Lorem ipsum, move over because we have a new kid on the BLOKK

blokk

With my recent experiences wireframing and doing mockups for websites, I’ve found that lorem ipsum has been quite a distraction. Why? Because it’s still text and often times I find myself getting caught up in the look and feel of having dummy text on a mockup. BLOKK, allows any designer to use dashes to fill in the space of where text is suppose to be — less distraction for the designer and less confusion for the client. When we’re working on the early stages of any design process, it’s best to leave out the aesthetics until the end. In the beginning, our priority is to map out the user interface.

BLOKK is a font for quick mock-ups and wireframing for clients who do not understand latin

Aside from BLOKK and wireframing on the computer, I prefer doing paper prototypes the most. They’re simple, quick and leaves little room for any style distractions. These are usually left for personal/private projects and not for client work. What do you prefer?

BLOKK can be downloaded for free here.

The design irony with 52 Weeks of UX

*** If you’re an aspiring ui/ux designer or if you’re already in the field or if you’re interested in reading about ui/ux, please visit 52weeksofux.com — these guys are good.

I recently discovered 52 Weeks of UX and was immediately drawn to reading the posts one after another. Porter and Brewer (both have the first name Joshua), are very talented ux people from Hubspot and Twitter, respectively. For 52 weeks (currently on week 51) they each dedicated their time to writing a blog post on their knowledge of ui/ux — that by the end of the 52 weeks, all of their posts could actually be compiled to make a very useful book about designing wonderful experiences for people. What’s ironic about this is how they’ve designed certain parts of their site. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite simple, however, some of the stuff is not very user-friendly (especially for the people who haven’t been keeping up with each new week). Let me tell you why.

1) Like most blogs, we’re used to seeing the Previous and Next links to navigate to different posts. I didn’t see any Previous or Next links so the next thing I immediately thought of was that the pointing fingers (see below) must actually be the links — except they’re just pointing in the wrong direction. Ha. I was wrong. They have no functionality, they’re simply just part of the header. Here’s what’s interesting. According to one of Gestalt’s theories on proximity, things that are near each other appear grouped — I actually didn’t think the pointing fingers were grouped with the header because the spacing between them was just a bit too far and my eyes were already automatically drawn to the header itself BECAUSE OF IT’S BOLD CAPPED FONT.

2) Since there are no Previous and Next buttons at the end of every post, I am not forced to scroll up all the way to the top of the page and search for the next week that I want to read.  While identifying which week (see first image) I want to click on is not a difficult task for me, I could imagine it being difficult for those who can’t see well.

3) Why bury the search function way at the bottom of the footer? Why not make it visible above the fold so that it could be easier for people to search? By the time I am at the end of a post, I’m already scrolling to the top to click on the next week. I skip the footer because according to site hierarchy, things that aren’t important are placed at the end of a page so I automatically assumed there was nothing useful in the footer for me.

After getting over the minor friction on this site, I’ve come to love the site for its rich content. I think it’s wonderful when people take their personal time to share their knowledge with others because it’s so powerful!

As I get more and more into ui/ux, I will be posting my critiques on interfaces that I think could be better improved. Please check back again soon for new posts!

The New Outlook – A User Experience Review

outlook

Microsoft just gave Hotmail a facelift and rebranded it to Outlook. Have you seen it yet?

From first glance, it appears very clean and simple, but there seems to be some things that aren’t very user-friendly. Continue reading →

Path, a neat social app that could use some improvements

Path. It’s a neat little app that helps you stay connected with your family and close friends. Cool, a simpler version of Facebook with only people you care about. 

Path’s interface on the iphone is well-designed because it’s easy to use and doesn’t overwhelm users with too many functions, however, that doesn’t mean that there’s no room for improvement. Continue reading →

The Pebble Watch – A Smart Watch

pebble-watch

Have any of you ever heard of Kickstarter? It’s basically a platform that helps innovators make their ideas come true by getting people to fund their projects. So if you see something you like that hasn’t come to life yet, why not back it with a bit of funding and help make it happen?

I recently came across this very successful Kickstarter project called, Pebble. Their goal was only to raise $100,000 however, within 28 hours of putting their project on Kickstarter, they raised $1,000,000! They ended up raising $10,266,845 with 68,929 backers! Guess what Pebble does…  Continue reading →

Chevy Happy Grad & M&M Just My Shell – Superbowl Commercials 2012

I meant to share this video awhile ago but I just didn’t get around to doing it. The Superbowl commercials this year did not impress me much(too many car commercials) but this one stood out because it made me laugh.

My second favorite commercial was the M&M Just My Shell commercial. This one also made me laugh so I want to share it as well. Take a look at it here! Continue reading →

KONY 2012 – One of the best, viral, campaign videos I have seen in awhile…

joseph-kony-2012

War propaganda, scam, oil, the US government, the invisible children in Africa, Joseph Kony?

Continue reading →

Can’t Access Facebook In Vietnam? Learn How To Access Blocked Sites

Facebook Blocked in Vietnam

Have you been blocked from accessing Facebook in Vietnam recently? Have you also noticed that some YouTube videos aren’t accessible in Vietnam? Or you can’t access websites like Pandora or Netflix? Well, a VPN service will solve that problem.

A lot of people are having issues connecting to Facebook.com once again in Vietnam. If you really want to access sites that have been blocked by VN or sites that are not accessible worldwide, I highly suggest signing up for a VPN service — it not only unblocks websites but it also offers security and anonymity when you’re browsing the Internet. These services give you a unique IP that’s located elsewhere in the world — so when you access a website, it thinks you’re from a different location and not your current location (Vietnam).

Below are a few services that you can try. Most of them offer 1 week trials — money back guarantee.

For mac, Windows, Android, iPhone :

  • StrongVPN (I currently use this service and have not had any issues with them — aget 12 months for $85 or $55 depending on which package you choose from Vietnam)
  • PandaPow (I have used this service in the past and it worked out really well — get 12 months for $84 — very responsive, great support)
  • Witopia
  • Proxpn

 

 

A Time Lapse of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

My friend, Mike, shared this video with a few of us through an email and when I saw it, I knew I had to share it on my blog!

I love the background music of this video and how the scenes were pieced together, showing different streets in Ho Chi Minh City. The video made traffic appear less bizarre and chaotic, however.

If you have never visited Vietnam before, I hope you do one day. It’s the only place with the most motor bikes in the world! Make sure you come with an open mind!

How to Tether on Your iPhone 4S in Vietnam (Mobifone)

i-phone-4s-tethering

What’s tethering on the iPhone?  It’s basically using your iPhone as a Wi-fi hotspot when you’re on-the-go.  So if you’re in a car and need Internet connection on your laptop, you can simply turn your iPhone into a Wifi hotspot and allow your laptop to connect to it.  Learn how to tether with your iPhone 4S on iOS5 by continuing ahead. Continue reading →