Last update

Here i am, in the final stretch, last blog im going to write and it will be simplest.
What is your favorite design on a phone? Flip, slide or open faced?

What would be the pro's and cons of it?
At this moment, i prefer the flip phones, because it reduced the amoung of phone calls that my phone does while in my pocket!!!!
its simple, small and unique. I can screen calls better and do less mess ups!

Con would be... that from the 3 flip phones ive had, they have all died! broken and something has been faulty with them...
sucks huh...

what do you guys think? would be the best phone for you? and why does it work for you?

Flaws with ITUNES!!!! it cant be?

The mighty itunes with issues,
Other than it being a huge hogger of memory on Windows machines,
it has one major flaw that has really gotten to me over time.
Look at the power search option whem buying music:

Can I search by year? NOPE!!!!!!!!

its really annoying when you want just to search by a genre and year... well its impossible on itunes....

now is this jus me?

Airline Websites

I have been trying to book a hotel and flight throught the major websites that offer them services.
All of which are the same, offer almost identical pricing, packages and everything else.
My question is:
what makes cheaptickets, travelocity, orbitz, priceline, or whatever unique from each other?

how is their competition when its all the same nonsense?
Only thing different is a color scheme...
what makes them unique?

Simplicity is amazing sometimes

I look around on a daily basis and i see nothing but interesting things that catch my eye. Most of the time its the simplest design that make me want to buy something.

For instance the sexyness and simplicity of the iPhone. It does a million things, and yet it doesnt look it. Now everyone wants one of theme phones.

Also, when the iPod nano was released, i was one of the first to buy it! loved the simplicity, loved how small it was and how powerful and useful it could be. Couldnt get over my newest toy that i had purchased.

Now that being said, what products have tons of great things but due to the poor design of it, it made it fail dramatically.

It happens with cars, systems, TVs, and basically anything that comes out in the market nowadays. The sexual appeal of something needs to be great in order to purchase a product. If its ugly first hand, something will fail. Im sure that is obvious, considering throughout the quarter we have talked about this same topic.

This is just a random rant, but i have thought over my lifetime of products that i bought that were really nice and failed because most folks thought it to be unappealing. I have always been a weird kid though...
The sega cd attachment to my sega genesis, a big flop.... due its huge design flaws. Big/monstrous cd player with defective materials... heated up and it skipped from time to time...
But i bought it!
it had some really nice games on it! I have all of the games produced on the Sega CD!!! (im a big nerd) which were aorund the teens...

Samething happened to the sega saturn, incredible system, didnt heat up as much as the playstation.
Loading time was less than the playstation...
but the remotes were heavy, obnoxious, and the system was a bit clunky and white!! over time it didnt look as attractive!
Opposed to the playstation weightless remotes, and flat design that could fit where your dvd player could fit! AMAZING!

Both systems had the same games over time, the occasional one that was unique to the system but it was pretty much the same.
One prevailed due to the nice add campaign and positive designs on the remote.

Which as a gamer, is extremly important! bad remote means folks wont buy the system.
Look at the first version of the XBOX with its montrous 70 pound remotes!!!

what items that have you grown up with that have been great to you, but since their design wasnt as great... it faltered.

Thanks for reading!
this was another rant from the man in a cubicle at this moment!

Buying a car can be difficult!

Which one is easier to buy a used car in?
autobytel.com
cars.com
carmax.com
craiglist.com

NO clue, they are a pain in the ass! Sorry for the vulgar language... but its not a pleasant experience in getting a used vehicle...

Autobytel has one main issue.
http://www.autobytel.com/content/Buy/used/index.cfm?id=4;ABTL&dontStoreVehicle=True

Can you search by a certain make? just the make and not caring about the model?
hmm... nope!
which is extremely annoying.
What if a user s looking for any toyota around the price range of 5 grand. A user may know the quality of toyota vehicles and wishes to buy any toyota.
Under the autobytel process, its more time consuming. Check model by model is truly a headache...

Cars.com on the other hand, may understand that mentality. They made their search engine run in that manner.
http://www.cars.com/go/index.jsp
im happy with it, seemed reasonable.
All the other information, well i dont read it... other than the top 10 area.
Pretty much everything else is pointless to me. Might loads of good information, but
it doesnt catch my eye.

Craiglist, well its not good, but its bad. Its just a classifieds area.
Its easier to get in contact with people to buy their respective vehicle. There is no need to get a news paper with craigslist, but you dont know which vehicle has already been sold. Since! most ads are keep for a week i think.
If a car is sold, well you have no idea.

Carmax took buying a car to another level.
Show me all of the makes, models, SHOW ME EVERYTHING!!!! type of approach. Which i appreciate.
they simply tell you this:
let me show every car in my lot!
May not the best approach, but if you do a search based on a price range lets say of 5k,
then they simply tell you this:
let me show every car under 5k!
narrowed it down, and you feel better. A user can compare makes and models, just about everything.
Isnt it lovely?
http://carmax.com/

once again, all the extra information gets overlooked though. I have yet to explore the whole website...
i dont think i will ever either. If i want a used car, well i know where to go and thats pretty much all i wanted to do.

Well, what do you folks think?
anybody search for a used car online before?

Boom or Bust

The famous Playstation website. Good or bad?
http://www.us.playstation.com/

I like it, i find the simple design to be an ease on the eyes. Opposed to the information pumped madness that most gaming websites have, this one seemed to take a little simpler.

Two large pictures with the news games that are coming out this month. Beneath the two pictures are the three different systems that they are offering at this moment. Which is the PS2, ps3 and PSP. Click on then and it will take to a dedicated page of the system chosen. From games, to accesories to everything that you need to read about a particular system. Then A HUGE image of the PS3 to get more info on the system games and any other aspect, The top left corner with menu buttons are simplistic and easy to spot, and at the very bottom the upcoming games/new games/top game/ news/ event promotions are displayed in chronological order.


I like the placement, the have placed things in order of importance.
First their new system, then their newest games, then basically some news on anything involving the playstation market.

I enjoyed it, i liked the way it looked, i found it easy to get some information, i no issues with distracting areas and hard to read sections. All in all, i found to be pleasant experience when roaming around in this website.

A joke, then a serious matter

First off look at this:

At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year, the time and date will be

02:03:04 05/06/07.

Isnt that interesting?
I thought so. This is what amuzes people when they are working in a cubicle for to long... i miss windows and sunlight!

Anyway, this week was intense with researching for a good design. It smacked me in the face when I discovered I had already several good websites to discuss on. Lately I have been looking to invest in real-estate. I have been searchin from website to website and gathering information.
Some where a whole lot better that others....
Then I realized that would be a perfect blog to write about it!
Here is what i discovered in my research for a new business.

I found that it was extremely easy to find some prices and get some information on the market on this website:
http://www.realtor.com/
It gave me a damn good idea on certain homes and areas. But nothing commercial. It gave me all sorts of details on certain houses. Estimated monthly payment, interior descriptions, pictures and if i wanted to contact a realtor to buy the home. For example :
http://homes.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?lid=1077238266&fhv=1
Interesting if I wanted to buy a home, but not for investing in property to create some good ROI.

Now, this website:
http://www.cityfeet.com/pittsburgh/
Was a little less sophisticated and pretty annoying in certain occasions. Looked like a cheap version of the previous website. But it still had some valuable information. Has great property information
For example:
http://www.cityfeet.com/CommercialRealEstateForLease/DetailedListing.aspx?PartnerPath=Pittsburgh/&UserListingId=494278

But it wasnt as friendly or well designed as the previous website. Is it because the other is aimed for families and these for any random fool with money to waste in some property?

My favorite, just because of the amount of foreclosure properties they had, was this website
http://www.realtytrac.com/freeSearch.asp?accnt=68991&StateSel=IL
but it has several pop-ups.... which were really annoying!
but for the young investor, i think it works out just fine.
Give everything you need to know to get some good property and at good price:
http://www.realtytrac.com/freePropDetails.asp?pageNum=1&propId=12053227&accnt=68991&selstatus=D

Now how does this compare to the family friendly website that i mentioned at the beginning... hmmm...
would it be the same audience? honestly not sure...
Seems reasonable to believe it. but somehow a family thats looking to invest 700k in a house would visit the first website, and a family that can only manaage to afford around 250k would look at this website.
Or even real-estate companies to destroy a building and make more condos of course.

well thats my review for the week!
thanks for reading

And for the teen audience?

I checked out MTV.com, a very popular website to check out new music, win prize and check out events, concerts among other things. Obviously this website is aimed toward the teenage crowd, then again one can been surprised by the occasion 30 yr old man or woman who loves MTV shows or something...
Which they are some scary people i might add...
Regardless, I clicked through here and there. Checked out a couple of things... and it worked out pretty well. Main page has easy access to everything, from music videos, tv shows and the thop three 3 things of the day. The menu tabs on the top work pretty well, i had no issues with loading time.
I can find certain albums with no problem, yet their selection is somewhat limited..... then again i might be looking in the wrong spot for certain types of music... but for new music it works out pretty well.

I noticed that each background for each page is different, but it is suttle and i didnt find it annoying. But then again, maybe some folk might find annoying. Or then againg they find it annoying because its the MTV website and no other reason behind it.

All in all, i think the website worked pretty for the type of audience its aiming for, i saw no major issues that would be abnoxious or would make me want go to another website with similar topics on it. If i was one of those MTV teenage kids who watch it religiously, i would be on the website on a constant basis and not be pissed about the layout, schemes or how slow it loads on my computer.

Anyway, what do you think? i know it hurts to visit such a disgusting website.... but you never know, our kids one day might enjoy this nonsense! LOL

Another Design to look at!

I thought of critiquing a website that is not know to many, but i dont see that as much fun. Unfortunately sometimes budget constraints and cheap designers create a bad website and what can you do. So what about the companies that have loads of money? can they create a well made website? can it be made so that most users can enjoy their experience on their site? or is it too hard to do even with all the money in the world? is there a perfect website that 80% of the people enjoy?
I dont know, lets look at the big guns first

First giant to look at is:

www.espn.com
A major website, that has probably thousands of visits per hour. For sports there is no other website that can compare. Shows movie clips of each sport and gives you many options to choose from.
But it is too cluttered? the changing news tab on the bottom and the highlight clips on the right, and the updated news on the top right, and on the bottom right is the online poll, and etc....
Is it consistent?
The top tabs change from link to link. If you click on boxing or NCAA basketball the top tabs change to a different style. We lose the side movie clips on certain pages, we lose the online poll on certain pages.
How about information on the not so famous sports, could you find Arena stats, film and highlights? How the new dart champion, or pool champion, swimming, or so on...
Is the search effective?
do the pop-ups annoy too much?
What about the fact the video player on the site automatically starts without you wishing it to.

Can this website be improved? it needs to provide online up to date stats and have the ability to show you all the sports in the main menu. Are all these nuisances a necessary evil?

Well in my opinion yes. As an avid sports fan, i wish to know everything thats going on. So the more readable sports that is displayed on the screen, the more i enjoy. What about a new user? would he or she feel comfortable with the loading times, since most of the website is not cached on their computer. Would they be interested enough in searching through the whole website to find a certain player?
i dont think so, to many distractions and pop-ups in the way. Then there is the constant reminder to buy the ESPN insider package. A new user would have a headache with all of this pumpin out at the screen.

what do you guys think?
Would a non-sports fan, who is interested in becoming one, would fall in love with this website?

The Hunt for Good Designs

As a software engineer, normally i didnt have to think too much about the design of a website, software or anything along those lines. Normally i would look into the functionality and plausability of the design, and at the very end of my mind would be a design.

But I decided to change my ways a bit and explore the other side of the spectrum. I want to be more flexible and be able use my skills in programming and be able to make good designs for clients.

I have researched a couple of websites and products to seek opinions. I have looked at the new XBOX 360 black machine that is being launched this year.

And i have looked at a portable video player

First the new XBOX 360 thats being launched.

Still has the same design, but now instead of a white system, its black. The remote is black and everything has changed.

Now it includes a 160 gig hard drive and it can play hd-dvds, but Everything is the same. Does this new look make it a little bit more sexier? does it make you want to buy it?

For a prospective XBOX 360 owner, of course. The idea of a system that has 160 gigs of space to watch movies & tv shows, play video games, and watch HD-DVD is a damn sexy idea.

Also the black color looks a whole lot better than the original one.

But! what is the intented client? Millions of the original white XBOX 360 with the 20 gig hard drive have already been sold.

Would people buy it? Wouldnt that make customers be careful for the next system? wouldnt they want to wait a year or so for the next improved system? why try to get the system immediately, a drastic change will be made.

Unlike the PS2 and PSOne modifications, which were minor and didnt make much of change in sales.

what do you think?

Here a link for more info:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/xbox360elite/default.htm

Check it out and tell me if its a wise idea. If the design ideas are good and attractive, if the features would make you buy the system even though you already have the original system.

For years ive looked at this gadgets and thought what a useless piece of equipement... and honestly after reading into the new ones.... well... they are still useless pieces of junk. Who needs to watch movies, on a constant basis? how about playing some sports and doing ACTIVE stuff every so often...

BUT! this time I look at it differently now. Im just going to look at the overall design of these gadgets.

The one I looked was reported by CNET as the top of the line portable movie player. So i decided to take a good look at it and see how well the design is. And of course, read the reviews to see how the people reacted to it. The gadget is named the Toshiba Gigabeat. Two versions was made, the 30 gig and the 60 gig.

High capacity for lots of movie/music storage. Which honestly sounds pretty good if you edit movies for a living and want to get a quick opinion off strangers on the street! Just upload the movie in your pvp and BAM, instant feedback from people!

Anyway Here is the link for more info on it:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Toshiba_Gigabeat_S_MES30VL_30GB_blue/4505-6499_7-31679957.html?tag=prod.txt.1

The design is very simple and nice to look at.

I like the fact that it doesnt scratch easily, also there is a constant main menu button for easier exploration and a constant back button. Also switching for landscape to portrait mode is pretty impressive and nice to play with in this gadget.

Im not sure if im too fond of the volume being in the side of the player... but then again, maybe ive gotten used to the IPOD and the multi purpose click wheel.

Other than that, the menu are straightforward and simple, a novice user can use this product without much trouble and hassles.

And advanced users can defintely use this product with no hassles whatsoever. But then again, i cant see a use for this product... maybe for the constant traveler but thats about it.

Most people who reviewed the product, loved it!!! they only had a couple of non-major issues with it. Otherwise, its flawless if you need such a gadget.

What do you guys think?

would you agree? some counterpoints? do you like this product or no?

Well, this has been the first post from my cubicle during my many hours of work

Feel free to critique and butcher all you want.

Or!!

give me a couple of new gadgets to look at and critique. I'm always interested in new technology

many thanks for reading my material

until next week!

Brian