brelson
I'm a digital strategist living and working in london, and this is my blog.
Homepage: http://brelson.com
Posts by brelson
The city as interface (part two)
August 18, 2010 - 9:18 am
Tags: cities, ux
Posted in user centred design | No comments
Following on from part one, this post looks at two ways in which cities resemble modern interactive interfaces – adaptiveness and feedback. How does the city offer different experiences to different users? And when do users of the city unwittingly become a part of its interface?
What UX can learn from product strategy, and vice versa
August 9, 2010 - 11:37 am
Posted in strategy, user centred design | No comments
Dirk Kneymeyer of Involution Studios writes on his blog about how he’s losing faith in UX. He’s reacting primarily to an article by Whitney Hess characterising start-ups as being focused on the what rather than the who, why or how. One of Kneymeyer’s central points is that product strategy and user experience are ultimately different domains, [...]
Encountering the future over an omelette
A strange thing happened when I was eating an omelette in the Workers Café on Upper Street. I thought I saw the future, but it turned to be nothing but a bizarre coincidence.
The city as interface (part one)
August 2, 2010 - 11:00 am
Tags: cities, ux
Posted in user centred design | No comments
The modern city is a habitat, like all human settlements. But it is something more too: it’s an interface, allowing its users to interact with and contribute to the business of human civilisation. This is the first of two posts exploring this way of thinking about the city.
Power laws in Kafka
July 21, 2010 - 8:57 am
Tags: kafka, power laws
Posted in ephemera | No comments
“I am powerful. And I am only the lowest door-keeper. But from room to room stand door-keepers each more powerful than the last. The mere aspect of the third is more than even I can bear.”
The 10K run: over and done with
July 11, 2010 - 9:36 pm
Tags: asics 10k, life
Posted in running | No comments
Today I ran my first ever proper race, the Asics 10K Run in central London. After a bit of initial nervousness, I had a great time. I beat my fundraising target, recorded a decent time, and – most importantly – managed to cross the finish line in one piece.
Comparing documents in Word 2007
July 7, 2010 - 6:07 pm
Tags: walkthroughs
Posted in software | No comments
Do you need to quickly find the differences between two large Word documents? Have you edited a large document only to realise you didn’t have Track Changes turned on? The Compare feature in Word 2007 is your friend – and here’s how it works.
Bookmarks versus Favorites
June 25, 2010 - 1:31 pm
Tags: design strategy, language
Posted in software, web | No comments
Once there was Netscape and its “Bookmarks”. Then came IE, with its “Favorites”. Now we’re in a multi-browser world again and everyone but Microsoft uses “Bookmarks”. Why did we un-favorite “Favorites”?
The long countdown to Android 2.1
June 19, 2010 - 1:37 pm
Tags: android, google, htc hero
Posted in mobile | 4 comments
They keep saying it’s about to arrive, but it never does. Android 2.1 is long overdue on the HTC Hero and my initial patience has turned into something approaching rage. After weeks of annoyance and frustration waiting for the fabled upgrade, my HTC Hero has been put on notice – “endgame” has begun.
Running 10,000 metres in July – and looking for sponsors!
June 9, 2010 - 9:50 am
Tags: charity, haller, life
Posted in running | No comments
On Sunday July 11th 2010, I’m taking part in a 10,000 metre run in central London. It’s my first proper race and I’m doing it for the Haller Foundation – so I’m looking for sponsorship!
Microsoft’s design strategy: open formats, proprietary interface?
June 1, 2010 - 10:00 am
Tags: design strategy, linux, microsoft, ux
Posted in software, strategy | 1 comment
This might not be a very advisable disclosure to make, but I’ll make it anyway: I actually like Microsoft Office 2007. Liking Office 2007 is not really the done thing – lots of people in my line of work turn their noses up at Microsoft in general and Office in particular. And I’m no different. [...]
Behavioural patterns in commuter communities
May 22, 2010 - 2:17 pm
Tags: patterns, transport
Posted in ephemera | 3 comments
To get to work I usually take the London Overground train from Highbury to Kensington. It’s part of a rail line that orbits central London around four miles out, allowing people to move around the city while remaining within urban areas and steering clear of the centre. It spares me the ordeal of travelling through [...]
Not the YouTube election, and not the X-Factor election either
May 7, 2010 - 4:44 pm
Tags: bbc, election, youtube
Posted in politics, social media | No comments
For a while it was going to be the YouTube election. Then for a while it was supposed to be the X-Factor election. But what happened in the end was a little from column A and a little from column B.
The keyboard is not going away
April 8, 2010 - 10:00 am
Tags: apple, interface, ipad
Posted in user centred design | No comments
The clamour generated by the iPad has reached fever pitch, with some claiming that it means the end of the keyboard. But it doesn’t. All it tells us is that computers are playing more roles in our lives than ever before.
On Iain Sinclair, ant colonies, generative music and emergent systems
April 6, 2010 - 10:00 am
Tags: ants, books, cities, complexity, emergence
Posted in books | No comments
Human communities, markets, ant colonies, brains, websites: these are all examples of emergent systems, where “more is different” and macro-level behaviours bear no resemblance to micro-level instructions. How does emergence connect the works of Malcolm Gladwell, Iain Sinclair, Lewis Mumford, Deborah Gordon and Gerald Edelman?
Google Buzz: a serious new fixture in the social web?
February 12, 2010 - 10:05 am
Tags: buzz, google, twitter
Posted in social media | No comments
Google Buzz is only two days old and it already has its fair share of critics. But the way my contacts are taking to it so far makes me suspect that Buzz will succeed where Google Wave (arguably) failed.
Is RSS the “vinyl” of digital media?
Vinyl was supposed to be on its deathbed but it never went away. RSS was supposed to go mainstream but that hasn’t happened. Neither RSS or vinyl are ubiquitous, but both have found an important niche in their respective fields. This post looks at the similarities between them and asks if the RSS feed is the digital world’s equivalent of the extended 12″ import.
UK unemployment drops… unexpectedly?
January 21, 2010 - 9:22 am
Tags: economics, google, search trends
Posted in research, strategy | No comments
Unemployment in the UK has fallen for the first time in 18 months, surprising many analysts. But these analysts clearly haven’t been looking at search trends for unemployment-related keywords.
Can search predict the future?
December 23, 2009 - 4:26 pm
Tags: economics, experiments, search trends
Posted in research, strategy | 2 comments
Today, we often search for information about upcoming major events in our lives – both good and bad – before we experience them. When facing financial difficulty or unemployment, many of us will go online at the earliest opportunity to look for help and guidance. And when we’re considering major financial decisions such as buying [...]
An open assault on the walled garden
December 21, 2009 - 10:30 am
Tags: apple, google, mobile
Posted in strategy | No comments
Mobile telcos charge us for the texts, minutes and megabytes we use. They buy our loyalty by heavily subsidising our increasingly expensive phones. And they’re terrified of becoming like the people who supply our electricity or gas. They’re terrified that one day they’ll be nothing but interchangeable providers of a commodity, irrelevant logos printed on [...]
