Monthly Archives: September 2009

Comparing Digital Camera Interfaces

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This is a compilation of digital camera interfaces. Specially, I want to show the differences among button designs. This is not a product review and I don’t want to criticize too much, just to show them to see the differences. In order to properly judge the cameras we should see how the people behave when using them, thing we did we a few models only.

We spent some time in a huge shop touching cameras and observing other people doing the same. That gave us a first insight on the different perceptions about these devices but, of course, a shop is not the “natural” environment where people take pictures, so the context was not totally taken into account.

At last, we did interview people about cameras and we observed them taking pictures and touching the things. The conclusion: there is room for improvement on digital camera designs.

Here there are some comments and pictures of different compact cameras.

Rollei

001-rollei-x-8_sports_back-1It is easy to see the symbols on buttons, the contrast is good but having several functions working on one button could be confusing. From Rollei, we liked the way it navigates through pictures (unfortunately I can not show you that).

002-rollei-x-8_compact_white_back

003-Hi_Res_Rollei_XS-10_inTouch_Back Having less buttons could make the camera look simple, but this graphic interface show us that this is not always true.

004-rollei_cl_80_pink_back-416kb Here we noticed that it is very difficult to see the labels on buttons, the contrast is very bad.

005-rollei-8330x-se-back-gross-1211985606

Kodak

008-8765-kodakz8612back One function for each button could be a good approach. I like the knob to turn the camera on and off, it’s impossible to confuse it with the shooting button.

007-camera-backThe “Share” button might have good functionality, but honestly I don’t know what it does. What we discovered interviewing elderly people is that this group avoids pressing on buttons they don’t know what they are for.

Casio

028-Casio-EXILIM-EX-H10-10X-Zoom-Camera-pink-back This one has some buttons on the top that are almost impossible to see while taking pictures. “BS” seems to be something only Casio uses, we don’t know the meaning.

027-Casio-EXILIM-EX-Z90-back Painted buttons have great contrast! Unfortunately, it is very difficult to see what’s written on the other ones.

026-Casio-Exilim-EX-Z280-zoom-Compact-Digicam-back 025-Casio-Exilim-EX-S12-back1 It seems that Casio likes wheels. Unfortunately, these wheels do not behave like real wheels.

024-casio-exilim-ex-fs10-back

Sony

023-Sony_CyberShot_DSC-W270R_back There are some contrast issues here (on the buttons), but the most impressive things are the wheels. The one on the top is a real wheel the user can turn, the one on the bottom can not be turned.

023-sony-cybershot-DSC-N1-1 These two models (above, below) got a touch screen. This is a risky approach, success depends mostly on how well the graphic interface is designed. For the one below, graving it properly could be quite complicated. 022-sony-cyber-shot-screen-back 021-sony-cyber-shot-w210-back 020-sony_cybershot_w300_backThis model got lots of functionality, buttons and wheels!

Nikon

019-nikon-coolpix-l100-back Flash position is good here, it’s difficult to place the finger on it.

019-nikon-coolpix-l20-back The wheel could be an issue here and the buttons on top of the camera could not be seen when needed.

018-nikon-coolpix-p6000-backSome of the buttons in this camera seem to be part of this brand’s lexicon.

Panasonic

017-Panasonic-Lumix-TS1-back Painted buttons look great but the other ones have very bad contrast, I can imagine this being a big issue using the camera outdoors and even more for the elderly.

016-panasonic_lumix_dmc-lx3_back I wonder if labels like “AF/AE” are understandable to everybody. Should we carry the manual with us?

015-panasonic_dmc-tz5_back 014-panasonic_lumix_dmc-zx1_back

Canon

013-canon_sx200_rot_2 On many Canon cameras the wheel looks and works like a wheel, main function of it is to navigate through saved pictures. I like it a lot. 012-Canon_sd790_backInteresting design, but using buttons that don’t really look like buttons could be dangerous.

011-0905_canon_ixus_110_is_back This model goes in the right direction. The wheel is great. Unfortunately the graphic interface is not that simple.

010-canon-powershot-sd950-is-back We noticed that symbols on this model are difficult to understand for many people, specially the ones on the top wheel.

009-canon_sd750_back

Credits: some comments and thoughts on cameras were developed with help of Nora Gonzalez Dwyer.

First meeting of the IxDA Munich coming soon

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Design vs Art, together with Curt Collinsworth (Frog Design), is organizing the first meeting of the Munich chapter of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA).

Logo of the Interaction Design Association

Logo of the Interaction Design Association

This meeting should be a first get-together for the local community, and of course for visitors from other places too. Interaction designers, industrial designers, usability experts, web designers; all are invited to join and collaborate.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ixdamunich.de/

The user experience of an ATM starts before using it

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Where a user experience begins? This is an example on things designers should keep in mind before designing a new product. Here I talk about my experience using an ATM at the Stockholm airport.
I’ve been working hard the whole week to finish stuff before my trip to Sweden. What an exhausting week, I’m tired and I have a headache, still I decide To go to my colleague’s party. While I was having fun there I realized how late it was and leave to home. On Saturday morning I weak up even more tired than the day before, I prepare my suitcase and rush into the airport.
It’s early and I’m still sleepy and tired. I check in and pass through the security control. I look for my flight gate and walk the whole way there. I wait.
The airline employee call the passengers and everybody goes through the embarking gate to the airplane.
I’m not only tired, I’m a little bit nervous too. I’ve never been afraid of flying, but you know, there have been a few accidents recently…
Food was served, a cheese sandwich and some drinks. I ate some of the sandwich but I’m too nervous too finish it.
I’m tired and nervous and the flight seems to be too short to sleep.
Flight assistants announce that we are starting the landing, for some reason the voice coming from the speakers sounds too loud and a little bit disturbing.
We touch the ground and I feel much more relaxed. It was a perfect flight.
I’m still tired and feeling like after an exam. Released but a little bit tired. I see a “Welcome to my home town” sign together with pictures of ABBA, Roxette and other famous people. A different country, a different language and a different currency. I go to the exchange büro and ask the assistant if she could give me local money from my debit or credit card. She says no, and explains the way to the ATM. I wondered what was she there for if she could not give me some local money, but I’m too tired too think or complain, so I move towards the ATM.
I enter my card and I press the British flag on the screen hopping to get the instructions in a language I could understand. The ATM asks for my card’s PIN and I enter the 4 numbers. Nothing happens. No instructions, nothing would tell me what to do next. Only my PIN is there on the screen.
I’m tired and I think that it must be me not being able to read the options properly.
The messages on the screen were in English, I check the ATM’s keyboard and I see numbers and words in Swedish language, no “OK” or “Cancel” button, just Swedish.
I assume the ATM is waiting for me to press the OK button, but I can not find it.
I go to the Exchange Büro again and ask the woman if she could tell me where the OK button is. “Somewhere on the right” she said.
I go back to the ATM, try to find the OK button, but all I can read is words in a language I can not understand.
I don’t want to try buttons without being sure what they mean, ATMs usually “eat” cards if the user does 3 single mistakes entering information. Of course, being abroad without my debit card is something that I don’t want to experience…
Suddenly a Swedish couple comes and takes money out of the ATM. So, I ask them where the OK button is… I try myself… and voila! I got the money…
Now I wonder… are there ways to make flying a better experience?
Are those opportunities of improvement only on the plane?
Should an ATM in the city center behave like one in an airport?
How come that the graphic interface of this ATM was translated but the buttons not?
Thank you for listening!
This audio is part of the Design vs Art Blog. Visit us at www.designvsart.com.
Where does a user experience begin? This is an example on things designers should keep in mind before designing a new product. Here I talk about my experience using an ATM at the Stockholm airport.

 


I’ve been working hard the whole week to finish stuff before my trip to Sweden. What an exhausting week, I’m tired and I have a headache, still I decide To go to my colleague’s party. While I was having fun there I realized how late it was and leave to home. On Saturday morning I weak up even more tired than the day before, I prepare my suitcase and rush into the airport.
.
It’s early and I’m still sleepy and tired. I check in and pass through the security control. I look for my flight gate and walk the whole way there. I wait.
The airline employee call the passengers and everybody goes through the embarking gate to the airplane.
I’m not only tired, I’m a little bit nervous too. I’ve never been afraid of flying, but you know, there have been a few accidents recently…
.
Food was served, a cheese sandwich and some drinks. I ate some of the sandwich but I’m too nervous too finish it. I’m tired and nervous and the flight seems to be too short to sleep. Flight assistants announce that we are starting the landing, for some reason the voice coming from the speakers sounds too loud and a little bit disturbing. We touch the ground and I feel much more relaxed. It was a perfect flight.
.
I’m still tired and feeling like after an exam. Released but a little bit tired. I see a “Welcome to my home town” sign together with pictures of ABBA, Roxette and other famous people. A different country, a different language and a different currency. I go to the exchange büro and ask the assistant if she could give me local money from my debit or credit card. She says no, and explains the way to the ATM. I wondered what was she there for if she could not give me some local money, but I’m too tired too think or complain, so I move towards the ATM.
.
I enter my card and I press the British flag on the screen hopping to get the instructions in a language I could understand. The ATM asks for my card’s PIN and I enter the 4 numbers. Nothing happens. No instructions, nothing would tell me what to do next. Only my PIN is there on the screen.
.
I’m tired and I think that it must be me not being able to read the options properly. The messages on the screen were in English, I check the ATM’s keyboard and I see numbers and words in Swedish language, no “OK” or “Cancel” button, just Swedish. I assume the ATM is waiting for me to press the OK button, but I can not find it.
I go to the Exchange Büro again and ask the woman if she could tell me where the OK button is. “Somewhere on the right” she said.
.
I go back to the ATM, try to find the OK button, but all I can read is words in a language I can not understand.
I don’t want to try buttons without being sure what they mean, ATMs usually “eat” cards if the user does 3 single mistakes entering information. Of course, being abroad without my debit card is something that I don’t want to experience…
.
Suddenly a Swedish couple comes and takes money out of the ATM. So, I ask them where the OK button is… I try myself… and voila! I got the money…
.
Now I wonder… are there ways to make flying a better experience?
Are those opportunities of improvement only on the plane?
Should an ATM in the city center behave like one in an airport?
How come that the graphic interface of this ATM was translated but the buttons not?