Woof. UX Is For Dogs Too!!

Leave it LA to install this is a mall. Love it.

Debt at the Gym

I purchased personal training sessions at Equinox last week and the red "credit" button was a painful reminder how expensive it. Not to mention that red usually means error. Gulp. Maybe I should have bought a workout DVD instead...

UX on Your Birthday!

Talk about customer experience... Free stuff on your birthday!

No, Netflix

Gah. Netflix. Ah. Please fix your main navigation! It's so unbalanced my eyes hurt.

Unilever's Unsubscribe= Unusable

My friend recently posted this and I had to share... worst unsubscribe page EVER!

Dripping in Opportunity

These bags are always so very helpful and smart. However, it's a missed opportunity for them... They should include a sign that says "Don't need one? Visit our umbrella selection on aisle 4!"

Sushi UX

I love how this restaurant categorized their sushi rolls! It made it really easy for me to avoid anything with eel=)

Exit Through The Entrance

A recent signage #fail I came across in Montreal... I wasn't sure if I was coming or going.

The door reads "entrance", while the sign above reads "exit"!

Where'd I Park???

Love Santa Monica Place's new system to help you locate your car in the parking lot. Type in your license plate number, and voila - it shows you where your car is and gives you directions to get there! 

If you can't remember your exact plate number, it pulls up similar ones! Awesome.

Step 1: Type in license plate number

 

 Step 2: Select your car

 

 Step 3: Read the map!

Shamless Self Promotion

Amazon is pretty shameless promoting the Kindle.

#OCD #UX #KEURIG

Confession: The reason I wanted to get a Keurig single serve coffee maker isn't for the convenience or for the variety of flavors, but rather because I wanted to organize the little pods.

Going Up?

1) Shouldn't units 118, 116 and 109 be on the first floor?
2) What happened to the 3rd floor?

 

Signs of a Modern World

The Power of the Pen

I recently had dinner at Manuel's - a yummy Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas. Outside the restroom area was a cork-board holding a bunch of letters from various organizations thanking the restaurant for hosting or catering an event.

It struck me that the shorter handwritten note stood out and seemed more sincere than the longer typed out letters.

Just thought I'd share.

Pasta Tips

• Don’t add oil to the pasta water. It will make your pasta slippery and the sauce won’t coat it well.
• Don’t add the salt to the water, till after it boils. Salt slows down the time it takes to come to a boil. Also, salt leaves deposits in the pot if you add it before boiling.
• Cover the pot while boiling. It will come to the boil faster. But uncover when you add the pasta.
• Don’t add the pasta till the water has reached a rolling boil.
• Always save some of the pasta water in case you need it to thin out your sauce.
• Stir the pasta occasionally, while boiling, so it won’t stick.
• Under cook your pasta, so you can add it to your sauce and have it continue cooking together.
• Don’t drain your pasta too much and certainly don’t rinse it. The sauce will coat it better if it still has some of the starch on it. Lasagna is different. Do drain it. Do rinse it. Do dry it on a towel.
• You don’t have to cook lasagne noodles. Just soak in hot water for about twenty minutes. (I spill out the water and add new hot water, half way.)
• 4 oz. (weight) small pasta (penne, shells, macaroni etc.) = 1 cup dried = 2 ½ cups cooked.
• 4 oz. (weight) long pasta (spaghetti, fettucine, angel hair etc.) = 1” diameter = 2 cups cooked.

 

Cursing CAPTCHA

Another bad CAPTCHA. n??

Pop Up Bowl

Clever.

 

Did You Mean "Customize" or "Deny Access"?

Haven't seen something this terrible since circa 1998:-/

 

Whole Foods - No Sale For You

First off, is a 2 cent saving worth a printout? Second, the math doesn't really work out.

Privacy Please

What kid hasn't turned over the "privacy please" sign on a door somewhere between the elevator and their hotel room? Well, the hotel Modera in Portland put an end to the classic prank with this nifty system.

Inside the room are 2 buttons, labelled:
1. "Privacy"
2. "Make up Room"

A light outside the door lets housekeeping know if they should knock or not!

Inside the Room:

"Privacy" and "Make Up Room" Buttons

Outside the Room:

 

(Ironically, housekeeping didn't clean my room my third day even though the proper light was lit. Guess there are still some kinks that need to be worked out!)