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About Marci
I am a New York-based user experience designer. Here you'll find my musings on everything digital (and some things that aren't).
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Project Launch: Stella McCartney
The web and ecommerce sites for Stella McCartney are live! I worked with createthe group on this site last summer, and the results are lovely. I particularly like the navigation among the runway looks in the Collections section. Yay!
Project launch: Cusp
I had the opportunity to design the user experience of the new e-commerce site for CUSP, a Chicago-DC-LA fashion store with createthe group. The site went live recently, and it looks great. I’m very pleased with how the "carousel" navigation for the Looks section came out. There were some other cool interactions we designed that it looks like didn’t make it into the final cut; maybe a future release. Anyhow, both the design and the clothes look great; go check it out!
Girls and games
Just read a good article on recent efforts by gaming companies to appeal to women, and how they often completely miss the mark. I’ve been into video games ever since the first Nintendo came out (I was obsessed with getting it after passing the first level of Mario at a friend’s house on her brother’s game system. I saved up my allowance for a year — bear in mind that my allowance was $1 a week — and when I had $50 saved, my parents took pity on me and sprung for the rest), and I’ve never once thought that the available section of video games was somehow not available to me because of my gender. I think that the one thing that has opened up video games to women (traditionally non-gamer women, that is) over the past few years has been Nintendo’s development of alternative interfaces (Wii, DS) as well as an emphasis on more open-ended gameplay (Nintendogs, Brain Age, Wii Sports). But it doesn’t seem like these improvements are enjoyed exclusively by women — boys like them too.
Moral of the story: by focusing on improvements to the overall user experience, Nintendo has made games more accessible to everyone who isn’t a gamer, including many women. Contrast this approach with that take by Ubisoft, as described in the above article, and you’ll see what I mean.
And if you ever catch me playing a game about raising a baby? Shoot me.
Via Jezebel
12 Effective Strategies Apple Uses to Create Loyal Customers
Interested analysis on how Apple creates its loyal (some say "cultish") customer base. Some of the techniques are excellent:
...While others are more questionable.
- Complete solutions: Apple’s products complement and complete each other. Buy an iPod, and you can download music via iTunes. For the average user, most Mac programs are produced by Apple. This sort of control over the entire user process, from hardware to software, strengthens customer loyalty. Apple users generally don’t have to stray to find products and solutions they want.
- Products that deliver: Apple carefully considers what consumers are looking for, so its products are a result of both extensive research and strong design. This meticulous planning is a large contributor to Apple’s high customer-satisfaction rates. It’s plain and simple: robust and easy-to-use products not only make your customers happy, but also
- New innovations: Although the architecture of Apple products is consistent, its portfolio is not. The company offers consumers a number of different ways to enjoy its products. By giving customers an opportunity to employ Apple in their living rooms, pockets and offices, Apple makes it easy to stay loyal to a brand they already like.
Via Inside CRM
- Proprietary formats: Apple products are often not compatible for use with other systems, at least where customer transitions are concerned. If a user has a digital music collection comprised entirely of .aac files, it’s not likely he’ll want to start from scratch with a new MP3 player that won’t accept them. Instead, this customer will probably look at replacing his old Mac with a new Apple model when the time comes.
- Outsourcing unpleasantness: With Apple products, the average consumer’s interaction with the company is likely to be low. Unless something goes wrong, you don’t have any reason to speak with an Apple customer service representative. Of course, the iPhone presented an opportunity that could have made Apple much more involved, similar to administering iTunes for the iPod. With a phone, interaction becomes multifaceted. You have to consider billing errors, quality of wireless service, contracts and a number of other factors that often lead to customer frustration. With the iPhone, Apple was wise to stick with building a good product and letting AT&T handle the service.
Birthday: Google is 10 Years Old
I heart Google.