Events related to ‘Design in India’ in the month of November 2009

November 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Happening:‘An Arc of Infinity’ – making of the world's longest 'Graffiti Scroll'Nov 1, 2009 at IDC, IIT Bombay http://www.inaplanetofourown.net/
2. International Conference, Workshops, Exhibition:'In a Planet of Our Own' - A Vision of Sustainability from across six continentsNov 3 - 7, 2009 at IDC, IIT Bombay http://www.inaplanetofourown.net/
3. TED Conference:‘Ted India – the future beckonsNov 4 - 7, 2009 at Mysore http://conferences.ted.com/TEDIndia/
4. Roundtable on trends at NIFT, DelhiINSIGHT INDIA 2009 organised by Onio Design and Style-Vision with supporting institution NIFT, Delhi6 – 7 November 2009, New Delhihttp://www.oniodesign.com/roundtable
5. Conference
   The NASSCOM Animation & Gaming India 20096 – 7 November 2009, Hyderabad http://www.nasscom.org/nasscom/templates/flagshipEvents.aspx?id=57264
6. Related Conference: at Delhi ‘India Economic Summit 2009'
   Theme: India's Next Generation of Growth8-10 November, in Delhi at Taj Palace Hotel http://www.weforum.org/en/events/IndiaEconomicSummit2009
7. Workshop in Ahmedabad:‘Design Ergonomics’November 11-13, 2009 at NID, Ahmedabad http://www.nid.edu/nidworkshop/workshop_user.aspx
8. International Trade fair at New Delhi ‘India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2009’14th – 27th November, 2009 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi http://www.iitfonweb.com/
9. Conference in Aligarh:‘Ergonomics for Improved Productivity’ 21-22 November 2009 at Z H College of Engineering & Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarhhttp://sites.google.com/a/zhcet.ac.in/eip2009/Home

If you know of other events related to design in India, do email:contact[at]designinindia.net orcontact[at]in-de-as.org 'Design, Peace and Cheers'
The above event list taken from HCIIDC forum.

Chowmahalla Palace - Timings

This might be useful information for tourist who are planning to visit this wonderful palace in Hyderabad.

Chowmahalla Palace

Open: All Days except Friday
Closed: Fridays and National Holidays
Timings: 10.00am to 5.00pm

Flickr Reaches 4 Billion Photos, Continues to Grow

It seems that every autumn, Flickr continues to pass over yet another landmark in image hosting. While in November 2007, it reached the 2 billion photo mark and in the month of November 2008 it reached the next milestone, 3 billion, the company got ahead of itself with one month and reached the 4 billion mark a few days ago.

The photo can be viewed here and was immediately noticed as the lucky image upload by one of Flickr's users. This comes to no surprise to industry experts who share a general opinion that Flickr will be hard to take down as the top image hosting service by any of its competition. This includes Wikimedia Commons, PhotoBucket or ImageShack.

And if some of those industry experts don't agree with their colleagues, a “Flickr is Hiring” blog post published a month ago should convince them that the service is clearly in an expansion period. Checking the Jobs Page on Flickr, we found out that the jobs are still opened “for a few talented geeks to join […] (a) panda-wrangling, daily-deploying, shard-juggling squad, based in downtown San Francisco.”

Capitalizing on its huge success, Yahoo also jumped on the Flickr bandwagon, recently adding its logo to the Flickr service. Even if it owned Flickr for a long-time now (March 2005), this was the first time it publicly displayed its logo on Flickr's page. Users were quick to jump at criticizing Yahoo for its lack of marketing effort all these years, only to pop its trademark when things got really good.

The main core of the Yahoo criticism is rooted in the days of 2007, when many Yahoo! Photos users where forced to migrate to another image hosting company, mainly Flickr (options for Multiply, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Kodak Gallery or Photobucket were added later), being informed that Yahoo! Photos would shut down and the photos deleted.

In the beginning, not many of those users were informed that Flickr was owned by Yahoo at that time, so a big number of them still think that Yahoo had abandoned them a couple of years ago, and now comes in to force its logo inside a service that they had not fully recognized or marketed as an entire Yahoo product all these years.

Source

AP Flood Disaster: A step further!

AP is witnessing a flood disaster in the state that has taken away lives, property and has displaced many people. Thousands have lost their lives and many are left homeless.

People were trapped in many parts of the state in worst floods in recent memory inundated the districts in Andhra Pradesh. People have lost their houses and belongings. The standing crops are gone. Flood has destroyed the total source of their livelihood. Many families are also struggling to cope amid food shortages.

When you lose everything it is very hard to recover, however a helping hand from you will bail them out temporarily out of starvation.

VLF has always been in the fore-front in responding and helping the needy. VLF has joined hands with HYSEA & NASSCOM who are helping in coordinating and ensuring that the collections reach the needy in time.

Source (ValueLabs)

Usability and Accessibility

Usability
Usability is a measure of the quality of a user’s experience in interacting with information or services. It is about making web sites easy for customers to find the exact information they need when they need it. Usability is affected by a combination of factors including look-and-feel, navigation, interface design, information architecture, accessibility and compatibility.

Accessibility
Information on the Web is accessible when it achieves the highest level of usability - it means that everyone can find and use it. Offering equal access to disabled users is compelling, helps to build Web site audience and grow a loyal customer base.

(Source)

What is Project Management?

Here are some of the sentences heard on youtube video on Project Management.

What is Project Management?
It is an application of Skills & Methods, doing things:

• On time
• On budget
• to specification

The difference between mini projects (reaching office on time, taking breakfast with kids, speding time with family) and large complexed projects (business projects) is just the magnitude of the application.

Determining what you can change in the plan to allow you to take that action is good project management.

Interview with Elizabeth Rosenzweig, Founder of World Usability Day

Elizabeth Rosenzweig is the driving force and founder of the Usability Professional’s Association World Usability Day, a day that seeks to recognize and promote usability as a means to making services and products easier to access and simpler to use. The World Usability Day or “WUD” for short takes place on the 2nd Thursday of the month of November.

In her “spare” time, Elizabeth leads the Bubble Mountain user experience consulting firm and is also an author, a multi-patent holder and mom.

In detail blog is posted at http://www.usefulusability.com/interview-with-elizabeth-rosenzweig/

An encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai

Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai
=========================================================

Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different. As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines(kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel.

My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked round again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths - from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega."

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai – the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time.. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.

" My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.

I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.


which has got a first aid box on the left and a newspaper box on right (which had all hindi-english-marathi-gujrati and economic times)


which has got a tv on the top with cable (I was watching colors channel) and below tat is the tissue box. on the left is the mandir types and dont miss the "Only gandhigiri" written there , below tat is the calender and a notepad and pen along with a blue fan (which is blowing towards the customer who sits)


25% discount for handicap!! who on this earth can expect somethin like this from an rickshawala yaar!!

The photographer spoke to tat person and found him so much interesting and creative. he was telling some new stuff he is gonna do more for the customers to be happy.

Its amazing there are ppl still alive like him in this world!

Exhibition of Selected Cartoons & Bad Designs Entries

Exhibition of selected Cartoons & Bad Design entries.

Venue:
State gallery of Art, Madhapur, Hyderabad-India from 17th Sept- 22nd Sept.

Do Not Call

This might be important for you!!!

For customers who would like to register/de-register their request for NDNC registry may dial 1909 or SMS to 1909 with keywords 'START DND' for registration and 'STOP DND' for de-registration.

Subscriber can check the status of their registration in NDNC Registry by clicking on "DND Registration Check" on website.

Source:http://164.100.9.238/ndncregistry/index.jsp?reqtrack=quIBZSHukiIYhnEAQQfscNJcN

Volunteered at UsabilityMatters.org

Last couple of days had a good time at Madhapur by volunteering at Usability Matters for their contest and site updation work. Met Kaladhar Bapu (Microsoft) there and discussed few interesting subjects with him.

It was nice to see that so much of time and efforts is put in for TechEase'09: National Usability Workshop for Students by several guys. I was lucky to be a part of it.

My First Telugu Movie Experience

Well... its been 2 weeks now in Hyderabad at ValueLabs and just finished watching my 1st ever telugu movie "Magadeera - the warrior" with ValueLabs colleagues. It was wonderful experience.

1st of all I don't understand anything in Telugu (read & write) but still convinced myself to have a fun with colleagues as it was action packed movie. Additionally, to not feel completely lost with the movie flow, I did my home work well and read Magadheera plot on wikipedia.

Magadheera is a 2009 Telugu language film directed by S.S. Rajamouli. Ram Charan Teja plays the lead role along with Kajal Aggarwal. Though I did not understood the language still could easily be in a flow with the movie. Full marks to actions scenes and cinematography along with fabulous script and crew performance.

I hope, one day I will watch Telugu movie better knowledge over Telugu Lanaguage.

Prash

Usability Vs. User Experience

Traditionally focused on Usability
> Can do and easy to do
> Effortless

Shift in focus to User Experience
> Still usable but also...
- Powerful
- Persuasive
- Good expression of Brand
- Easy + gives us what we want = "joy"

Source (HFI)

What Turns Shoppers into Customers?

Drivers
----------
Price
Product Assortment
Trust the Brand
Persuaded to Buy
Can do from my desk
Site knows who I am
Enjoyed the site

Roadblocks
----------
Difficult to use
Can't find the product
Don't know the brand
Not enough information
No one there to help me
Can't touch the item
Can't get it now

Is your site helping or hurting?

Source: HFI

Cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology is the empirical branch of psychology that deals with questions about how people think, learn, and remember. Cognitive psychologists study how people acquire, utilize, organize, and retrieve information. We study topics like memory, decision making, problem identification and solving, critical thinking, and reasoning. It is clear that a successful pedagogy that can serve as a basis for the enhancement of learning will have to incorporate ideas about the way in which learners organize knowledge and internally represent it, and the way these representations change and resist change when new information is encountered.

Source

Yahoo launching front page open to others' content

"We're pulling together everything about the user they care about, be it on Yahoo or off, to create a personally relevant experience," Bhat said. "In a world like this, Yahoo needs to make the user experience come first."

- Tapan Bhat, Yahoo's senior vice president for consumer experiences.

Why Use Flex?

If you're considering building a RIA, you have a few choices of technology, including Flex, Ajax, and Microsoft Silverlight. If you look at these options objectively, the development effort required for each (and the resulting user experience) is roughly the same. One of the benefits of Flex is its reach -- the Adobe Flash Player, upon which Flex applications run, is already installed on about a billion computers wordwide!

Of course, Ajax also uses technologies that are installed on almost every computer in the world -- JavaScript, XHTML, and CSS. One of the downfalls of Ajax, however, is that cross-browser compatibility can be difficult to achieve. What might work in one browser (for example, Firefox) might not work in another (such as Internet Explorer), so the debugging process has the potential to become difficult and long-winded.

Microsoft Silverlight, on the other hand, is similar to Flex in that it runs on a browser plugin. Silverlight, however, has yet to reach the installed userbase of the Flash player.

Source: Sitepoint

Calculate Ideal Hourly Rate and Break-Even Hourly Rate

http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/ provides very effective way of calculating Ideal Hourly Rate and Break-Even Hourly Rate...

4 Steps involved are:
1> Calculate Your Business Costs.
2> Calculate Your Personal Costs.
3> How Many Hours Can you Actually Bill?
4> How Much Profit/Savings do you want?

Prashant

What should YOU do in these elections?

In the upcoming elections, Aamir Khan is helping ADR and NEW reach out to all voters, spread awareness and help them access information about candidates, before they vote. The information will be provided via sms, by a toll free telephone and in a website. To this end, Aamir has prepared some publicity material at his own cost, and is also the ambassador for this campaign for no fee.

What should YOU do in these elections?
1. First watch these videos.
2. Go to the website: www.nationalelectionwatch.org and get more info about your candidates.
3.And finally, vote for the BEST candidate regardless of which party he/she belongs.
Thats it. 3 small steps towards a better election.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized by Jonathan Jarvis

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Joomla Vs Drupal

Source: http://google.com/trends?q=Joomla,+Drupal

At CXI we started exploring more information on open source CMS. Joomla and Drupal were the leading contenders. Which one to choose was the major dillema like all developers. 

I started googling about it came across interesting facts for both of it.

Then, I thought of using Google Trends and found this interesting fact about it. We can analyse the graph by saying Joomla has more users then Drupal. 

Would like to hear from you on this.
www.PrashantPoladia.com

SEO - Flash Related Tip

Flash
Google can now discover and index text content in SWF files of all kinds, including self-contained Flash websites and Flash gadgets such as buttons or menus.

limitations:

• Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript. If your webpage uses JavaScript to load a Flash file, we may not be able to discover and index the contents of that file.
  
• We currently do not attach content from external resources that are loaded by your Flash files. If your Flash file loads another file - such as an HTML file, an XML file, or another SWF file - we may index the contents of those files, but we won't consider that content to be part of the content in your Flash files.
  
• We're currently unable to index the bidirectional language content (for example, Hebrew or Arabic) in Flash files.
  

You could also consider using sIFR (Scalable Inman Flash Replacement). sIFR (an open-source project) lets webmasters replace text elements with Flash equivalents. Using this technique, content and navigation is displayed by an embedded Flash object but, because the content is contained in the HTML source, it can be read by non-Flash users (including search engines).

-- 

Generic Work Process of UI Designer

Nice to know article for all UI Designers to understand the process involved.

http://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit/index2.php

10 Useful Web Application Interface Techniques

This article is really useful for UI Designers & Developers to keep in mind new techniques while designing or developing interfaces.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/12/10-useful-web-application-interface-techniques/

Nano Ganesh named winner in Nokia’s Global Calling All Innovators competition

New Delhi, Feb 18: Ossian Agro Automation’s Nano Ganesh application has been selected by Nokia as a Grand Prize winner in the Emerging Markets category in the global Calling All Innovators contest for mobile applications and solutions to help improve the quality of life on the planet. 

Source: [http://www.zeenews.com/business/iceeconomy/2009-02-18/508601news.html]

How to be a Successful Entrepreneur

Read one of the nice blog about Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs at http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/38/Qualities-of-Successful-Entrepreneurs.html

The blog read as follows:

What makes a successful business owner or entrepreneur? Some say creativity, others say passion, organization, or leadership skills. In fact, there have been many qualities identified with successful entrepreneurs. Here ( in no particular order) are some of the most significant. How many entrepreneurial traits do you possess?

• Energy
• Passion
• Assertiveness
• Novelty
• Initiative
• Creativity
• Imagination
• Be a self starter
• Time Management
• Follow-through
• Be ready for anything
• Think positively
• Believe in yourself
• Ability to make decisions
• Don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help
• Effectiveness at persuasion
• Problem solving skills
• Ability to be flexible, adaptable, and creative
• Think "out of the box
• The ability to produce results
• Ability to take risks and do so in a calculated way
• Enjoyment of the ride
• Negotiation and compromise
• Exacting and exhaustive mentality
• Sense of Urgency
• Resilience after Failure
• Alertness
• Leadership
• Stress management
• Persistence
• Confidence
• The ability to reflect and improve
• The ability to think strategically
  

Do you guys have any further points to add?

Three Mobile User Experience Trends to Watch in 2009

Three Mobile User Experience Trends to Watch in 2009

Posted using ShareThis

Mumbai Bus Route

Very few people are aware that BEST has it's own website www.bestundertaking.com/transport/index.htm to check Bus Route by Bus No., by Area, by Hospital, By Airport and more services which they provides.

It's very useful website to check the BUS Route and their timings.

Web Design - Important Factors to keep in mind

The viewing area of web is always unpredictable and because of that web designers has to keep in mind few factors before they call their site "complete":
1) Operating System (Windows, Mac)
2) Screen Resolution (800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1440 x 900)
3) Browser with various version (IE 6.0, IE 7.0, Firefox, Safari)

Maharashtra SSC Examination Results, 2008

Directly go to following page to check results for Maharashtra SSC Examination.
http://mahresult.nic.in/ssc2008/ssc08.htm

Revenge of the Right Brain by Daniel H. Pink

Daniel Pink an author of A Whole New Mind explains about transformation of world from one age to another like from Stone age > Ice age > Metal age > Agricultural age > Industrial age > Information age (current age) > Conceptual age.

This is must read article for everyone.
Link for the article.

User Experience Design Trends for 2008

Just read an article about "5 Critical User Experience Design Trends for 2008" by Human Factors International. There they have talked about 5 interesting trends which will impact everyones business.

1. Emotional Design and persuasive architechture
2. Designing for different generations
3. User Experience and human factors in healthcare
4. Trends in e-commerce user experience
5. Trends in e-Government

Please visit their site to get more detailed information for the same. www.humanfactors.com/downloads/webcastschedule.asp

Usability Methods (User Centric Methodologies)

Usability methods are also known as a User Centric Methodologies.

Every user interface can be evaluated using below mentioned usability methods:

1. Cognitive Walkthrough
2. GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods and Selection Rules)
3. Prototypes (from Low Fidelity to High Fidelity)
4. Usability Inspection
5. User Testing
6. Focus Groups and
7. Task Analysis

Depending upon the situation one can use the combination of methods. The selection of method majorly based upon:

• Time constraints
• Relevancy to project
• Implementation Cost

Google Labs: Introduces Voice Search in Hyderabad

Google Phone Search - Voice Search for Hyderabad, India
Google Phone Search is a new pilot service making local business information, movie times and real time flight status accessible from any phone. This sevice is completely free.

http://labs.google.co.in/phonesearch/index.html

Isn't google changing the world around for good!!! I wish one day I will be a part google's innovation team to come with such a great ideas.

UB Group Site - Time to Revamp your site Mr. Vijay Mallya

While surfing just thought of checking UB Group's website (owned by Mr. Vijay Mallya) I found something very interesting. Check the image above to see what I found on google's search listing. Google says "This site may harm your computer".

First I thought this site might load some virus on user's computer that is why google shows that information but than because of curiosity I still opened their website by pasting URL into new browser window. Their site has flash animation. What a mess of design? This is where usability comes into place. Does that UB group is not giving enough of attention to their corporate website despite having so much money?

Why do Intelligent Managers fails, too?

Many a times we wonder why a person who is par intelligent in his/her studies still he/she fails while performing certain task. There are various definitions on intelligence. It is not necessary that if you are intelligent you will always get success in whatever you do. Many managers do face the failure in their career path even though they are brilliant. Here, I would like to share few things about it as why do such managers fails.

Motivation
Motiation plays very important role in performing any single task. I know few people who have failed in their career though they have aclaimed several awards in their education. There are few people who have left their studies and got into their family business and today, they are doing great. So, unless any manager has motivation factor while working on any project, he/she will never be able to complete it.

Several things at a time
In many companies managers are loaded with several projects to handle at a time. Few managers could not say “No” to their higher authorities; they never say “My hands are full now.” Initially, they do get honors from the management but at the end they finish with faiture. Such a work load always tends to loose focus on important things.

Lack of Initiative
Many managers just complete their work given to them and do not show any sign of eagerness because if they do it they have to give commitment to it and they are agraid of these extra commitments.

Lack of interest in Implimenting Ideas
It is easier said than done. All managers do not have a capacity to convert their ideas into reality. Proritisation is to arrange ideas depending upon their importance and quick implementations. In any meeting after a concrete discussion if manager do not set the priority over the work, that meeting is of no use.

Procrastination
Many managers just complete their work at then end and that leads to various mistakes in their work. Many people file their tax returns at last moment. Many students open their book just few months before their board exam. This process of completing work at last moment and till that time to avoid work is called “Procrastination”.

Never to complete work
Many managers never complete their work by having various excuses. They start particular work with full of energy but tend to loose interest in it as the work progresses. Many times it happenes that few managers gets in too much minor details of the work which is not required and this leads to uncompletion of work. In that scenario management gives it to another manager.

Blaming Others (Blame Game)
Many managers believe that they never make mistakes and even if they do in their work, they make sure that the responsibility of making such mistake is transferred on others’ shoulder. Many managers give an excuses of sickness of their own or of their family if they could not complete their work. Basically, they never try to accept their mistake.

Lack of Perseverance
Perseverance means to stick to given work with full energy and concentration for longer duration. Many managers do give their full attention and full energy in initial stage of work but they loose interest if any objection arises.

Overconfidence or Lack of Confidence
Confidence is very important in today’s competitive world. If manager start excessive bloviation about his work, people around him looses respect and think that he don’t have greatness in his character as much he thinks. It becomes very important to balance between overconfidence and less confidence.

IPL - Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians have continued their winning stream from last 5 matches in Indian Premier League. Everything seems to be going right at the moment for them. When they were loosing, people were doubting on their existense, their name as "Mumbai Indians" and were considering them as a week team. Now, critics are not writing against them. Suddenly people are writing about all the positive points about them. Now, they feel that their new slogan "Duniya Hila Denge Hum" of Mumbai India team is making its mark... Their strategy is at its best... Their team spirit is high... blah blah.

Does that mean... if you win, poeple will see good things in you? or else like Banglore team ... if you loose, people will see only bad things in you? What a world.

Wireframe vs. Prototype

Just read few post on IxDA forum about "Wireframe vs. Prototype".

Few of the straight forward and very clear answer were:
1) I consider a wireframe a type of prototype.
If the type of prototype has active interactive functions I call it"interactive prototype".
Prototype > Non-Active Functionality > WireframePrototype > Active Functionality > Interactive Prototype
- by Daniel

2) It is all about the notion of the fidelity of the prototype. A low fidelity prototype would be a straightwireframe. Adding more functionality like clickable regions, navigation andcss raises the fidelity. Backing a prototype with data to simulate a processalso raises the fidelity.
- by Peter Uchytil

Cricket at Office - An excited event

Halla Bol !!! at cricket match... :)

It was a splendid experience to play cricket match between our own office boys. Though it was very hot day and the humidity was high, it is usual when we play cricket, we all forget about all those obstacles and continue our play without any complains.

What is Creativity?

According to me "Creativity" is to convert original thoughts or an ideas into reality. It is not only to think differently but also to implement it.

Few definitions:

“A product is creative when it is (a) novel and (b) appropriate. A novel product is original not predictable. The bigger the concept, and the more the product stimulates further work and ideas, the more the product is creative.”— Sternberg & Lubart, Defying the Crowd.

“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being...creativity requires passion and commitment. Out of the creative act is born symbols and myths. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness–ecstasy.”— Rollo May, The Courage to Create

Career Boosters for Success

This chunk of information I have collected from one of the most interactive forum ie. IxDA (Interaction Design Association).Over there, Sebi Tauciuc had started very good post about "what helped most in your career" where all the genius people have shared their experience and listed out thing(s) that they think have contributed to most of their success, which have brought value to their work, which have lead to where they are now and which have improved their design sense and skills.

• Failure
• Harsh Criticism
• Rejection
• Unemployment
• Experience
• Belief in oneself
• Unbounded Curiosity
• Mentors
• Confidence
• Passion
• Argue
• Explore
• Knowledge Transfer
• Blogs
• Presentation
• Articles
• Practice
• Reading
• Professional Association
• HFI Certification
• self actualization
• to take criticism gracefully

Please feel free to share more of your thing(s) which motivated you in your career.

Web Parts

Just few days back attended one of the seminar which talked about Web Parts. While going through it http://www.igoogle.com/ comes into mind. This sort of things are definately used heavily in future and soon it will be seen everywhere. It gives user a full control over the look and feel of the site and it allows him to switch on/off sections of his choice.

A web part is an ASP.NET server control which is added to a Web Part Zone on Web Part Pages by users at run time. Web Parts are an integrated set of controls for creating Web sites that enable end users to modify the content, appearance, and behavior of Web pages directly from a browser.

wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_part

Team Monitor wins Bronze in Telegames (Fungame)

Hurray!!!!!!!
We won the bronze trophy in Corporate Olympics for Telegames.

Unfortunately, I couldn't be the part of this winning combinations as I was busy attending my cousin brother's wedding. The entire team had blast after the event and attended dinner party given by organisers. Overall, it was Monitor's good show in Corporate Olympics.

Team includes (L-R and T-B) Uma Singh, Deepa Menon, Remya Menon, Milan, Ramiya Rao, Naresh Yadav, Sachin Mhatre, Sanjeev Agarwal, Chirag and Benudhar.

Team Monitor - Table Tennis Event 2008

After 2 years, I took a table tennis bat in my hand and it was some more years for others. Our management supported us to get the Table Tennis Equipment in our office as one of our recreational activity. Luckily, it happened to be on time. Just 2 days before the match we started practising hard for Table Tennis match which was suppose to be conducted at Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana.

We participated in Mix Doubles and luckily Deepa Menon & I were selected to represent our company at Corporate Olympics (organised by Aditya Birla Group). Though we practised hard for the game apart from not being in touch with the game for years, it was not our day.
We were placed against national level champions LIC for the 1st knock out match. We tried our best to win but it was not enough at all. They simply out par us with their mastery in the game.

We stayed there till the end and witnessed all those champions for Singles and Doubles. LIC was number 1 in all the form of the games.

We left the venue with some high hopes for the 2009 event.

Monitor Group at Corporate Olympics 2008

Deepa Menon, the person responsible to take initiative and all the necessary arrangements for Monitor Group Mumbai to participate in Corporate Olympics (organised by Aditya Birla Group). It was 1st time in last 2 years since the inception of our IR group, we collectively took a part in such event. Though we were bit late to take decision of participating in these events, luckily few of the games were still available to participate.

We chose to participate in Table Tennis, Track Field, Relay and Telegames. The 1st event of Table Tennis will begin on 16th Feb and we are yet to decide upon the team members for Mix Doubles. There will be internal matches to decide upon who will represent company.

We are very much excited to be a part of this event. It is sure that this sort of event will definately help us to come out of our daily routine work and boost our energy level.

My 1st Anniversary Gifts with full of Surprises

On our 1st Wedding Anniversary ie. 6th Feb, I received wonderful surprises from my better half.... Jinal. Everything was well planned by her and all the preparation were happening 2 weeks before final day ... i was completely clueless about what was happening.

Above shown immaterial gifts are priceless for me. The kind of efforts put in to prepare all those were unexpectable. I was completely speechless when I received these gifts.

Though I am not mentioning everything in detail about it... if anyone of you wants to know more about it, don't hasitate to contact me.

Last 2 months...... no single post

Last 2 months...... no single post.

It's been really bad of not posting a single post since 2 months. I think somehow I lost interest about writing blogs. May be, I was one of those people who started writing blogs just to get popularity within co-workers, just to be in line with competitive world. I never gave proper attention to it. I kept copying content from other blogs and posted it on my blog. Fewtimes I did posted few fresh content but then it never lasted long.

But now, I strongly feel that I should start blogging it all over again, that too regularly. It always make sense to share knowledge with world.

I will stick to this and you will see atleast 4 entries every week.

Zeest is coming back!!!

ZEEST Band is coming back with a Bang. I think, almost everyone know these underdogs for their famous track "BC Sutta". I had emails conversation with them and came to know that they are launching their 1st album in the market. For more information you can visit their site on http://www.zeestmania.com/

About Zeest
Zeest is based in Karachi Pakistan, formed, owned and lead by SKIP (Saqib Abdullah), Who is the composer, guitarist, lyricist, and vocalist.

Basically ‘Zeest’ is a Persian word, which means ‘Life’, but can be used as a hope, a light, a faith etc. Skip chose this word as a title of the band just because he thought this name could reflect his work, the area where he mainly focus, i.e. highlighting on social youth issues and to create a ray of hope for them. He thinks singing for a social cause is far better than singing just for a romance. After launching other songs everyone will clearly understand the motive of the band’s ideology.

Future is of mobility : Intel's Vision

An amazing technology to come. It will definately make the life easier.

MOST IMP - This is a Spam email

Recently, I got an email from my friend and I thought its better to double check before forwarding it. I found that it was one another fake email which is running around.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/progesterex.htm
http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/faq/drugs_progesterex.html

The content of it was as follows:

Important for girls....don't hesitate to FORWARD..

Forward this to all your frnds and save them from a possiblesituation.

A woman at a Gas nightclub (Mumbai) on Saturday nightwas taken by 5 men,Who according to hospital andpolice reports, gang raped her before Dumping her at Bandstand Mumbai. Unable to rememberthe events of the evening, tests later confirmed therepeat rapes along with traces of rohypnol in herblood.Rohypnol, date rape drug is an essentially a small sterilization pill.The drug is now being used by rapists at parties torape AND sterilize their victims. All they have to dois drop it into the girl's drink.

The girl can'tremember a thing the next morning, of all that had Taken place the night before. Rohypnol, whichdissolves in drinks just as easily, is such that thevictim doesn't conceive from the rape and the rapistneedn't worry about having a paternity testidentifying him months later. The Drug's affects ARE NOT TEMPORARY - they arePERMANENT. Any female that takes it WILL NEVER BEABLE TO CONCEIVE. The weasels can get this drug fromanyone who is in the vet school or any university. it's that easy, and Rohypnol is about to break out bigon campuses everywhere.Believe it or not, there are even sites on theInternet telling people how to use it. Please forwardthis to everyone you know, especially girls. Girls, becareful when you're out and don't leave yourdrink unattended.

(added - Buy your own drinks, ensure bottles or cansreceived are Unopened or sealed; don't even tastesomeone else's drink) There was already been a report in Singapore of girlsdrink been Spiked by Rohypnol.Please make the effort to forward this to everyone youknow.

For guys - Pls inform all your female friends and relatives.

"Your life is God's gift to you. What you do forothers is your gift to God" I had been forwarded thismail you SHOULD do the same !!!!!

Friends, please make sure that before forwarding these kind of emails you 1st search over the net for the fact.

What is spam emails:
http://prashantpoladia.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-is-spam-emails.html

Saawariya (2007)

Official Site. http://www.saawariyafilm.com/
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Star Cast: Salman Khan, Rani Mukherji, Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor
Release Date: 9th November 2007

According to some sources the movie is an adaptation of russian short story called "White Nights" and it is a sad love story. Will Sanjay be able to make magic again like Black? Just wait and watch!!!

Designing more effective forms

Form designing is one of the most important element of web applications and websites. Every ecommerce site has an important information to fill-in. If forms are not user friendly to users they won't further browse the site.

In nutshell, form should be short and simple. Error Messages should be friendly enough and to the point on same page. This in return will make user's life easier and save their time.

“Input elements should be organized in logical groups so that your brain can process the form layout in chunks of related fields.” –HTML: the Definitive Guide.

Few very important design elements are discussed on User Interface Engineering site regarding designing an appropriate usable forms.

Cognitive walkthrough

It is a usability Testing strategy in which a developer group systematically evaluates each element on every screen in the context of the various tasks (e.g. How likely would a user click this button for Task A? What would happen if they did? etc.).

[Source - HFI]

The Cognitive Walkthrough method is a usability inspection method used to identify usability issues in a piece of software or web site, focusing on how easy it is for new users to accomplish tasks with the system. The method is rooted in the notion that users typically prefer to learn a system by using it to accomplish tasks, rather than, for example, studying a manual. The method is prized for its ability to generate results quickly with low cost, especially when compared to usability testing, as well as the ability to apply the method early in the design phases, before coding has even begun.

A cognitive walkthrough starts with a task analysis that specifies the sequence of steps or actions required by a user to accomplish a task, and the system responses to those actions. The designers and developers of the software then walkthrough the steps as a group, asking themselves a set of questions at each step. Data is gathered during the walkthrough, and afterwards a report of potential issues is compiled. Finally the software is redesigned to address the issues identified.

[Source - Wikipedia.org]

CUA Exam Experience

Here are the list of few things that I have experienced during CUA Exam:

• be calm and relax

• Carry all the BIG books with proper "post it" attached to each section and few important chapters too, so you can quickly go through the pages.

• You can avoide carrying Study Guide, Glossary & Exercise books.

• Quick Reference pages will be helpful too.

• Give attention to "FALSE", "TRUE" and "EXCEPT" word in the question.

• If you have any doubt while answering, choose the best option and then FLAG it, so it will considered as your answer even incase you submit it in a hurry.

• Even if you have little bit of doubt, flag it and refer to your notes.

• Spare 10-12 mins in the end for PRP section, its high scoring section and easy one.

• UT section was a bit tough, it was more on factical questions where you need to apply your judgement, it takes more time.

http://www.prashantpoladia.com/

CUA Exam Cleared

Hurayyyyyyyy !!!

Just cleared CUA™ (Certified Usability Analyst) Exam of HFI.

Sincere thanks to all of you, special thanks to Chirutha Dalal and Bhooshan Pandya for sharing their exam experience with me.

I am very much excited now, but yes, it do not stops here. I need to start implementing it in real world which would be much more difficult than giving exam.

Please do share your experience with me regarding Usability Implementation in your organization.

Power of GUI on iPhone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrVt2ZcrWUY

See how Powerful UI of product/application can make a difference and make it usable to 1 year old baby.

http://www.prashantpoladia.com/

HFI's Usability Course » June 2007 Batch

Recently, I have attended HFI's Usability Course from 18th June '07 to 28th June '07 (10 Days). It has changed my vision of designing web pages and application interfaces.

It has improved my thought process before designing anything and now it became the habit of asking myself :
• "WHY"... why I am designing this way and not the other way?
• Will this be useful for the actual user and serve their purpose?
• Will this be user friendly and easy to understand?
• Will they be able to complete their task successfully?
• Will this satisfy users?
and many more...

My experience througout the course was excellent and my take home from this course were:
• User's Conceptual Model (their needs and behaviour)
­• Industry Standards related to Designs
• Design Principles
• User Centric Analysis Process
• Importance of Usability Testing throughout product development
• How to put Research into Practice
• How to design effective websites & web applications
and many more ...

Topics of HFI's Usability Courses are:
• User Centric Analysis and Conceptual Model (3 Days)
• The Science and Art of Effective Web & Application Design (3 Days)
• Practical Usability Testing (2 Days)
• Putting Research into Practice (2 Days)

I strongly recommend this course for designers to attend it.

Certified Usability Analyst exam's paper pattern and guidelines

Recently, I had a talk with Chirutha Dalal about CUA (Certified Usability Analyst) exam. As I got few useful information about it, here I am noting down few DO's and DONT's for the exam and paper pattern as per what she explained me:

• Exam will be devided in 4 sections
• Each section will be having few set of questions (UCD-26, Design-38, UT-26, PRP-10)
• No Negative Marking
• 70 % passing score
• Suggestive time to spent on each section will be mentioned

• prepare separate notes or stick yellow notes on given material for easy reference
• Objectives type of Questions (Choose answer from 1-4)
• Can't Jump from one section to another (Sequential Navigation :) )
• Can Jump from one question to another within that section (Persistent Menu :))
• Questions will be more of scenario based and need to apply your experience
• Can flag a question to get back to it again
• Got to attend sections in form of (1 >> 2 >> 3 >> 4)

• Once a particular section submited can't go back to previous one (very important)
• Research Section (4th) is the easiest one so, spare 10-12 mins for it and you can score high
• go through given Study Guide thoroughly

I hope this would be useful.

Orkut Blog - Arrived!!!

Orkut Blog - Arrived!!!

On Monday, June 25, 2007 Orkut has launched it's on blog for users. Have a look at the site to check what's there inside.

User Centric Design at Glance

[Source - businessinnovationinsider]

Following is the process to accomplish User Centric Design approach.

1. Design Strategy
   • To understand Stake Holder's Goals and Expectations
   • To gather background information
   
   
2. Profiles and Personas
   Collect various profiles of:
   • User Profiles
   • Environmetal Profiles
   • Task Profiles



3. Data Gathering
   To collect data by way of:
   • Interviews
   • Contextual Inquiry
   • Focus Groups
   • Surveys & Questionnaires



4. Scenarios and Task Analysis
   • Scenarios to use across design life cycle
   • Define Task Steps



5. Primary Nouns
   • "Things" user take action on or manipulate
   • It needs to be obvious on pages



6. Information Architecture
   • Labelling Systems
   • Categorical Schemes
   • Hybrid Schemes
   • Hierarchical Organisation
   

Course II - The Art and Science of Effective Web and Application Design, HFI

One another course completed with HFI (Course II - The Art and Science of Effective Web and Application Design). It was good course to attend as it gives clear understanding on how one should design the website and application by keep in mind the user's mental model.

Shortly, i will write more about it!!! Do share your comments.

Pictures of All Courses .

User Centered Analysis and Conceptual Design - HFI Course

Just completed 3 days (18th Jun - 20th June) course on User Centered Analysis and Conceptual Design of Human Factors International conducted by Abhijit Thosar at Residential Hotel. It was really wonderful experience to know about "users", their behaviour, their mental models.

I will write more about it shortly.

Blackle.com - Saving energy one search at a time

Blackle is the new product of Google, which is created on theory of saving energy. Isn't it sound funny? but, that's true, very true thing.

Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen." Roberson et al, 2002

There are a lot of great web sites about saving energy and being more environmentally friendly. They are full of great tips covering the little things that we can all do to make a difference today. Try Blackling "energy saving tips" or visit treehugger.com a great blog dedicated to environmental awareness.

HFI’s 10-days 4 part Usability Training Program (Myself attending Jun ‘07 Batch)

Luckily at the last moment I got a chance to attend June Batch of HFI’s 10-days 4 part Usability Training Program (18th June -to- 28th June).

These courses are designed to gear up participants to become certified Usability analyst.

1) User-Centered Analysis and Conceptual Design (UCA) – 3 Days
2) The Science and Art of Effective Web Design (Design) – 3 Days
3) Practical Usability Testing (UT) – 2 Days
4) Putting Research into Practice (PRP) – 2 Days

Once I will be through with these courses, I will post my experience over here.

For enquiry of above courses for next batch contact Archana.

Archana Saraf
Senior Marketing Support Executive
Human Factors International
Ph: 91 – 22 - 40107400
Cell : 9324233477

email : archana@humanfactors.com

Thanks,

Prash

Microsoft Surface - The next generation of computer

The software giant announced at the D5 conference that it’s built a new touchscreen computer—a coffee table that will change the world. Go inside its top-secret development with PopularMechanics.com, then forget the keyboard and mouse: The next generation of computer interfaces will be hands-on.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid932579976/bclid932553050/bctid933742930

Have a look at the above video, it is an amazing technology.

Creativity

Characteristics of the Creative Person

1. curious
2. seeks problems
3. enjoys challenge
4. optimistic
5. able to suspend judgment
6. comfortable with imagination
7. sees problems as opportunities
8. sees problems as interesting
9. problems are emotionally acceptable
10. challenges assumptions
11. doesn't give up easily: perseveres, works hard

Positive Attitudes for Creativity

1. Curiosity
2. Challenge
3. Constructive discontent
4. A belief that most problems can be solved
5. The ability to suspend judgment and criticism
6. Seeing the good in the bad
7. Problems lead to improvements
8. A problem can also be a solution
9. Problems are interesting and emotionally acceptable

Miscellaneous Good Attitudes

1. Perseverance
2. A flexible imagination
3. A belief that mistakes are welcome

Source

Design Standards - when can it be in place?

When can a company/individual put the standard in place (as per my understanding)

• (most important) if they have will to implement the standards
• If they have appropriate resources in place
• If they have proper plan in place
• If they have right staff in place

Pagge Paadi to Maatana Madh - Kutch (2006)

barCamp mumbai

This is to inform everyone that BarCampMumbai UniversityLevel is coming up.

Date: 11.02.07Venue: K. J. Somaiya Engineering College, Vidyavihar (E), Mumbai - 77

For more details, please visit the wiki at http://barcamp.org/BarCampMumbaiU

Looking for Sponsors:
BarCampMU is a university level event, and while it might not have the level of participants that a regular BarCamp has, it is a step in the right direction, and I am sure it will encourage students to think out of the box, think different and beyond the university syllabus. However, even a small event needs sponsors, and any sponsorship of any kind will be greatly appreciated.

If you are interested in sponsoring the event in any way, please leave me a line at scdoshi@gmail.com or call me or message me at 9821889957.

Spread the word:
Let everyone know about BarCampMU, blog about it, post it on user groups, mailing lists, etc. Just spread the word. Please.

Everyone is welcome:
Professionals are just as welcome as students. In fact, if you have the time, please make it a point to come and speak on some topic. Industry - Student networking in one if the key advantages of BarCampMU.

"Guru" bhai aavya chhe!!!

Overall the film was really good, it really inspires a young entrepreneur to work for himself and it throws a message to them that keep trying untill you succeed. Abhishek has acted damn well and Aishwarya looks different.

What I felt funny was that last sequence of the movie, Abhishek totally tried acting like his dad and couple of dialogues were look like picked up from Agnipath and Amar Akabar Anthony.

Cricket: Dancing Sreesanth in SA!!!

Cricket: This is Sreesanth, of India, responding to Andre (the Giant) Nel of South Africa by scoring a six and..... (more) I think India should definately this sort of attitude ,,,,, a fire back. Common India!!!! Dikhaa do.

What is SPAM Emails?

Try to understand what is Spam?
Many people including some people working in an Internet security products company is unable to identify the SPAM emails. I got this spam email forwarded to me from one of my friends who himself is working for a software company:

Subject: FW: FW: FW: Please Read and Froward it!!
Dear Reader,
I am writing this behalf of my loving husband.
Everything was fine, me, my husband and our two children. We had a happy family. My husband was an Engineer in a big company. He comes home early and helps me with the house chores and plays with the children.
Our dreams were shattered in front of our eyes last week. It was a drunken lorry driver, came on the wrong side and hit us and went.
It killed my little baby girl and left my husband paralyzed. My husband is still in the hospital. His brain is damaged and he needs an operation. I need 5 lakhs s to save his life. I collected about 3 lakhs from my friends and family. I need another 2 lakhs.
I don't want to lose him. He was such a wonderful husband & father. He still doesn't know we lost our little girl. I am looking after my son now. Without my husband I won't be able to take care of him.

Please help me save my husband the one person I dearly love. I already lost my daughter and I don't want to lose my husband as well. Please help us.
Thank you very much for your love & support. May God bless you.

Yours Truly,
Nirosha Silva

(I know you don't like to forward mails. I am really sorry to bother you. If you have a heart and like to help a family, please forward this mail. Every mail you forward will add 5cents to AOL and they will deposit it to my bank account. This will help me save my husband.)

////////////////// Points to be noted here. ////////////////////////////////

1.) In the subject the Mail Server itself shows that its a SPAM

2.) The Content

3.) IT states "Every mail you forward will add 5cents to AOL", Here note that there is no Track Back url.

4.) If any service provider wants to pay for this kind of activities they might get a small space for donation in their website.

Note: If you are going to make a donation online, see if that the website is a legitimate one.

Also you might have noted and experienced as well that you would get money if you forward this mail to 100 people etc and so on. So inorder to do this the SPAMMERS they use the reputed companies name like Microsoft Corporation, AOL and so on. Also sometimes it comes with some attachments which might be a virus file.

Though there are Spam Blockers installed in the system, people anyway manage to get thest kinds of email and forward it to their friends in their contact list.

So it is in the hands of us, not to encourage these kinds of emails.

(Source: http://yuvi-internetsecurity.blogspot.com/)

Unit of Measurement

Below mentioned information will be useful for designers and developers which has been picked up from elementK's training files on CSS:

Unit of Measurement

pixels (px)
A standard screen measurement. One pixel equals one physical pixel on a computer screen, which varies with screen resolution. (For this reason, some consider pixels to be a relative unit of measurement.)

inches (in)
A standard English measurement. One inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters.

centimeters (cm)
A standard metric measurement. One centimeter is equal to almost 2/5 of an inch.

millimeters (mm)
A standard metric measurement. Ten millimeters are equal to one centimeter.

points (pt)
A standard print measurement. One point is equal to 1/72 of an inch. In reality, point values are not this precise on the Web, and vary according to the font face in use.

picas (pc)
A standard print measurement. One pica is equal to 12 points.

===========================

If you intend to use absolute units of measurement for any CSS property, pixels tend to be the most reliable across different browsers and operating systems. Pixels also make the most sense for the screen. Points and picas, for example, are units of print measurement that have no real meaning on a computer screen.
If you want your length values to scale from user to user, and from one output device to the next, use relative units of measurement. The following table lists the relative units of measurement in CSS.

Unit of Measurement

ems (em)
A standard print measurement. Ems are relative to the width of the uppercase M character of the parent element's font, or the inherited font size when applied to the font-size property.

x-height (ex)
A standard print measurement. The x-height is defined by the size of the lowercase x character of the parent element's font, or the size of the x character of the inherited font size when applied to the font-size property.

percent (%)
A fraction value based on the computed value of an inherited length.

You Tube acquired for $US1.65 billion by Google

The news that strike me today is "Google to acquire You Tube for $US1.65 billion." Now I am quite exciting to see new user interface changes on youtube.com which is already a nicely navigable site, but then Google is known for its usability designs.

Really,,, Lagge Raho Munna Bhai

Just a saw the movie yesterday nite and I must say that pls Lagge Raho Munna Bhai... you are doing Awesome. As the slogan suggest, the movie is not just about Munna Bhai and Circuit. This time they have a new friend called Bapu, Our 'Gandhi Bapu". The movie is not just about the GundaGiri but also about GandhiGiri. Its really a thought provoking movie like Rang De Basanti with a suttle funny events.

Should watch it with friends & family and try to implement GandhiGiri.