Someone just added me on Google+. I received this notification while in Gmail.
I appreciate that Google wants to indicate that I already started following this person. Unfortunately, I don’t remember doing this, so this notification is “too late.”
When I read “User X added you back,” it implied to me that the person had “unfriended” me and then changed his mind and decided to “add me back” at a later date. My immediate next thought was “is Google+ telling people when I ‘re-friend’ them?” I’d rather not have this information shared.
While the notification probably means that I had already added this person, how many times a day is the wording misunderstood? Probably enough that the wording here should be changed.
How could the notification be phrased better?
The difficulty here is that “following” is not bi-directional like it is on Facebook. Facebook is able to say “User X accepted your friend request” because the sharing is either happening in both directions or it’s not happening at all.
One solution would be to just say “User X started following you” which is clear but less informative. It might even bring me to check out Google+ more, albeit because I want to see if I’m following User X or not.
Alternatively, the notification could read: “User X started following you. You are already following User X.” Which is a longer message, but if the second sentence were shown on another line, it would read fairly naturally. From other notifications, I can tell that Google isn’t afraid of multi-line notifications, and I don’t care either as long as they are relevant.
What do you think the text of this G+ notification should be?
UPDATE: I just received an email that confirms that User X added me on G+. The subject line reads: “User X added you back on Google+” The first sentence of the email’s body reads: “User X is already in your circles.” Maybe that settles it—both of these sentences should be included in the notification.
UPDATE: I just received the same notification (“User X added you back on Google Plus”) on my iPhone. Aye aye aye!
UX Strategy: The Heart of User-Centered Design :: UXmatters →
So what is the big deal about UX strategy? Let’s consider what happens without it. Here’s an example: One company—well recognized in their vertical space, with a strong brick-and-mortar presence and an enthusiastic customer base—wanted to fix its ecommerce Web site by improving its usability. The goal was to “make shopping and buying easier.” On the face of it, that would have been easy to do. But it also would have meant pitting the company squarely against big competitors like Amazon and Walmart. In a highly commoditized world where sales depend on deep discounts or free shipping, it’s critical to differentiate customer experience beyond mere ease of use and efficiency. So that company’s initial goal was essentially wrong—it would have made them an also-ran in their own sweet spot. Instead, they needed a UX strategy that harnessed the strong value of their brand; leveraged the fanaticism, devotion, and loyalty of their customers; and incorporated those distinguishing elements into the customer experience.
The bottom line: while executive vision is a crucial part of UX strategy, it is not sufficient in and of itself.
Developing strategy is always the most exciting part of the User Experience Design process for me. This description above is a great example of how a UX Strategist can have a significant positive impact on business strategy. Yet most of the time, the changes are smaller, and even slight changes to strategy goals or secondary goals can take a lot of work to get buy-in. This doesn’t make them less important. The end goal of the strategy-building process is to discover the best product that satisfies business goals and user needs. It doesn’t matter where you start as long as you can get there.
Why Gmail 2013 Sucks - taigeair →
I feel like Gmail went from being Photoshop to Draw Something.
FWIW, I’ve reverted back to the “old”(er) design (inline-editing, lots of options visible, and will NOT switch back to the new version. Hopefully Google won’t disable the older UI.
“Picking just one thing to stand for is fearful, is filled with fear [is scary] because you might be wrong. Where as if you’re everything, how could you be wrong? Right? There’s always one more thing.
So when we see companies that get great, they all have in common—at some point they stop futzing around and at one point they say “This is what we do.” There are some exceptions like Yahoo, which got lucky for awhile, but at some point they all say this is what we do. And it will make your product better because it will optimize it for someone who needs it.”
” Seth Godin. Here.Diogenes Brito in “On Being A Designer And A Developer: Not Quite Unicorn Rare”
Also, check the conversation about this post on Hacker News here.
Folks keep throwing around the word “delight” when referring to animation and cute interactions. Cool and great for those guys. Guess what though? Animation can be used functionally too. It’s not just an embellished detail.
Animation leverages an overlooked dimension — time! An invisible fabric which stitches space together. You don’t have to be a math dork to understand this.
” Pasquale D’Silva - Transitional Interfaces
PSA
Rapid iteration along these lines can streamline product development.
Squeeze Virtual Reality with the Tactilous Glove →
Strapping this thing on was surreal. As it pulled my fingers back to simulate the resistance of holding a hard object, I had a sudden urge to go on a robotic rampage.
