ExperienceLab

Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrison's, they all have them: Are self-service checkouts really the future of shopping?

Sometimes it feels like an insult; we to stand in a queue that does not seem any shorter than it was before the manned tills were replaced, and we have to scan them ourselves, only to be told there is an “unexpected item in the bagging area”, which is an item that we scanned just seconds ago...

'The customer is always right' - but are they bothered?

I visited my local Argos at the weekend, when collecting my product there was a customer feedback terminal positioned on the collection counter (see image). There were five questions on the terminal, each were quite wordy questions, with 5 ratings per question. I was only at the counter for 6 secs just to pick my product up; I didn't even have time to read the first question before I was on my way out the door (although I did have time to take a quick snap!). I was curious to see if other customers would have the time and interest to use the customer feedback terminal, so I waited and watched 8 customers go to the counter and collect their products. Not one person even took a second glance at the terminal.

Gorillaz go interactive

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Gorillaz concert at the O2 on 16^th November, and it was interesting to see there were a variety of different Gorillaz inspired interactive activities available around the arena to entertain fans before the concert began.

Web for all?

Here at ExperienceLab we consider accessible websites to be be extremely important, and are frequently asked by our clients to conduct research to ensure their websites are accessible to all.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see a new website, Fix the Web, which allows web surfers to report problems they find when viewing websites. 

There is a huge population of web users who have disabilities, but there are still many websites that alienate these users. According to the World Wide Web Consortium, only 19% of websites meet the minimum standards for web access.

Fix the Web has been launched by the charity Citizens Online, and will see volunteers report complaints back to site owners. It will be interesting to see if this new initiative helps to make a difference.

Image ref: http://webaccess.tamu.edu/ 

Nike +… pain or gain?

I recently ran the 10km Bupa run in Central London and I couldn't have completed the run on event day or done as much training as I did without my Nike+ device. 

This device comes in two parts; one that plugs into the end of your iPod and the other part is a sensor that fits onto your shoe. So it is basically like a pedometer that you can control through your iPod. This is a fantastic device that records your distance, time, and calories burnt and other pretty useless but fascinating information about your run whilst you listen to music to spur you on. It even has a congratulations message from Tiger Woods when you record a personal best – feel free to take that as a positive or negative feature!

However, there are aspects of the Nike+ device that irritate me. These are usability defects that probably would only occur in a running situation, but given it’s designed to be used in just that way it doesn't really bode well! 

Ryder Cup misses the mark

My family recently acquired 6 tickets for the Ryder Cup in October – this is great news! However, Ryder Cup organisers require all people attending the event to upload a passport photo to their website. Obviously this is for security reasons, but it seems they haven’t taken into account the age range of people that will be attending the event.

Election 2010: Britain’s first digital election?

During the campaign for the 2010 Election voters will be able to search the parties websites, read their blogs and contact them via Facebook and Twitter.

So its no wonder the press are dubbing the 2010 election as the “first election of the social network age”, but how much will the Internet and social media shape the election and campaigns?

Microsoft offers a choice to Windows users

After being fined billions, Microsoft has announced that it is to offer Windows users in Europe a browser choice screen. This choice screen which the Guardian has named the “browser ballot”, will make it easier for users to choose an alternative browser. This is required as a settlement agreed with European Commission’s competition department in December 2009. 

  Picture credit: Mashable

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.

Facebook shedding pounds

Facebook has released a test version of the new stripped-down Facebook site. Facebook Lite (http://lite.facebook.com) was initially focused on providing a faster and more accessible version for users in countries with low bandwidth and slower internet connections. Now it seems existing users will be given the chance to switch to this ‘diet’ version, allowing users to write on friend’s walls, look at photos and share content without all the additional applications.