Had to help Dad reactivate his online trading account with PIPIP bank….boy oh boy…first we had received an activation process by snail mail. The instructions were not clear on how to reactivate, there was only activation info. Used the password in that reactivation process and logged in…it worked…grrrrr…
Then had to fill in rest of the info provided in the activation sheet…again there was no mention whether it was activation or reactivation.
On submission there was a link to login again without logging me out..how did that happen?
After I logged in….again there was no info whether my reactivation was successful or not!
Seriously who build such interfaces which is not humanized and keep you anxious throughout the process.
And don’t even get me started on the multi Browser compatibility…Come on this is 2010
Talk about virtual keyboard..yeah they are secure but Imagine i strained my eyes to get a look at the keys….imagine my Dad would have to Zoom-in and click on them
Phew….I just logged in after an hour later to check and found the profile active.
Even after all this frustration if they hadn’t activated the account…I would have just closed that account for Dad

Checking out the experience of blogging through the iTouch (3G). I seem to be clumsy at first then realize the auto words that help correct the words so that I type faster.(have fat fingers!)
Better than most Android keypads so far.
Love the copy-paste feature.
Still not happy the way image selection happens.
Only wish they had the camera with the iTouch then I could completely use the augmented apps.
Bonsai Blast(all levels) is available for free in Android but I love the image rendering in Apple.
Downloaded lot of free apps and Games.
Facebook is not yet compatible with iTouch and I still can’t seem to sign into skype on it.

Always thought the apple products were “over-rated”, “over-priced” & “exaggerated”….but not until i got not one but 2 products of my own!

Didn’t get the iPhone but got the iTouch instead. Registered for the App Store & totally freaked out on the apps i downloaded. Surprisingly there some available for Bhajans….downloaded them and Grandma liked them!

Aww this is addictive…..a bite of the apple is pure temptation….i can’t seem to get enough of the games developed by other 3rd party developers.

The stuff which differentiates the iTouch with my Android Tattoo is: i can download Full Free versions of the same apps (including games). Is this till Android gains a ground in the Smartphone market?

Do check out : Free App a Day

Do you get nervous standing being a first timer at a different bank’s ATM thinking about how the interface will be like (hoping the same as your old bank’s ATM interface) & how you would take out the cash with ease and take pride that you would have taken the least time inside the ATM than any of the members of the queue?

OK…i’m in, now what? i swipe the card, then i look at the monitor….stare to figure where to ‘touch’…i realize unlike  PIPIP bank’s ATM there is no buttons alongside the monitor, should i press the numbers or should i touch the monitor?….yes it is the monitor…..boy, if they were recording me on the security cam, i’m sure they would have had a blast!! and i’m taking more time than usual!

People behind me might think what a ‘dork’ i am….keeping them waiting. The information architecture is similar so i have no problem navigating and then i do the needful of withdrawing the cash.
Now my dilemma is, am i out the system? (it is very clear in my previous bank’s ATM) what if i am not logged out? i can’t figure out from the screen because it is showing me something that i cant seem to comprehend …because i’m tensed about getting out there as fast as possible. Now i don’t want the next person behind me to come and withdraw all my cash right? so i press multiple buttons and leave!

Phew!!
what was that??
Did i just behave like that? or do people generally freak out every time they need to use a new system?

How many of the people you know have email other than their names on it? I am sure you also know people who have ‘creative’ names for their email IDs. I’m sure they have their disadvantages to it. Most of the times the emails are considered as Spam by email engines to be subsequently filtered to the Spam/Junk folder. I’m sure many of my mails have ended up there

For example: I add friends on chat, the chat engine (experience had with Gtalk) just displays my email ID and not my name. How would anyone who didn’t know that the email ID was mine accept me in the first place? I would first have to send them an email informing them about the email ID and then wait for their acceptance, just increasing my work load in my hectic lifestyle

How about adding people on social networking sites? How do you know that the person you found had accepted or ignored your invitation? What if the person had not logged on since ages or was unable to retrieve his/her password; would you treat as a rejection?

In this hectic lifestyle do we really keep in touch with everyone we know? We just update our profiles to let people know we are alive and kicking!!

I have graduated to 38 themes now

‘the beach‘ being highly popular, 17 downloads and favorited by 7 members;32 downloads and favorited by 13 members (Updated June 24th 2008); with ‘Fresh‘ coming in second 8 downloads and favorited by 3 members.

‘Shades of Orange‘ , ‘Proteus‘ , ‘Proteus II‘ received comments from fellow members, it is always encouraging to get feedback.

Been very busy lately, unable to dedicate time out of my schedule to follow up all discussions. Though i haven’t contributed yet, am sure i will be a more active member in the future with loads of topics to discuss while i gain industry experience.
I wanted to keep track of certain links which were the topic of discussions, hence this post

UI Designer for Ford Source Experience Planner

Design Research: Why you need it by Steve Calde Source Cooper

Spoonfed Photoshop’s Interface tutorials

Stop gathering requirements by Jeff Lash
Posted on May 6, 2008
Source How To Be A Good Product Manager

I bumped across a really good collective blog on User Research at Pathfinder Blog

Have you checked out Buzzword (Adobe then, Acrobat.com(beta) now!) yet? when it was in Preview mode they had a ‘Gandhi’ pic for the image icon, i thought it was really cool. But across cultures it would be unfair to idolise one man, though the father of our nation (India) it would be unfair to many unsung heroes. Post June 2, 2008 they have changed the image icon to a more generic image for user across different cultures, thats my opinion…