Challis Hodge’s UXblog

“First, find a dormant product with nostalgia power. Then subtly bring it into the modern age.”

There are a tide of revived product introductions to consumer markets thse days. Triumph and Indian motorcycles are back in showrooms. So are cars like the Nissan Z and the Ford Thunderbird. Tang, the powdered orange beverage that 12-year-olds drank to be like astronauts, has returned. Likewise Roller Derby, the Care Bears, and Earth Shoes. Even brand-new products are designed to bask in some of that memory-lane glow like Chrysler’s PT Cruiser, whose fendered flanks conjure up gangster movies, and Coca-Cola’s Vanilla Coke, which harks back to soda fountains, already objects of nostalgia when Sandra Dee was making movies.

Being able to read body language is essential in business dealings. Problem is, it’s easy to misinterpret the clues we�re observing. This article dispells a number of existing myths and points out some truths as well.

Microsoft is giving computer manufacturers something extra to stuff into this holiday’s PC stocking: Bluetooth. Manufacturers received an update on 9/26/02 that would add Bluetooth support to Windows XP. This could be a big boost for the technology!

Check for yourself.

The number of messages in your inbox could be about to dramatically increase as a survey has found that 90% of firms are likely to try out e-mail marketing in the next year. It may be spam to you, but to the marketing industry e-mail is an untapped gold mine, allowing firms to speak personally and directly to customers.

After a year on the market, satellite radio subscriptions are lagging far behind projections. Believers have called satelite radio the cable tv of the radio. Only time will tell.

Kim Goodwin, Director of Design at Cooper writes about getting from piles of data to useful personas. “The usefulness of personas in defining and designing interactive products has become more widely accepted in the last few years, but lack of published information has, unfortunately, left room for a lot of misconceptions about how personas are created, and about what information actually comprises a persona. Although space does not permit a full treatment of persona creation in this article, I hope to highlight a few essential points.”

Matt Jones, an information architect based in the United Kingdom, developed the visual vocabulary to let others know where to find free wireless Internet access through the popular 802.11 protocol, commonly known as Wi-Fi. Inspired by the chalk drawings used by hobos during the Great Depression to point the way to free food, Jones posted his Wi-Fi access symbols on his website, www.warchalking.org, in late June.