iPhone

Learning A Language With Duolingo

February 16, 2018 General

Duolingo - DuoThese are baby steps but I have been on a language learning spree many thanks to Duolingo. It has an iOS app that is perfectly suited for learning new languages – the human form of communication “language” and not the programmer’s jargon. Quite recently, I was being plagued by a depleting list of challenges, somewhat related to design thinking or product design. So the books became convenient alongside the odd articles for nirvana, though my desire to pick up French was still lying dormant somewhere. So why not!

This is my first time taking language lessons on an app but Duolingo’s informal approach to serious learning offered me encouraging support to train at the time of my choosing and on-the-go. With my headphones in place, I initiated the first lesson after creating my account, I was presented with multiple yet familiar visuals representations screen after screen and I had to choose the corresponding answer for the not so obvious french words. Tap, tap, done. Applying some smart judgement, I was able to advance in my endeavour to grasp the vocabulary, one phrase at a time. The words were audible which I could repeat to gain more familiarity. As I was progressing, the app consistently kept me engaged through the gamification process by showing my mastery level in French after subsequent tests and kept my confidence soaring high. So I stand at a low 13% today but one has to confess, being a beginner some of le français words are just so hard to pronounce! And if there’s one language that fully employs the contours of your delicate tongue, you guessed it. Duo, just reminded me that I am doing fantastic with my training, and continuing with my everyday streak would fetch me some rewards, so I’m off to learn some more French. Salut!

Groopy - Mobile App

Groopy – Designing a Community Mobile Experience

October 8, 2017 Design General
A detailed piece on how I designed Groopy in redefining a community experience

When the launch of the Business Edge Alumni Network was proposed I became involved in designing the brand identity for the group beginning with my research on the diverse community. This network is a place for industry professionals to leverage their collective aspirations and experience in advancing career growth within Canada. The network today is coexisting through the WhatsApp platform which entails several privacy issues. I believed, this privacy concern needed to be addressed, where the need to give personal information to make connections online could be prevented while the data could live on the encrypted servers. Most importantly, my goal was to integrate a community professionally moving away from the core definition of ‘social networking’. The overall focus of this inspired me to conceptualize a mobile app which I named ‘Groopy’.

Background

Social media has built a phenomenal character for users in a ‘social networking’ environment and allowing them easy transaction of personal data such as text, images, video, and opinions in general. My first concept banked upon connecting people outside of the typical ‘social networking’ definition, a professional network that is nurtured in exchanging views but those which are not meant to be ‘shared’ outside the realm of the network due to its structure of belonging only within the current stream of thought. Thus the goal of Groopy is to connect groups of people on an enterprise platform as illustrated below, and it’s an antithesis of a social network.

Social Media vs Groopy Platform

An overview of how Groopy differs from conventional Social Media.

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Apple Is Changing User Behaviour, Not Just User Experience

September 9, 2016 Design Technology

The iPhone 7/Plus launched without the standard 3.5mm audio jack creating a storm on the Internet. The problem isn’t about the missing elements from a traditional user interaction perspective with a device such as the iPhone as it is about changing a user’s perception. It’s indeed very courageous of Apple to remove the audio jack completely replacing it with the lightning connector which means you cannot listen to music while charging (it’ll require a new $40 accessory). Simply put, we can’t charge AND listen to music or take calls simultaneously and we have to keep the iPhones charged. Suggesting that Apple wants the AirPods as your default hearing device regardless. Apple’s users have often had to reluctantly change the way they interact with devices based purely on how Apple defined its product line so ‘courageously’ and regardless of how frustrating it was. The astonished fans complained but eventually caved in. Now, this isn’t the first time that Apple has done something ‘courageous’ with its product line by removing a standard feature or software – the iPads didn’t support Adobe Flash (they still don’t even today), and yet if the sales numbers are correct the audience seems to have loved the iPad! From a product design standpoint with its power to innovate Apple really at the helm of changing user behaviour of this generation unquestionably. Perhaps Apple did contemplate the backlash of its decision to remove the 3.5mm audio jack from the iPhones and the ‘courageous’ comment from Phil Schiller is proof of defending itself from its perched place. So if there’s one product company which is going to affect our lives within the realm of technology and design innovation it’d be Apple.

Here’s Steve Jobs explaining ‘courage’ perfectly with Apple’s products.

Free The Apple Watch

December 10, 2015 Technology

The Apple Watch was perfectly poised to sweep the industry. It had the goodness of the iPhone/Mac kitty, mainly the apps, the amazing product design and the indisputable quality of the Apple brand. Reasons which are enough for a device like the Apple Watch to own the industry which hadn’t seen much innovation in some time. Some of the early entrants to this arena were no match to the promise of experience and the technology which only Apple could deliver with its first wearable device. Sadly when it arrived it wasn’t the product we had anticipated, it wasn’t an ‘independent’ product. And let me explain.

The rich product basket of Apple including the iMac, the iPod, the iPad, and, the iPhone have existed as sovereign personalities with its own audience. The iPad, iPhone and iPod need the Mac/PC only for syncing content and are pretty much independent devices. Apple with its vast design experience curated an entire domain of great product design with hardware and software. Beginning with the unibody design and later with Yosemite by transforming the skeuomorphic UI with the flat design language. Other features such as HandOff and Continuity, and introduction of Maps, Notes, and Notifications on OSX which brought about a wonderful cohesion of OSX/iOS environments. All this and yet it did not take away the freedom of its users to work independently with these devices. Until the Watch came along. The graphic depicting the Apple devices isn’t honest to the Watch which can’t work without the iPhone.

The Watch as a wearable gadget with a small form factor meant that it would not naturally transition the rich cohesion of experience of the OSX/iOS devices. Although this does not make it an exceptional case when it comes to making it self-reliant within its functions and features. There are other watch devices today which do not need the phone support for offering a better user experience. And sure they may not tote a rich app ‘garden’ like the App Store. For now, let’s free the Watch from the clutches of the iPhone.

Apple’s product design cycle is unclear, if one is to understand that the earlier design iterations of the iPhone and iPad missed some essential features that were common to the devices of its kind. Considering this, the Watch isn’t freewheeling so soon until about a few more design iterations. Let’s hope the wait isn’t too long and painful.

'Touch' Your Next iPod Now

September 6, 2007 Design

iPod touchEver since the rumour mills were working over time, I had been waiting eagerly for the news about Apple’s new, much hyped iPod. There was a market speculation on the introduction of a touch-screen iPod which added to the frenzy. Yesterday THAT speculation turned into reality when Apple announced the iPod Touch alongwith upgraded versions of the other family members. My reactions are mixed for now.

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