Design Critique: Products For People

Mike Velasco joins Tim Keirnan for a critique of the Milwaukee 13" Jobsite Work Box. This tool box is oriented vertically in contrast with conventional tool box designs, which provides both advantages and disadvantages. While Mike enjoys the design and uses his tool box regularly, Tim has not been as impressed despite the numerous positives of the product's design and construction. This is why we do the show! Good designs of even "simple" products like a tool box cannot always please every user; people are so different. As usual, we structure our critique around the following points: * Encounter * Decision * Purchase * Initial Impression (out of the box) * Longitudinal review You can find the tool box at Milwaukee's site here: https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Storage-Solutions/48-22-8010 Note that product photography usually involves very bright lighting, and in this case Tim was not expecting the interior to be as dark as  the product photos appeared. The photo on the Design Critique blog page is not u

Industrial designer Gene Duarte joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion about the Pod Light and the Blade Multi Light, two of Gene's designs for Mychanic. As Head of Product Development, Gene tells the story behind the designs of these two creative and usable reinterpretations of the shop light. Tim has used them successfully for ten months and explains why they serve his needs in the garage and the house so well. Well done, Mychanic You can find Gene's Pod Light and Blade MultiLight at http://mychanic.com In the photo above, the magnetic base of the Pod Light is shown with the paint-safe sticker showing. Also, note the packaging of the Pod Light with the included batteries clearly obvious.

Molly Fuller from episode 127 returns to tell us about her Indiegogo campaign to fund development of more stylish and affordable compression clothing for teens with autism and sensory disorders. Check it out at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/molly-fuller-design-clothing/x/16724313#/ and http://www.mollyfuller.design

Molly Fuller joins Tim Keirnan to discuss creating stylish clothing for teens with autism spectrum disorder or other sensory needs. Her clothing designs use compression as a form of deep pressure for comfort and relaxation. Medical clothing does not have to look “medical” and she tells us about her interest in fashion design in school, and her tying it together with her career in medical service design, including working at the famous Mayo Clinic. You can learn more about Molly and her products at http://www.mollyfuller.design Molly is "on tour" this March and April! You can see her at the following events: March 25th - 30th: National Alliance for Caregiving, San Francisco, CA April 10th: Design of Medical Devices Conference, UM Minneapolis April 14th: Fraser Walk for Autism, Mall of America, Minneapolis April 21st: Pickin for Autism, Amsterdam Bar, St. Paul

Let it snow! This episode finds Tim and guest cohost Mike Velasco talking about the customer experience of snowblowers. Or snowthrowers. Tim relates his newbie snowblower customer experience with the Toro SnowMaster 724 QXE while Mike relates his long history with snowblowers in general and his Craftsman 881730. In a world where the word "innovation" is all too often misused by advertisers and Silicon Valley snake oil salespeople, the Toro is truly innovative. The light weight, the joystick for controlling the chute, the new design for moving the snow, the nimble handling, and the accelerator in its handle are unlike anything Tim found in other brands and models. Its speed is also impressive. As mentioned in the outro, the website movingsnow.com is a terrific resource for learning about snowblowers, and thewirecutter.com also had a good review of the Toro. https://movingsnow.com/2015/2015-toro-snowmaster-724-qxe-824-qxe-picture-review/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-snow-blowers/ https://movingsnow.co

Accessibility expert Mike Elledge joins Tim Keirnan for an out-of-the-box critique of the Reizen 12-Digit Jumbo Talking Calculator. This calculator has many features that make it a good choice for people with low vision or coordination troubles, with its oversized buttons and display and its ability to speak values entered and calculated. However, Mike finds opportunities for improvement, including the typeface chosen for the buttons, the very small and distant minus symbol and other symbols put across the top of the LCD, and more. We close this episode with email from listener Costan Boiangiu.

Eric Penn and Ryan Claffey join Timothy Keirnan for a critique of the Ford FiestaST. We never pretend to be objective on Design Critique, as we are too honest. We admit our biases so you know where our opinions are coming from. In this product category, our bias is small sporty cars with less mass and great handling that let you feel what's going on. The Ford FiestaST is a hot hatchback that won our undying admiration from the first drive. Tim calls it the American MINI Cooper, and he ought to know. It's as close as we'll ever get to driving a Labrador Retriever puppy. Tim talks in detail with Eric and Ryan about their customer experiences with the FiestaST, including * Encounter * Decision * Purchase * Initial use * Longitudinal use Eric's first drive of the 7th Generation Fiesta on Belle Isle was captured for posterity. Ryan's Protege Garage is also well worth checking out.  

Syed Ibrahim joins Tim Keirnan for a critique of the Motorola MotoG4 smart phone. While the G4 was touted as an affordable, "pure, clutter-free version of Android", Tim's experience was anything but pure Android. Syed's expert Android wisdom provides a counterpoint to Tim's confusion and disappointment as the discussion ranges from the pluses and minuses of the G4 to the shortcomings of various reviews of the phone when it came out. Our conclusion is that, if the botched implementation of the G4's so-called "pure" Android experience is bad, the coverage of the phone in the traditional tech media was even more sloppy. How is one to shop effectively for a good Android phone in light of reviews like this? Syed has suggestions. Thanks to Tom Merritt for his report on Lenovo switching all its phones to "stock Android". The link to that particular episode of Daily Tech News is at http://www.dailytechnewsshow.com/dtns-3088-left-to-their-phone-devices/ and the license for distributing this excerpt, unmodified, is htt

We return to the Garmin Nuvi 2598LMTH to try Garmin's companion application for it, BaseCamp. Aravindh Baskaran is back to help Tim Keirnan try to create a customized commute route in to the office and upload the route to the GPS unit. This is a very informal usability test and Tim wanted Aravindh around because the first time Tim tried to do this, he was not successful. Aravindh has used Base Camp to create car club routes on back roads with the Windows version of BaseCamp, so he is acting as informal usability test moderator. The initial use usability problems Tim encountered were nothing compared to the design failure he found transferring the route to the Garmin GPS unit and using it. If you would like to follow along, you can download a Windows or Macintosh version of BaseCamp at Garmin's website: www.garmin.com Listener Costan Boiangiu's excellent email about the UX of GPS devices kicks off this episode, and the informal usability test critique of BaseCamp starts about 15 minutes in.

Aravindh Baskaran joins Tim Keirnan for a critique of the Garmin Nuvi 2598LMTHD. We follow our usual critique structure that includes the following: Encounter Decision Purchase Out of the Box Initial Use Longitudinal Use The Garmin 2598 is an interesting mixture of excellence and frustration. On the positive side, we found that * The map screens, both day and night versions, are very well designed. * The voice sounds terrific because it is both pleasant stylistically and cuts through the noise of the car sonically. * The device is fairly quick in its operation, including finding satellites (unless you are indoors, but why are you driving indoors?) On the negative side, we found that * The vaunted voice interface doesn't work well at all. Very frustrating. * The un-changeable and incessant alarm for school zones within a half mile of the car is extremely frustrating and can make us ignore alarms in general. * The unit occasionally freezes and no amount of pressing or tapping the screen will bring it back, f

The Subaru WRX is a legend, and life is too short not to drive legends. The "bug eye" version of this all wheel drive sporty car from 2002 and 2003 was a success worldwide but especially in the North American market where it was the first time we got this car. Later generations of the car delighted owners as well, yet the bugeye models delighted customers in a unique way that the newer cars do not duplicate for all their recent advantages. What made the bugeye WRX so attractive then and to this day? There is an analog, mechanical honesty and tautness to the 2002-2003 models, and modern versions are not as "organic" feeling. Ken Mayer and Eric Penn join Tim Keirnan for a longitudinal review of Tim's 2003 Subaru WRX. If it sounds like we recorded this episode sitting in the car, well, we did! This episode covers the following items in the following order: * The evolution of the all wheel drive niche in vehicle design and rally race history * The nature of forced induction, its pros and its cons * The superb st

2016 has been a bad year of manufacturers trying to force customers into upgrading their devices by user interface trickery. First Microsoft and their Windows 10 deceptions, and now Apple with iOS10 reminders that cannot be refused. In this episode, Tim describes Apple's failure to provide a "No" response in the iPhone's UI and the "nag screen" that repeatedly makes an offer the customer can't refuse. It's not quite as bad as the Windows 10 manipulation scheme was, but the increasing lack of respect for device owners is concerning. Tim's proposed Upgrade Bill of Rights says the following: 1. Respect the owner of the product in all ways. All update dialogs must contain a No response. The owner decides what and when to upgrade, not the manufacturer. 2. Enable the owner to control notifications of updates. Enable turning off reminders messages for specific upgrades. 3. Enable the owner to schedule reminders and updates on their own schedule. Between family support, new house projects, and other life details, t

Alvaro Vargas joins Tim Keirnan for a thorough discussion of the customer experience of eReaders, in particular the offerings from Kobo. Tim is the newbie, having recently bought a Kobo Glo HD as his first eReader, and Alvaro provides the longitudinal review of Kobo eReaders, having bought four of them over time. His current model is a Kobo Glo. As usual, the discussion follows Tim's list of Customer Experience Phases: Encounter Decision Purchase Out of the Box Early Use Longitudinal Use In addition to critiquing the Kobo software and hardware, the guys discuss the nature of physical books versus eBooks, the reasons for a single purpose device like eReaders over tablets, and the challenge of getting accurately created eBooks from source material. Among other things. It's 90 minutes of commercial free analysis and discussion! The shownotes photo for this episode features shots of the two eReaders.

Brian Shunamon from the USA sent us a message so on point that I asked him if I could record it and publish it. As an Information Technology professional with corporate clients, as well as a guy looked to for tech advice by friends and family, Brian addresses the concerns of our last several episodes on Microsoft's customer experience mistakes with its Windows 10 upgrade policy and behaviors. He reminds us that enduring patterns of mistreatment is a bad precedent not only in our personal relationships, but also in our relationships as customers of products and services. You don't have to take it! Nor should we. Brian's longer written article, "NIXING Windows", about why Microsoft's behavior is a threat to your personal and professional computing life, and how you might consider an personal computer operating system such as Linux, is on his LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nixing-windows-brian-shunamon?trk=prof-post Thank-you, Brian!    

Microsoft hit a new low in their obnoxious campaign to upgrade customers' PCs that were Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10. The user interface is almost impossible to say "no" to when the dreaded Win10 upgrade message appears. Anecdotes about affected customers Tim knows and a critique of two freeware utilities that can keep a Windows machine under the user's control are featured in this short episode. When will Microsoft learn to respect customer's private property and offer an honest UI to upgrade to Windows 10? Never, probably. The brand is suffering as Microsoft demonstrates contempt for their paying customers and tricks customers into forced upgrades. Hypnotically cool documentary of Lenny's Shirts: https://youtu.be/eAuNU8npRv0 Lenny's Shirts store on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LennyShirts?ref=unav_listing-r Paul Thurott's excellent article explains the whole mess: https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/67367/upgradegate-microsofts-upgrade-deceptions-undermining-windows-10 Steve Gibson of GRC

Tim Keirnan and Mike Velasco critique three generations of the AppleTV: 2, 3, and 4. Mike's experience with Gen 2 and Gen 4 provide a backdrop to Tim's first month with his refurbished Gen 3. It's 90 minutes of thorough discussion on three iterations of the same product. Where else will you hear this level of detailed critique on product design? Nowhere! And not one commercial to fast forward through.

The Windows 10 upgrade has become infamous for its pushy, hard sell approach and its "phone home" data tracking "features". Did you know the "hard sell" is known by such other fun names as "advance consent" and "inertia selling"? It's all about disrespecing customers' property rights, personal rights, and using people as objects for short term gain instead of offering them a decent value proposition. As recounted in this episode, even the technical implementation has flaws that result in a customer experience that disappoints at best and enrages customers at worst. At least, this customer was not satisfied.For those of you who share my concerns at Microsoft's disresepctful, anti-customer approach, the GWX control panel may offer some relief from the Windows 10 upgrade annoyance. Check it out athttp://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/ NOTE: This critique is of the Windows 10 upgrade process itself, not of Windows 10's user experience as an operating system and user interface.  

In service design and delivery, people are the user interface between an organization and its customers. This anecdotal episode recounts two excellent customer experiences with two seemingly well-run companies. Both employ people whose friendly personalities and professional skills, backed by efficient business processes, won them Tim's business.Story 1: WOW Internet makes switching from internet service provider AT&T Uverse painless and affordable.Story 2: A Plus Auto Repair & Transmission shows how to win expensive repair jobs over Hodges Subaru, an official dealership.A bonus critique of the ConnectSense CS-TH Wireless Temperature Sensor shows how crucial first time setup is and the consequences of it failing. Product setup is your brand's ambassador! Don't screw it up!Merry Christmas, Yuletide Greetings, and Happy New Year. Please submit a review on the iTunes Store if you want to thank us for another year of episodes.

Wayne Neale, CEO of Kaydak, joins Tim Keirnan for an interview that ranges across several topics:* Experience Design: From UI to User Experience to Customer Experience and beyond* Design Thinking* Service DesignYou can find Wayne athttp://www.kydak.com/The service design episodes of Design Critique Tim mentioned can be heard here:http://designcritique.net/dc32b-interview-cafe-design-with-tom-diabhttp://designcritique.net/dc47-interview-designing-the-ux-of-conferences-with-jared-spoolhttp://designcritique.net/10th-anniverary-episode-with-tom-brinck-on-starbucks-customer-experienceThe Tim Cook interview that gives Tim a glimmer of hope that Apple isn’t completely a lost cause:http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/10/01/445026470/apple-ceo-tim-cook-privacy-is-a-fundamental-human-rightListener Garrick Dee emailed to say he liked our Sustainable Shaving Tools episode and he’s written his own article on traditional wet shaving. Check it out!http://www.groomingessentialsblog.com/how-to-wet-shave/

Time for a mobile episode! Aravindh Baskaran, UX researcher and designer, joins Tim Keirnan to look at the user experience of Android Lollipop. What did we like about it and what do we think could be better? With Android Marshmallow on the way, it's time to reflect on Lollipop's effectiveness.Android is used, in one form or another, by more customers around the world than any other mobile OS (stats we found on this were so inconsistent that we gave up looking, but Android was clearly in the lead in all mobile OS usage stats). We used Aravindh's Nexus 5 phone for this episode because Tim's Nexus 4 now has Ubuntu Touch on it. The blog post image is Lollipop's list design that you'll hear us discuss when we refer to Google's "Material Design".Note when critiquing Android UIs: Aravindh and Tim are critiquing pure Android as designed by Google and used on their Nexus devices and (for the most part) on Motorola's smart phones. Other manufacturers can and do take advantage of Android's open source nature to create t