OTOinsights Laptop review – Packard Bell netbook – KAV 60

Dr. Alex Dewitt  takes a look at the Packard Bell netbook – KAV 60.
Offering his thoughts and insight as a user experience consultant on the user experience of the laptop.
Delivering a unique view of  how the end user will perceive the netbook.

By Dr. Alex Dewitt,
Senior Research Consultant
at OTOinsights

The latest netbook offering from Packard Bell boasts [...]

Mobile Application Review – British Met Office

Gurvinder Sandhu takes a look at the British Met Office app on the iPhone.
Following the harsh weather this winter, fhios research consultant Gurvinder Sandhu thought it helpful to review an app that may prove very useful in the upcoming weeks with more snow predicted to fall across the UK.
In this article Gurvinder takes a look [...]

Mobile Application Review – BBC News

By Martin Rosenmejer,
User Experience Research Consultant
at fhios.

What is it?
BBC News
Purpose
Provides updated news from BBC.

Download?
Free from Android Market app store.

Overview
The BBC News app is a very popular app to Android and has received good reviews.

So what does it do?

Figure 1: Home screen with the BBC News icon.
The BBC News app displays one heading, [...]

Designing for mobile is hard! Our free webinar will make it easier…

2010 looks set to be the year mobile marketing finally steps up to centre stage. With over four billion mobile users around the world compared to approximately one billion PCs, and the increasing popularity of the iphone and other smartphones, the logic of using mobile devices to drive awareness, loyalty, and sales is undeniable.
However, designing [...]

Vodafone Launch Experimental Retail Campaign

Working alongside Fitch, Vodafone have taken an interesting approach to retail design in Qatar. Where the retail experience is a national past-time and the telecom industry is highly regulated and monopolized. Vodafone is showing ambition to have themselves become the country’s most-admired mobile carrier.
Fitch has taken Vodafone’s three flagship stores, all of which are designed [...]

When is time a useful metric?

By Dr. Alex Dewitt,
Senior Research Consultant
at fhios.

Why measure time?
When conducting user experience studies, it is useful to measure certain aspects of the products performance, such as number of errors and level of user satisfaction. Time is a metric which seems like a no brainer because it is absolute, easy to measure, and easy to interpret. [...]

When to separate visual and interaction design

By Dr. Alex Dewitt,
Senior Research Consultant
at fhios.
When we design a system (or product, or interface), there are multiple facets to consider;

What task the user wants to complete – journey analysis
What data will be input, processed, and output
How the user will interact with [...]

The Truth About Youth

Zahra Awan, MBA,
Business Development Manager at fhios
We’re all aware of the importance of User Centric Design. With children becoming more and more savvy in terms of their computer/technological skills, it is essential to take their views into consideration when designing interfaces that are intended for their use………..
According to a recent survey conducted by YouthNet, 45% [...]

NPD Vrs Nostalgia

With a recent surge in companies re-launching old products and switching to nostalgic packaging, is there a case that a war has broken out between Nostalgia and NPD?
The recent success of Cadburys with their re-launch of Wispa was an early indication of how brands are reviving old products to tap into the consumers need for [...]

Is it really the end of printed media?

Vibe the American music and entertainment magazine, set-up by record producer Quincy Jones will be closing for good. Although Jones is in the process of buying the magazine back to keep the online side going.
The magazine which reduced its frequency to 10 issues per year also had to cut its paid circulation by a quarter.
Jones later [...]