http://www.michaeldorian.com/site.php/hello/index/ en michaeldorian@gmail.com Copyright 2010 2010-10-11T10:17:58+00:00 http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/windows_phone_7_wireframe_paper_sketch_template http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/windows_phone_7_wireframe_paper_sketch_template#When:09:17:58Z I’ve been doing quite a bit of sketching and prototyping for a few Window Phone 7 applications I’m working on and needed a template to help keep things organized. I searched far and wide and found great solutions for the iPhone and Web browsers but nothing for Windows Phone. So what to do? Make one. It’s been quite useful and I’m making it available here to download for all you aspiring Windows Phone developers and designers. Start you sketch engines! Sketching is helpful. It’s fast, it’s cheap and it really helps you hone your ideas. There’s something about the crude and organic feel of getting your ideas out using pen and paper that digital tools just can’t seem to match. With digital tools, many times the tool takes hold and it causes you to fixate on everything BUT getting as many ideas out of your head as possible. You get caught up in the details. Color, alignment, spacing, grid, default controls, style, etc. You start the visual design process before thinking the basics through. Balsamiq gets close in helping you keep focused but it still sand boxes you into using only what’s available in the tool. It can’t fully represent the breadth of every UI pattern or control used. Digital tools have there place, but it’s not at the beginning of the ideation process. However, sometimes you need some help speeding things up - some visual guidelines to help you sketch faster and more accurate from sketch to sketch. Something to help you take accurate notes, visualize the size of the device you’re designing for and track the sketches and ideas as they pile up. This is where paper templates come in handy. I’ve been doing quite a bit of sketching and prototyping for a few Window Phone 7 applications I’m working on and needed a template to help keep things organized. I searched far and wide and found great solutions for the iPhone and Web browsers but nothing for Windows Phone. So what to do? Make one. It’s been quite useful and I’m making it available here to download for all you aspiring Windows Phone developer and designers. Start you sketch engines! Features 8x11 in. paper size Actually device and screen size Project Fields. I.e. project name, date, page x of y, screen titles, notes Blue template lines as used in graphing and architecture drawing paper Download the PDF template for free. Design, User Experience, 2010-10-11T09:17:58+00:00 http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/why_im_sitting_in_photography_class http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/why_im_sitting_in_photography_class#When:14:02:36Z Life’s gotten a bit flat. A bit 2D. I’ve been working in the medium of graphic and interactive design for nearly 10 years now. (Wow, has it really been that long?) While I continue to practice, enjoy and learn the art of designing beautiful and people happy software experiences both as my primary passion and as part of my professional career, I feel the medium has made me a bit too narrow focused. At least creatively.  Life’s gotten a bit flat. A bit 2D. I’ve been working in the medium of graphic and interactive design for nearly 10 years now. (Wow, has it really been that long?) While I continue to practice, enjoy and learn the art of designing beautiful and people happy software experiences both as my primary passion and as part of my professional career, I feel the medium has made me a bit too narrow focused. At least creatively. I live, think and breath user interfaces and tunnel vision is kicking in. The key to great design ideas is getting inspiration from the unexpected. So it’s time to get out of the “house” and explore something new, something different - a new creative medium. A new way to speak. Freshen up and learn a different visual language. Time to learn French as they say. And that language is pictures and moving pictures. I’ve always had deep respect for the people who tell stories through pictures both still and in motion. My Vimeo account is chalked full of favorites, must see videos and my Google Reader is filled with blogs from amazing people doing inspiring work. This is something I’ve always wanted to play around with. Something I’ve always wanted to explore, but project after project, deadline after deadline, I’ve always procrastinated. This all changed when I went to go see Scott Pilgram vs the World. My jaws dropped, brain swelled up with ideas and I’ve never been more inspired. The visuals were breadth taking and it really struck me how creative and visual this medium can be. It’s an amazing display of technical know-how, story telling and visual design. I wanted to learn more and start seeing I can start getting the ideas in my head out and into this medium. Going a bit deeper I’ve found interestingly that the practice and process of user experience design is actually quite similar. Designing engaging user interfaces is as much about design and usability as it is about telling a story. It’s about creating memorable subtle experiences that help users complete a story and arrive at a conclusion - a complete task. It’s about creating memorable emotions while taking users on a journey - connecting users to the story, the brand, the product and the task. Just as in photography and movies, you follow very similar exercises to help you get what’s in your head out. You start with a story (scenario), sketch out storyboard designs (wireframing), production (design and coding) and finishing (user testing and launch). Off we go. New language, new tools and a twist on a new way of “speaking”. The digital camera as a pencil. It’s a ground zero effort. I’ve have no experience working with this medium any significant way. Google and Amazon will come in handy. I'm ready to learn the basic. As anyone will tell you, it’s all about the idea, but for me I’ve always felt it was also equally about the tools. If you are not proficient enough with the tools, you will not be able to get your ideas transferred from your head to the medium in any accurate fashion. It needs to be natural and not a hindrance. Knowing the tools is half the battle. So here I am, sitting in a photography class with my newly purchased camera from Craiglist and feeling like a kid in school. Notebook opened, pencils sharpened and transformed into a information sponge not just for class, but on the Internet and hopefully in person. Couple of things that started it all. Personal, 2010-09-26T14:02:36+00:00 http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/dont_forget_about_the_actual_phone http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/dont_forget_about_the_actual_phone#When:15:13:48Z The physical design of phone hardware plays critical role in connecting the visual experience of the OS with the actually use of the phone. The design elements and visual language used for the OS should match that of the outer hardware. This is the only way to extend the “feel” of the OS and provide a complete unified experience. Visually connect the physical world with the virtual in daily use. It’s this unified “feel” that subconsciously completes the experience for you. Updated. Here's a phone that is worse than the Samsung shown above. The LG C900 as spied by Engadget. Ewwww. The physical design of phone hardware plays critical role in connecting the visual experience of the OS with the actually use of the phone. The design elements and visual language used for the OS should match that of the outer hardware. This is the only way to extend the “feel” of the OS and provide a complete unified experience. Visually connect the physical world with the virtual in daily use. It’s this unified “feel” that subconsciously completes the experience for you. This is one of the primary reasons why I feel phones such as Android lack a sense of completeness. Now let’s talk about the new kid on the block. As a designer speaking about aspects of design, I’m really excited about the new visual direction of Windows Phone. It’s brave departure from the old and successfully takes influences from outside the medium (Swiss design, typography, etc.) and not phones taking inspiration from other phones. Apple did this with the original iPhone and now Microsoft is doing it with Windows Phone. Whether it’s successful in terms of daily usability and interaction design is yet to be determined. With that said its goal of building a product that differentiates itself from its competitors through visual design succeeds on all counts. But the experience doesn’t end there. The language needs to be expressed in the physical and virtual world and no one does this better then Apple. The hardware “feels” like the software. Subtle design elements are carried across both worlds. And this is what really what makes Apple products feel “complete”. It’s the very reason Apple owns both the hardware and the software. It ensures they can extend the subtleties and nuisances of its language to the entire product end-to-end. Microsoft has successfully done the same with the XBOX 360. The OS feels like the hardware. From the use of colors to subtle elements such as the “inhaling curve”, it feels connected. You can see this connected experience between physical and virtual displayed even in us. Some people “seem” to be a better fit with short hair or long hair, dark hair or light hair. Professional, sporty, active, geek, physical appearance amplifies and reflects personality. It is part of the very way we design ourselves. Looking at the current potential Windows 7 Phone hardware from various manufactures such as Samsung, the OS feels so strikingly out of place that it feels almost broken. Looking at the current potential Windows 7 Phone hardware from various manufactures such as Samsung, the OS feels so strikingly out of place that it feels almost broken. Something doesn’t fit and you just can’t pin-point what it is. It just doesn’t feel right. The visual language that makes up Windows Phone is flat, geometric and modern and completely contradicts many of the current potential hardware designs. It’s like they are from a different planet, speaking a completely different language. It’s a jarring experience and details matter. Users notice. All aspects of what makes the Windows Phone design language “Metro” - flat, simple, chrome-less and geometric are all lacking from the preview headsets I’ve seen crop up on sites like Gizmodo and Engadget. Ironically, the iPhone hardware design fits in quite well with Windows Phone OS. Dare I say better than Apple? The current iOS design language was better a fit with the original 3G and 3GS. The curve gradients on the iPhone icons are mirrored in the curve back of the phone. If you flip an iPhone icon around and scaled it vertically, it’s essentially the same contour as the back of a 3GS. The iPhone 4 with its flat back, all black, industrial shape and hard edges works surprising well with Windows Phone - better than what Microsoft Partners have been able to come up with. The cause and effect is that the Phone is designed independent of the OS. Phones targeted at running different operating systems and it shows. What I hope happens is the Windows Phone team works at extending the Metro design language beyond software and into the hardware and ensures 3rd party manufactures support it. Ensure phones are designed around the Windows OS look and feel and is not just another phone running the phone OS. Provide industrial design guidelines, work with each manufacture’s design team and ensure they are met. Does the phone look and feel like a Windows Phone? The Metro design team should be interacting with each and every partner phone design team. No multi-textured, extraneous curves and layers or bubbly phones allowed. If you want to offer a Windows Phone, the design needs to fit in. Alternatively Microsoft just needs to cut the third party partners and make the phone themselves because as of today, it is not working. Microsoft and HTC, you guys need to talk. Design, Microsoft, 2010-07-30T15:13:48+00:00 http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/ux_myths_and_ammo_for_designers http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/ux_myths_and_ammo_for_designers#When:11:10:52Z I recently stumbled upon this site and boy is it a gem. Now only if I had this as ammo for some of my previous projects and design meetings. Designers take notice. Bookmark this site for safe keeping. I promise you it will come in handy. I recently stumbled upon this site and boy is it a gem. Now only if I had this as ammo for some of my previous projects and design meetings. Designers take notice. Bookmark this site for safe keeping. I promise you it will come in handy. Here's one of my favorites. Oh and there's definitely more. Ammo to help you defend the infamous "everything needs to be above the fold argument" to "if it works for Amazon it will work for you". Classics. Myth #21: People can tell you what they want "When asking people, you have to be aware that people make confident but false predictions about their future behavior, especially when presented with a new and unfamiliar design. There’s a huge difference between imagining using something and actually using it. In addition, human preferences are rather unstable." Source: uxmyths.com 2010-07-04T11:10:52+00:00 http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/iphone_as_a_music_player_not_without_changes http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/iphone_as_a_music_player_not_without_changes#When:20:03:40Z First off, let me say, I love my iPhone. I love it more then you really should of an inanimate gadget. However as a music player, it sucks. When the iPhone was released, I was hoping it would replace my iPod and now Zune as my full time music player, but to my disappointment that was not the case. You can’t control that damn thing without looking at the screen. The lack of textural feedback really makes this a sometime (and I mean sometime) music player.First off, let me say, I love my iPhone. I love it more then you really should of an inanimate gadget. However as a music player, it sucks. When the iPhone was released, I was hoping it would replace my iPod and now Zune as my full time music player, but to my disappointment that was not the case. You can’t control that damn thing without looking at the screen. The lack of textural feedback really makes this a sometime (and I mean sometime) music player. With the iPod and Zune you can “feel” you way around the controls. You can accomplish all the basic, next, back, play, pause and volume controls, while laying in bed half asleep, while running with it attached to your arm band, or while inside your pocket walking to the grocery store. You can safely skip to the next song without worry about getting hit by an on-coming car. I remember while lying in my bed, with shuffle-mode enabled and wanting to skip to the next song. Not as easy as it sounds. I double tap the home button to bring up the controls, lift my arm, bring the phone to a viewable angle and distance, open my eyes, get woken up by the bright screen, look for the next button, and press ">>" to skip to the next song. Rinse and repeat and you’ll eventually you realize you’ll never fall asleep and that this is stupid. With my Zune, it's a twitch of the finger and on you go. Solution? Gestures of course! It's only natural. The iPhone has an entire screen ready to take feedback. Why not make use of it. Gestures are already part of the UI mental model for navigating contacts, photos, etc. Why not music? It seems like a perfect natural progression. Don't get me started about cover flow while laying on your side (a fairly common music listening position). Steve, can you hear me? Until then, long live Zune. Design, User Experience, 2009-02-22T20:03:40+00:00 http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/a_little_product_down_the_hall http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/a_little_product_down_the_hall#When:14:45:00Z A good friend of mine down the hall works on a little product some of you may have heard of called Silverlight. It’s a nifty little browser runtime that lets you do a bunch of cool things on the web. Lately it’s been generating quite a bit of positive buzz and that buzz is starting to creep into my office from all the way down the hall. It’s definitely got my attention. My curiosity’s peaked, and I think it’s time to see for myself what all the fuss is about. A good friend of mine down the hall works on a little product some of you may have heard of called Silverlight. It’s a nifty little browser runtime that lets you do a bunch of cool things on the web. Lately it’s been generating quite a bit of positive buzz and that buzz is starting to creep into my office from all the way down the hall. It’s definitely got my attention. My curiosity’s peaked, and I think it’s time to see for myself what all the fuss is about. I’ve dabbled a bit with the original Silverlight release, but Silverlight 2 is a whole new beast. Being a huge fan of the Adobe design tools and the Flash platform, this is going to be interesting to say the least. Over the next few months I’ll be posting my experiences and documenting my progress as I work through ramp-up resources and try to build a so-called “real” project.On wards! From the beginning maestro. Here’s a list of what I’m using to ramp up and get started. Getting the bits. Most are free and pretty self-explanatory. I like free. Microsoft Web Platform Installer: This gets you the free developer tool Visual Web Developer and the Silverlight Tools and SDK. This is really all you need to start writing code. The platform installer also gives you the option to install other stuff like .NET Framework, ASP.NET MVC, SQL Server and IIS stuff. Super easy and highly recommended as the best way to get what you need. Microsoft Expression Blend 2 SP1: You’ll need this if you care anything about design. There’s a free 30-day trial available that I’ll be using. The price is a bit steep at $499.99, but then again so is Flash. Books I’m going to read Silverlight 2 Unleashed Silverlight 2 Recipes And some great web resources I’m started out with Kirupa.com: A fan since its inception. Awesome stuff. Silverlight.net/Learn Off I go. Wish me luck. 2009-02-07T14:45:00+00:00 http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/the_inaugural_first_post_hello_world http://www.michaeldorian.com/site/the_inaugural_first_post_hello_world#When:20:00:05Z I’m an Internet product designer and developer exploring the space where design and technology intersect. This site is a collection of my thoughts and opinions about my passion for all things web, particularly UX. I'm a HUGE believer in its ability to "change the game" and act as the most powerful differentiators between products. Needless to say, this will be a common theme throughout the site. Who am I? My name is Michael Dorian Bach. I live in Seattle, WA with my wife Aubrey and our 3 computers. By day, I’m a Technical Product Manager at Microsoft working in the Developers group. In a nutshell, my job is to make sure we do right by developers and ensure that the Microsoft web stack is an open and kick-ass web platform for building web applications. I believe that interoperability, web standards and simplicity are the key principles of any great web stack, and Microsoft pays me to drive this vision throughout our web eco-system. (You can thank me later.) Feel free to ping me at mibach (at) microsoft.com with comments and suggestion on how we are doing and what we could be doing to help make web development better. "I’m an Internet product designer and developer exploring the space where design and technology intersect." By night, I’m an Internet product designer and developer exploring the space where design and technology intersect. This site is a collection of my thoughts and opinions about my passion for all things web, particularly UX. I'm a HUGE believer in its ability to "change the game" and act as the most powerful differentiator between products. Needless to say, this will be a common theme throughout the site. Though I will occasionally write about work, please note that what you read is my opinion and not that of my employer. If something inspires you, great. If something rubs you the wrong way, it all falls on me. I will occasionally write about work What you read is my opinion and not that of my employer If something rubs you the wrong way, it all falls on me You can call me Michael, or Mike, or Dorian- as long as you are passionate about web and have something to teach me or something interesting to say, I’ll respond to just about any name you can throw at me. Enjoy. Personal, 2008-11-10T20:00:05+00:00