Microsoft highlight four principles as being fundamental to the Metro UI; typography, motion, “content not chrome” and honesty.
Metro is “authentically digital”, a contrast to some of the more skeuomorphic design principles of companies like Apple. For example, Apple designed its Contacts, Calendar, Notes and Reminders apps to resemble their more physical counterparts, something which has proved pretty controver
Microsoft’s Zune site is very heavily influenced by Metro, especially notable since the Zune was the first device to really embrace a full-blown Metro interface. You can see in the design a perfect embodiment of Metro on the web.
The BBC’s current homepage adheres heavily to Metro principles with a bold use of typography and grids.
-Extracts from webdesign.tutplus
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Atom 26:TV Media: Content Convergence in newer forms
Amidst plethora of tools and products that makes best use of content, TV the media relation will soon see such a proliferation of Content Converge in multitude ways. One real innovative idea which I would chose to see upfront is the Content Convergences of Multiple Channels into one platform. Putting user first, and understanding the way DTH works - People subscribe to a set of channels or Theme (I don't justifiably see this extending far than Genres!) or la-carte or Pay per use basis.People buy a Basic package and load the additional channels on to the base. People discard to use the additive channels post-event and more probably is a curse for customers to ADD a new channel in the basket during the event and discard it later. It is a forced action that consumer look at it as not a holistic experience. Understandably, each of these seasonal or speciality events period the DTH service clocks money by making certain channels pay-per use. But does this fundamentally relate to consumer choice or been a force to choose without any other alternative?
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Atom 25: Connecting First Experiences: Buying a Chocolate Box!
Lets comprehend the way one would pick an unknown Chocolate box. The insight is much a qualitative analysis against a scientific attachment to it. Various size, packs, colors, materials, textures all clamor and entice to be picked! So which one would you chose?
Considering a foreigner who would pick a Chocolate box from a retail store with differing brands (more probably unknown) - is relatively a choice of probability! This vs That, A vs B. What exactly would she be thinking? What is her thought process in finding the better or best one? Though there could be reasons were she would chose a flavor like dark chocolate, but once again there are differing brands in each of the particular flavor or ingredients. Had marketing research or behavioral scientist studied such a case? And if so, they also know that's to do solely with one thing!
It should be easier for the resident or a brand conscious person to pick from the lot - a more appropriate or trusted or tried out brand, But what if in case somebody would want to try a new chocolate brand/tag ? What if though its not a foreigner but a local person who undergoes the similar confusion over choice. Rightly so, pick both or more packs and try out at one stretch, easy go! But lets put in an assumption of one would need to chose one among it for some reason, narrowing it, say for worth of dollars!
It was quite a fact that Packaging design of the Chocolate box brings to the forefront in finding or picking the choice. Its an emotional decision that drives to narrow down against the options, highly the color, texture, the richness of the package drives consumer intention aligning towards the Chocolate of choice. The richer the box looks, a feeling or trust that the package content will also seem to be richer. On comparing "Cadbury's" traditional dark blue glossy skin (glowing blue in my intention looks non-enticing, and superficial) to against more rustic, rich, golden-brown local brand - the well known Cadbury's is not alluring in any manner on the outside. The rustic look creates a sense of honesty, straight-forward appeal, wherein rich golden-brown color is so closely linked with the actual content. The local brand may win here, but creating first impression and first experiences of buying, certainly connect customer with the story of choice everytime. The local brand soon will become the choice in future shopping, if deemed worth! Most of the CPG products needs a connectivity through its first skin, or rather superficial layer - the package to drive people to touch, prefer and buy.
It should be easier for the resident or a brand conscious person to pick from the lot - a more appropriate or trusted or tried out brand, But what if in case somebody would want to try a new chocolate brand/tag ? What if though its not a foreigner but a local person who undergoes the similar confusion over choice. Rightly so, pick both or more packs and try out at one stretch, easy go! But lets put in an assumption of one would need to chose one among it for some reason, narrowing it, say for worth of dollars!
It was quite a fact that Packaging design of the Chocolate box brings to the forefront in finding or picking the choice. Its an emotional decision that drives to narrow down against the options, highly the color, texture, the richness of the package drives consumer intention aligning towards the Chocolate of choice. The richer the box looks, a feeling or trust that the package content will also seem to be richer. On comparing "Cadbury's" traditional dark blue glossy skin (glowing blue in my intention looks non-enticing, and superficial) to against more rustic, rich, golden-brown local brand - the well known Cadbury's is not alluring in any manner on the outside. The rustic look creates a sense of honesty, straight-forward appeal, wherein rich golden-brown color is so closely linked with the actual content. The local brand may win here, but creating first impression and first experiences of buying, certainly connect customer with the story of choice everytime. The local brand soon will become the choice in future shopping, if deemed worth! Most of the CPG products needs a connectivity through its first skin, or rather superficial layer - the package to drive people to touch, prefer and buy.
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Atom 24: Objects of Plaything
I observed that my niece often at this age of 15 months, constantly - look for non play items as objects of plaything. Objects of plaything as what we feel, though its object of exploration! She had a bunch of toys to play around but most of the time - wanted to explore new items, colorful artifacts & silvery shining pieces. She had sensational interest with the vegetables, cutlery and silverware. Toys as objects of plaything as we visualize is not part of her domain or her world sometimes! Breaking the common rule.
The key lesson here is that we been engaged with clients and wanted to engender customer delight, the wow factor and happiness as a result of much of our engagement models. We do use various tools, methods, frameworks and concepts to ideate and present messages. Does our messages real end up the way we had thought and derived? Does it create the absolute sensational interest as what intended? Does it been spot-on and also been a serious show or event?
Just with the Objects of plaything, Just alike a differentiation with the Child's viewpoint - We need to readjust, quickly find fascinated objects, look for unknown medium, explore in differentiated outlook to create the sense of surprise and playful characterization to our engagement models. Does this create the total experience? No, this is the path to create such a wholesome experience, as a designer, bringing in new perception and uncanny character to the mundane business-world, will awestruck many as often, naturally how one would feel as found an unknown, new, fresh object - the crave to look, want or understand is more than normal.
Objects of plaything fall in the repertoire of such experience! To break known rules and start going beyond the fixed boundary.
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Atom 23: Let's get the cradle connection!
Looking at newborns & toddlers, where their first fascination of light,luminosity & pictures heighten as day by day where they constantly look around the world - indoors and then outdoors - weirdly wonder!
All new things that they look, sometimes even old things that are freshly "cached" in their mind are all part of the catalog they constantly keep source, appreciate and relate. That's why the world of visual connotations are more powerful than words. Its worth it and as of all we know. Its been a genetic connection that born to look for such things is much easier than a learned behavior of reading anything. Cognitive load is high as understood.
Learning through objects is in some manner more relate to us. We had all become serious with the physical boundary curtailing to be unlike a wonder-kid. I been constantly intrigued with the fact that in a Client interaction - more often in a longer session that run hours together, people participating actively in discussion that relate to sketches, drawings, screen-shots, concepts, visuals and symbols. This is against any form of presentation that increasingly uses words, sentences and mundane specifics. It actively puts everybody in a throttle with the wonder-kid vision, when something gets connected to the cradle behavior.
Do if we need to rejig this stigmata rightly in the way we work - not so in an artificial transplanted world that is unknown against the known cradle behavior, looks more meaningful & ends more tireless sessions, talks and gestures. Sometimes, when in a joint meeting of a document approach presentation and visual storyboard presentation, the drastic valley of drift is well seen. Its time we start cut across words and move towards symbols, dialogues, role-play, videos, animation & sketches. This really seems a tough nut to crack in certain areas but should be widely adopted from coding practices to Minutes of meeting. A machine language that just created by speech-to-text, caricaturing & mine-sweeping. Everybody wants to work in better ways, everybody likes to see new things, everybody wants to find new meaning and enjoy fresh subjects in this demanding consumer orb!
All new things that they look, sometimes even old things that are freshly "cached" in their mind are all part of the catalog they constantly keep source, appreciate and relate. That's why the world of visual connotations are more powerful than words. Its worth it and as of all we know. Its been a genetic connection that born to look for such things is much easier than a learned behavior of reading anything. Cognitive load is high as understood.
Learning through objects is in some manner more relate to us. We had all become serious with the physical boundary curtailing to be unlike a wonder-kid. I been constantly intrigued with the fact that in a Client interaction - more often in a longer session that run hours together, people participating actively in discussion that relate to sketches, drawings, screen-shots, concepts, visuals and symbols. This is against any form of presentation that increasingly uses words, sentences and mundane specifics. It actively puts everybody in a throttle with the wonder-kid vision, when something gets connected to the cradle behavior.
Do if we need to rejig this stigmata rightly in the way we work - not so in an artificial transplanted world that is unknown against the known cradle behavior, looks more meaningful & ends more tireless sessions, talks and gestures. Sometimes, when in a joint meeting of a document approach presentation and visual storyboard presentation, the drastic valley of drift is well seen. Its time we start cut across words and move towards symbols, dialogues, role-play, videos, animation & sketches. This really seems a tough nut to crack in certain areas but should be widely adopted from coding practices to Minutes of meeting. A machine language that just created by speech-to-text, caricaturing & mine-sweeping. Everybody wants to work in better ways, everybody likes to see new things, everybody wants to find new meaning and enjoy fresh subjects in this demanding consumer orb!
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Atom 22: How reviews become closure of news reading?
Online News that has been widely in the forefront for many folks in sections alike Weather,Economy, Politics, Sports to City news and others.
I been witnessing this behavioral attribute (yet to research deeply!) of editor's or author's news is well binded with the Review section at the bottom. Also the likes of Share, tweet and +1. How often the scroll keypad is kept banged, as the news end and reviews begin!
It became an extension of additional news or social information - where the reader is interested to find how people really felt on the news. Eagerness and cut of curiosity is what the extension is all about. Looking at the context of emotional value - for good - as in case India wins the World cup in Cricket, this transcends to capture how fellow country-men and global citizens felt on the win. People thoughts to the news ends most probably as a "recency effect" that lingers in mind. Reactions towards political support, legal laws, malpractices, crimes and the negative extremity is a bandwagon of agitation, curse, humor and criticism. Such a closure to the news invariably binds the reader to either join or discard, and more probably feel the anguish or burden that is coming through multiple people against the primary "author's" news. It is now a news constructed by many and not so by one. It ends with lots of secondary - tertiary information against the primary news.
Crowdsourcing as it becomes - collective thoughts increases the value of the news to invariable heights. Sometimes the lack of any review column or thoughts is just a void to a news that is more important pr attached to the reader. The final closure never happens, as though been a routine!
How long will the reviews of online news can transcend by time to the Local prints ? Is'nt it much expressive feelings, ideas or pointers are a wanted segment ? Is'nt it a experience of reading lots of "insider information" or "series of mini-news" or "subjects" an interesting way to tie with a news?
I been witnessing this behavioral attribute (yet to research deeply!) of editor's or author's news is well binded with the Review section at the bottom. Also the likes of Share, tweet and +1. How often the scroll keypad is kept banged, as the news end and reviews begin!
It became an extension of additional news or social information - where the reader is interested to find how people really felt on the news. Eagerness and cut of curiosity is what the extension is all about. Looking at the context of emotional value - for good - as in case India wins the World cup in Cricket, this transcends to capture how fellow country-men and global citizens felt on the win. People thoughts to the news ends most probably as a "recency effect" that lingers in mind. Reactions towards political support, legal laws, malpractices, crimes and the negative extremity is a bandwagon of agitation, curse, humor and criticism. Such a closure to the news invariably binds the reader to either join or discard, and more probably feel the anguish or burden that is coming through multiple people against the primary "author's" news. It is now a news constructed by many and not so by one. It ends with lots of secondary - tertiary information against the primary news.
Crowdsourcing as it becomes - collective thoughts increases the value of the news to invariable heights. Sometimes the lack of any review column or thoughts is just a void to a news that is more important pr attached to the reader. The final closure never happens, as though been a routine!
How long will the reviews of online news can transcend by time to the Local prints ? Is'nt it much expressive feelings, ideas or pointers are a wanted segment ? Is'nt it a experience of reading lots of "insider information" or "series of mini-news" or "subjects" an interesting way to tie with a news?
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