ExperienceLab

Mobile phone comparison site is launched

Mobile Phone Expert, www.mobilephone-expert.co.uk is a mobile phone comparison site that prides itself on offering users a simple process to find a new mobile phone and tariff. The site aims to do this by providing users with fewer results based on their preferences so they don’t have to scroll through pages and pages of phones.

Technology is really powered by magical beings!

During a recent conversation between my sons on the merits of different camera phones, various technical pros and cons were discussed. Much of the teenagers discussion centered on the value of a three versus a five megapixel camera. At which point my eight year old daughter asked what a ‘mega pixie’ was.  Now this perfectly reasonable question has got me thinking. What if technology products are, in fact, powered by little magical beings like pixies? 

I suppose that having five pixies inside a camera will allow more detailed pictures to be created than if just three are on duty. Though they must all be pretty good at painting pictures to warrant the title ‘mega’!

And what of other devices? What fantastical creatures might lie within, waiting for us to turn on the power button? If you reckon you know how your favourite gadgets really work let us know.

Our favourite blogs - experience design, usability and beyond

I regularly ask the ExperienceLab team what they're following and subscribing to - we all have different backgrounds and interests so there's always something new to learn from. In no particular order, here's a selection of blogs and feeds we're currently subscribing to. If we've missed your favourite please let me know!

Improving the car parking experience

I recently visited Portsmouth and parked at Gun Wharf – the large outlet shopping centre there. Now, I don’t think I’m going to shatter anyone’s preconceptions if I say that parking is not normally an activity that causes people to bubble with excitement and happiness. It’s a frustrating experience of tediously driving around, trying to spot that elusive space. Car parks are typically designed to make this harder by arranging cars in rows, so that you drive past these rows and have to look down them to try to find a space – at which point we realise that the laws of perspective are not on our side, and more often than not that tiny Mini fools you into thinking there’s a space when there isn’t, or the gargantuan 4x4 is hiding a perfectly good space.