Linda Stone explores the difference between multitasking and continuous partial attention (or CPA).

When we multi-task, we are motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient. Each activity has the same priority [...]. With multi-tasking, one or more activities is somewhat automatic [...]. That activity can be paired with another activity that's automatic or with an activity that requires more cognition, like writing an email or talking on the phone. At the core of multi-tasking is a desire to be more productive.
In the case of continuous partial attention, we're motivated by a desire not to miss anything. There's a kind of vigilance that is not characteristic of multi-tasking. With cpa, we feel most alive when we're connected, plugged in and in the know. We constantly SCAN for opportunities - activities or people - in any given moment. With every opportunity we ask, "What can I gain here?"

An extremely relevant observation, considering the amount of functions that mobile devices bring to our pocket. It used to be that you could not watch TV during dinner in a restaurant because there simply wasn't a TV present. You didn't have to make the choice. Now, simply enjoying your dinner, is choosing or not to watch a movie, communicate with people that are not at the table, manage your calendar, or look something up in wikipedia. Not that I'm worried. Just slightly puzzled.

See also:
> Linda Stone's website on Continuous Partial Attention
> Multitasking and CPA in Wikipedia
> Nokia Misrepresents Multitasking Survey Results

The Interaction Design Blog presents a classic mapping problem: what control goes with what burner? I know this example from my first year ergonomics course at IDE, and Donald Norman pointed out the issue in his classic Design of Everyday Things, but still, a very clear example of the problems you run into when mapping controls. Although I don't think the paragraph on 'selling usability' at the end of the post - arguing that better usability will result in more customer loyalty - is completely applicable to kitchen equipment with its low repurchasing rate.

After some years of drafting it's finally there: ISO 20282, the ISO standard for the ease of use of everyday products. It contains the following elements:
- Design requirements for context of use and user characteristics
- Test method for walk-up-and-use products
- Test method for consumer products
- Test method for the installation of consumer products
If I sum it up, the standard is relevant for physical interactive products for personal (and not professional) use or in the public domain, but because ISO standards are made by committees you get sentences like these:

[The standard is] applicable to mechanical and/or electrical products with an interface that a user can operate directly or remotely to gain access to the functions provided. These products fall into at least one of the following categories: consumer products intended for some or all of the general public which are bought, rented or used, and which may be owned by individuals, public organizations, or private companies; consumer products intended to be acquired and used by an individual for personal rather than professional use (e.g. alarm clocks, electric kettles, telephones, electric drills); walk-up-and-use products that provide a service to the general public (such as ticket-vending machines, photocopying machines, fitness equipment); products used in a work environment, but not as part of professional activities (e.g. a coffee machine in an office); products including software that supports the main goals of use of the product (e.g. a CD player).

Wonderful, isn't it? If your not that big a fan of Academic-speak, Userfocus' David Travis gives a good, plain language overview of what the new standard is about. Much more usable than the ISO standard.

See also:
> More information on usability standards: overview at usabilitynet.org

[illustration found here]

SizeChina, a design research project aiming to create a database of Chinese head and face shapes, has received one out of two 'best in show' award during the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) competition. It is for the first time that a design research project wins the prestigious best in show award at the IDEA. SizeChina is in good company; the other best in show award went to Apple's iPhone.

See also
> IDEA: Design Award Winners, 2008 (Business Week)
> Measuring Chinese Heads: New-School Anthropometry (uselog)
> Up Close and Personal With the Chinese (De Pers, in Dutch only)
> Video interview with Roger Ball, initiator of the SizeChina project, by Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant (movie partially in English)

Core77 has a profile of ErgonomiDesign: ErgonomiDesign, Sweden: Human-Centered Since the Sixties. Their office space alone makes you want to work there. And then we haven't said anything about the extremely well-thought-through products they do.

Wired reports on Japanese cell phones that have become too complex to master, even for the feature-loving Japanese users.

Japan has long been famous for its advanced cellphones with sci-fi features like location tracking, mobile credit card payment and live TV. These handsets have been the envy of consumers in the United States, where cell technology has trailed an estimated five years or more. But while many phones would do Captain Kirk proud, most of the features are hard to use or not used at all.

[photo: wired]

In the Interactive Technology Design course (ITD) at IDE students design and prototype tangible interaction concepts. The challenge is to make an interactive product without resorting to traditional solutions such as screens and buttons. This year's subjects were for example an interactive playground for girls (Nelson), a fitness coach for bike training, visual reminder products (i.e., rotary reminder), and interactive portals. There is a ITD YouTube channel providing an overview of the results of the last few years, including my personal favorite from last year: Forelorn's Fortress (see movie above), but Invisiball seems like a cool game too. Or you can go for Heist if you're more of a Mission:Impossible kind of person.

David Pogue from the NY Times reviews the extremely basic, and (thus) easy to use Flip, a tiny, stripped-down video recorder the size of a digital camera. Within one year after its introduction it has 13 percent of the camcorder market, according to its maker, Pure Digital.

"Look what my first grader did with it all by herself," one guy told me. "We're using them in schools to teach narrative structure," said a teacher at a conference. "I bought two of 'em: one for my 80-year-old grandmother," said a neighbor, "and one for my 5-year-old." O.K., wait -- what?

Why there aren't more Flips
In a follow up article Pogue explains why there aren't more basic, easy to use products such as the Flip.

The high-tech product managers believe that in order to sell to consumers, they must first seduce the major reviewers. And to do that, most believe they have to offer “more check marks in more boxes” than their competitors.

See a demonstration video here.
And the difference in video quality with the more expensive, extensive video cameras isn't that big, according to this movie.
[Thanx to Monique for the tip]

An interesting, critical review of the H659 Harmony (Logitech) universal remote (a somewhat older model). Interesting because usability guru Donald Norman had hailed it as an example of good design. And because Logitech recently launched a new range of Harmony universal remote controls that are supposed to solve all our remote control annoyances. Let's hope Logitech took a serious look at the e-mail that the aforementioned reviewer sent to Logitech's helpdesk. But I don't think that's the case, considering the answer he got:

"I'm sorry you're not happy. Let us know if you have any more problems"

By the way: don't forget to take a look at the reactions to the review where we find this little gem:

i think your a loser,becuase you are complaining about simple little things. there is nuthin wrong with shfiting the remote in your hands. you are just lazy the harmony remote works great.

Apart from the spelling particularities, I find this to be one of the most beautiful occurrences of someone not being able to see the user perspective.

Bonus reading: Remote Controls Run Amok, story by CBS news.

See also:
> Universally Annoying Remotes, review of the H659 at Coding Horror
> higher resolution picture of the H659
> CNET reviews (mostly enthusiastic about the functionality, a number are more critical on the usability)