Curious Interface of ATM Machine

Since I start getting deep in to the rabbit hole of Experience Design. The Experience sensory in my mind keep bugging me with so many annoynace with machines that is scattered at work at home or almost whereever I go and interact with them.

The first annoynace I experienced deep inside me is the ATM Machine.

They are your window to access your securely store stashed in your secret bank accounts!

Well the frustrating moments starts like this:

  • Please insert your card
  • Enter your pin number, then Press Enter or “#” hash sign.
  • Do you want to Check your balance? Yes / No.
  • Withdraw, Deposit, Check Balance, Quick Cash … Pick one.
  • If Withdraw selected we asked for $20, $40, $60…..$200 and Other Amount
  • You clicked “Other Amount” and entered “$15” and it says you can’t do that, and gives you the math problem to solve to get the amount (divide by 2).
  • Do you need the receipt? Yex/No
  • More Transaction? Yes/No

Wow! So many things that scary devil asks me! Why not it should act in a way I want it to?

  • Swipe
  • Enter Pin
  • From your last transaction you requested $15. Should I spit the same amount. Yex/No
    ELSE
  • Enter the Amount or select the amount ranging from $20 to $200, I picked $200.
  • “Thanks, see ya later”.

The reason things I am wondering about is “Remembering my Preferences”, in case of special occasion, I can pick the “I need Receipt this time now” option, if I want to from the different screen, by selecting that option.

But please don’t ask too much question for a small task. Do honor the user time while designing the interface, don’t make them think, and allow them to get thing done in a swift moment, without any error or annoyance.

Follow-up: Twitter Favorite Harvester in C#, refactored

Here is the improved code, now it won’t run in to the Twitter Request Per Day Limit.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
/*
* URL for Favoirtes: http://twitter.com/favorites/YourUserNameOnTwitter.xml?page=1
*/
WebRequest req;
req = WebRequest.Create( (string.Format(“http://twitter.com/favorites/YourUserNameOnTwitter.xml?page={0}”, 1)));

NetworkCredential creds = new NetworkCredential(“YourUserNameOnTwitter”, “YouUserNameTwitterPassword”);   
req.Credentials = creds;
req.Method = “GET”;
string respString = “”;

for (int i = 101; i < 160; i++)
{

req = WebRequest.Create(string.Format(“http://twitter.com/favorites/YourUserNameOnTwitter.xml?page={0}”, i));


WebResponse resp = (WebResponse)req.GetResponse();

Stream respStream = resp.GetResponseStream();
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(respStream);

respString = respString + reader.ReadToEnd();

reader.Close();
respStream.Close();
resp.Close();

Console.Write(respString);
}
// create a writer and open the file
TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter(“C:\YourUserNameOnTwitterFavorite.txt”);

// write a harvested favorite tweets to the file
tw.WriteLine(respString);

//TODO: Parse the XML, and then make it available to be searched by Twitter UserID, Keyword, and harvest the URL out of it!
Console.ReadLine();



}

Grab it while it is hot!

Anyone out there who wanna work with me to improve it? Sky is the limit people!

Twitter Favorite Harvester in C#.

Finally able to get the Favoirte (in a XML format) from Twitter with that nifty script, I encouraged anyone out there to improve it and share it here, and we can build a nifty tool that will feature as follow:

  1. Export the cool links from your Twitter Favoirtes to Digg or Delicious Account or Bookmarks2.com
  2. Export the harvested Links to Firefox or any browser
  3. Export the Fav. Tweets in a nice “Reousrce” file or whatever the storage you are using.
  4. Share among friends.

Sample Code is here, please provide your feedback, I encountered the Request Limt from Twitter, but if you know the better way and to beat the limit, it would be awesome:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
/*
* URL for Favoirtes: http://twitter.com/favorites/YourUserNameOnTwitter.xml?page=1
*/


string respString = “”;
for (int i = 95; i < 96; i++)
{
WebRequest req = WebRequest.Create(string.Format(“http://twitter.com/favorites/YourUserNameOnTwitter.xml?page={0}”, i));

NetworkCredential creds = new NetworkCredential(“YourUser”, “YourPassword”);

req.Credentials = creds;
req.Method = “GET”;
WebResponse resp = (WebResponse)req.GetResponse();

Stream respStream = resp.GetResponseStream();
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(respStream);

respString = reader.ReadToEnd();

reader.Close();
respStream.Close();
resp.Close();

Console.Write(respString);
}
// create a writer and open the file
TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter(“C:\FavoriteFile.txt”);

// write a harvested favorite tweets to the file
tw.WriteLine(respString);

//TODO: Parse the XML, and then make it available to be searched by Twitter UserID, Keyword, and harvest the URL out of it!
Console.ReadLine();



}

The experience is like a thrill rides in these Road Roller Coaster! They are Pakistanis Special Public Rides. If you ever want to experience the thrill-on-the-road, visit Karachi, and ask the driver to take you from M. A. Jinnah Road to Urdu Bazar or Karachi Stock Exhange. You will have ride of your life…. Rickshaw, the Ultimate Go-Green Hater

Jack Moffett on Passionate Designer

Couple of weeks ago when I was reading the Luke Wroblewski’s Web Form Design, I came to know about Jack Moffett, and he just inspired me with his knowledge in Interaction Design (IxDA) and his passion, so withtout further ado, please welcome Jack Moffett on BonGeek’s Blog:

Mudassir (thats the BonGeek) invited me to be a guest on his blog. For those of you not familiar with DesignAday, I post every weekday on design-relevant topics. I’ve discussed service design, education, innovation, interaction design, product design, advertising, process, and examples of bad design found in my environment, as well as many other topics. When Mudassir first introduced himself, he informed me that he was just getting into the field of Interaction Design, and was looking for some advice. Following in that spirit, I decided it would be appropriate to write about why you should, or perhaps shouldn’t, be a designer.

To be a truly outstanding designer, you must be passionate about your work.

This was the advice I relayed to my students as they wrapped up their final semester. It is possible to be talented without passion. It is possible to be interested, or very knowledgeable about design. You can even be successful without passion. But every designer I’ve considered to be inspiring—and I’m not just referring to design celebrities—has been passionate about their profession.

Certainly, this isn’t unique to design. There are many professions I believe this applies to: teaching, medical and social professions, and political positions, to name a few. That doesn’t make it any less important to design.

Dan Boyarski, who recently stepped down as chair of the School of Design at CMU, immediately comes to mind when I think of passionate designers. Dan exudes passion—there is excitement in his manner and a twinkle in his eye. He has an intense curiosity about, well, everything. And his passion is infectious.

It’s a passion for design that drives me to continually strive to increase my knowledge, add to my skill set, improve the quality of my process, and refine my craft. It is passion that finds me spending much of my free time reading other designer’s blogs, industry publications, and the IxDA forum. It is passion that pulls me into volunteering to co-chair the local IxDA chapter, serve on the planning committee for the next conference, or participate in the organization’s initiatives. Passion has landed me in an adjunct faculty position teaching design. Passion often sees me writing for my blog at 1:00 am.

A passionate designer sets his own standard. A passionate designer produces good work, not because she is trying to meet her supervisor’s expectations, nor because she is looking for a bonus or praise, but because it is the way it should be done. When it comes down to soup and nuts, good design is about helping people—improving their experience in some way—and that is a mission worthy of passion.

Are you passionate about design? Perhaps you aren’t yet, if you are just starting out. In that case, look for the passion. If you don’t find it, perhaps you should think more about where your passions actually lie. When you do find it… well then, you’ll know what to do.

Jack Moffett of DesignAday