My Photography gallery on Cooliris Wall

My Photography Stream...Ranz love Clicking!!!
Posting a 3D wall on your site is as easy as 1-2-3.

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That's simple... is it not? I have uploaded my photo stream.SMOOTH, CULTIVATED, AND FULLY INTEGRATED. Check this and enjoy!

Usability = "User Ability" or "Ability to Use"

Designed some posters & wallpapers to explain about USABILITY.

UPA 2010 - Munich, Germany & UX Camp 2010 - Berlin, Germany Overview

UPA 2010 - Munich, Germany & UX Camp 2010 - Berlin, Germany Overview and my learnings!!!
As you all know i have attended UPA 2010 & UX Camp Conference at Germany in 2010. These both are my best UX conferences i have attended till date.I have taken some notes / captures and made a presentation out of it to get a glimpse of UPA2010.

To know more details about my UPA2010 in details you can check my earlier blog post. http://thinkusable.blogspot.com/2010/06/attended-upa-2010-munich-germany.html

The Colors of the WEB

The Colors of the WEB - Top 100 Brand Colors Analysis

Colors are the most important plays a powerful role in creating the web brand identity. ColorLovers team did a small analysis on colors and created a info graphic which is worth having a look, so have a look :)

As it turns out, web brands love color. Only a few of them are predominantly grey or black and white. The most popular color is blue (nearly all big social networks use it), followed by a variety of reds and oranges. Also, many of the web’s top brands, such as Google and MSN, have a multicolored logo.

The data used to create this collected from Alexa, Compete and Nielsen to compile the list of the top 100 brands on the web, and while one can always question their methodology, the info graphic definitely paints an interesting picture concerning color usage by some of the most popular brands on the web.

 

Happy Friendship Day Folks!

Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August every year. The tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends began in US in 1935 and spread across the globe. On this day people spend time with their friends and express love for them. Exchange of Friendship Day Gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion. So, what did we do this time?

This year again we made it very interesting. Designed a greeting and shared my wishes to all friends. Me and my photography friends gang planned up & gathered for a coffee  meet @ Barista, Jubilee Hills at 4.00pm. There were 35+ friends turned up, we greeted each others, cracked jokes, made fun on others, met some old  / new friends, clicking, planning for next projects, etc. BTW I had a Cold Coffee, with chocolate ice cream as topping..it's mouth watering & Yummmmmy!!!!

As usual, taken some candid pics and explored my friends new 5DMark2.. Its awesome!!! (Now added to my wish list :) How can a friendship day without a Friendship Band????  What is the difference if we wear a regular friendship band blowing OWN trumpets saying that we are creative??? Hahahhaaa!!! we did something creative....We had a Photo Negative as a Friendship Band,,,, It's our dynamic creative exponential brain (Sekhar's) Idea!!! I state again that our team is creative & amazing...!!!  Look at our Photograph below..i'm sure you will fall in love with this Lovely Friendship band idea!!! :)

(Our Group bands)

(Me & Madhavi's friendship bands)

I should proudly say about my photography club (HWS) and mainly the people... who really make the difference and think different. We all love each other and like the association / collaboration. I personally feel, It's a god's gift to have many  like minded friends. Taken some group pics and our core team (Me, Sekhar & Cishore) started explaining about our upcoming project "Save the lake" and asked everyone to take active lead for this social initiative. Spent almost 2-3 hours with these folks and headed back to home. This all made my day a memorable experience!!!

Ending up with my Favorite Friendship quote of Albet Cames.

"Don't walk Infront of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend"

Microsoft Surface FLIRTED ME!!! & My Facinations!!!

Microsoft dropped a bombshell with their new Microsoft Surface touchscreen computer that is a touchscreen coffee table.I have been very fascinated by the Microsoft Surface since the first time I tried & explored it in June 2008, at Microsoft Redmond. My manager was X-Microsoft UX'er and we both went there to play around with it and experience the touch.

We met some of UX folks and bit explored Microsoft Campus, Usability Labs, etc. and it was my first visit to US. You can imagine how exiting it would be!!!! Later we played for a while with surface table. It didn’t take time for me to fall in love with this Surface table... IT FLIRTED ME :) and felt WOW!!! We played and experiencing different applications. Amazed with photo gallery applications and very involved in exploration. The good part is that you can run several apps and multiple people can use at same time using multiple hands / figures.

Played some music, videos, maps, browsing, games... and what not dear!!! Just loved it. You know one thing... i read e-newspapers too! If you find an interesting article you want one of the others to read you can send it to him/her with just a wipe with your finger.

Tons of ideas and interaction imaginations bubbling on my head!!! and thought for a while... What am i doing, Where am I, Why am i still in a floppy disk era!!! Still old design school..Blah Blah Balh..! I was very curious to know how the surface table works and what kind of applications can be developed. Read many articles online, checked videos...done some exploration at that point of time. As usual left all these thoughts aside and back to my original work!!!

Again, never thought of Surface...Did not get an opportunity to design or think about multi touch. Recently (May 2010) again i got an opportunity to play with Surface in Europe. UID ( a leading UX design firm based out of Germany) has developed some kool apps for Microsoft Surface and they were gifted a Surface coffee table by Microsoft. Again looking at that UID - Surface Table... same fascination & same excitement....!!!

UID team showed me their demos, interactions and some cool apps which they have created for Surface and they are really cool. The new learning here was they had some RFID chips attached to some objects. Placing these objects on the surface will display the action / interaction accordingly and it was awesome! I asked many questions to get more clarity...& my brain started processing ideas...tic tic tic..!!! Again second time even after 2 years, my interaction with Microsoft Surface...it FLIRTED ME !!! Same old story.. all my ideas gone to trash & back to my original work.

Again surprisingly, very recently i came across a design firm in Hyderabad and they develop surface apps. I never though that surface apps are getting done currently in Hyderabad, as Surface is not officially launched in India. Their surface apps portfolio which they developed were bit impressive. They walked me through RFID object interaction apps like BMW car interiors apps, Credit card apps, TV news paper apps, Games, etc. Most of them are developed using WMF & Silver light. Experiencing Surface, I felt the multi touch is not much smooth as apple i pad or iphone. Sometimes it was hard to close or to interact with action buttons, navigations, etc.

Let me talk something about my iphone & ipad Multi touch Interactions. No doubt that Apple is Apple and they make sexy and sleek with great experiences. I did played & explored with iPhone & iPad too (Yes, i have taken a pic tooo) and it rocks! If Apple comes up with coffee table size iPad (they may call iTabel), We don't know what in Apple's mind :) but I will vote for Apple :)

From Microsoft point of view, we are hearing these multi touch technology from past 6-7 years. I don't know why Microsoft was unable to launch innovative solutions and introduce to market quickly and expand their business rapidly. I feel they always miss their market share in many consumer centric areas and small players will be crossing them.  Any way they have launched surface first and hope tons of apps comes up and surface gets cheaper & available in coming days.

Coming back to Surface, I see there is lot of scope to create great user experiences with multi touch surface and the surrounding also adds more impact on the user experience. Physical interaction with bare hands and flipping items with your figures ... its awesome!!! How about thinking about designing some kool apps and FLIRT our own users???? I cannot express much and you should personally experience yourself...

More from the retail, hospitality, travel and banking sectors soon, there will be lots of very interesting consumer-facing stuff coming up in near future!!! Now its time to think... think... think...!!! How we can explore great user experiences with the multi touch technology!!! As a User Experience Designers, if we are not thinking... then we are definitely lagging behind competition & defining / crafting great eXperiences..!!!

Team Work Wins - Inspirational Video

Really a heart touching video for inspiration how team work wins. Be a leader!!! Drive things!!! Dont just follow! and dont wait thinking that some will do.

Hungry for creative inspirations, design ideas and found ZOO....a right place!!!

I had been thinking of visiting Hyderabad Zoo for a long time to see the new Giraffe. Wondering why? Yippee!!! Giraffe is the latest attraction at Hyderabad Zoo...nearly after 25 years. It was traded for 2 Marcus and 2 Asiatic Lions. I remember i have some photographs with old Giraffe taken in my childhood. Okz! let me reveal you one secret "Why Giraffe"???? Some kids in my family tease me as Giraffe, as you know i am just 6ft short guy!

My photography friends (Team HWS) planned up for a Zoo photo walk on 18th July (Sunday - weekend) and i not surprisingly I'm IN :) The weather was nice & sunny, When i arrived at the entrance of the Zoo, Amazed to see 50+ photography friends gathered for a group pic. Parked my car aside and just appeared jumped into the group pic capture!

Given a small intro session to new friends and moved ahead inside with all my gears. I'm exited to experiment with my new Canon 70-200 F2.8 L Series lens. Splitted into groups and slowly explored few areas which i find interesting in the reverse route. You have to see my happiness & excitement when i saw the new Giraffe. As usual clicking clicking clicking!!!! and enjoying the colors and the texture in the fresh air.

In fact, I am hungry for ideas and looking for design inspirations and found ZOO is a right place. The zoo is an artificial forest created by man. Though there are few trees compared with the natural forest, the animals, birds and other creatures found must always remind us of the forest. It is indeed an interesting place to visit for good creative ideas & inspirations from the animals. We can learn lot of things from animals, they too have affections, emotions, expressions, etc. just like us. Some of them are very cute & lovely where some wild makes us bit scary!!! :)

There are some small lotus ponds filled with beautiful lotus (white & pink). Spent some time capturing their beauty from different angles. I found many kinds of interesting animals and other creatures like Lions, tigers, reptiles, and other animals were moving about lazily in their cages. The monkeys!!! some from our gang too..., however, showed their natural agility.

The beauty of the birds and their color contrast & beautiful feathers fascinated me and mainly the peacocks. I really felt from my bottom of my heart that "THIS IS SOMETHING CALLED BEAUTIFUL" Birds are indeed one of the loveliest creations of god. I was completely thinking about the nature and god's creativity how nicely he have crafted and how artistic / creative he is.

As usual we have taken self portraits of each others in our gang, which was again Great Excitement again! Explored zoo till 11.45AM and headed back early to home as i had some personal appointments. Did not explored entire zoo this time. I am an animal lover and a frequent visitor of Hyderabad zoo (visit atleast once a year or so). I have also been to Nandankanan - Zoological Park of Orissa in my childhood which is called "Garden of God" and most recently Sea Loins caves @ Oregon -US in 2008 and Bangkok Safari World Zoo  @ Bangkok- Thailand in 2009 which was huge.... & no more words, it was just AWESOME!!!!  Thank you folks! who all joined with me for this photo walk!

The 25 Most Innovative Companies 2010

Innovation Winners

Bloomberg BusinessWeek's Most Innovative Companies special report is based on data from longtime partner Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Last December the consultancy e-mailed a 21-question poll to senior executives around the globe. The 1,590 respondents, who answered anonymously, were asked to name the most innovative companies outside their own industry in 2009. 

Met Seth Godin @ ISB - Hyderabad

Met Seth @ISB on 7th June 2010

"Seth Godin"...is a famous American entrepreneur, author and public speaker. Seth Godin has written twelve books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. Every one has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. American Way Magazine calls him, "America's Greatest Marketer," and his blog is perhaps the most popular in the world written by a single individual. Click here for Seth's full profile

I came to know by my colleagues that "Seth Godin" is coming to India and that toooo "Apna Hyderabad". Looking at his fan followers and his popularity, we thought we should have our presence and attend his talk @ISB. Me and my buddy colleagues Sampath, Manu, Kalyan, Sudhir attended Seth's talk as a special guests by paying a fee of $50 each. There were also some free seats but we did not pitch for them.

I just want to attend as i love to listen to the people who thinks different and motivates people in multi dimensionally. Before his talk, i met him personally, introduced myself and we discussed about the user experience profession in the software industry Vs Advertising.

After a while...the ISB auditorium got filled totally and he started his talk with a lovely presentation. His talk was more generic and not on any specific theme. He is a great passionate communicator and presenter. He used lot of contextual pictures & examples. I was expecting at least 3 hrs of his talk but surprisingly ended up not more than ~2 hour including some question & answers.

Some of the interesting snippets in his talk...!!!!


~ Think about "MORE" ...Make More, Sell More, Target More.....& on..!
~ Too many choices in this world! Media Every Where....
~ Branding... Every thing branded!
~ Ideas...! that spread "WIN"
~Make Connection (Advertisers  connecting multiple customers) & (Marketer connecting customer and customer connects other customers")
~ Marketing management is "Now TRIBAL management"
~ ? GENIUS!  - Care about something you do!!!!
~ ART - Art is act of HUMAN - Any can do make a painting but not an ART!
   (Unless new art comes up, no one will be bothered!!!)
~ INTERNET - You are every where in this world and you own the means of PRODUCTION!
~ COMPETENCY is no longer a Scare COMMODITY... its not interchangeable.
~ VALUE - Create & Invest, Connect, Sell, Produce, Lifting Weights......& on!
~ I'm Good at SCHOOL.....but WHO CARES? and said with a husky smile ...we are not doing school ..:)
~ Measure by Hours of EFFORT Vs PAY - Following Instructions Vs Insights
~ Make Decessions!
~ GIFTS are Not FAVORS
~ $$$$ DAYS Work .....DONT PAY!!!!
~ Replace FEAR - with unknown CURIOSITY 
~ LABOR means DIFFICULT!!!
~ Common things that Steve Jobs & Bill Gates does......"BOTH SHIPS"
~ The art is to figure out  "Who do you want to FOLLOW"
~ Survival is "SUCCESS"

There were some Q&A sessions and some one asked about failures where Seth replied that he has more failures than success. Finally ended up with HIGH TEA @ the lobby. It was nice meeting couple of my SumTotal X-Colleagues "Harshika & Sameer Mehta" who are studying currently at ISB. I have captured some sketch notes of Seth's talk and drawn Seth's rough outline cartoon and had his Autograph below that. Do you know what did he write above his autograph..... "GO SHIP" :)

I felt spending 50$ each was not worth for me at-least for this talk. I see most of the content was recycled across in Seth's blog and other mediums. Finally ended up the day with some take aways from Seth's talk about Making a difference, Creating a Value Add and being Different...& Importantly CONNECTING!!!!! As-usual felt good to have my presence for a Great Talk of Seth @ ISB !!! :)

My experiences @ The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) - Hyderabad cup

On Friday 2nd July, one of my close friend "Sekhar" calledup and invited for mountaineering cup held at Durgam Cheruv - Hyderabad and he want me to join with him for this unique event. I canceled my other photo walk at Tank Bund and joined this IMF Hyderabad Cup with my Gear.

The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) is an apex national body. It has the objective of organising, supporting and providing a base for expeditions for mountaineering, skiing, rock climbing and trekking at high altitudes. It promotes, encourages, supports and executes...

The Indian Mountaineering Foundation is introducing the IMF Cups, a series of climbing competitions spread over the country .This was held  at Hyderabad on 3rd & 4th July, 2010 and more than 100  climbers  from  the various parts of India. The Competition is named as Hyderabad Cup and competition will be conducted in two categories Bouldering Championship (Seniors)-On Natural Boulders and Speed climbing Competition (Juniors).

Seeing the flat mountains initially, I thought, no one can make it. But surprised to see most of them were climbing very easily. Small kids including girls of different ages are also climbing on a fly & giving a try even they fail couple of times. There is lot of risk involved as they are not even wearing any helmets or safe jackets. Just want to appreciate their parents for the encouragement and support for this sport. Lot of take ways looking at this and literally impressed and enjoyed this unique event.

Attended UPA International Conference 2010 @ Munich, Germany.

Embracing Cultural Diversity – User Experience Design for the World

RANZ @ Usability Professionals Conference 2010 - Munich, Germany

Attended UPA international conference at Munich, Germany. Last year I had plan to attend UPA conference at Portland but could not make it. This year, I am impressed with the theme of the conference “Embracing Cultural Diversity – User Experience Design for the World”.  and decided to have my presence. While doing the registration, I was in a small confusion weather to attend UPA Conference (or) UX London Conference (stars bashing on my head!!!) . I spoke to my buddy UX pros and Finlay decided to attend this.

For the first time in its history, the Usability Professionals’ Association International Conference will travel to the heart of Europe. The key theme focused on how UX professionals can create great user experiences across different cultures, meeting the challenges of delivering to diverse audience.

The international UPA conference was hosted in Munich, Germany, and provided a great opportunity to meet and network and to share ideas, visions and innovation strategies across cultures and across countries. There were more than 800+UX professionals from more than 50 countries.

Tutorials and workshops on 24th Monday and 25th Tuesday, then two and a half days packed with presentations, Idea Markets, and opportunities to network with other user experience professionals. Workshops and Tutorials begin on Monday, May 24, and regular conference sessions begin on Wednesday, May 26 at Munich, Germany at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel.

I have reached to Munich via Frankfurt by Lufthansa airline on 25th June. I used to wonder is this city called "Munich" or "Munchan" but both are the same. Stayed at Intercity Hotel which is at located at central Munich. The hotel was cool and very accessible and BTW free WIFI. Without internet we will end up nothing in Europe :) Went to the conference hotel in the evening to just have a overview of the place, people, etc and done with the formal registration. After that i started exploring the Exhibition stalls in the conference.

The conference venue itself is very beautiful! It’s being held in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof and it’s one of the grandest and most expensive hotels in Munich. I did not stay in this hotel as this is very very expensive €250. The only WIFI available in the building costs €27 for 24 hours and could not afford to spend for Internet during conference breaks. You can make out lunch and dinner with that penny.

The lunch sessions were a great idea, rather than being a formal thing, you just head to a restaurant (which has a topic) and discuss. Unfortunately, we had about 50 people go to our restaurant, which resulted in bill chaos and a very slow lunch. There was also too many people so the leader couldn’t really lead the discussion (as he was on a different table) but I met some great people and I managed to get back to the conference in time. Sometimes, it’s just easier to let the venue sort out the catering, since they are equipped and used to dealing with big groups in a short time period. We had some great discussions on User experience and everyone sharing their practical experiences. One thing which i have realized that all the UX designers across the globe will have same set of problems. "Dev /QA Vs UX"

I really enjoyed the conference and made many international UX friends. Got an opportunity to meet more than 800+ UX professionals from 50 different countries. Happy to see some of my old friends from India and abroad. Jumki Iyyengar, Sameer Chabuskwar from India, Saud Sultan from Singapore, Daneil Suiz from Hongkong & on....!

The experience in Munich was awesome. Munich is a very beautiful city. I am really impressed with the architecture, roads, food and mainly public transport. Even i had a free ticket for tram / bus / metro, i just preferred walking across streets. Did not get much time to explore the city but after the conference ~7.00PM walked around the city with my gears and clicking photographs. Good thing is that climate was good and it was long day. Me, Saud and Tania (Ukrine friend) generally used to go around the city in the evenings and take some photographs. I know you all have missed this but don't worry..!!! I will be sharing you some great photographs & my experiences.

Did not done any shopping except some magnet Souvenirs, Pens & Beer mugs. I have a habit of collecting some fridge magnets from each place i visit and stick to my fridge... (its my dashboard ...lol!). Water is expensive than Beer. German Beer is famous in the world and tried tasting different Beers, even i don't have much habit of drinking.... just followed the Funda...."Be a ROMAN in ROME"!!! Finally... realized we should experience everything... that ithis world offers!! lol!

Trust me…if you are planning for UX conference don't miss UPA next year at least. If you get a chance try planning a trip to Munich, Germany for a vacation…Its awesome.!!!! I have taken lots of photographs in the conference and also in the city... to share with you all...enjoy!!!
Stay tuned... will be posting more details shortly...

Interesting Capture...

I always wonder how people think... Each person has a different personality & taste. Basically the captions...which i mostly looking from my college days.. on cars, bikes is "Mom's Gift, Dad's Gift, Sister's Gift, Grand Mothers Gift... Blaw Blaw Blaww...

Found something interesting and thought of sharing with you folks!
Down Payment by "Mom"
EMI by "Wife"
...& finally "Enjoyed by ME"
Look at the alignments...and his creative juice... Interesting...!!!

My Friend's Expressions Captured!!!!

Last week end, i went to a photo walk at Charminar area with all my photography friends. One of my friend Pranitha has captured various expressions of our gang during the photo walk in the hot boiling breezing SUN :) I thought this picture has lot of different expressions and share you all these beautiful buddy smiles:)

Futuristic Google Device

If you don’t know what Google could do in the future life, you should check out this concept design.

This design is shaped like a normal frame. However it is a portable Google device which could search information based on real objects. Just frame the aimed object, such as one strange building, in the device, it could get and display information on the transparent multi-touch screen. If you need any detailed data, just target the picture like iPhone. Moreover, it could also be used to search words while reading and provide the GPS information for traveling.

Wow, you’re surprised? I believe that all the description will come true IN THE FUTURE.

Now no more Boring Cryptic Error Messages..

Now error messages can be creative... and more interesting...in this web2.0 era. I have collected some samples which i came across. have fun!!

http://dl.dropbox.com

How do i get my self motivated & inspired to get fresh thoughts!!!

Motivation and inspiration are something which is very important to any designer. Designer should always have a fresh mind and should have good eye for observation and should able to think in multiple directions for designing a better design. For me design is "Every thing & anything in my life" and basically it’s my biggest passion. One good thing about me is that my career & my passions are almost aligned and they are same. So I enjoy my work and in free time I spend time on things which i love some of them are Creative direction, photography, arts, innovative thinking, experimentation, event management, travelling, attending conferences and meeting people who has similar thoughts. :)
Sometimes your corporate work may limit your thoughts or ideas or interests and may make you bounded inside the box. As a passionate designer some times gets a feeling like "What am I doing" and "My skill sets are not utilized" properly...etc, are some of the wiered feelings...  To overcome all these stuff, i generally find something interesting in work and try to come up with some design concepts and always try to sell to the company, so that it will create a value proposition. I think this positive energy always make me hungry for ideas.
To get motivated and get recharged I generally go for art exhibitions, photography shoots with like minded people, trekking, and short adventure or exploration trips with friends, etc. But these are some regular stuff and this did not really made me feel anything much different. Then i realized to start thinking different and started some creative stuff in my free time, which will create a "VALUE" for me and also get self motivated. This made my life more interesting.... now

Some of the initiation projects which have self assigned and doing it.

PROJECT 365: Capturing one pic a day!!!
Project 365 is a creative concept which is related to the photography. I have taken initiative from 2010 basically taking a pic every day and by the end of the year I will have 365 intresting captures. This is just similar to visual diary and will try different experiments and take one unique picture every day. These are updated in my flickr pro account every day. Photography is something which really helps a designer to get more patience and good observation / framing skill sets. Capturing creative stuff is some thing which is a great fun.
IDEA's 365: Idea's unlimited...!!!
Idea's 365 is something which is also a innovative project. Basically I have started this project to make my self start thinking of many creative ideas and make a idea pool by the end of 365. This will help to think in different direction and generate ideas.

I did not restrict for any specific domain or something. Idea can be anything right from a small pin to an aero plane ...anything and every thing which is useful in our daily life. In this project, on an avarage I spend 2-10 min a day in thinking some concept which make people's life better and write down on piece of paper (colored sticky notes) and dump in my "IDEA's POT".

Event Organizing & Creative project initatives:
Basically this concept is for doing something "different" and which makes "Stand Out" Event organizing is also something which i like. I have organized 3-4different intresting projects and managed successful. Some of them are

- 1000 Portraits project - Hyderabad (1day 10 people capturing 1000 portraits and making Hyderabad smile) Done an very big exhibition at Prasadz IMAX.

- 1000 Smile project - Goa (1day 40 people 10 locations (entire Goa state) and capturing 1000 smiles) and making Goa smile.

Career Guidance & Knowledge sharing:
When ever I get time, I do some career guidance sessions and also some knowledge sessions to the new upcoming designers. I feel most of freshers will fail due to lack of proper guidance or mentor who can help him in career planning. This is one interesting thing, where I can learn & share my experiences and this makes me mentally very happy.

There are lots of stuff still to mention but i think the list grows...!!!! I am just sharing this in my blog as I feel some of my ideas may give some inspirations to others and helpful to align their career and personal goals. As designers I feel we are very "Valuable" and very responsible and we must create a "VALUE" to every one (company / users / government / society /environment / etc.

There are just my thoughts which my mind is currently moving around. If anyone needs a help / suggestion or want to know more about some of my personal MIT's please feel free to reach me - ranzeeth (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you very much for reading :)

iPad User Experience Guidelines

Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the iPad outline how to create user interfaces optimized for the iPad device. According toApple, the best iPad applications: downplay application UI so that the focus is on content; present content in beautiful, often realistic ways; and take full advantage of device capabilities to


enable enhanced interaction.
The overview of iPad user experience guidelines listed below is © 2010 Apple Inc. More details on these guidelines and further information on developing for the iPad can be found in Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the iPad.
Support All Orientations
Your application should encourage people to interact with iPad from any side by providing a great experience in all orientations. The reason is that people don’t view the device as having a default orientation, because they don’t pay much attention to the minimal device frame and they’re unconcerned with the location of the Home button.
Enhance Interactivity (Don’t Just Add Features)
The best iPad applications give people innovative ways to interact with content while they perform a clearly defined, finite task. Resist the temptation to fill the large screen with features that are not directly related to the main task. In particular, you should not view the large iPad screen as an invitation to bring back all the functionality you pruned from your iPhone application.
Flatten Your Information Hierarchy
Although you don’t want to pack too much information into one screen, you also want to prevent people from feeling that they must visit many different screens to find what they want. In general, focus the main screen on the primary content and provide additional information or tools in an auxiliary view, such as a popover.
Reduce Full-Screen Transitions
Instead of swapping in a whole new screen when some embedded information changes, update only the areas of the user interface that need it. When you perform fewer full-screen transitions, your application has greater visual stability, which helps people keep track of where they are in their task.
Enable Collaboration and Connectedness
Think of ways people might want to use your application with others. Expand your thinking to include both the physical sharing of a single device and the virtual sharing of data.
Add Physicality and Heightened Realism
Whenever possible, add a realistic, physical dimension to your application. The more true to life your application looks and behaves, the easier it is for people to understand how it works and the more they enjoy using it.
Delight People with Stunning Graphics
The high-resolution iPad screen supports rich, beautiful, engaging graphics that draw people into an application and make the simplest task rewarding.
De-emphasize User Interface Controls
Help people focus on the content by designing your application UI as a subtle frame for the information they’re interested in. Downplay application controls by minimizing their number and prominence. Consider creating custom controls that subtly integrate with your application’s graphical style. In this way, controls are discoverable, but not too conspicuous.
Minimize Modality
iPad applications should allow people to interact with them in nonlinear ways. Modality prevents this freedom by interrupting people’s workflow and forcing them to choose a particular path.
Rethink Your Lists
Consider a more real-world vision of your application. For example, on iPhone, Contacts is a streamlined list, but on iPad, Contacts is an address book with a beautifully tangible look and feel.
Consider Multifinger Gestures
The large iPad screen provides great scope for multifinger gestures, including gestures made by more than one person.
Consider Popovers for Some Modal Tasks
If you use modal views to enable self-contained tasks in your iPhone application, you might be able to use popovers instead.
Restrict Complexity in Modal Tasks
People appreciate being able to accomplish a self-contained subtask in a modal view, because the context shift is clear and temporary. But if the subtask is too complex, people can lose sight of the main task they suspended when they entered the modal view.
Downplay File-Handling Operations
Although iPad applications can allow people to create and manipulate files and share them with a computer (when the device is docked), this does not mean that people should have a sense of the file system on iPad.
Ask People to Save Only When Necessary
People should have confidence that their work is always preserved unless they explicitly cancel or delete it. If your application helps people create and edit documents, make sure they do not have to take an explicit save action.
Start Instantly
iPad applications should start as quickly as possible so that people can begin using them without delay.
Always Be Prepared to Stop
Like iPhone applications, iPad applications stop when people press the Home button to open another application.

More details on these guidelines and further information on developing for the iPad can be found in Apple's Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the iPad.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

All my dearest friends..! who are
....COMMITTED - "Happy Valentines Day"
....SINGLE - treat this as "Happy Independence Day"
...haha! Copied this text from my friends SMS! ;) Any ways...adding my own string..!
....Multiple-  "Happy Valentines Day" X "Number of persons" / "Number of months in relationship" (my wild guess.. lol!)

Valentine Day is a day of the year when you can express your love to the people you appreciate.  Do we need a special day for this? Every day can be a Valentines day ...Right! Some how i feel that these days are just made for commercializing and make money out of it..! There is nothing wrong but now days people are going more ext-reams which is a bad part but other side... a day to celebrate and a reason to get together... No offence... this is just my view..!

Advertisements kills the credibility & main functionality

"Advertisements kills the credibility & main functionality"
I was just searching for a new car deals. Just logged into Carwale.com. I saw a new XYLO flash advertisement on the interface and tried to close it. Unfortunately the close button is not working and could not able to close it. The main functionality & heart of this portal is in the search functionality but this is hidden under this advertisement. Tried several ways to do my task but literally failed and got frustrated. Is this a bug created by the advertiser? QA of CarWale did not fix this? Who will provide these advertisements? In most cases advertisements kills and diverts the user from the main content / task.

We know that advertisements are the most revenue generating sources, but it is very much important that there should be a good balance between the usability / content and the sites actual purpose.  let me share you the funniest thing. When i was struggling with this and called up my friend "Rajendra" who is basically a QA professional. He just played with this interaction for couple of minutes and told me that this is a bug and more over gave me a workaround that click on the home page tab for couple of times and try clicking close button until it goes away :)  QA know this... but what about the normal User? .... Interesting!

Ford GTXI - Gear Up!

My first table top photography experiment..! Equipment used..Tourch light bounced from front through a "KICK" perfume on a flat teak table. Background used for this is a white board. A match stick from top to get the light reflections..

Subject: Hot wheels Ford GTXI
Camera: 450DXSI Canon
Lens: 50mm Canon
Technical Spec: ISO-800; F 1/8
Post processing: Photoshop; Light Room
Photography & Design: Ranjeet
Project 365 - Day29
Copyright © 2010 | Ranz | www.ranjeeth.com

Usability vs User Experience

I have noticed there is lot of confusion to many people between the "User Experience Design" & "Usability". Let me try to explain in few words..!
"Usability refers to the ease with which a user can accomplish his or her goals using any tool. (...) Somewhat in contrast, user experience refers to the way a user perceives his or her interaction with a system. User experience design encompasses both interaction design and visual design and seeks to promote an interface that is pleasing to the user." 

Is Building Brand Loyalty Tougher Than Ever?

With more ways than ever for consumers to get what they need when they need it, it’s tougher for retailers to build and maintain brand loyalty online. Online shoppers are in fact the most demanding of all shoppers, with high expectations surrounding the breadth of products offered, up-to-date pricing including sales and promotions, a variety of shipping options and more detailed information than is available in a retail store or catalog.

It is a highly competitive online market space and it is not always the traditional multi-channel retailers that are top of mind when shopping online. In our newly released Brand Loyalty Whitepaper leveraging privately-funded research undertaken with BRS Group Modern Research earlier this year, Adobe found that only eight e-retailers score higher than 6% in unaided recall among online shoppers. Further, social media, more than advertising, is shaping customers’ perceptions on businesses (reviews, feedback forums, blogs, etc.) and the result is an influenced economy that is forcing everyone in the public realm—including the owners of products and brands—to become more transparent, open, conversational and honest. Merchandisers are now in a position where they will have to rethink the way influence is distributed and the new role of marketing communications in an information landscape dictated by consumers.

A few affordable suggestions to gain the much-needed traction e-retailers are after include price transparency, product interactivity (connecting with customers via live chat), RIA’s to create an overall engaging online experience and feedback forums to encourage shoppers to share their recommendations with others.

Our research shows that online shoppers are still walking away from shopping carts (an epidemic rarely seen offline) mainly because there is a lack of information, even less engaging content, and little promise that security (still a top concern for consumers) won’t be compromised. How are you stopping this trend? Adobe would love to hear about loyalty tactics that have worked for you. It’s important to us to share that kind of insight with our customers and reveal problem-solving techniques Adobe know can make a difference in ROI.Download the new whitepaper here.

Usability in Movies...

watch this movie and this may give a clear picture what Usability mean..!

Yes!....Flying..Heights!

OK...Finally this Sankranti... had very great time...! Sankranti is one of my favorite festivals. Every year all our relatives gather at one place at heart of the city and fly kites. This year couple of my cousins who plays an active role was out of town and the climate was cloudy which initially disappointed me.

But luckily it did not rain but there is little wind around. We had cut many kites and couple of my friends joined me. End of the day, we lost more than 20 kites and had cut 40 kites overall... The day ended with lots of fun, joy & happiness...!

BTW my dad has taken a beautiful portrait of mine, I simply loved it :) ...Thank You very much..Dad!