So, a couple of weeks ago our company launched the latest version of our flagship product, Requirements Center 2009.

As part of the launch, I was responsible for refreshing the Products area of our web site. The result is a vast improvement over the previous incarnation and conveys more useful information, in a visually-pleasing manner.

I’ll happily admit that the new design was substantially inspired by one of my favorite companies. But in my defense, I think that the format works particularly well for communicating a product’s benefits, and providing a clear call to action.

These pages were entirely hand-crafted, and — despite now having the entire Adobe suite at my disposal — I relied on my trusty copy of Paint Shop Pro 6 for the majority of the graphics work. Sometimes the simplest tools really are all you need!

Take a look at the pages in my portfolio.

Just the other day I remembered that my iPod (Shuffle) had a Hold feature. Since there’s no button on the device that initiates this mode (you have to hold down the Play button for 3 seconds), I had completely forgotten that it even existed.

The point is, even though it was a simple thing — and sure, not that exciting — I found it cool that I had (re)discovered a feature of a product I already owned.

Think about movies: Part of the fun of watching a good flick is not knowing what’s going to happen next. And hopefully the plot of a movie is one of its best features!

So, this makes me wonder, can “feature discovery” be designed into a product, such that it provides a rewarding experience for the user without intentionally hiding useful functionality?

How could you add plot twists to your product?

Our latest product release was a big one for our company.

While providing an important, fresh set of features, it also visually marked a turning point in the design of our application. Compared to the previous version, the new release had a more modern look-and-feel to it and relied on updated technology, such as a brand new windowing framework.

As a result, it became apparent that we needed somebody to direct the redesign of all of the icons and graphics, as things would have looked very much out of place on top of our shiny new toolbars. That somebody had to identify all 250 icons, work with somebody to refresh what we had, and help to come up with design ideas for the new features we were adding.

As it turned out, that somebody was me.

Continue reading An Iconic Release »

Late last week I finally completed the sale of my house, and moved into a condo in the north end of the city. In short, the new condo really suits me and I’m pretty happy about everything.

Coincidentally, I also completed and launched a web presence for my parents’ side-business, Boxes Boxes. If you’re planning to move and need boxes, check them out. They serve the Greater Toronto and Barrie areas.

Whether you like it or not, Microsoft calls the shots on the direction of user interfaces on the vast majority of desktop applications around the world.

The next major paradigm shift is just around the corner. Over on Lifehacker, you can catch a glimpse of the new Microsoft Office 2007 user interface.

The main difference over Office 2003 is that Microsoft opted to replace the traditional menu + toolbar setup you see in the majority of Windows applications with a tabbed approach, called the “ribbon”. Options are laid out on the ribbon based on the task the user in attempting to perform. The goal of the task-driven approach is to shorten the time it takes to perform an action, such as creating a table. Here’s a demo that shows this, and more on Microsoft’s site.

Even more importantly, however, is that Microsoft is allowing the Office 2007 user interface to be licensed, and is providing a set of guidelines. This means that you can expect to see the ribbon, and other new UI behavior, proliferate to most of your favorite applications over the next few years.

From a product management standpoint, there will be a major impact for product designers as that they will have to rethink how their applications are laid out in order to “conform”. But from what I have seen so far, this will be a positive change, if done right.

I have just completed an updated Portfolio section, accessible via the About page. It is intended to showcase my creative works, and I am somewhat satisfied with how it turned out.

View my portfolio »