The Flicker Blog and Podcast

To the marketeers who think that it’s a good idea to insert promotional messages that disrupt the normal procedure of withdrawing funds from HSBC cash machines. You are wrong; wrong, wrong, wrong.

Casual observation should help you conclude that users have been through this procedure so many times before, that they barely read the screens presented to them.

They are 100% task focussed. They want cash. They are quite probably talking to a friend, and on the way to the pub; or off shopping. They are more likely to be looking over their shoulder at the impatient queue behind them than at your screen.

They have entered their PIN, they have selected ‘Cash Withdrawal’ and a desired amount. They are waiting. They are listening for the beeping that announces the imminent arrival of beer coupons. Please note - they are not reading the marketing message that asks them to accept or cancel your kind offer of information on a new service. Even if they were interested - with the queue behind them, they’re hardly in the mood, or context for hold-ups.

Just because there is a perceived opportunity, do not think it must be taken. Put yourself in the shoes (or the queue) of your customer and ask what the emotional response to an unwelcome, and disruptive delay in proceedings will be. If you conclude that a rational and reasonable response is anything other that ecstatic, ask yourself if this endeavor is a worthwhile one? Thank you.

I have to admit to being completely blown away by this video. It presents several very complex interactions in a manner that’s both innovative and intuitive. Seeing synthesis approached like this underscores for me how poorly suited to the task, the interfaces of most virtual instruments are (Check the images of Reason for an example of what I mean). I’m sorry that I cannot link directly to the images - some people still insist on using frames on their sites!

Analogue synths of the 70’s and 80’s were restricted by the physical limitations of the components used to manipulate and program them. User feedback was predominately conducted via your ears, with the legending on knobs and sliders the only visual clue to what was happening inside the box.

I just don’t understand why companies resort to Pixel based renditions of retro analogue gear when designing virtual instruments. The video here shows what could be accomplished if only designers would move away from fetishistic renditions of retro hardware and embrace the possibilites afforfed by the platform they’re creating for.

In the world of hardware, physical limitations mean that you cannot dynamically represent the impact that parameters have upon one another. In the virtual world, these restrictions don’t exist, yet such limitations seem to be eagerly embraced.

Here’s what the Reactable creators have to say about their video:
‘Several simultaneous performers share complete control over the instrument by moving physical artefacts on the table surface and constructing different audio topologies in a kind of tangible modular synthesizer or graspable flow-controlled programming language.’

You can read more on the reactable website.

My initial impressions of iTunes 7 were very positive (read to the bottom for the very big BUT).

Top of the list of welcome new ‘features’ for me is that (finally) recordings that contain without pauses between tracks are now played back without (amazingly enough) pauses between tracks. This means that my collection of Fabric Mix CDs can now be enjoyed as intended, without the need to separately rip the whole CD as a single track. If only my iPod would exhibit similar behaviour!

Cover Flow - the ability to browse the contents of your library by the flipping through the album art, did initially seem like rather gratuitous (but nicely executed) eye candy. Nonetheless, I have to confess I’ve become rather seduced by it. The interplay between the visual display and the library text view is very useful. Click the genre column in the text view to sort your library by genre. Scroll to the desired genre, and you can then use Cover Flow to navigate visually through your collection by genre.

This turns out to be rather helpful - recognition of images is far easier than scanning (very) long lists of text for the desired item. Surely, this feature will soon appear in Front Row? The ability to navigate your collection with a remote from across the room in this way would be a useful, and visually seductive method of interaction.

Of course, any mention of the benefits of Cover Flow also requires mention of the fact that iTunes can now gather cover art automatically for you (assuming the images exist in the iTunes music store). There’s clearly the potential for privacy issues here - I can imagine Apple being subpoenaed for records of who’s been encoding what, by record companies. Still, for the time being, Apple states that they do not keep any information regarding the contents of your music library, and the CDDB functionality (present from day one) could theoretically, be used for similarly nefarious purposes. I’d conclude that we have to give up a little information if we want our applications to be more useful.

The administration of your iPod is now better implemented too. A mounted device now has a whole series of pages, directly accessible from within the application (as opposed to a preferences pane). This addition further improves the relationship between the device and the application.

Now… on to the negative. I bought 4 CDs yesterday. Arriving home late last night, I was hoping to quickly import them for inclusion on my iPod. What on earth has happened to CD Importing? It has become unbelievably slow! I actually thought that my Superdrive was broken, or that CD manufacturers have started encoding deliberate errors in manufactured CDs to cause ripping problems. I believe that the ripping of each CD was slower than playing the thing for real! At the very least, I ended up only encoding two of the four CDs before giving up and going to bed. I’m doing the remaining two this morning.

This is a huge step backwards for me, and compromises one of the core functions of the app very heavily. Conspiracy theorists will no doubt suggest that Apple are slowly trying to move users towards buying all music rather than encoding it (at the behest of the record companies) but I’d like to hope that is just a bug, and will be remedied in due course. Nonetheless, I’ve considered finding a way to downgrade to version 6 in the meantime. The new features are nice, but I need to import CDs in a time frame that’s measured in minutes, not hours.

Predicting the demise of the iPod and iTunes is clearly a popular sport, and a pretty safe bet given Apple could hardly become more dominant in this space. The only real uncertainty is the scale of the demise. I have begun to wonder this week however, if the change is beginning to occur.

The new iPod nano is the first new iPod whose design has underwhelmed me. I’ve only seen images, but the original Nano remains a far more attractive object to me - the new coloured cases leave the nano looking more like the original iPod mini, and consequently, as if Apple are running out of ideas. Of course, there are limits to how far the form factor can be changed, and why fix something that’s not broken? But on a purely subjective level, this is the first evolution of the iPod that hasn’t had me secretly wanting to go out and buy one, despite already owning a fully functioning 60Gb iPod Photo. Of course - the new Shuffle design does redeem them considerably!

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to some pleasure in the email I received from Beatport yesteday:
‘Our team wanted to let each of you know about a recent issue created by the new Flash version 9.0 for PCs (Mac users can ignore this email.) Macromedia/Adobe released a new version of Flash that is creating a log-in issue for all Beatport customers who use the Firefox web browser and the new Flash version 9.0.’

I’ve written previously, twice actually, on the awful (Flash based) user experience offered by what could, and should be, a very attractive customer proposition.

I would dearly love to know who felt that building an entire e-commerce site in Flash was a good idea? Or what business need was being met by abandoning most of the commonly used, and widely understood interaction principles - those supported by the most humble of browsers and the HTML format?

I won’t say I told you so!

A couple of links that have been doing the rounds at work - some Qualitive and Quantitive studies into the most commonly used web fonts:
A Comparison of Popular Online Fonts: Which is Best and When?
and
Determining the Best Online Font for Older Adults

It’s interesting to read about the methods used, and the information may help inform (or at least defend) certain design decisions that are made, but it all unravelled for me when I read that Comic Sans, was one of the most favoured fonts by the participants!

The BumpTop 3D Desktop Prototype movie shows a beautiful, elegant and seductive alternative for the contemporary desktop metaphor we’ve all known and used on our PCs since the 80’s. Whilst the demonstrated interactions are not 100% intuitive or self-evident, they do appear to be easy to learn (not unlike Grafitti on PalmOS).

Despite the impressive execution of the concept, I am a little puzzled as to what problem is being solved here. It would appear (to the designers of this prototype) that in the real world, the messy, cluttered desktop, with piles of documents scattered everywhere, is desirable. In the real world, your eyes can tell you in an instant, what you are looking at - making sorting and location of objects far easier. The resolutions of displays may be going up, but in this demo, all PDFs are displayed by their icon alone. Minus a filename or preview, how do you know what you are dealing with when sorting piles of documents?

For me, the most dissapointing aspect of this is that it just extends and polishes the existing metaphor. Piles of files - aren’t they just a new way of thinking of folders? With the virtual world, are such rigid presentational groupings appropriate? Wouldn’t an interface that shows connections and dependencies automatically be more useful?

I’m sure that there’s far more to the prototype than the movie shows, and that using the interface itself, would make the merits more forthcoming. However, I do feel that it’s wrong to assume that the actual, cluttered desktop is the optimum solution to the problem.

If I were to generalise hugely, and say that people fall into two camps - those that keep their desks tidy, and those who do not, who would this interface benefit? Aren’t those who keep their desks tidy most likely to save and manage files and folders as a matter of course, and those who do not, be most likely to dump everything on their desktop? My feeling is that the less tidy amongst us, are also those who are less likely to go to the effort of sorting a messy desktop into piles. To me, it would seem that this prototype is aimed at just those people.

On Boxes and Arrows, Andres Zapata gives a helpful tutorial on turning wireframe designs into dimensional narratives - communicating quickly, clearly and cheaply, the intended interaction conventions and patterns.

Five eye-tracking experiments conducted on 5 sites, over 5 days.
Etre have (rather helpfully) released the findings for their tests on the Dixons, Currys, Amazon, Marks & Spencer and HMV sites.

It was interesting to read how Amazon exploit their awareness of the page’s hotspots to market offers and services more effectively than many of their competitors.

One month on, Beatport still hasn’t managed to resolve the problem with my order. There follows, a particularly long post detailing what I believe to be an utterly ridiculous and convoluted discussion with Beatport over the fact that I had a problem with an order from them.

I wrote a post about the terrible experience the morning after placing my order. Given that a month has now passed and I’ve written far too many emails to them trying to resolve the matter, I feel inclined to post the correspondence. I doubt many people will have the inclination to read all the emails, but it certainly helps me feel justified in my frustration to lay them out end-to-end and confirm that they have done absolutely nothing to resolve what should be a trivial issue. I’ve taken out names, phone numbers and email addresses, but otherwise, the content below is exactly as received/sent.

From: Paul Crowley
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005
To: Beatport
Subject: Re: Beatport Download Order #273870

Please tell me what is going on!

I selected that I wanted WAV format for my purchases, and even got the confirmation pop-up dialogue, yet the download page is saying that the purchased music is in MP3 format.
What do I do?

Yours frustrated,

Paul

From: Paul Crowley
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005
To: Beatport
Subject: Re: Beatport Download Order #273870

Hi,

I’ve just noted another problem with my order.
Not only did I order WAV and get MP3, but I also didn’t get what I ordered!
I order Beatz iN Peacez 01, 02 and 03. Instead I got two copies of 01 and one of 03.
Please can you let me have Beatz iN Peacez 02 please?

Thank you very much,

Paul

From: beatport.com

Subject: Dear Valued Customer,

Date: 14 December 2005

To: Paul Crowley

Dear Valued Customer,

Thanks for Contacting Beatport. We apologize for any inconvenience you are currently experiencing. We will respond to emails in the order they are received and normally handle requests within 24 to 48 hours.
Sometimes the answer to your question may be in the FAQs section on our site. Most other technical, library and refund inquiries can be handled here.

Thanks for your patience in this matter.

The Beatport staff

From: beatport.com
Subject: RE: Beatport Download Order #273870
Date: 19 December 2005
To: Paul Crowley

Hello Paul,

This sounds like a possible glitch with your account. I apologize for this inconvenience. Let me forward this to our engineering group and I will follow up with our resolution. Again I apologize and we thank you for your patience in this matter.

Regards,

Beatport

From: beatport.com

Subject: RE: Beatport Download Order #273870

Date: 20 December 2005

To: Paul Crowley

Hello Paul,

I checked out your account and it does show MP3s. This might be a glitch with your account. Let me forward this to our engineering group for troubleshooting. Hopefully I will be able to follow-up again soon when resolution is available. I apologize for the inconvenience in the mean time.

Thank you for your patience in this matter,

Beatport

From: beatport.com

Subject: RE: Beatport Download Order #273870

Date: 28 December 2005

To: Paul Crowley

Hello Paul and thank you for being so patient.

Beatport experienced technical issues during the migration of the WAV download feature. We’re containing the glitches but for the most part most problems have been resolved. We hope no more issues arise. Let me know if the error still persists on your end. I will troubleshoot further if need be. You are also more than welcome to give us a call at ***-***-**** if you would prefer to expedite this issue.

Regards,

Beatport.com

From: beatport.com

Subject: RE: Beatport Download Order #273870

Date: 28 December 2005

To: Paul Crowley

Also I can reset any tracks you may have lost during this delay.

From: Paul Crowley

Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005

To: Beatport Support

Subject: Re: Beatport Download Order #273870

Hi,

I’ve just gone to my account page, and I’m still getting mp3s for download instead of WAV.
I also received no comment on the fact that I have two copies of ‘Beatz N Peacez 01′ and one of part 03, when what I actually wanted was parts 01, 02 and 03. I hope you can assist?

Many thanks,

Paul

From: beatport.com

Subject: RE: Beatport Download Order #273870

Date: 28 December 2005

To: Paul Crowley

Hi Paul,

I took a look at your account preferences and you actually have MP3 downloads as your preferred download file type. In order to download WAVS you will have to update your information accordingly.

Log in

Click account

Click preference

Update preferred file format

I hope that clear up our mix-up. Let me know if the error still persists on your end. I will troubleshoot further if need be. You are also more than welcome to give us a call at ***-***-**** if you would prefer to expedite this issue.

Regards,

Beatport

From: Paul Crowley

Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005

To: Beatport Support

Subject: Re: Beatport Download Order #273870

Hi,

Thanks for the tip - I have now set my preferred file type to WAV.
However, at the time of purchase, I specifically requested WAV (regardless of this preference).
Does changing this preference mean that my downloads will now be available in WAV format as I requested?
I have still received no comment on the actual tracks in my order not being the ones I ordered either.
Can you please comment on this too?

If I can be as clear as possible - I would like to have Beatz N Peaces parts 01, 02 & 03 by Peace Division (two copies of the same track are of little value).
Frankly, if it makes matters easier to clear up all of these queries, I would (ideally) like to download all the tracks I have ever bought from Beatport in WAV format. Is it possible to do this by paying the difference between the MP3 and WAV formats? I would gladly do this if it can be organised.

Thank you,

Paul

From: beatport.com

Subject: RE: Beatport Download Order #273870

Date: 31 December 2005

To: Paul Crowley

Hello Paul,

WAV files are treated as separate orders so if you would like to purchase track in these formats another purchase needs to be made. I apologize for this inconvenience. The Preferred Format which you choose will be the default format for all purchases on Beatport. You will have to update accordingly if you would like different types of format with the order.

Regards,

Beatport

From: Paul Crowley

Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006

To: Beatport Support

Subject: Re: Beatport Download Order #273870

Hi,

Yes, I understand that WAV files are priced separately to MP3. Given that all of our discussions have been about how I requested WAV files in the first instance, can I not please get what I ordered? I’m happy to pay the difference in price, but I think that it’s totally unreasonable that you ask me to make a complete new order because your site wasn’t/isn’t working properly.

And… you have still not answered the question that I’ve put in virtually every one of my emails to you - that I my order didn’t contain the tracks that I requested.

I realise that the order wasn’t a significant spend on my part, but I find it utterly ridiculous that after nearly 3 weeks and 6 emails from yourself, that this simple request can’t be met: I’d like my original order (#273870) in WAV format as originally
requested with Beatz N Peaces parts 01, 02 and 03 as ordered, rather than two copies of part 01 and one of part 03.
I wrote a lengthy blog post on my frustration at the interface design of your site, and how it messed up my order. Frankly, I’m feeling inclined to write another (quoting our correspondence). Given that I reported a problem with your sites functionality and my order, you have still done absolutely nothing to placate me despite many emails and nearly 3 weeks passing. As customer experiences go, this has been one of the worst I can remember. This is such a shame because I feel that your core offer - great music, reasonably priced and not hampered by DRM is fantastic.

Thanks for your time.

Paul

From: beatport.com

Subject: RE: Beatport Download Order #273870

Date: 3 January 2006

To: Paul Crowley

Hello Paul,

At the time of your initial order (273870) you had MP3 downloads as your preferred download file type, which you received.

To deter our customers from purchasing unwanted tracks we feature “My Crate,” which allows items to be removed at any time during a browsing session. All traditional check outs are then automatically directed to “Account :: Crate” where corrections may be made to the summarize details of the pending order. By submitting the “Check Out” button Beatport then forewarns with a disclaimer of the proceeding purchase. The order will only be finalized with our customer’s agreement.

Order 273870 also indicated tracks:

46179 Beatz n Peacez 01 Original Mix Peace Division NRK $1.49

11889 Beatz iN Peacez 03 Limited Edition Peace Division NRK $1.49

11906 Beatz iN Peacez 01 Original Mix Peace Division NRK $1.49

All being different downloads with different audio. “Beatz n Peacez 01 Original Mix- 7:05″ and “Beatz iN Peacez 01 Original Mix- 7:36″ are not the same audio. If you would like to purchase Beatz iN Peacez 02 Original Mix Peace Division NRK then another order must be made indicating the specific file format before checking out and agreeing to Beatport’s disclaimer.

However these policies are not to dismiss our appreciation for our customer’s patronage. We understand that mistakes occur nonetheless. So in light of this, Beatport developers are in the final stages of yet another feature that will allow an exchange of our products of equal or lesser value provided tracks has not been downloaded. As an option I may offer you this type of exchange once this feature is available to us.

Please let me know. I apologize for the inconvenience.

From: Paul Crowley
Subject: Re: Beatport Download Order #273870

Date: 5 January 2006

To: Beatport.com

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

At the time of your initial order (273870) you had MP3 downloads as your preferred download file type, which you received.

Yes - I’ve already had this pointed out to me. Surely, manually selecting ‘WAV’ as the format I want for this order, and selecting OK when asked if I am sure is sufficient information for you to realise that I don’t want my preferred download type this time? Particularly when the whole notion of a preferred type is yours, and not your customers. I can buy whatever I want from Amazon; and just because my last order from them was 12″ vinyl isn’t interpreted by them as permission to ignore all subsequent orders for CDs. Perhaps you could/should do the same?

I am getting a little tired of repeating myself (as I’m sure you are) but I do get a little annoyed that the responses are now along the lines of ‘You don’t know how to use our website properly’. Particularly given that one of the first emails I received from you about this issue read:

‘Beatport experienced technical issues during the migration of the WAV
download feature. We’re containing the glitches but for the most part most
problems have been resolved. We hope no more issues arise. Let me know if
the error still persists on your end.’

I really can’t believe how may emails I (and you) have had to write to resolve what should be a trivial matter.
I didn’t get what I asked for - I politely asked for the matter to be rectified, and offered to pay any shortfall that may have arisen if appropriate.

What is the problem, and why have you gone from admitting there were faults to suggesting that it’s my inability to use your site (which any usability or accessibility consultant would tear strips off)? I’ve done my best to be patient and polite, but it’s getting increasingly difficult.

However these policies are not to dismiss our appreciation for our customer’s patronage. We understand that mistake occur nonetheless. So in light of this, Beatport developers are in the final stages of yet another feature that will allow an exchange of our products of equal or lesser value provided tracks has not been downloaded. As an option I may offer you this type of exchange once this feature is available to us.

It’s not 100% clear from the above if you are offering me what I’ve been asking for, but if you are saying that you will offer to exchange my purchases for WAVs, then yes please!

Thank you, Paul

Ze does an entertaining critique on Information Design that’s best defined as stand-up comedy. Talking exclusively about airline safety literature, there’s more entertainment value than education in his talk, but nonetheless, several amusing illustrations of the content vs clarity conundrum arise.

There’s a second presentation as part of this file - with a similarly humorous take on ‘Intelligent Design.’