Polymer Studios::Web Consulting

May I take your order, please?

14. October 2007

In & Out Employees, uploaded by SeraphimC When desigining a user interface, we often take into account the motivation level of our users. It’s a critical factor in determining just how likely Joe or Jane Employee will be to learn and use, say, the new touch-screen order-taking system. Even if users are required to use [...]

Design for Good and Profit

12. October 2007

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When most people think about “design,” we generally think of “style”. Cool looking phones, electronics, appliances, clothes, cars, etc. Often times companies apply only a shallow, surface design to these products—either to cover the products shortcomings or to help it stand out in a entire category “me-too” products. Style is only one facet in the broader [...]

Gracious professionalism

8. October 2007

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Lego, uploaded by .eti. I signed up to coach my son’s team in the FIRST Lego League, a Lego robotics competition founded by Dean Kamen of Segway fame. Besides all the cool Lego parts, sensors and servos, I was impressed with the league’s values, which are reviewed with the kids as the first order of [...]

347,591,562 installs can’t be wrong

8. October 2007

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I blinked and missed a piece in Business 2.0 about the Wild West that is the Facebook platform these days. In May, the site was opened up for developers to create and distribute “apps” (small applications that play within a user’s Facebook homepage. A flood of development ensued and today, Facebook users have installed [...]

Wish I wrote it, #2

5. October 2007

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“There is something about our ocean-going friends that reminds us all to wash up after freeing Willy.” Brian Unger, Day to Day, (National Public Radio) commenting on a study showing that 81% of men and women washed their hands after using the bathrooms at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Desire and disintermediation

2. October 2007

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Buddy, can you spare $25? Ilham Ibrahimov of Khachmaz, Azerbaijan only needs another $325 in order to expand his store. It’s such a cliche to say that the Internet has revolutionized business. But when you look at the disintermediation that continues to take place, you can’t help but to think that we live in a time [...]

Wish I wrote it - #1

2. October 2007

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“The plot, like the Lord, moves in mysterious ways.” Suketu Mehta, in Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, describing the convoluted and preposterous plot of the Bollywood film, Jai Shakumbhari Maa.

Maps: not just for geography geeks anymore

2. October 2007

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In this era of Mapquest, Garmin and Google Earth, I wonder if we take maps a bit too literally. They appear objective. The seem authoritative. That is, until you try to follow directions and realize you just drove five miles and four turns out of your way. The Strange Maps blog has helped to give [...]