Listener Costan Boiangiu rejoins the show for a wordcast on haptic feedback in product design. What is it, how is it used currently in product designs, and how could it be used? We discuss designs that have haptic feedback innately as well as designs where the haptics have been added. Thanks for Tim's coworker, Gary, for suggesting this topic for the show.Check out Costan's automotive design blog athttp://www.drivingroom.comAnd remember to visit Haptics-e: The Electronic Journal of Haptics Researchfor the latest in scholarly research athttp://www.haptics-e.org/

"From Information Architecture to Ambient Findability to Intertwingularity: An Inspiring Conversation with Peter Morville

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Recorded June 18th, 2012 at IUE2012.

Peter Morville (above, left), best known as a founding father of information architecture, co-authored the profession's best-selling book, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. That was 1998. Since then, Peter continues to be a prolific author, practitioner, and thought leader for our industry and profession amidst this ever-expanding and reinventive internet landscape that continues to provide communications, information, and commerce to the world. To most effectively tap into Peter's current and historical thinking, he was interviewed live and interactively with the audience by Design Critique's Timothy Keirnan.

Visit Peter's blog and more at http://semanticstudios.com/

Tobby Smith joins Tim Keirnan for a longitudinal review of the Windows Phone 7.5 mobile operating system. Both guys have been using it on Nokia Lumia 710 handsets since last winter and are ready to explain why they enjoy the Windows Phone customer experience, as well as complain about the negative points which they hope Microsoft will fix in the upcoming Windows Phone 8.Tobby is a long-time veteran of smart phone use, while Tim is new to smart phones, so both ends of the user continuum are included.To see the user interface of Windows Phone, head over to a cell phone store in your area and try it for yourself OR point your browser tohttp://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-US/features/default.aspx

The episode of Design Critique with Matt Hard that covered the Zune HD, the predecessor to Windows Phone, can be heard athttp://designcritique.net/dc69-critique-microsoft-zune-players-zune-4-0-software-and-zune-pass

A very special mailbag episode in which* Internet User Experience 2012 is promoted. Check it out atwww.iue2012.com* Costan refers us to a terrific article on Airbus airliner cockpit interface design. Read it at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/9231855/Air-France-Flight-447-Damn-it-were-going-to-crash.html* An anonymous listener complains about Tim's articulation. When is enunciating for intelligibility a problem, if ever? Do listeners speaking English as a second language appreciate clear articulation, or is it not needed?* Jason thanks us for the MINI Cooper critique episode.* Eric responds to the listener feedback episode with Lynn on lack of contrast in modern UI designs.

Listener Lynn Leitte joins Tim for a discussion on how a fad of low-contrast visual design is hurting readability of text and usability of interface elements. What say you?

Episode was recorded in late April but for a plethora of reasons is only available now.

Dana Chisnell from Usability Works discusses her latest project, Field Guides for Ensuring Voter Intent. This Kickstarter crowd-source funded project will design, write, publish, and distribute concise design guidelines for usable ballot design to public servants around the United States. And, eventually, beyond.Learn and contribute (up until April 14th) to the project athttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/civicdesigning/field-guides-to-ensuring-voter-intentRead Dana's thoughts on civic design athttp://civicdesigning.org/

The GoldStar MA6511W microwave oven is a triumph of kitchen appliance interaction design. Featuring only two mechanical controls that are all too rare in an age of overly-complex digital designs, the MA6511W deserves as much praise as can be put into this 16 minute episode. The adjective "intuitive" is often over-used, but it applies to this small microwave oven.

Microwaves are functionally simple devices often made difficult to use by manufacturers who put frivolous features and buttons on something that doesn't need to be complex. A mad dash for "features" at the expense of audience needs and usability is common in microwave oven design, but GoldStar's design team tightly focused this oven for a particular audience (re-heating in space-cramped kitchens) and did NOT try to please everyone. The result is a wonderful appliance that has also proven very durable--7 years of trouble-free service at the time of this episode's publishing.

The How Stuff Works website referred to in the episode has some podcasts you might be interested in:http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hsw-shows/hsw-podcast.htm

Listener Costan Boiangiu joins the show with comments on episode DC84, The State of the Internet User Experience 2011 panel session from Internet User Experience 2011.Costan shares his ideas on* The lack of usable bookmark titles on etail product pages* Some websites' frustrating lack of consistent overall navigation* Some websites' not revealing their national identity up front, especially if it's an etail siteYou can find Costan at his photography site here:www.costanimagelab.comand his work website here:www.georgianc.on.ca

"Attack of the Pointless Modal Confirmations"Tim critiques almost two years of experience with the TomTomXL335TM portable GPS in a longitudinal review plagued by a ragged voice from a nasty January filled with mishaps, and a mental wooziness that we hope isn't too obvious. But food poisonings, auto wrecks, and seasonal colds cannot prevent the fact that the XL335 is a GPS that has terrific voices which sound wonderful, but unreliable software and horrid modal confirmation abuses throughout.Just reflect on this one example of interaction design gone wrong; sadly, it is typical of the TomTom Way:

It takes eleven, that's 11, taps to change voices on the XL335TM. I am not making this up.And here are TomTom's excellent marketing of its Star Wars celebrity voices:Darth Vader in the recording studio: http://youtu.be/2ljFfL-mL70Yoda in the recording studio: http://youtu.be/FdcJVuylmsM

Two feedback emails round out this 46-minute episode.

A new Design Critique episode type is born. When someone sends feedback on an episode, they may be asked to come on the show and discuss what they had to say. That's how Eric Gauvin from the USA got roped into doing an episode with Tim regarding Eric's email comments on episode DC84, The State of the Internet User Experience 2011 panel.

Thanks to Eric for making time to talk with me.

And season's greetings, everyone!