CarMe iPad App

Assignment 2 is to design an iPad application called CarMe, which is a car finder application. The point of the assignment is to go to the basics, do some card sorting of user goals and needs, and create several different conceptual models of how this app should work. I came up with a generic Specs Concept that every car finder out there does, a Behavior Concept that would be more inquiring of your driving needs and behavior, and a Personality Concept that's a take off on dating sites. Find your perfect (car) match! =P

Printing to scale again, I am glad I found an iPad background because it really puts the actual UI elements in context. That big black border ate up so much of my ink I had to go buy new cartridges over the weekend but the final effect was really good, so I'm glad I did that. The flow is pretty self-explanatory once you get past the fact that the initial questions are posed as if you're on a dating site looking for your perfect (car) soul mate.

For example, if you had answered you would want to "Hike the Grand Canyon", and the most important trait is "Frugal to a fault", the system will have some super cool intelligence to match you with the cheapest 4 wheel drive car it can find. =)

Presto! Salata's Automated Salad Bar

I'm taking a class on software user interface design for the HCI certificate program at Tufts that I got into at the end of last year. The amount of focus on graphic and visual design surprised me quite a bit. Although it takes me a long time, the one really positive thing is I get to add a few pieces to my portfolio. :)

The first assignment is to create a touch screen interface for Presto! which is an automated salad bar that can build custom salads per user's input. Imagine that there's a display attached to the side of a "cart" of sorts that will magically put the salad together. I designed out 6 sample screens in the user's workflow.

The Welcome screen introduces the concept of the kiosk and allows the user to switch to one of 6 different languages the interface is offered in.

To start, the user can choose from several preset options, or choose to build their own. This user selected the Chicken Caesar salad.

Once selected the salad details are displayed. This user wanted to go back and create their own.

 Within the custom creation screen, they can choose the greens, meats, toppings, and etc that they would like.

Then they can add beverages (it appears Salata has a partnership with Nantucket Nectars) and buy Salata's signature dressings with their order.

At the end, the order summary is shown to the user. They can complete their transaction on the pin pad and Presto! will whip up the desired order!

So for the class, we had to print the design out in color, on stock paper, and to scale. It totally killed my ink but they do look pretty nice. One really good thing about printing drafts out to scale was testing the "pressability" of buttons. Unlike using a mouse, if buttons are too small or too close my fat fingers would press them together. I made modifications to the initial drafts with that in mind, so I was glad that they needed to be printed to scale. 

Believe it or not, I managed to do the bulk of this design using Visio, which has been my tool of choice for wireframing, but never thought of as a design tool. For some elements I had to go out to a real photo and graphics program (like the masked round photos on the Welcome screen) but that's about it. I learned a lot about what Visio can do from a graphical perspective and realized it's a bit more powerful than I originally thought. Assignment 1, check! :)

Sears Sucks!

This is a rant post.

How many ways does the Sears customer support and service repair group suck? More ways than I can count.

Let's start with their inability to communicate between groups. We know that large corporations tend to have this problem. But the fact that this is so blatantly obvious to end users is truly shocking. And they are flushing the good name they have built over the several decades of quality product sales every day that goes by where they function this way - or rather - don't function.

So as I mentioned before, the handle on my washer door broke. There's a plastic piece that allows the door handle to press against a spring which releases the door latch, allowing you to open the door to the washer. That piece broke off, and we need to use a screwdriver to reach in to release the latch. We can make do, but it's not really ideal.

So I had successfully scheduled a service repair from Sears using their text chat support. I explained the problem, sent a link to the part that's needed and asked for the service technician to order and arrive with the part. I have confirmed it was a flat rate service and got the service order number and appointment details all in writing. I was impressed (originally).

The scheduled service was for a Saturday 2 weeks ago. Just like cable service visits, I was given a 4 hour window to wait - 1-5 PM. I got a call around 10 AM that morning asking if the technician could come between 11 AM and 1 PM instead. I was like, sure! I would love for them to come earlier and in a narrower window of arrival. So I skipped some morning stuff and waited... and waited... and waited. I called the service center around 3 and asked, where's the technician?! They said, all they could do at this point is send a message off to ask the technical to call me.

So I wait.. and wait... 4:30 a technician arrives. He treks gray melted snow water into my house smelling full of cig smoke. I kept following him with a wad of paper towels. He took a look at the washer door, originally said he would have to order the entire door. I pulled up the parts website showing him that they sell just the handle, then he changed he tone and said well maybe they can do with just the handle. Or course, he didn't have it, and he complained those people at the call centers don't know what they're doing. They should never have made me think a part would be ordered before a technician evaluates the situation, etc etc.

Then he tries to charge me a different rate for coming to simply LOOK at the door. I told him I had flat rate service, and he said that's not how the service is coded, and he can't charge me the flat rate fee. I refused to pay him anything but the flat rate fee I was promised, which I have in writing, and at first he said he won't charge me this time and just reschedule the service for 2 weeks later since I need to order the part anyway. And I should call to make sure it's coded to the flat rate service before next time so we don't have this issue.

He left, then called me back to tell me he couldn't reschedule it unless this service was paid for. I told him I refuse to pay any price but what was agreed upon - which is the flat rate, and he miraculously came up with some coupon code that reduces his rate down to the same as the flat rate service fee. Sure... what coincidence!

Fast forward a week, I had ordered the part on my own and it was arriving. I got on the text chat again to double check when the service technician was coming, since the first guy didn't give me the service window of when the technician would arrive.

First, I provided my service order number as part of my first sentence. The rep chatting with me completely blew by this, and started asking me for my name, my number, my address. I answered, but asked, "shouldn't you have all of this from the service order number I gave you already?". Then they get to my question about when my service is scheduled, they said, there aren't any scheduled. I was furious! Again it seems the two groups are not communicating.

I asked for a manager to call me. And I got this ridiculous response - "We are a chat center, we can't make calls here". WTF?!! I said again, find a manager. This goes on a few more sentences, where they suggest I call the 800 number, and etc. I was fuming, and finally said, "if you can't get a manager to call me, then get them on this chat!" Apparently they can't make this logical mental leap on their own, because suddenly the rep said, "oh, let me transfer you". OMG!

So I wait, I wait, a manager takes over the chat and apologizes for the inconveniences. I reiterate the issue, and he explains, the service technician's notes said I would call to make an appointment after the part arrives. I explained, that's not what the technician said to me, but whatever, can a technician come on Saturday as originally planned? He checks availability, found someone available between 8-noon, and we set up appointment for then. I get my new service order number, I reiterate it's a flat rate service, etc etc. All seems well so I move on.

Saturday, technician arrives around 10:30. He also treks gray melted snow water into my house and I run around after him with a wad of paper towels. I give him the not yet assembled parts for the handle and latch, explained the situation, and he sends away saying he knows what to do and that's why he's there. I'm like, ok, that's fine, I've got other things to tend to.

An hour later he's done. I go and check, and the door doesn't seem to close all the way. I don't hear the familiar click that occurs when I closed the door before. He explains it's not supposed to do that, only the dryer door does it. I was suspicious. Then I asked to try to do a test wash to make sure everything is in good order. But the door won't latch and the washer won't start. He explained the washer door latch has a cylinder that locks the latch and if it can't lock properly the washer won't start - it's a safety mechanism. Makes sense, but why won't it latch and lock? He says the switch is broken and misaligned. I was like, that's weird, cause the switch was perfectly fine before he switched the door handle and latch.

I asked him to put the old one back, and he originally said it was a waste of time. I said it's not a waste of time, because if the old one also will not work, then it's definitely the switch. But if it works, then it's the new handle and latch installation that's the problem. So he reluctantly uninstalls the new handle/latch combo to put the old one in. Now he reconfigures the old one to look like the new one, and when he puts that into the door, the door wouldn't even shut!

Now I'm super suspicious. I pointed out that he reconfigured the old handle/latch and that he shouldn't have done that. It's not the same configuration anymore. Is he even sure the new latch/handle is assembled correctly? He gets all offended and says "you think you can do my job better than I can?", and he was like, "you know what? I will get you somebody else".

Now I'm outraged, because he's leaving with my washer door disassembled, and in a worse state than before he arrived! The door cannot be closed, and the washer cannot be used! And also because he had been ramming the new door handle in an attempt to close it when it won't latch, he caused the same plastic piece that broke off before to crack! Which means it is destined to break off again!

So he goes to his car to call his supervisor, and calls me back from his car that another technician will come. But he doesn't say when and how long I have to wait. Craziness!

The good news is, the dryer door handle is identical to the washer door handle. At this point, I've watched him assemble and disassemble the door enough times to do it myself. I disassemble the dryer door and examined the handle. Sure enough, the new handle/latch was assembled incorrectly! I reconfigure the OLD handle/latch to that of the dryer handle, and voila! the door closes fine and the washer runs.

We are literally back to square one. I have put everything back to the way it was before this guy showed up and made a mess of everything.

I call the call center, and asked when this new technician is coming and they said the service order is still open from the morning and they didn't even know who was the technician that came over in the morning! Seriously?! How do they continue to function?!

So I detail out all the issues. Not only did this technician not solve the problem, they made things worse, left with my door disassembled, cracked the new handle/latch part I have just purchased, and also broke off another plastic piece on my washer door. Although it was cosmetic and hidden by the handle, he still broke off a piece that wasn't broken before!

So they arranged for a different technician to come and evaluate the situation to show up between 4-5 PM that afternoon. This time, the person who arrived was considerate enough that he put these shoe covers on before entering my house. However, he didn't know the history of what happened, and I had to explain everything all over again. I showed him the cracked handle, I showed him the other plastic piece that was broken. He said he'll order the two parts, no charge to us, and that when I receive the parts I should call to schedule the next appointment. So at least this time the next steps are clear.

Here's the thing - it will likely be another two weeks between the parts arriving and scheduling for another Saturday service. At that point, it would have been a month since the original technician's visit. The flat rate service fee includes unlimited technician visits for 90 days, since they have a warranty on their service for 90 days. But by the time they actually install the part, 30 days would have already gone by! So in reality I'll only get 60 days of warranty.

I know that I will be watching the technician like a hawk next time to make sure he assembles the handle correctly. In the mean time, we are back to using the screw driver to open the door, but at least we can still do our wash.