PixelMEDIA Inc.

Riding the Boston subway recently, I noticed several people crowded around one of the doors in the center of the car despite a clearly worded warning: DO NOT STAND IN FRONT OF DOORS. They stayed at the door during several stops, but did not get off. People getting on and off had to squeeze by them. The train wasn’t especially crowded; there was plenty of space away from the doors. So why were these people huddled in the one spot they were not supposed to be?

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When Netcordia sought to solidify and grow its market leadership with a significant upgrade of its flagship Network Configuration and Change Management (NCCM) solution, NetMRI, they looked to us for a complete redesign of the user interface. We provided a comprehensive user-centered design strategy along with design and development services that helped Netcordia improve usability and provide a more streamlined experience for new and existing users.

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Last week, I had the opportunity to listen to a panel assembled by the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX) discuss what they define as “user experience” and how it is evolving. Even though my days are filled with the development of user experiences, I felt I needed a fresh perspective – someone else’s perspective. I also wanted to see if we, user experience designers, truly speak in a similar vernacular outside the confines of our own workspace.

In all, each member of the board had a slightly different definition but it was evident that each description was cut from a similar cloth. Surprised? Not really. Comforted? Yes.

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We get it. You don’t need a website, social community, content management system, brand redesign, or flash demo. You need customers, loyal fans, email from people who want your products, and inquiries about the services you offer. You want to connect with people.

Last night PixelMEDIA hosted the monthly meeting of the NH Usability Professional Association (NH UPA). The meetings are an opportunity for user experience professionals to connect with each other. Talks included our own Luke Michel (watch his crowd-pleasing discussion about punctuation) as well as John Herman, a local media maker in his own right. As a newcomer to the NH UPA gatherings, John said two things that made me think about the way we communicate. The first:

I have no idea what you’ve been saying for the last 45 minutes but you sound like smart people and I think we do about the same thing.

As people engrained in what we do every day, we can all get hung up on industry vernacular, catch phrases, and tech-speak that the audience we’re trying to reach may not understand. And while one may say that it was a gathering of peers—so we can use our language—even within our own networks we can improve understanding by avoiding terms that mean different things to different people.

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I’ve been working with a client who came to PixelMEDIA looking for an Information Architect to turn an existing desktop application into a browser-based user experience. They invited us to support their in-house programmers and a third-party visual design company. At the initial project kickoff meeting, it became apparent that the three parties at the table had wildly differing ideas on how the application worked and what the vision for the next version of the product should be.

But it also turned out, that the majority of the client stakeholders were puzzled as to what PixelMEDIA was providing. They didn’t understand what Information Architecture was, and hadn’t even thought about the overall user experience for the product. Yet, they had requested an IA. How odd. (Read More…)

Exploring the “what ifs…?” of the user experience is the best way to avoid the “if onlys…” once the project is completed. And working with the client to prepare and approve an experience brief is the best opportunity to ask important questions about the fundamental underpinnings of a project, including audience, message, and purpose.

Here’s a quick look at other people’s briefs. No jokes, please.

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Business Challenge
Burns & Levinson LLP is a leading law firm headquartered in Boston with additional offices in Washington, D.C. and Providence, RI. Specializing in corporate litigation, intellectual property rights, real estate services, and private client services, the firm takes a unique approach to business by focusing on its people more than its might. It drives success through long-term client relationships and individual entrepreneurship. As such, it required a website that captured this spirit and invited visitors to learn about the firm through navigable content, rich photography, and intuitive interactive design. (Read More…)

Business Challenge
When SPECTRUM was rolled out over ten years ago at Networld+Interop it was considered the most revolutionary application interface of its time. After ten years of steady feature and functionality enhancements at the code-level, it was time to release an equally impactful user interface update as the product shifted from a client-server base to being fully Web-enabled. (Read More…)