Another Useful Blog

Getting to the Heart of the Appeal of Video Games

2013-05-10T13:27:00.000+02:00

"'A game can be more fun when you get the chance to act and be like your ideal self,' explained Dr. Przybylski. 'The attraction to playing videogames and what makes them fun is that it gives people the chance to think about a role they would ideally like to take and then get a chance to play that role.' .... 'I was heartened by the findings which showed that people were not running away from...

Steve Jobs Lost in Translation

2011-12-08T13:35:00.000+01:00

This post will be especially interesting for readers who understand English as well as German. (For those of you who do not understand German, I included some explanations to give you an idea of the things I'm talking about.) Most of you know that after the recent events, the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson was rescheduled and published earlier than initially planned. This led to...

Forget About the Details in UX Design

2011-11-21T13:01:00.000+01:00

The title of this post may strike you as weird. After all, we know how important details are for UX, right? There are lots of descriptions of design details and the impact they had, and, not least, Steve Jobs' obsession with details is legendary. (See, e.g., “The Tweaker – The real genius of Steve Jobs”.) So why this post? Well, because there is a right time for everything, and this also...

A Cynic's View on the UX Community

2011-09-12T13:31:00.000+02:00

Twitter and other (largely) public online forums are used by the UX community to publish thoughts, exchange ideas and discuss current issues. But of course, the audience consuming all that information is not limited to UX professionals. Anyone who wants to gain some insight into the UX community can tap into this constant stream of information, which is especially easy on Twitter - just filter...

Oscar Wilde on art, criticism and usefulness

2011-08-15T16:28:00.000+02:00

"It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself. We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely." (From the preface to "The...

We are doing this for over 20 years...

2011-05-23T14:01:00.000+02:00

When redesigning a user interface (and all the more when creating a completely new one), it is a good idea to conduct user task analyses, contextual analyses and the like in advance. This helps immensely in gaining a deep understanding of the domain, users, their requirements and their workflows. For usability engineers who are regularly engaging in these kinds of activities, the benefits are...

(At Least) Two Sides to Every Story

2011-05-04T13:01:00.000+02:00

Twitter is not only a constant source of information, but also a constant source of opinions. With the way Twitter handles dialogs, you may at some times receive only one point of view, e.g., a link to a piece about the benefits of wireframing, but you may miss out on the other side of the story, in case it is contributed by people who you are not following. It can often be valuable to reflect...

Just like me: Online training helpers more effective when they resemble students

2011-03-03T12:41:00.000+01:00

"The researchers found that people reported being more engaged and focused on their training when the helper was portrayed by an image that matched both their race and gender. Furthermore, the researchers found that participants liked the helper more – and learned more from the program – when the helper's communication style matched their own in regard to a very specific aspect...

Video games are good for girls -- if parents play along

2011-02-01T16:36:00.000+01:00

"Researchers from Brigham Young University's School of Family Life conducted a study on video games and children between 11 and 16 years old. They found that girls who played video games with a parent enjoyed a number of advantages. Those girls behaved better, felt more connected to their families and had stronger mental health." http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-video-games-good-girls-.html

The Pitfalls of E-mail

2011-01-24T12:46:00.000+01:00

"Janice Nadler, a social psychologist and Northwestern University law professor, paired Northwestern law students with those from Duke University and asked each pair to agree on the purchase of a car. Researchers instructed each team to bargain entirely through e-mail, but half the subjects were secretly told to precede the negotiation with a brief getting-to-know-you chat on the phone. The...

There is no particular mystery in UX Design...

2010-12-17T12:20:00.000+01:00

"There is no particular mystery in animation.., it's really very simple, and like anything that is simple, it is about the hardest thing in the world to do." If you replace "animation" with "UX design" in this quote from Bill Tytla, there is still some truth to the statement. There is no "secret knowledge" regarding good UX design to be acquired from hidden sources - there is a multitude of...

Social media actually strengthen social ties, various demographics engage differently, study says

2010-11-26T11:21:00.000+01:00

"Men tend to use Facebook for functional activities, such as sharing news, information and task-oriented content. Men are less likely to share photos on Facebook, but when they do they're more likely to be photos connected to their personal interests, such as hobbies, animals or scenery. In comparison to women, men are 8 percent more likely to post video clips to their Facebook...

How video games stretch the limits of our visual attention

2010-11-18T16:19:00.000+01:00

"Paralleling the growing interest in visual attention, the world of video games has developed both technologically and culturally. It is now believed that 68% of American households play video or computer games. Hubert-Wallander, Green, and Bavelier reviewed recent studies by their group but also many other laboratories where gamers and non-gamers had to perform tasks related to visual...

Tetris flashback reduction effect 'not common to all games'

2010-11-11T14:20:00.000+01:00

"'Our latest findings suggest Tetris is still effective as long as it is played within a critical six-hour window after viewing a stressful film,' said Dr Emily Holmes of Oxford University's Department of Psychiatry, who led the work. 'Whilst playing Tetris can reduce flashback-type memories without wiping out the ability to make sense of the event, we have shown that not all computer games...

"Video gaming prepares brain for bigger tasks"

2010-09-26T13:50:00.000+02:00

"Reorganisation of the brain's cortical network in young men with significant experience playing video games gives them an advantage not only in playing the games but also in performing other tasks requiring visuomotor skills." http://www.physorg.com/news204546376.html

"Emotional robot pets"

2010-09-19T20:14:00.000+02:00

"There are three major issues to considered in robot design, the team explains. The first is to construct an appropriate control architecture by which the robot can behave coherently. The second is to develop natural ways for the robot to interact with a person. The third is to embed emotional responses and behavior into the robot's computer. The researchers hope to address all three issues...

What You Always Wanted to Know About Eye Tracking - Part 3: Terminology

2010-09-14T14:00:00.025+02:00

In part 1 and part 2 of this series, some fundamental aspects of the eye tracking technology that affect data gathering have been covered. The next parts will cover more advanced conceptual-methodological topics, related to data analysis and data interpretation. Being aware of these issues is important because we are still far from having a unified framework for analysis and interpretation of eye...

What You Always Wanted to Know About Eye Tracking - Part 2: Data Accuracy

2010-07-16T16:57:00.013+02:00

After discussing the issue of fixation detection in the first part of the series, this post will provide some additional basic knowledge about the eye tracking technology before diving into some more advanced conceptual aspects of eye tracking in part three. An essential part of the eye tracking setup is the camera that captures light reflected by the eye in order to analyze the information...

"Smart clothes offer emotional aid"

2010-06-23T12:54:00.000+02:00

"The clothes are connected to a database that analyses the data to work out a person's emotional state. Media, including songs, words and images, are then piped to the display and speakers in the clothes to calm a wearer or offer support." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10236143.stm

"Computer program that detects depression in bloggers' texts"

2010-06-23T00:15:00.000+02:00

''The software program was designed to find depressive content hidden in language that did not mention the obvious terms like 'depression' or suicide,'' explains Prof. Neuman. 'A psychologist knows how to spot various emotional states through intuition. Here, we have a program that does this methodically through the innovative use of 'web ...

"The challenges of learning to use new products"

2010-06-23T00:08:00.000+02:00

"The authors also found that consumers differ in how they learn: they may learn by following instructions or through actual experience. 'Over four experiments conducted using different software products we find that when consumers learn how to use a new product by reading instructions, they do better if the learning episodes are spaced,' the authors write. 'However, if their learning is via...

"Violent video games may increase aggression in some but not others, says new research"

2010-06-16T14:03:00.000+02:00

"Playing violent video games can make some adolescents more hostile, particularly those who are less agreeable, less conscientious and easily angered. But for others, it may offer opportunities to learn new skills and improve social networking." http://www.physorg.com/news195132881.html

"Can companies really predict what we like online?"

2010-05-15T01:29:00.000+02:00

"In a pair of experiments with about 200 college students, the researchers found that people's natural aversion to being predicted makes it difficult for companies to understand exactly what consumers want. Moreover, they argue that whether or not people want to be predicted depends on the interpersonal context, in particular, competitive or cooperative...

"The distraction society"

2010-05-12T17:24:00.000+02:00

"According to a 2007 study by Loughborough University academic, Thomas Jackson, most of us reply to e-mails immediately - many within six seconds. Then it takes at least a minute to recover our thoughts. Not long after, more e-mails arrive, with more checking, and so on. As a result of this constant stimulus, we can become habituated. Instead of focusing on our work or home life, we're...

"'Happy ending' gives recyclable products higher status"

2010-05-10T18:00:00.000+02:00

"She said it was important for designers to know about human reactions to materials so they could make products people liked to use and valued. 'Also we need to understand how to choose materials that fit the purpose of the product,' said Ms Beaver. 'For example, if something is going to be only used for four months then it should be made from material that is...