These graphs will get you laid
I just discovered the blog of OKCupid, a dating site (via @billwscott if you must know – research purposes only!) It’s got tons of fascinating insights – drawn from OKCupid’s usage data – about...
View ArticleDoes the internet know you better than your mum?
Imagine if you had access to a record of everything you’ve done online in the last five years – down to keystroke level, even – and could analyse it to see what it reveals about you as a person. Lots...
View ArticleA game made just for you
Do video games learn what a gamer likes as they play, then tailor the rest of the game experience accordingly? Say I’m playing a game where every so often, I can pick up guns from the floor. I always...
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Just use a pencil, goddammit
I needed some very simple, cartoony figures to represent different user groups on a diagram I was drawing in Omnigraffle, and couldn’t find anything free and suitable online. So I started using...
View ArticleSo far so good…
I’ve finished all my MSc coursework for the first two terms, with a running average of 74%, so I’m on course for a Distinction so far. The future remains littered with bananaskins, though: my final...
View ArticleHow to tell stories in fast-forward
I like the layout of Raph Koster’s classic game design book, A Theory of Fun. You get the choice of reading the full text of the book (on the left- hand pages) or a quick potted version in pictures, by...
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Would you rather make a gesture or push a button?
A new Wired article looks at Nokia research into expanding the uses of accelerometers in phones. You could make an ‘F’ gesture in the air with your phone, for example, to launch its FM radio. You might...
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Do you click on white space?
When landing on a web page, I sometimes click on a bit of spare white space before I do anything. It’s a sort of mental ‘reset’ for my mouse pointer, to reassure myself that the focus is on that...
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Handy user interview tool: the parrot
At UX Brighton last night, Judy Rees introduced a very simple little technique for getting richer findings from user interviews. If you don’t already use it, it’s a potentially useful addition to the...
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Dark pattern or dim user?
I’ve just encountered a stinky example of the Sneak into Basket dark pattern, courtesy of buymobilephones.net. I visited their website, picked the phone and contract I wanted, and clicked ‘Add to...
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