Pat’s Point of View

Introducing “Chick Flix Shortcut”. Guys, no longer do you have to watch chick movies to earn points with the ladies, just visit this website and get the key points you need to know:

• what soft-as-mush, pretty boy is the star?
• should you have cried at the end?
• should you have been affected at a fundamental level (eg volunteered for a kids charity, saved a sea kitten, hugged a tree, joined Greenpeace)
• was that, like, the best kiss or what?!
• who’s the new McSteamy?

You’ll know exactly which films to mention to come across all metrosexual and sensitive. And if you’ve used the “you complete me” line already and you need more ammunition, ChickFlixShortcut is just what you need.

Don’t waste 3 weeks watching The Curious Case of whatever the hell it was called…something about buttons?, just consult ChickFlixShortcut.com and you’re all set. Here’s what some of our members had to say:

“Thanks ChickFlixShortcut, my girlfriend thought I was such a nice guy”

“The tips about making yourself cry were genius! Put that shit on YouTube, please!”

“A bunch of roses: $70. A rental DVD: $6. Never having to watch another click flick again: priceless!”

“Even if you fall asleep, you can just recite the CFS ‘memorable quotes’ and she’ll never know the difference!”

Other features include wiki-style collaboration to produce a useful yet as concise as humanly possible synopsis of every film (at last, a valuable use for web 2.0!). For example, we’ve collectively whittled down Thelma and Louise to “two chicks, a car, Brad Pitt’s ass and a cliff”.

And of course, guys can help each other out by voting on which chick flicks give the best results. Just listen to this happy voter:

“5 stars! I got to watch football all weekend after agreeing to rent this crap movie for the missus on Friday night!”.

Best of all, you’ll get vital alerts regarding those films you should avoid at all costs. You know the ones, those which might result in a weekend full of “long walks along beaches” or worse…the “so when are we going to get married?!” conversation.

Not convinced? ChickFlixShortcut.com is not just about movies, we also have an impressive database of TV shows, ads and infomercials!:

“I looked up CFS and got the whole story arc for Grey’s Anatomy Season 5 in about 3 minutes, it was awesome! I SMS’d it to my best mate and he never has to do dishes again. Ever!”

“I scored so much after telling women how I sometimes feel like I need to reconnect too, and how a nice warm mug of Nescafe and a comfy pillow usually does the trick. Hah! I’ve never even watched that stupid f***king ad!”

“When I started on how those lying bastards who make mid-morning infomercials just lie, lie lie…it was gold!”

We’ve also taken the user generated content to an all new level, with integration with Twitter and Facebook. At the click of a button you can create an automated stream of chick-flick injected mushiness that will surpass even that big wussy from Sleepless in Seattle. (But don’t worry it’ll be completely separate from your real account that you use for the boys). Here’s a sample:

Sam_Baldwin_1234: just cried during “Bride Wars”. I need a hug! #romcom

Coming soon! ChickFlixShortcut iPhone app

Never be caught off guard again, if you’re out and about and she mentions some lame ass movie that you’ve never heard of and would probably start carving away at your wrists after the first 10 minutes, don’t worry just consult CFS on your mobile and you’ll be in like Flynn.

[no this isn't real, it's just my start-up business idea for today]

[If I were to write for The Punch, this is what I'd write about.]

As a father of one daughter, and potentially another on the way, I’m concerned about the sexualisation of our youth. Music, movies, TV and celebrities are influencing our youth much more than ever before, with sexually explicit (or at least suggestive) messages.

Take for example the work of recent pop music sensation Lady Gaga. Here’s a line from her top 40 hit “LoveGame”:

I’m educated in sex, yes
and now I want it bad, want it bad

The chorus of that same song goes:

Don’t think too much, just bust that stick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick

I’m sorry, but what a tramp! Sure you could excuse this as using sex to sell records or to distract you from her lack of talent, but when you take into account that this kind of material is being beemed straight into our kids field of view, it’s a lot more serious.

Here’s another example from Gaga’s “Poker Face”:

And baby when it’s love, if it’s not rough it isn’t fun

What message do you think this sends girls and young women?

And there’s more, other masterpieces from this tart include “I Like It Rough”, “Shake Ur Kitty” and “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”. Seriously. I don’t mean to pick on this one individual, she’s nothing unique or original, she’s following in the footsteps of The Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears etc. But this latest example is pushing the boundaries of suggestive and wandering into dangerous territory, in my opinion.

I’m no prude, if you’re into this sort of thing then I’m happy for you, but children shouldn’t be exposed to it. Whether she likes it or not Lady Gaga is a role model for young girls and they will hear these lyrics and see the slutty clothes she wears and think that this is the way they should be talking and behaving. And it’s going to get them into trouble.

Some would argue that everyone has to make up their own mind and choose to follow the lead of “celebrities”. Fair enough, but when you’re young it’s often only once it’s too late that you are able to make up your mind and choose to do the sensible thing. It makes me sick that even one young girl might get into a world of hurt because some no-talent pop star and her idiot record company think they’ll sell a ton of records by lathering on the dirty lyrics. These people are so desperate to be famous they will compromise everything, and jeopardise anyone, to get get it.

Compare this then to another current popular artist, Lilly Allen. Her lyrics are also quite explicit, but the tone is very different. Laden with sarcasm, Allen takes a swipe at modern pop culture with her own form of social commentary. Take this line from her hit single “The Fear”:

I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
Cuz everyone knows thats how you get famous
…
Life’s about film stars and less about mothers
It’s all about fast cars and passing each other
But it doesn’t matter cause I’m packing plastic
and that’s what makes my life so f***ing fantastic
…
And I am a weapon of massive consumption
and it’s not my fault its how I’m program to function

I quite like this song, because by my interpretation this is a much more positive message. It’s not ok to do whatever it takes to be famous, it’s not ok to just spend money and float through life with no purpose. The dry British sarcasm is subtle, but I think (ok, I hope) the audience can pick up on this.

Her latest single “Not Fair” is much more saucy, dealing with inequality within relationships:

There’s just one thing
that’s getting in the way
When we go up to bed
you’re just no good
Its such a shame
I look into your eyes
I want to get to know you
And then you make this noise
and its apparent it’s all over

It’s not fair
And I think you’re really mean
I think you’re really mean
I think you’re really mean
Oh you’re supposed to care
But you never make me scream
You never make me scream

Sure, it might be a bit of fun, but Miss Allen is standing up for the rights of women. The setting for the song is similar to that of Lady Gaga’s songs, young women engaging in sexual activity, but the attitudes of the two are light-years apart.

There’s no point trying to hide from the fact that young adults are going to do what young adults do, and that’s not what I’m suggesting. What I’m suggesting is that A) children shouldn’t be exposed to the same content as adults and young adults, and B) the messages we allow those in the media to send out need to be positive. For girls this means encouraging them to respect themselves and others, and to aspire to more than just buying clothes, flashing their undies and telling the boys they “want it bad”.

Let’s let kids be kids and stop those that would attempt to turn them into adults before they’re ready. I found this initiative recently, whilst reading about an unrelated topic. It’s a blog called Shaping Youth, a “forum about media and marketing’s influence on kids”, that aims to tackle the kinds of issues I raise here. I took some comfort in the knowledge that there are people out there trying to do something about the Lady Gaga’s of this world.

After quite a while comparing models and features and hunting around for a good deal, we’re now the proud owners of a Ford Territory. It’s the best car for our growing family, with 7 seats and enough room for 3 baby seats.

Our particular model is a 2007 Territory TS AWD, an ex company car with low kilometers and an excellent service record. Rory, as we have already named him, is in great condition and should see us through quite a few years before we need to change cars again. He’ll be a suitable replacement for Annie, our little Subaru we bought a few years ago.

We’ve looked at plenty of vehicles over the last 6 months or so, both new and used. When we found this one at Titan Ford in Brookvale, we knew it was the one for us, well worth the trip to take a look. After a test drive—including a delightful scenic trip along the very Territory-esque Wakehurst Parkway and through Oxford Falls—we got to bargaining and didn’t leave until we’d made a deal.

Our first trip to test out the long distance comfort, 6 speed ZF gearbox, and all wheel drive road-holding will be a trip to Canberra for UX Australia, followed by a few days up in Thredbo country.

I like analogies, metaphors and similes. They can help transfer understanding from one domain, or concept, to another. Here’s an analogy that I think helps illustrate the pros and cons of a agile software development approach, using an explanation of a popular automotive safety feature: Anti-skid Braking System (ABS).

A common misconception is that a vehicle equipped with ABS will stop more quickly than a vehicle without ABS. This is incorrect. All else being equal, when stopping in a straight line, ABS will necessarily cause the vehicle to take longer to come to a stop, because of the very nature of ABS. When the driver of a vehicle fitted with ABS applies the brakes very hard, a computer will continuously turn the brakes on and off very quickly, such that the wheels continue to turn some of the time and thus do not skid (well, not as much). The driver maintains the ability to steer whilst braking, because he or she can steer during those moments when the brakes are off. Thus you can brake very hard but still steer your way around objects, maintaining control of the vehicle.

Without ABS, when the driver brakes very hard, the wheels would stop turning, causing the wheels to “lock up” and skid, making steering impossible. This is when maximum friction occurs, and hence when the maximum braking force is in effect. So you can stop most quickly without ABS, but you won’t be able to steer and will more than likely lose control of the vehicle and crash. All things considered, it’s better to sacrifice some braking force in order to have control of the vehicle. Hence the popularity of ABS.

I see striking similarities between this and the argument over agile software development methodology. Agile will not make the project go quicker! In fact it might take longer to finish the project (but when exactly you “finish” is contentious). Just as an ABS-equipped vehicle can steer while braking, a project using an agile approach will be—as the name suggests—more agile, maintaining the ability to control the direction of travel. Collectively, the project team can adjust their aim if they have wandered off on a tangent, say for example if the product strays from meeting core objectives. By bringing forward design and iterating quite quickly, the end result of the project can be kept in focus and development can be kept on target (incidentally this is where agile can be very beneficial for UCD and vice versa). Agile allows you to not crash head-long into failure!

However, what an agile approach will not do is shorten your project. It’s annoying when people talk about “adopting agile” in order to “deliver in shorter timeframes”. They’re confusing agility and speed. As far as I’m concerned the only thing being delivered earlier are the early design prototypes. The final deliverable is not necessarily completed any quicker than with a good old fashioned waterfall approach, because during the iterations the design will evolve and some stuff won’t be used (either because it’s taking us off target or because it doesn’t work). In return for your agility, you must accept that there may be wastage or re-work caused by each iteration and that you might not finish any sooner.

What say ye?

[Photo source: DervMan]

As many of them do, this post by Seth Godin struck a chord with me, and made a lot of sense:

Is marketing an art or a science? It’s both, and that’s the problem. Some marketers are scientists. They test and measure. They do the math. They understand the impact of that spend in that market at that time with that message. They can understand the analytics and find the truth.

The other marketers are artists. They inspire and challenge and connect. These marketers are starting from scratch, creating movements, telling jokes and surprising people. Scientists aren’t good at that.

Sounds a lot like the field of user experience, doesn’t it?

You definitely have those practitioners who are more “data driven”, analytical, more “quant”. And then there are those that are at the other end of the spectrum, who use research, intuition and “qual” (by the way, I really like how Seth puts it: “inspire and challenge and connect”).

I’m tempted to say the “scientists” are bogged down in strict methodologies, rules, templates, and patterns. That they have lost sight of the forest for the methodological trees. And that the “artists” are more agile, free-thinkers who don’t follow rigid process that kills creativity and serendipity. But that’s just my bias showing, I’m not a strict process kinda guy. The truth is that you can be scientific but not suffocated by rigidity, and you can be an artist that is so fixed in the way they work they miss valuable insights.

Seth then elaborates, explaining that the problem is two-fold:

1. Outsiders are confused. Which are we? When we’re artists sometimes and scientists other times, we often seem like charlatans, because we’re associating scientific results with artistic endeavors.

2. We’re confused. If you don’t know if you’re doing a science project or an art project, you’ll probably emphasize the wrong elements.

Ok that’s two for two, from a UX point of view. I come up against the first issue on almost a daily basis, people we work with expect one approach and are confused when we turn around and propose the opposite approach—if they have any understanding of what we do at all.

For example, my colleagues are often a little amazed that I don’t turn to analytics straight away, if at all. And many of our stakeholders think UX is all about demographics and looking at which section of the website gets the most hits. When we say we’re going to “sit around and talk to people” it’s quite a shock, evidently. (On the subject of analytics, my reluctance has more to do with the ridiculous tools being used and the data being collected, rather than a philosophical opposition to the concept.)

Regarding the second point, all you have to do is monitor any relevant mailing list for a short time and you’ll run into this issue: who are we? what do we do? how do we do it? how do we “define the damn thing”?

I wrote an article a while back, attempting to give some definition to the many faces of information architecture and while the article served the intended purpose—to explain all the associated terms/titles to those who were familiar with only a few (or none) of them—it wasn’t conclusive other than concluding that the “faces” are overlapping and difficult to define. This issue of schizophrenia in our field is not going away any time soon.

Seth concludes by suggesting: “figure out what sort of marketing you’re going to do today and go do that”. Fair enough, but does it actually solve the dilemma, for marketers or UX folk? Try as we might to explain what “brand” of UX we do, it just doesn’t seem to work, does it?

Perhaps a better question is how do we balance the art and science? or how do we communicate that it is a balance of art and science?. Because it should be a balance of the two, I think. You can’t go down a wholly quantitative, scientific route and have a well rounded result, nor can you just go down the qualitative, artistic route. The scientist and artist within all of us should be grappling with each other to keep each on the level, to ensure we cover both aspects of the subject we are studying and designing for. And on a team level, we need people within the team that sit on both sides of this fence, to balance each other out.

What do you think?

Last week I took part in Full Code Press, in which the team I was part of had to design and built a website for a not-for-profit client in the space of just 24 hours, competing against a similar team from New Zealand.

It was an intriguing prospect that didn’t fail to deliver some eventful moments, as well as a lot of frenzied activity. We didn’t win but that doesn’t matter I don’t think any of us were doing it for that reason.
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Sadly, I’ve had to pull out of presenting at the inaugural UX Australia conference. My talk, entitled “Watching eyeballs: A multi-faceted case study of eyetracking in UXD”, has been getting a lot of attention and would have been quite interesting for all involved. The reason? my source of content has disappeared since I can’t make use of any projects being conducted at News Digital Media*.

My design research workshop is still going ahead though, which is great news.

* My contract ends before the conference, and thus I will no longer be an NDM employee. So there’s a little blogosphere bombshell for you, I am on the market! :)

Several months ago I talked about the enhancements I made to the Chakra Jewellery Designs website to help improve SEO, and it’s now time to examine the results of the work by checking search engine rankings again.

The table below shows the current rankings for the same keyword phrases selected before. The numbers in brackets show the previously recorded ranking.

So there is clear improvement in some areas. And the number of leads coming in from search engines on certain keywords has increased considerably.

However there are still some areas for improvement, in particularly around the “chakra crystals” phrase and anything related to locality (ie Sydney, Australia or Bondi). And the Page Rank has gone from 3 to 2, so that’s something I will have to investigate further.

It has been pointed out to me that I may have left this re-assessment a bit too long, and that I may have missed the main affect of the improvements when it was its greatest. In other words, the rankings might have improved a lot more at first, but then slipped back down to where they are now. I’m not too worried about this, if it’s indeed correct, because we’re not after short-term gains but long-term benefit.

From here, the plan is to continue to get good quality incoming links. For example, a recent piece in body+soul magazine was great, hopefully the first of many!

I’m very happy indeed to announce that my Research methods for user experience design workshop has been added to the UX Australia program (workshops held Wednesday 26th of August in Canberra).

I’ve revised key aspects of the workshop, leveraging the experiences from some recent projects as examples, and allocated a full day. I’m looking forward to this!

What’s it all about

User experience design, and user-centred design (UCD) in general, requires an understanding of users and their needs and designing with those needs in mind, balanced by factors such as business objectives and technical constraints. Without a solid understanding of these inputs into the process, design is blind.

“Design research” is the process of uncovering and understanding those needs, whether it be direct user research or other means of gathering requirements. Yet, even some experienced web designers, developers and UX practitioners don’t feel well-equipped to take on the research aspects of their projects.

In this one-day workshop, Patrick Kennedy will present the fundamentals of design research from the ‘user experience’ perspective. Specifically, the workshop will be conducted in the context of organising and designing information systems such as websites, intranets and software applications.

This workshop will introduce design research, explain the fundamental principles and teach some simple techniques. The aim is to give the audience a heads-up on the subject and point them in the right direction so they can integrate research into their own work or just better collaborate with design researchers.

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The new website for this year’s Redkite Colour Ball has just gone live. The new design was created by Enso and I stitched it onto the existing back end.

“Ultra Violet” is the theme for this year’s ball on Saturday 4th July at Harbours Edge in Darling Harbour. There’ll be a great band and celebrity MC, hosting silent auctions and all sorts of fun events. Afterwards there’s going to be an after party at The Loft.

Tickets cost $160 each and there are great discounts for groups as well as a special early bird prize. Buy a ticket, it’s a worthy cause!

Helping Redkite support children, young people and their families through cancer

You can also join the Redkite Colour Ball Facebook group and hopefully follow them on Twitter soon.