D. Keith Robinson

"Of course, Words With Friends was hardly the first such word game on the market, so how did it catch..."

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:43:13 -0700

“Of course, Words With Friends was hardly the first such word game on the market, so how did it catch on? The Bettners chalk this up to the user experience. Whereas the official Scrabble iPhone app forced users to trudge through a few menus before they could access its multiplayer features, Words puts your multiplayer games front-and-center. You can boot up the app and be in a game in just a few seconds, which the Bettners say is key.”

- A Look Behind The ‘Words With Friends’ iPhone Gaming Phenomenon

ESPN’s World Cup Posters So cool.

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:19:00 -0700

ESPN’s World Cup Posters

So cool.

True Evolution: A Peter Molyneux Interview

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:00:55 -0700

True Evolution: A Peter Molyneux Interview

"Research continues to show that people who read linear text comprehend more, remember more, and..."

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:06:59 -0700

“Research continues to show that people who read linear text comprehend more, remember more, and learn more than those who read text peppered with links.”

- The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains

A really interesting exploration on how the internet and technology is changing the way we think.

"How To Beat Apple At Their Own Game You can’t, just like you can’t beat Google at..."

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:04:46 -0700

“

How To Beat Apple At Their Own Game

You can’t, just like you can’t beat Google at Search. You have to win at something else, something that your company is uniquely suited to do. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hire the most talented engineers and designers in the world, it just means you shouldn’t go up against Apple on their own turf.

”

- Why Apple Succeeds & Others Fail ~ Flyosity by Mike Rundle

He’s probably right.

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates...

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:47:22 -0700

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us (via theRSAorg)

Very well done video about what motivates us.

[gb] Studio / The Blog / Happiness

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:17:14 -0700

[gb] Studio / The Blog / Happiness:

Written for designers. Good thoughts and perspective for just about anyone.

"I’m not saying the App Store is a beautiful garden. That is not a very good metaphor at all — but..."

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:04:09 -0700

“I’m not saying the App Store is a beautiful garden. That is not a very good metaphor at all — but insofar as it applies, it doesn’t strengthen any App Store detractor’s case… unless they’d also argue that the Portland Japanese Garden should open its doors, run on monopoly money, and turn from a meditative oasis into a busy bazaar.”

- The Walled Garden

The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People | Zen Habits

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:00:36 -0700

The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People | Zen Habits:

Great read!

I’d agree that solitude is very important to creativity. However, I think the real No. 1 key here is focus. Focus and mindfulness are things I’ve realized to be essential to creative thinking. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), it’s fairly hard to focus given all the distraction that comes along with our lives. Thus solitude can really help enable that intense focus.

Regardless, there are some good stories and some interesting ideas in here.

Cargo Cult Game Design

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:32:29 -0700

Cargo Cult Game Design:

Baked in as opposed to tacked on. You can say this about almost anything, here Brad Hargreaves is talking about adding game mechanics to non-games. Good advice.

The BioShock Pitch | Irrational Games

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:25:50 -0700

The BioShock Pitch | Irrational Games:

This is some interesting stuff. Really cool of Irrational to share.

Thoughts on Lost

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:36:13 -0700

Some quick thoughts on Lost’s Finale, now that it’s over. There’ll likely be some spoilers in here, so don’t read on if you haven’t seen it and care about spoilers.

Overall I thought Lost was a good series. It had its ups and downs, but for the most part I enjoyed it. I liked most of the characters, thought it was extremely well-crafted and, most of the time, entertaining. I tend to look at it (and have been looking at it) as a series of loosely connected story-arcs rather than one cohesive narrative, and honestly, if I didn’t look at it that way I’d be much more disappointed with the series and the finale.

In general, I thought the finale was much like the series itself; it was well done, there were some great moments, some bits that made very little sense and, in the end, was sort of so-so. I thought it wrapped up the “sideways” narrative fairly well from a plot standpoint, but left a bit to be desired in how they handled the specifics.

The idea that the alternate timeline was some kind of poly-theistic purgatory was acceptable, but just barely. It did work fairly well as a vehicle to some great emotional moments between the cast members and I found parts of it pretty touching. However, it also felt a bit clumsy and overly sentimental at times. I mean, we get it, you’re being PC and gunning for a pretty wide audience. But, really, the true love awakening thing was a bit much, and that’s when it made sense. Sayid and Shannon? What happened to Nadia? I did like Desmond as this kind of psycho angelic figure running the show. And “Christian Shephard?” I got a good chuckle out of that.

It left a bit of mystery, which I liked. I thought the scene in the concert where Faraday is asking Desmond about Daniel was particularly intriguing. I don’t mind that they left some threads open, and didn’t try to go about solving all the mysteries.

For the most part though it seemed a bit weak and I expected a bit more controversy, subtlety and mystery there. The last five minutes of the show might have been the weakest of the whole series in my mind. Jack’s dad with the ham-fisted explanation for all the simpletons who hadn’t made the connection? Weak-sauce.

On to the “main” timeline. The Island. What can I say? They blew it big time. The Island was relegated to window-dressing at best. I think had I not seen “A Journey In Time” where they make a very weak attempt at some backstory, I might not have been quite as disappointed. But I saw that episode, and all the others where they worked to build the mystery and mythology of the island and at some point actually cared about it. It was clear, at some point last night, maybe when Jack was putting the oblong rock back into the hole, that I didn’t really care much about the Island anymore and clearly neither did the show’s creators. I kinda just wanted it to be over. We learned that it was real, but aside from that it was pretty inconsequential. What’s worse, they ruined much of the mystery in this last season by trying to explain some of what is going on only to jettison most of that in the finale. Sure, they left it to focus on the sentimental, politically-correct-yet-somewhat-compelling character drama, but it really felt like a copout more than a calculated move to me.

As someone who, at some point in the past, was interested in the Island and what was going on there, I was pretty disappointed yet not really all that surprised. I had thought there was an epic story there, and some deeper meaning related to the island. Sure, I liked the characters and relationships, but I was one of those folks who got bored with all the character expose. Yet, to their credit, they kept me watching and thinking about the mystery of the Island. Well, until the last few episodes when it became increasingly clear that they weren’t going to be able to deliver. And I did grow to care about some of the characters, for sure.

Essentially I feel a bit like I was duped into watching a soap opera. Luckily, it was a well done and entertaining soap opera, with just enough mystery and action to keep me hooked, but in the end, it still feels like a soap, not the grand and epic story it had the potential to be.

"So what’s my point? Simply this — free-to-play games are no intrinsically more manipulative or..."

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:32:23 -0700

“So what’s my point? Simply this — free-to-play games are no intrinsically more manipulative or immoral than traditional games. It’s just that the game designer can’t outsource their dirty work to a publisher, retailer or portal. You have to do it yourself. The advantage of this is that you can decide just how manipulative you’re prepared to be. As the game developer, you’re in charge.”

- Free-to-Play Game Developers Can’t Outsource their Dirty Work - Facebook Indie Games

Good, if somewhat disturbing (from my perspective anyway) point.

(via Instapaper)

"One CEO, who asked not to be named, told me in the hallways today that Facebook is now a utility..."

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:32:19 -0700

“One CEO, who asked not to be named, told me in the hallways today that Facebook is now a utility that the industry is going to rely on and he noted that utilities usually are heavily regulated to make sure that they don’t abuse the power they have over people and businesses.”

- Facebook’s ambition

Scary.

(via Instapaper)

Feeling Touchy; Learning how to build great touch UI

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:32:15 -0700

Feeling Touchy; Learning how to build great touch UI:

As you move to a new platform, it is interesting to watch your brain morph over time. I remember switching from Windows to Mac. At first the fonts looked blurry and weird. The mouse pointer didn’t weight right. The constant app menu was strange. There were things I liked about it right away, but they were mostly the fact that I had a command line, and the fact that apps were minimal, pretty, and useful.

(via Instapaper)

Bill Mooney Outlines Zynga's Methodology For Success

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:32:11 -0700

Bill Mooney Outlines Zynga's Methodology For Success:

Some decent sounding advice here.

(via Instapaper)

iPad Usability: First Findings From User Testing

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:32:08 -0700

iPad Usability: First Findings From User Testing:

It’s Jakob Nielsen so read with a grain o’ salt.

(via Instapaper)

"Because players of social games do not fork out money to have the chance to try out a game, their..."

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:32:01 -0700

“Because players of social games do not fork out money to have the chance to try out a game, their time is of precious quantity. Therefore developers need to catch and hold their attention both through viral spread and gameplay itself. The core mechanics and social benefits of the game need to be sold to the players in a matter of minutes. Otherwise, they might never come back.”

- Gamasutra - Features - First Five Minutes: How Tutorials Make or Break Your Social Game

A great article on first play experiences in social games. Been thinking about this a lot.

(via Instapaper)

IGN Girlfight Episode 6: Special Guest Brenda Brathwaite

Fri, 21 May 2010 11:28:38 -0700

IGN Girlfight Episode 6: Special Guest Brenda Brathwaite:

Interesting stuff!

"We’re shaking things up a bit at Harvest. We figure that a smart person with common sense (and..."

Thu, 20 May 2010 15:10:00 -0700

“We’re shaking things up a bit at Harvest. We figure that a smart person with common sense (and zero UX experience) could probably do a much better job than us so-called UX designers, with a lot less attitude.”

- UX Designer with ZERO experience.

Love this move and think there is something to this.

I have seen many cases where a talented, smart and driven person comes into a job with little or no experience and does very, very well. I’ve done it myself, a few times.

You have to find the right kind of person, to be sure, but User Experience seems like the perfect place for something like this. I wish ‘em luck and would love to see how it pans out.

Update: Looks like some folks seem to think Harvest is just being snarky and flipping the bird at the UX community because they’ve had bad experiences with UX pros. I’ve got no idea as to if that’s true or not. My point here is that sometimes experience doesn’t matter and I’ve seen a quite a few cases where a hungry, smart and hard-working person does a great job.

Update #2: In thinking about this more, it’s not really a problem with experience. I do believe that someone with little experience can do a great job and lend some quality perspective to a job. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that’s not a problem for many experienced folks as well. What is a problem is complacency. Something that, presumably, someone inexperienced and hungry might be less inclined to have. In a way, they’re in the same boat they were before, they’ve just broadened their pool of people by adding in inexperienced folks. Regardless, it’s a good reminder to say sharp and not let years under your belt get you to slackin’.