the game, argue about the game, read about the game, fantasize about the game, and plan for the next one.
Each soccer game lasts 90 minutes (with a few, rare, exceptions). Forty-five minutes of uninterrupted bliss, nothing to break the totally focused attention on the 22 players and the white-and-black leather ball. Fifteen minutes of half-time for the commercials and to check what’s going on with the other teams, then other forty-five minutes of game. That’s it. A blink of an eye and it’s over, and all you can do is waiting until next Sunday.
No fear of flying Southwest
According to Wikipedia, the 35-year old Southwest Airlines is the third larger airline in the world for passenger carried. Fortune magazine defined Southwest "the most successful airline in history." Yet, I didn’t understand what a big deal Southwest was until I flew with them for the first time.
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