Google, you drive me nuts with this: when I’m in Bethany Beach, DE (before this screenshot I clicked the current location arrow and it showed me where I was in BB), and I search “Parkway” to get the phone number of a restaurant a half mile away, why are you giving me as a result the town of Parkway-South Sacramento, CA? This happens quite a bit. Please fix your algorithms.
Troubled experiences that need a little counseling ("Interventions"), great experiences that serve as role models ("Inspirations"), and curious or questionable experiences teetering on the brink of a breakdown ("Investigations"). We'll showcase smart experience strategies, great interaction design, and thoughts on transforming marketing meltdowns into model experiences. Our mission: help companies create great experiences that attract attention, convert new customers, generate engagement and cultivate loyalty. “Voters also jammed the scanning machines in some instances by stuffing all of the ballot pages in at once, [Christina White, the deputy elections supervisor] said.”
Way-way-wait. You don’t get to blame the voter for your failure to adequately plan election systems, processes, and logistics.
As for the machine problem:
A) Consider a better vote taking mechanism that minimizes user error. People put multiple sheets in a fax or copy machine and it works, so why wouldn’t it work here? Voters are to be blamed for not knowing that? As system/software/experience designers, we have to think about real world scenarios and what mental models people are likely to bring to a given experience. We must anticipate and plan around potential problems, and take time to educate our clients.
B) Post election officials at these machines to explain how they work, if they’re that unintuitive.
My next train ticket is for Friday—odd that I should get this alert from Amtrak on Monday. Will Amtrak do this every time I go near the train station between now and then? Some scenario planning during app development could have identified and prevented this potentially confusing message.
UPDATE: There appears to be no way to get rid of the message. When I swipe I land in my ticket (for Friday) in Passbook (iOS). So looks like I’m going to have to look at this for the next four days.
One of the poorer product re-branding efforts I’ve seen: “New Morning is now Erewhon” (from attune foods). With all due respect to Mrs. or Mr. Erewhon (I’m guessing), this is difficult to pronounce and impossible to remember. And attune foods? Too much messaging on this box.
