Communication Design

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The Power of Quiet

Ok Google Now, no, not like that Google Now

In Google's vision you'll never have to disconnect. Also, you better not use voice commands while having multiple devices, and stop strangers from saying "Ok Google" near you, otherwise it will get messy. 

Widely rumored as a Snapchat competitor, Slingshot certainly has an ephemeral element -- all of the photos and videos you send using it are easily removed with a simple swipe. But while Snapchat is a messaging service for one-on-one conversations, Slingshot is more about sharing that moment with lots of people at once. In a sense, it's an impromptu social network that encourages spontaneous communications. But there's a catch -- if you want to see what your friends have shared with you on Slingshot, you'll have to reciprocate and "sling" something back. It's perhaps the only social app we've heard of that requires 100 percent active participation

I really like what Facebook is trying to do with their CreativeLabs (who also created the very nicely designed Paper app), but try to think of the user group that would use something like this?

Among all the buyouts, competitor clones, data-privacy issues, I feel like Facebook is really losing touch with its users. From the reader's forums:

"Anything from Facebook is a complete no go!. "

"Wait: if you need to reply BEFORE you can see what somebody sent you"

"You don't conditionally share things with people. Unless you're in the awkward situation of I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours."

' "That sort of dynamic creates a space where there's really low pressure to create, because when everybody's a creator, there's no pressure behind creating." I suddenly feel pressured to create. '

And it goes on...

Using a smart watch saves you the 3 seconds it takes to reach your phone in your pocket. Or maybe to access information when reaching out for the phone is not possible.

Typing on your watch will take more than those 3 seconds, and means you could reach your phone.

In response to Facebook's controversial mood experiment involving some 700,000 unwitting users, we present you 99 Days of Freedom; an online study on how life without Facebook impacts user happiness. Joining is very simple: follow our three step instruction to join the experiment for as long as you like. We can’t wait to hear how you spend your time off.

3 steps. Remove apps, logout, enjoy life. Could you live without Facebook for 99 days?

Wearables for Women

Respect for making it work on such a tiny form factor, but for everything else this product is completely out of touch.

Ringly creates jewelry and accessories that connect to your phone and notify you about the things that matter most. Put your phone away and enjoy the moment.

Enjoy the moment while there's a blinking vibrating ring on your finger that you have to remember to charge every 2 days? 

I can't comment on the looks, since I'm a guy and wear no jewelry, but let's just say I'm skeptical about it. However, I do know that after wearing a Pebble Smartwatch for months I learned how incredibly misled this "pushing notifications to your face" trend is.

This product is designed for women who are technologists, that enjoy using technology for the sake of using it. This is not designed for everyone else.

Experience Communication

Do we need technology to tell us how are we feeling or how focused we are? Can't we tell? Apparently not always.

Spire goes beyond tracking moments of movement to provide feedback when you're at work, home, and in life. Spire helps you cultivate focus and balance during your day... Compared with existing trackers, Spire is more like having a sixth sense.

I know the folks from Stanford whose research inspired this product, and their work is great. There is more than meets the eye for technology mediated reflection.

Spire is based on psychophysiology—how the brain and body interact. Your state of mind causes a cascade of physiological and hormonal changes throughout your body. In short doses, these are normal and beneficial. However, when experienced constantly over time, stress can become chronic and result in lasting damage.

...

Your respiratory rate tells Spire if you are in a period of physical or mental exertion. A faster rate of breathing indicates your body needs more oxygen, and thus is working harder. This can be used to measure cognitive and physical activity. 

Their hardware is solid. Easy to charge, easy to wear, discrete and comfortable. Designed for real users.

No more missing an important mail or message even you’re eating or chatting with someone at café.

No more hustle checking your smart phone every single minute and it looks cool.

Non-stop notifications right in your face, all day long. This is so wrong, it would be torture to pay somebody to use it.

Now, when you tap the camera icon and hold the Send button, you can automatically record and send short video clips to friends.

If people are not using your product, just add more features from your competitors products (or buy them), right?

When given the choice between no distractions and an electric shock, a surprising number of people picked pain over boredom.

In a world where we have a hundred distractions—social media and smartphones, for example—the subjects probably found being alone with their thoughts to be strange

Over-connected, over-distracted, always consuming media. At which point does technology becomes a escape tool rather than a facilitator for communication, well-being and creativity?

Withings introduces Activité, the very first Swiss Made watch measuring both time and physical activity.

And works like a fitness tracker. I like its looks, focused functionality, and coherent design. I wish it appealed to more users. As it stands now this either a very expensive fitness tracker, or a classy expensive off-brand watch. Let's break it down.

The techie audience has no problems with geeky-looking devices, and prefer functionality and cost over design. The classy audience that wears expensive watches care about brand, status, exclusivity.

Basically I'm just making potato salad. I haven't decided what kind yet. 

Frebble is a wireless accessory that lets you hold your loved one´s hand - no matter how far apart you are.

Novel idea, nice design and technology. I'm really curious about how they involved users in their design process and testing. Ideas like this can very easily fall out of touch if they're not truly inspired on real peoples' problems and needs.

Who would use this and under which circumstances? From their site:

"Children love it: they can now hold hands with their father on a business trip, their grandmother in another country, a best friend who moved away, or maybe just a friend next door"

Sure children may love it, but would they be able to realize this is their parents' specific "touch" over a device that simply vibrates? And do you really want to hold hands with grandma at a distance? Or with "a friend next door"? 

Maybe I could see this as support for other remote interactions. For example, Skyping with your remote partner and wanting to hold hands while seeing the other's facial expression. Maybe.

The daily app that keeps track of your love life.

Some nice design ideas, for a product out of touch with what most couples actually want or need. Intimacy self-report and tracking, that's what being in-love is all about, not.

If anything, this may be more suitable for girls than boys (and that's a huge "if"), yet they call it "boyfriend log" and put a photo of a girl on it. Then they claim their next big product is the "girlfriend log". Regardless, what's the point of a couples application if its not meant to be used by both sides?

Finally, you can also "expand" it, so that you deal with having multiple boyfriends:

"Dating more than one guy and need to compare the relationships to make an informed decision?"

Facebook is "bad" because it forces you to be followed by who you follow, and because there's an awkward netiquette of what happens when you unfollow/unfriend someone.

Twitter is "good" because you can follow whoever you want, without being followed. Also, it's no biggie if you unfollow someone. Until now. Now you can "mute" people you want to follow without actually unfollowing them, so that you don't hurt all these strangers' feelings.