Entries for dshadle

And now a message from your sponsor... [And now a message from your sponsor...]

dshadle — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:01:13 GMT

Settling the Dust.

For the past several months we as a team have been working on the redesign of Channel 9. A redesign which aimed to improve the site from back to front. Along the way there has been more than a few items which have created distraction and, at times, slowed the development. We have met almost every day to discuss V4 features, roadblocks, milestones and how to grow the site. Personally, I have spent weeks looking for new ways to holistically change the pages to provide more information, context and relativity. In addition, I have explored new themes which move away from the previous versions of Channel 9 which I was also responsible for designing. The idea was to create something new, something fresh.

When the Beta was released on Friday we did so with some features incomplete. The results which we are feeling the effects of through your feedback. Today we have met to discuss next steps. Specifically what are the priority 0 features that need to be addressed immediately.

1. Sign in

2. The ability to create new posts

3. The ability to comment

4. Tweaking the CSS to address some missing formatting, specifically with fonts.

About the design. First, despite what some have said – it is NOT final. Having said that, some parts are and are not up for discussion. As stated above, I wanted to experiment with some new ideas and unfortunately, due to the site not working completely yet, I have not been able to validate them. I understand the shock of not seeing the red, orange color scheme and will explore ways to reintroduce them as the beta continues. I am NOT done and while now a bit weary of springing surprises on Niners ask you to keep your feedback coming.

To repeat - We are listening and are all working to get the site where we feel it needs to be. My ask of you is to make your feedback constructive. Be patient. Thank you.

in reply to And now a message from your sponsor...

Putting the user into the experience. [Putting the user into the experience.]

dshadle — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:23:09 GMT

(re) Building the experience.

When I joined the Evangelism Network to lead the user experience effort across all the sites (channel 9, 10 and the upcoming 8) the effort was already underway. The task was to spend time with the existing site and gain a better understanding of how content was being displayed, users were interacting and the ever growing amount of posts were being managed. As the original designer of Channel 9 responsible for the UX, UI and the now infamous C9 guy it was easy to see the challenges that lay ahead. For one, there are thousands of hours of videos and an equal number of threads. The idea of creating a community has been accomplished. Unfortunately, the community is more like a chain of islands. Some watch the videos from the home page, some visit via direct links, and still others consume content delivered via RSS. Then there is the element of user participation, specifically users who either comment on videos or exchange ideas in the forums (Coffeehouse, Tech off, etc). The user experience has begun to show signs of struggle and it was time to look for ways to reset and look for new opportunities of growth. Manageable growth.

Goals for growth.

Sitting down with Jeff, Adam and Charles individually it was clear that the goals all revolved around growth. Growth of quality content, overall community participation and of knowledge for Microsoft technologies, products and initiatives. For me, there were some foundational changes in the user experience that had to be explored.

1. How to improve the user flow (understanding the many ways users consume the content).

2. How to increase relevance and surface “past” content through context.

3. How to reduce the amount of clicks needed to find content.

4. How to improve legibility of content (page layout), and post information.

5. How to put NINERS front and center.

6. How to lower barrier to entry across forums and increase overall participation.

7. How to call attention to ALL content published to the site. Including “Shows”

8. How to make it easier for users to subscribe to individual contributors, shows & specific tags.

9. How to draw attention to specific tags. Managed (by Tech Evangelists) when applicable.

10. How to cross promote content and drive traffic to other areas of the site.

You are here.

A quick trip through the process. A site map containing all page types was created to ensure that Channel 9 was kept relatively shallow. Having a clearly defined site map allowed us to focus on individual sections. Wireframes were created for (almost) all of the page types which made it easy to see the common elements and needed controls. Page comps were created which further helped to identify how content was laid out. In addition, this gave us the first opportunities to play around with the look and feel. It was very important to me that the design of the site was clean, open and easy to navigate.

In the next posts, I will dive into each page type to provide insight into what lead to the decisions made. While encouraging feedback, understand that I would discourage a “design by committee” exercise.

in reply to Putting the user into the experience.

Attention self proclaimed "gadget-freaks" [Attention self proclaimed "gadget-freaks"]

dshadle — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 02:22:24 GMT

Having the opportunity to work with a group of guys who seem to have a new device every couple of weeks, it always makes me wonder what it will take for them (or you) to be completely sold on one specific model.

What features do you always looking for in say, a mobile phone?

What features are loaded by default but you never use? Why?

Do you actually download photos or videos taken with a mobile phone?

What brand would you say "does its homework" and consistently improves the user experience?

What feature(s) do you use the most?

What is the most common feature failure that makes you give up and search for the next device?

How long before we will be able to perform our jobs soley utilizing a mobile device (ie. sans-laptop, desktop PC)?

If you had to give up the device currently attached to your waist - and no devices younger than 6 months was available - what would you choose?

Entries for dshadle

And now a message from your sponsor... [And now a message from your sponsor...]

Putting the user into the experience. [Putting the user into the experience.]

Attention self proclaimed "gadget-freaks" [Attention self proclaimed "gadget-freaks"]

The 9 Guy on vacation [The 9 Guy on vacation]