Help Japan... Let us be more Human

A massive magnitude earthquake hit Japan on March 11 causing havoc with blackouts, fire, tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown. Designed some posters to motivate people to donate, help, spread a word, and putting effort to raise funds / donate for Japan and giving moral support.

In times of difficulty, our humanity must compel us to help one another. The Japanese are our brothers and sisters and they need our help in whatever manner we can we must/should gather our resources and offer to them who are in dire need at this time. LET US BE MORE HUMAN... and feel this tragedy***SAVE JAPAN  ***HELP JAPAN

To make donations, here are some links.
Japanese Red cross Society  | Unicef  | Save Children 
American Red Cross  | Doctors Without Boarders 

Storytelling for User Experience...Crafting stories for better design

We all tell stories. It's one of the most natural ways to share information, as old as the human race. Stories help us gather and communicate user research, put a human face on analytic data, communicate design ideas, encourage collaboration and innovation, and create a sense of shared history and purpose. 

Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks have written a book on “Storytelling for User Experience … Crafting stories for better design” This book looks across the full spectrum of user experience design to discover when and how to use stories to improve our products. Whether you are a researcher, designer, analyst or manager, you will find ideas and techniques you can put to use in your practice. 

I had personally met Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks at Germany and had a good discussion on this. They have give me a good perspective & how imporant creating peronsas with story telling.  Unfortunately, I was staying in the same hotel where Whitney was staying and got some free time in the mornings to discuss & learn more on Story telling User Experience. I personally thank Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks for sharing knowledge and guiding me. I have taken some notes and made a graphic to share you folks!

Story telling help to share research and design insights in a compelling and effective way. Struggle to communicate the meaning of a large body of data in a way that everyone just "gets" and want to explore a new, innovative idea, and imagine its future.  Storytelling starts with listening. In formal and informal user research, make time for people to tell you their story. You might be surprised at how many great stories (or story fragments) you'll collect if you let them. Just say "Tell me about that" when you hear the start of a juicy story.

Put some stories together and you might have the spark of a design idea. Maybe you call them user stories, or scenarios, but they are all ways of thinking through not just what will happen, but how the characters (users) will react to the experience. And finally, what's a usability test task, except a story for the participant to finish. Make it dramatic or matter-of-fact, but tell a story that launches them into a situation they want to solve or an experience they want to explore.

Get your own copy of Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks book on “Storytelling for User Experience … Crafting stories for better design” and know more insights, this book is worth investing.

Festival of Joy... HOLI

Holi is the festival which symbolises India to its core, Colourful, Young, Vibrant and diverse.  This is one of my favorite festivals and it’s also called “Festival of Joy”. 

Holi is celebrated on the Phalgun Purnima (or Pooranmashi, Full Moon) in the month of Phalgun according to the Hindu calendar. A peculiar coincidence this time, it’s the SUPER MOON. Moon at its closest wooing point with Ole Mother Earth! It was so beautiful….

I had a great time celebrating holi together with my wife and we sprinkled colors on my family members, friends & relatives including my doggy “Chocky”! Ooh it’s a great fun all together. 

Experience laser show @ Hyderabad

The lush green environs of Hyderabad Lumbini Park has first ever permanent laser show. This is one example, which i can say a creating "Great Tourist eXperience". Showcasing about Hyderabad history, culture, people, importance, places, etc with Laser lights animating on the water fountain is something to feel & experience live. I really liked the welcome note and the entire 30-40 min sequence of various laser animations, clippings, fountain equalizers, lighting effects. The best part is that a song made on Hyderabad, which welcomes everyone & gives overview about Hyderabad.

I have taken few pics and would like to share you folks! If you plan for Hyderabad, don't give a miss.

Do you know about me?

 

One of my friend rang me "tring tring" and invited me for a talk on New media design. He asked me for a short profile write up and i designed this smart simple design which speaks about my personalty & my passions to an extent. I tried something different with my caricature and few logos which i freak every day rather than tons of text profile propaganda :) Hope, you all like this..!

View this iamge on Flickr: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5513957135_1804b696ca_b.jpg

A Larger Than Life Experience (Toyota Vision)

Toyota Vision Wall at 2011 Detroit Auto Show from PUSH Offices on Vimeo.

Detroit Autoshow 2011, Toyota wanted to tell the story of the all-new Toyota Prius in an engaging way that could extend beyond the show floor. In response, Project: WorldWide’s GPJ and Juxt Interactive developed “Toyota Vision” - a large-scale multi-touch screen installation with remarkable content.

The interactive experience consisted of three side-by-side, 82” multi-touch LCD screens, showing the life span of the product experience from the factory, to the showroom, to the street. When visitors touched the screen, a graphic hand interface appeared, indicating options of exploration - visitors could learn about the creation of Toyota products, read product details and hear from owners. Lovely idea and it created great customer experience...
More on Juxt Interactive website...

Attended "Advantage IT" Conference & Exhibition

Attended "Advantage IT" Conference & Exhibition at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) on 1-2nd march 2011. The two-day summit is organized by Information Technology and Communications Department of the state government, the IT and ITES Industry Association of AndhraPradesh (ITsAP) and the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). Over 1,500 delegates has taken part in the event, with over 200 companies showcasing their innovative products and solutions designed / developed in Andhra Pradesh.

Our SumTotal has won a booth space and we had our presence in exhibition & conference. I was representing SumTotal at our booth along with our team at this event. There was a product Showcase and Awards track where many companies including us have showcased a host of products innovated and developed in AP. Attending this products award showcase gave me good idea & impression of how other company products in various domains are competing and focusing on their product user experiences.

In short, I had a wonderful time networking with new people & many of my friends . This has given me a great opportunity to learn new things by looking at different products of various companies / domains. One of my friends Mr.Naidu (CEO) – Mera Events was part of organizing committee and they have done a great job managing this event very effectively. I think this one of the best, biggest & most successful event held in Hyderabad in recent times.