Category: The Ride

Sit back, put your feet up and enjoy the ride.

  • Traffic Ba?

    If you’re travelling to or from Metro Manila, expect the rush hours of 7 to 10 a.m. and 5 to 9 p.m on weekdays. Your usual question before going must be, “How’s the traffic?”

    Here are several ways to be informed of the traffic conditions if you really want to go with the flow (or not).

    While using a big computer…

    Metro Manila Traffic Navigator

    MMDA Traffic Navigator

    Hosted in Interaksyon.com, I personally find the Line View the most useful of all views – with its linear presentation and color coding of traffic levels, you could easily see the reds.

    MMDA Traffic Mirror

    MMDA Traffic Mirror

    In case you want to see for yourself if a particular area is jammed, there are live traffic monitoring cameras available for online viewing.

    Upon reaching the site:

    • press “View All Cameras” button (located on top) to activate the play button then
    • press play for a specific area

    Note: Currently there seems to be a bug if you try to view an area on its own page (this will happen if you don’t press “View All Cameras”).

    MRT3 Live CCTV

    MRT3 Live CCTV

    To avoid wasting time standing in long lines at MRT3, check out the situation first via Live CCTV. Sometimes it’s better to take the road than to take the train.

    Below the main view of the camera are the other views such as the North/Southbound ticketing and platform areas.

    Waze

    Waze

    For other roads and streets not listed via Metro Manila Traffic Navigator, there’s Waze. It relies on its mobile users to report the road condition at their current location. So you could be warned if there are scrupulous traffic officers hiding under a bridge and even find out if there’s saklaan sa may kanto.

    While using a connected mobile device…

    Metro Manila Traffic Navigator

    Waze


    It only takes a minute or two to check the status of the roads you’re taking when travelling somewhere. If you’re well-informed, you could save time and even contribute to lessen the influx of people/vehicles in a common route during rush hours.

  • UX and the Philippine Government

    I’ve written a short piece on how UX is already rolling here in Philippines, especially in our government.

    Personally, I am keen on working on projects that will affect people positively – they could be information or service-oriented web products.

    US and UK – Two Great Examples

    It’s simple to be like them – they simply

    1. provide resources and guidelines on how to implement improvements in daily government activities and processes and more important than this is they
    2. provide access to the information people need or would search for

    A step at a time, we could reach the level of developed countries in terms of how they value UX in the government sector.

  • When a Country Values UX

    …it has a Usability.gov website! Well, it’s an initiative and there is lot more ways UX could be manifested. In Philippines, UX is in its birthing process. First of all, we have:

    User Experience Philippines Design Conference

    We’ll be having our first UX design conference by UXPH.

    UX Philippines

    UXPH 2014 aims to inspire designers, developers enthusiasts to learn more about improving the human experience while adding business value. This conference is for anyone who wants to learn what UX is and how it can make a difference in company’s products and services.

    Source: User Experience Philippines

    Form Function & Class

    In its fifth year, FFC Web Design Conference continues to impart essential knowledge to the web design community. It is organized by Philippine Web Designers Organization.

    Form Function Class 5

    We are a group of enthusiasts and professionals who create human interfaces for the Web, champion the use of standards, accessibility & usability, and aim to uplift the state of web design in the country.

    Source: Philippine Web Designers Organization

    What about in the government, what are we doing about UX? The ball is already rolling!

    Republic Act No. 10557

    Philippine Design Competitiveness Act of 2013

    I first heard this initiative at Grafika Manila 2011 – dubbed as “Design Para sa Lahat,” it sparked a new hope in me that the government is keeping up with the times. Imagine creativity in the government? Yes.

    It is the declared policy of the State to enhance the competitiveness and innovation of Philippine products, create market-responsive design services, while advocating for economic and environmental sustainability. The State shall also endeavor to promote an economy and society driven by design and creativity responsive to our fast-changing times and reflective of the Filipino culture and identity, while concurrently advocating the protection of intellectual property rights to these ideas and innovations.

    Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines

    Government Website Template

    We already have the initiative to improve the overall usability and experience of government websites thru the Government Website Template.

    Through the standardized websites, Local Government Units, National Government Agencies and State Universities and Colleges will experience ease in navigation and use of digital assets. More than that, content, news updates, public documents and other services will be easily accessible to the citizens, especially for those who use mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets.

    ~ Antonette Torres, iGovPhil Project Manager

    Source: Information and Communications Technology Office

    What can we do to help our country?

    As we are going towards a stronger economy, UX is undeniably a helpful tool for the government to effectively reach out to people. There are very simple ways to contribute to this development (aside from voting wisely and paying our taxes):

    • Join discussions about the web design & development and UX industries. Philippine Web Designers and Usability Philippines Facebook Groups are good places to start.
    • Balance negativity with positivity. It’s very easy to succumb to bashing on the faults that our government fails to rectify but since we’re all in this (country) together, be the one who thinks and acts for a solution.
    Proposed Warning Sign
    UX will do its part but you also do your part.

    Resources

  • Visual Vocabulary for Information Architecture

    2014-10-27 20.45.32
    A photo of an actual Interaction Diagram.

    In our team, we have something called an Interaction Diagram integrated into our Design Process.

    Basically it is a collection of wireframes in context – whether of the whole web product or of a simple task or activity. The diagram shows the layout of components as well as their interaction with other components.

    We’re using it consistently as part of our communication with web and app developers. It has proven to be very useful since its inception a year ago (October 3, 2013).

    2014-10-27 20.30.13
    A photo of Visual Vocabulary webpage.

    Jesse James Garrett’s Visual Vocabulary for Information Architecture is one of our main references in establishing the Interaction Diagram.

    Authors of the Interaction Diagram:

    • Michelle Villanueva
    • Brian Dys Sahagun
  • An Example of a Technical Document

    Consider this scenario:

    • you are the product owner of Siete Baracos (a tool that helps people with coffee measurements and ingredients)
    • how will you inform the designers, developers, testers about the basic technical information of the product?
    • thru a Technical Document, of course!

    So here’s the basic format of the document:

    Name: Siete Baracos

    Description: Siete Baracos is a tool that helps people in making coffee thru measurements and ingredients.

    Platform: Web

    • Purpose: Brochure

    Browser

    • Primary Device: Desktop Computer
    • Secondary Device: iPad
    • Lowest Browser Version Supported: IE 8
    • Mobile Response: 768 px

    Framework

    • Bootstrap

    Other examples:

    • Template System (Python, PHP)
    • CMS (WordPress)
    • HTML (Bootstrap, Foundation, Web Starter Kit)
    • None (Plain HTML)

    Platform: Android

    Device

    • Primary Device: Samsung Galaxy Y
    • Secondary Device: Any
    • Lowest Version Supported: Froyo (2.3)

    These basic information of the product acts as guideline and sets the context in which the product revolves around.

    Now, team members will not blindly test the app using a device lower than the version stated.

  • 6 Years Ago

    Chikka Text Messenger Desktop Client Mock-ups 2008
    Mock-ups of Chikka Text Messenger Desktop Client in 2008. Design by Brian Dys Sahagun, © Chikka Philippines Inc.

    October 2008

    It was a very early morning at 10 a.m. I was half asleep, half awake when a phone call jolted me from sleepiness. The signal inside the apartment was so weak that I went outside to answer the call. It was an invitation from Chikka for an interview.

    A mere seven months ago, I resigned from a night-shift job and ventured onto the mountains – equivalent to working freelance without a clear business plan. The offer from the other line was a real wake-up call for me to set focus once again into designing for the web. The position being offered was quite new to me – User Interface Designer. I said that as long as it’s on a senior level, I was interested.

    (more…)
  • Technical Document

    Web products need to be supplied with a Technocal Document. Its content are the basic specifications of a mobile app or website in the following aspects:

    Filled-up by developer

    • Programming Language

    Filled-up by product developer

    • Browser Version Support
    • Mobile Version Support

    Filled-up by front-end designer

    • Mobile Response

    This document aids all team members involved in the project by providing with a preview of each team’s specifications. It also puts in context the capabilities and limitations of the product.

    Consider this scenario:

    • the mobile app is in its Behavioral Testing stage
    • the tester is informed that the mobile app is supported under a very old version of Android
    • the tester ensures that the mobile app is tested on all key versions of Android

    The same goes for websites wherein each team member knows that the product will not be supported in IE versions 8 and below.

    See an example of a Technical Document

  • Notes on User Research

    User Research

    • Input – research and requirements; output – design artifacts, actual product
    • How did we come up with the problem and solution?
    • Have one solution and validate with users
    • Set target users; create personas
    • Continuous user research
    • Improve the product for both the business and the users

    UI Review/Usability Testing

    • Refer to Components Masterlist
    • Refer to Usability heuristics
    • Create metrics
    • Create activities and tasks
    • Create directions on how to assume a persona
  • Garage Selling: OLX and Tackthis

    OLX vs Tackthis
    A graphical representation of Tackthis and OLX websites.

    I’m in the process of letting go/disposing of/getting rid of/selling stuff that I no longer need around the house. In line with this activity, I signed up for two online shops, namely: OLX and Tackthis. Both offer free registration so I went on to set up my online shops.

    Just a disclaimer, this blog post does not intend to rigorously compare the two services – I would simply like to document my experience as a user/seller – specifically the noticeable stuff whether positive or negative. Also, this could be an ongoing piece of “review” as I go along with this new adventure of garage selling on the internet.

    (more…)

  • Visual Variables and Animation Diagram Teaser

    Visual Variables and Animation Diagram Teaser

    We’re working on two projects that we’d like to share with you – Visual Variables and Animation Diagram – both of which aim to bridge communication between visual and front-end designers working on web projects.

    Check back on Monday for updates.

    10/8/2014

    Visual Variables and Animation Diagram are available!

    See Visual Variables

    See Animation Diagram