Why KawalPemilu.org should get a UX Award

One of the most talk-about innovation this week is kawalpemilu.org, a site that provides a summary of the vote count based on the official scanned data taken from the election committee’s (KPU) website.

If you think that kawalpemilu.org has poor user experience (UX), then you are not getting the true essence of UX. It may not have flashy and impeccable visual design, but it delivers deep meaningful experiences to the users. Here’s why I think it is so:

 

1. It is useful. It meets the citizen needs to help keep track of the voting results to avoid unwanted manipulation. It meets the citizen needs to be updated with the vote count, that can be verified with a trusted source.

 

2. It is relevant. It is relevant to the context of time.  Developed only in two days, the site was up in time to meet the demands. It is relevant to the context of location. Having it online makes it accessible by anyone (with internet connection).

 

3. It is usable. It is quite easy to navigate and use. The stripped down version with no heavy images and styling makes it fast to load, which is the most important thing for this site. It does not have search function, which is not needed anyway, since the content can be mutually exclusively categorized into respective geographical location. This makes it even more straight forward to navigate.

 

4. It is inclusive. It allows anybody to be part of it. About 700 volunteers helped with digitizing the data from the scanned data on paper. After the data entry was completed, anybody… yes, anybody can participate by checking if the data entered is accurate based on the scanned form as well as the count you witnessed in your location on the election day.

 

5. Most importantly, it is meaningful. It addresses the core emotional and meaningful need of the citizen, the need for truth and safety. A longing desire that the Indonesian citizen have for a clean and better system to bring the nation to a better future. Never before we would have thought the election can be this transparent.

 

In summary, kawalpemilu.org does only one thing, and it does it well. Forget the unnecessary features, strip down the unnecessary accessories. Focus on what’s really meaningful to the users. It’s not easy to create something that is nakedly simple. And that’s why it should win a UX Award.

Watching movie in theatre in Bali is such a painful experience

After many failed attempts to watch a movie in a theatre in Bali, I’m at the edge of almost giving up.

2 weeks ago:
I went to Bali Mall Galeria for lunch and I thought, hey, maybe I could also get tickets for Thor. So went to the theatre counter, and saw a super long queue.First attempt, gave up before trying.
My friends told me that I could get M-Tix and avoid standing in the queue. M-Tix, for you who don’t know, is something like e-wallet, where you can store some credits into it, and use it to buy tickets online or using SMS. Sounds good? Yes, I thought so too.
So that point, I said to myself, I have to get one of this M-Tix thingy…

The next day:
After work, I went to Bali Mall Galeria again, with one thing in mind – to get M-Tix.
I went to the counter, and they told me that the system is down. And there is only one system.
I asked if I can apply it online (hey it’s supposed to be an online system, isn’t it?), and they said I can’t. I can only register it using that system.
That only one system. and the system is down.
The staff did not even apologize. I think they think it’s something so normal that we should tolerate.

Last week:
I went to Bali Mall Galeria again for a walk around, and decided to try my luck on the M-Tix. Great! The system was working this time.
I registered an account (using their computer) and filled up a lot of field text. The staff asked for my ID and made a copy of that. (Seriously, why do I need to give my ID for this? For the age limit movies I guess?).
She then walked me through the step by step of registering my phone number to the system.

1. Type REG MTIX and send it to 2121
I got SMS reply: “You will register for MTIX, 1 SMS/day, Rp 1100/SMS… Ah? Do I have to pay for this daily?
I asked the staff, and she said, that’s ok, just follow my next instruction.

2. Type MPIN (the selected PIN) (answer to secret question) [Oh! did I mention that I had to do this secret question thing on their system earlier?]
SMS reply: “Your MTix is not active yet. Click REG MTIX and send to 2121
I asked the staff, why do I get this reply? And she said, it’s ok… just ignore that SMS and follow my next instruction.

3. Type Ya (Yes)
SMS reply: Your request is being processed…
Another SMS: You are registered to MTix…

Yay! so it’s done? The staff said, yes! You can now buy tickets using MTix. She pulled out a pocket book and told me to read the instruction. It’s a guide on how to use MTix to buy tickets. Ok, I thought I may not need this, but I’d take it anyway.

I asked, so now I can buy ticket online using MTix? She said yes, BUT…
– you can only buy online for tickets on the same day
– you can only buy it from 8-11am. After that, you can’t use MTix to buy
– you can choose seat if you access using desktop. If you use mobile or SMS, you can’t choose your seat. Seriously?

Today:
I felt empowered that now I have this MTix thing to get tickets. I told myself I have to book it before 11am.
I accessed their website, and it asked for my phone number and password. I failed. Multiple times.
I clicked on the link that says “I have problem with my PIN code!”, and it brought me to what looks like a reset page. Look at how it asks me to choose which one is PEAR? Oh boy, not that I don’t know how a pear looks like, but those images are very small, and come on, the pear (the one on the left – am I right?) doesn’t really look like a pear!
I tried multiple times. Failed. Damn! Do I not know which one is the right fruit? I felt super silly…

This afternoon:

My colleagues asked if anyone wanted to go to Bali Mall Galeria for lunch. and I decided to go with them. To personally buy the movie tickets.
And I think you can guess that it has, once again, successfully disappointed me.
The locket was closed. The notice displayed on the screen says “Counter is open at 1pm”.
I asked the guy at the snack counter if they will open the locket. He said, just wait. It was 1:05pm. I waited…. 1:10pm… I asked the snack guy again, why hasn’t it opened yet. He looked at me, and said… “It’s not uncommon…”
I walked away.

As I walked out, I took out the instruction guide.
There’s an instruction of how to use SMS to buy tickets. Type: PESAN [number of tickets] [film code] [theatre code] [film timing] [date / month] [MPIN]
Wow! How the hell can I get this information of film code, theatre code and film timing?

But hey, there’s a phone number that I can call to buy tickets. This sounds easier. I tried. Multiple times. No answer.

This evening:
Still disappointed. Still trying. Still went to the website to try my luck with the MTix. Still failed. Still tried to use the SMS. Googled for the film code and theatre code. Boy, it’s not easy. or I am just stupid.
Tried to reset the PIN again. This time using the SMS. Still no luck. Gave up.
I am definitely writing this terrible experience on my blog.

A moment ago:
Then my colleague asked me, what’s wrong. I told him I had an issue with my PIN. As I spoke, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, MTix didn’t like my original PIN. So I tried to change it to another PIN.
And….. Hallelujah!!! It works!! I can log in now!!

It’s 5:30pm. It’s way beyond 11am.
I cannot buy movie tickets for today.
Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.

UX Indonesia Meetup in Jakarta

We finally managed to do the first UX meet up in Indonesia. It was held yesterday, 24 August 2013 in XM Gravity office, Jakarta.

It’s a delight to see growing interest in this field in Indonesia. I always thought it’s going to be hard moving back to Indonesia and still do what I did back then. But I am pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm and support of the people whom I’ve come across so far. And furthermore, to finally see that we will have a community to grow this area in our beloved country.

The agenda was:
– sharing by Qonita – how to get started in UX
– sharing by Cipta – sharing on UXSG conference
– sharing by Sulis – lessons learnt from academic, in-house, and consultancy (slides below!)
– sharing by Marshall and Adit – importance of UX from a VC perspective
– sharing by all – pain points and challenges in UX, questions and answers
– brainstorming “How to improve UX Awareness in Indonesia”
– closing and action points

Sulis – UX Indonesia Meetup 24 Aug 2013 from Sulis tyawati

Thank you for all who supported this event, who came and contributed to this meet up, to XM Gravity for the sponsorship, and to those who have volunteered to continue this effort.

We are very sorry for those who have expressed interest but we can’t invite you due to limited space, we’ll try to cater for a larger participation in the next one.
I am grateful to have met and worked with Qonita, Cipta and Naning, who have given their best to make this happen.

(photos – curtesy of Cipta and Qonita)

Brown Teddy – small little thing that touches the customer’s heart

I was in Hong Kong last week for work. The client booked me a room at Royal Park Hotel at Sha Tin. It’s my first time staying at this hotel, and I didn’t have any sort of expectation.

When I entered the room, I noticed something on the bed. It’s a brown teddy bear! Oh nice! I was going to stay there alone for 8 nights, and wouldn’t mind a fluffy companion 🙂

 

Spending a few nights with Brown Teddy sparked some kind of emotional attachment. I felt happy seeing him when I entered the room everyday after work. And the cutest thing is, the cleaner placed Brown Teddy at different parts part of the room everyday. So it felt like a small game to guess where would Teddy be today?

One night, I noticed that the bear is actually for sale for $80. I initially thought it was for free as a gift from the hotel. But, since I fell in love with him anyway, I thought of paying the amount and bring him home with me.

So I called the front desk, and told the person that I am interested to buy the bear. She asked me to hold for a while…. after 10 seconds later, she was back on the phone and told me that the bear is for me and I can bring him home. Yay!

  

That series of small gestures certainly touched my heart as a customer. It will be something I’ll remember for long, and give me a talking point for the brand.

Congratulations, Royal Park Hotel! You’ve just won the heart of another customer.

Five Second Test

Have you ever wanted to find out what people think about your design? Is it good? Do people like it? What do people think when they see it?
I am sure this thought have occurred to you at least once.

There are many tools that can help you evaluate your design. But you need to be aware of what it is actually testing and acknowledge its limitations.

I recently tried five second test – http://www.fivesecondtest.com.
As stated on its website: Fivesecondtest helps you fine tune your landing pages and calls to action by analyzing the most prominent elements of your design.

And it exactly does just that. Analyzing the most prominent elements of your design.

How it works
Your test audience will see an intro text of what to expect. Then, it will show your design for five seconds. Afterwards, they are presented with up to five questions to answer.

Five seconds. Yes, It’s fast.
In five second, the viewer can only grasp the most prominent elements of the design.
Afterwards, you can ask up to five questions. For example: which part of the design that is most prominent to you? Describe the design in three words….

Is it a memory test? Probably. But that’s probably about the time you have to make the first impression of your design.
Imagine you are searching on Google. And you start clicking through the result one by one. How long does it take you to decide whether the website that you clicked will have the answer to what you are looking for before you decide to leave? A lot of times, very short. Five seconds? Maybe a bit longer than that, but not very long more.

It’s quick. The whole test will take less than 5 minutes, so people are quite happy to do it for you. You will also get the result in a pretty short time.

It’s easy to setup if you have your design ready, and you know what you want to find out from the test. It took me less than 15 minutes to setup one.

But there are things you need to watch out when using this tool.
First, don’t expect too much. People only have five seconds to view your design, for God sake! Don’t ask too complicated questions, such as asking them to evaluate the interface.
Remember, this tool is good to get people’s impressions, not the detailed interaction.

Second, who are the people who review your design? You can set the review open to public, and most likely the people who review your design are designers, who are trying to get more karma points so they can get participants for their test for free. This is not the best test subjects, as they many not be genuine (as getting more points is their primary goals and giving quality feedback is secondary). In addition, as designers, they may see things differently than your target audience. So it is best if you can get your target users to do the test. Grab the link and send them to your target users!

Verdict: I will use it again to understand people’s first impressions of a website concept design or brand identity design.

A couple others who have used and reviewed this tool:
http://www.distilled.net/blog/reputation-monitor/the-five-second-test-usability-tool/
http://code.ikreator.com/2012/01/my-review-of-five-second-test/
http://www.uie.com/articles/five_second_test/ (not the online tool, but the concept of five seconds test)

Can design save the newspaper?

A TED talk by Jacek Utko, “Can Design Save the Newspaper?”
my cousin showed me this a while ago, and I still find it intriguing…

Red, (Yellow), Green

Traffic lights….

I grew up being used to this sequence of lights:
GREEN – YELLOW – RED – GREEN

However, I recently noticed (at least in Bali), that the traffic lights sequence has been modified to:
GREEN – YELLOW – RED – YELLOW –GREEN
Notice the additional state of Yellow in between Red and Green.

image courtasy of http://www.vecci.org.au

People require some time to react after they see (perceive something). The time required for a person to respond to the presence of a stimulus is called simple reaction time. For example, the average time required to press a button as soon as a light appears is approximately 190 milliseconds (ref: Wikipedia).

When traffic light sequence goes from RED to GREEN, there will be a delayed time of at least 190 milliseconds before people start pressing the gas pedal of their cars. This delay gives extra time buffer to ensure the intersection is clear.

If the traffic light sequence goes from RED to YELLOW to GREEN, the reaction time is counted from the red to yellow change (as people would expect the light to turn green after yellow). As a result, they will press their gas pedal just about the same time when the light turns green.
Imagine if the traffic light of the other side of the road turns Red at about the same time as the traffic light changes from Red to Yellow. There will be almost no buffer time when the intersection is empty, and this is not very safe.

What do you think? Which one is safer – the old or the new sequence?

UX and politics

Lots of people hate politics. I hate it too.
If you think choosing a career as a designer gives you a free pass to the opposite road of politics, then I’m sorry to say this is not completely true.

Throughout my professional career as a User Experience consultant, about half of my time is spent on selling ideas to people. May it be my superior, the executives of the company, colleagues, clients, potential clients, etc. And when you are involved in this activity, you will realize that sometimes it is not all about the ideas. It is also about how comfortable they feel about you, the way you connect to them, and how much they trust you. The more important thing, what’s in it for them.

So, often presentations are not done through one formal interaction. But, it involves lots of strategic planning – what the executive cares about, whom he trust, what he likes, etc. This may also involve having someone influential to have a casual coffee to chat and convince him on the idea. Or, instilling the ideas to someone he trusts, so that he can deliver the message favorably. And the presentation, it became just a formality.

Because of this, I think a more top-down approach of UX will have higher chance of success than a bottom-up approach. Why? Because when the top executives believe in UX, and if that’s the reason why he hires you, then you can consider that half of your job is done. It is a lot easier to work on projects with executive backing since day 1, than trying to work on something great at the working level and trying to prove it to the higher executives.

Compare these two scenarios that I’ve encountered before:

The first one is when my team was hired to improve the UX of a website by the marcomm team. In the kick off meeting, they shared with us that their CEO was not convinced that this project should exist at all. In addition to delivering great work, we have to convince their executives. I could feel the nervous energy from the client’s team, and it just gave a negative start to the project.

In other case, I had a casual chat with an executive of a company, who needs help to improve their product. Most importantly, he needs to improve the capabilities of their in-house team. So we started of by giving training workshops to the team, and the executive was present to show the team how important this is. The vibe was positive, and it gave a strong foundation for the follow on work.

As much as I hate to say this, but Paul Arden is right when he puts it “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know”. Just like in politics?

URL for Garuda Indonesia

My good friend missed her flight today due to the bad traffic in Bali. She said she could not find any flight today nor tomorrow.

I thought maybe online would have some slots. So I straight away checked a couple of airlines that flies from Bali to Singapore, ie. Air Asia, Jet Star, Garuda Indonesia, Qatar Airways, KLM.

When I entered http://www.garudaindonesia.com on my browser, I saw this

Oh! did I enter the wrong URL?
So I googled Garuda Indonesia, then found out that the right URL is http://www.garuda-indonesia.com. With a dash!

That is not a very good strategy. People rarely enter dash when typing URL, and even though they would, big companies such as Garuda Indonesia should reserve variation of their domain names to avoid irresponsible people to fake their website for funny businesses. Some variations may include http://www.garudaindonesia.com (a definite must!), http://www.garuda.com, http://www.garudaindonesiaairways.com, http://www.garudaindonesia.co.id, etc.

Singapore Airlines does this, they have http://www.sq.com, http://www.singaporeair.com, http://www.singaporeairlines.com all redirected to their site. Garuda Indonesia should do this as soon as possible before irresponsible people copy and fake their site to cheat people for money.

ATM – Cash or Card First?

One of User Experience design principle is to pave the road for users to achieve their goals efficiently. There are times, however, when straight away giving what they want is not the best approach.

Take the ATM for an example. The interaction flows across ATM machines are generally pretty similar. Insert your card, pick a language, and then select the withdrawal amount that you want or other services. What happens after this is what set the ATM machines apart.

Scenario 1 – After entering the amount that you want to withdraw, the machine returns your card. Only after you take your card, it will dispense the cash. And after you take the cash, it will give you the receipt. If you need to make another transaction, you have to repeat the process: Insert the card, pick a language, and so on.

Scenario 2 – After entering the amount that you want to withdraw, the machine dispenses the cash. After you have collected your cash, it will display an option for you to continue to make another transaction. If you choose yes, it will return to the main menu. If no, it will return you the card and then the receipt.

All of the ATMs that I’ve used in Singapore are using the first interaction flow. While those in Indonesia (well, to be fair, I’ve only tried with BNI) belong to the second scenario.

Which one is better?

The first one is definitely safer. Why?

Because, when users are withdrawing cash, their final goal is to get the cash. After they get their cash, they would feel that they have achieved their goal, and that’s it. There is a chance that they would forget to collect the ATM card, especially when they are in a hurry or when they have something else in their mind. And what makes it worse, the ATM displays a selection if they want to make another transaction. Imagine if the person after you is dishonest and selects yes and takes your money! It’s a giveaway to crime.

It happened to me once, and I only realized that I forgot to take my card a few days later. I panicked and went to the bank to report to the security. Thankfully, nobody took my card (It wasn’t a crowded ATM and probably there was nobody behind me when I left my card). As a security measure, the machine took back the card and the security guy kept it. But still, that was a scary incident.

Now I consciously check if I have taken my card after withdrawing cash. But we shouldn’t have to – if the design was done with this security consideration in mind.