February 2010
6 posts
Got 40 minutes? Do your taxes.
I have a child, my wife does private tutoring in our home, we bought our first house, and we have a few of the other usual suspects in deductions. Using TurboTax it took me about 40 minutes to do my taxes. That’s some good interaction.
January 2010
7 posts
The Rear Wiper (aka The First Post About My VW...
Scenario
I’m in my VW Rabbit in the Target parking lot—about to leave. It’s raining. I turn on the car and the wipers. I shift into reverse and…
Stellar Interaction
My rear window wiper turns on! The Germans earn 3 interaction points for this one.
Point 1: They know it’s raining, cause I put my front wipers on. I didn’t turn my back one on, but I put the car...
WatchThe file manager at Weebly.com is quick, requires no refresh, and for such a small and simple interface, does a whole lot.
Gmail's Floating, Inline Expander
I love progressive disclosure mechanisms. This one from Gmail is one of my favorites. What makes it so great is that it overlays in place. When you click “7 more” in the example shown, the more items show up exactly where they would if they were inline, but they’re floating and temporary. The inline look makes the items appear as more of the same. Excellent attention to detail,...
Tonka Remote, Designed for a 2-year Old
This is a remote for a Tonka remote control car. The car itself is a fantastic product, but the remote especially caught my attention.
The toggle button moves the remote control car forward when the button is pressed down on the right side, moves backward and to the left when pressed down on the left side, and stops when not pressed. The button is big, but the remote is small enough to easily...
Save My Clicks
Search results like these from Google help searchers get where they need to go within a site without having to go to the site—it saves a click at least. I like it:
But then Hulu.com improves it one step further. I only need to begin typing my search for them to help me get exactly where I want to go—no search results page needed and one less click:
Riverwalk Directional Arrow Tree Thing
Recently my family and I were down in San Antonio at the Riverwalk, and I saw this gem of design and usability. From multiple angles, in a simple manner, this sign well-directs traffic.
Check it out next time you’re in San Antonio.
