Design Critique: Products for People
130 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 months ago - ★★★★ - 11 ratingsOur show encourages usable designs for a better customer experience in products and services. Each episode is different, with the only constant being our demand that UX design make our lives better and provide long term value. If you care about design's impact on our modern quality of life, give us a listen. You will hear:
* Critiques of products & services we've used thoroughly,
* Interviews with people whose work or books we admire, and
* Discussions of design methods we use in our own user experience research and design careers.
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Episodes
DC168 Interview: Viktor Rydal on the Nomono Sound Capsule
November 11, 2023 15:09 - 1 hour - 59 MBThis is our last episode for a while, but is well worth the wait! We have an interview with Viktor Rydal, industrial designer from Nomono, who talks with Tim about the Nomono Sound Capsule. Visit the Nomono website about the SoundCapsule to see and hear their demonstrations. This truly innovative solution records conversations with its custom lapel mics into its Sound Capsule hub, and their cloud application removes bad room acoustics to create astoundingly good audio from rooms that did N...
DC167 Interview: Dushyant Kanungo on Enterprise UX
July 02, 2023 18:41 - 48 minutes - 29.1 MBDushyant Kunungo joins Timothy Keirnan for a discussion about enterprise UX. * Duhsyant's professional background * The importance of user experience to employees working in an enterprise--both to their morale and their productivity. * Dushyant and Tim share eyebrow-raising anecdotes from enterprise user experience projects they have been on. Employees need effective, efficient, and enjoyable products/tools as much as external customers do. * Dushyant talks about his book, UX Decoded: T...
DC166 Interview: Publisher Barry McBride on Content Strategy at The Orange and Brown Report
May 21, 2023 10:45 - 1 hour - 62.4 MBBarry McBride joins Timothy Keirnan to discuss the history and content strategy of The Orange and Brown Report, an independent news and analysis business catering to Cleveland Browns football fans. The Orange and Brown Report offers both free and paid subscription tiers of news and interaction with its beat writers and analysts. Across 80 minutes, Barry talks about: * The origin of his Cleveland Browns fan advocacy and community-building in 1995, when Browns ownership and the NFL betrayed ...
DC165 Interview: Matt Ranta on Improving UX for E-Commerce
April 17, 2023 21:26 - 51 minutes - 36.7 MBMatt Ranta, head of practice at Nimble Gravity, joins Tim for a discussion on how companies can and should improve their digital interactions with customers, whether they are B2B or B2C. Whether it's in email messages or web pages, details matter. 03:47 The importance of proofreading marketing email messages. 08:03 Use new image formats like webp and AVIF to increase speed of a website and its SEO. 17:06 Test a website with browsers besides Chrome, which not everyone will use. 22:00 Com...
DC164 Critique: 2023 Subaru BRZ
March 30, 2023 22:24 - 1 hour - 66.3 MBEric Penn joins Tim Keirnan and Ken Mayer to discuss the first customer experience phases of his new 2023 Subaru BRZ after a month of ownership. The "Toyobaru Twins" (Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ) are the same car with some slight differences. This vehicle is one of the best examples of "user-centered design" we have ever encountered in a product, and Tim owned the first generation for four blissful years. Eric has purchased the long-awaited and much celebrated second generation, and we go in...
DC163 Interview: John Leavitt On Industrial Design
March 02, 2023 02:16 - 54 minutes - 44.5 MBJohn Leavitt, Senior Industrial Designer at Intelligent Product Solutions, joins Timothy Keirnan for a conversation about industrial design, using two firefighting products as a starting point. Besides the two case studies, we talk about general design process and philosophies, methods, education recommendations, and our ambitions for a world in which UX includes respect for users' privacy and security as a selling point. 00:00 Introduction 03:30 Design Process 08:06 Self Contained Brea...
DC162 Critique: 2022 Kia Niro EV
January 28, 2023 00:59 - 56 minutes - 46.5 MBDavid and Jo Lau discuss the five phases of customer experience with their 2022 Kia Niro EV (Encounter, Decision, Purchase, Initial use, and Longitudinal use). Vehicle purchases are often a negotiation of two or more people's preferences and needs in domestic situations, and we are delighted to have talked with the Lau family about their customer journey. The human-machine interfaces (HMI) in the cockpit are the simple and effective designs we're used to seeing from Hyundai-Kia vehicles, a...
DC161 Critique: Private Selection Frozen Pizza
January 01, 2023 03:57 - 19 minutes - 16.8 MBLarry Rusinsky joins Tim Keirnan for a new kind of episode: critiquing the user experience of food. Because the UX of food is so very subjective based on genetics, culture experiences, individual preferences, and a potential inconsistency of "production" for a particular dish, frozen foods are at least somewhat consistent in their production. Our critique is of Kroger's house brand Private Selection Artisan Stone Fired Pizza in the Cuban-Inspired Ham & Swiss flavor. We also ate a "control...
DC160 Critique: PineTab tablet
November 09, 2022 20:21 - 33 minutes - 28.2 MBYousef Hegazi joins the show to help Tim Keirnan critique Pine64's PineTab, a low-cost 10-inch tablet that uses Linux as its operating system instead of iOS, Android, or Windows. Pine64 provides "system on a chip" computing devices that run free and open source software (FOSS) as their operating system and applications. The PineTab follows earlier projects such as the PineBook/PineBook Pro (a laptop), the PinePhone and PinePhone Pro (a smartphone), and the PineTime (a smart watch). Projects...
DC159 Interview: John Loss on his book Not Always Homeless
July 28, 2022 02:33 - 1 hour - 58 MBJohn Loss joins David Mettler and Tim Keirnan to talk about his book Not Always Homeless, created from ethnographic interviews with local people who were homeless in his area. Its subtitle is "The personal stories of 13 people who survived and escaped a life on the streets". After we discussed how he published his first book at age 80 based on interviews with homeless people in the Niagara Falls area of New York State, we talked about about the 501c3 charity he and some fellow concerned cit...
DC158 Critique: Electric Kettle UX
June 01, 2022 14:22 - 46 minutes - 33.4 MBTec-Ed CEO Stephanie Rosenbaum joins Tim Keirnan for a critique of two different electric kettle designs that heat water quickly and precisely: the KRUPS BW3140 Savoy and the Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp. Both designs accomplish the goal but in very different ways. The KRUPS kettle has its user interface in its base and excellent balance in its carafe, while the Cuisinart has its user interface in the handle of the carafe with better labeling, but worse ergonomics for the carafe itself. We d...
DC157 Critique: 401K Website Usability Failure
May 01, 2022 19:30 - 15 minutes - 15.1 MBTim recounts a 401K benefits website usability failure to cohost Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus. They then discuss the foundational importance of usability testing and of tracking the all-important time on task metric. Even in 2022, the most professional-looking website can disappoint customers if if UX fails at the most fundamental tasks.
DC156 Critique: 2016 Scion FR-S
March 18, 2022 18:08 - 1 hour - 41.4 MBFive years and 50,000 miles in the making, this critique of the 2016 Scion FR-S (aka Subaru BRZ or Toyota 86) puts the long in longitudinal review! Cohosts Eric and Ryan return to help Tim discuss the complete customer experience with the car from encounter, to decision, to purchase, to initial use, to longitudinal reflection. The "Toyobaru" is in our opinions one of the most successful user-centered car designs we've ever experienced. Toyota and Subaru aimed this car at a narrow customer se...
DC155 Interview: Public Space Design with Sour Studio's Pinar Guvenc
January 17, 2022 14:30 - 42 minutes - 30.5 MBPinar Guvenc, a partner at Sour Studio, joins Tim for a discussion on how this consultancy does their Architecture, Interior Design, Product Design, and Public Spaces work. Sour is a hybrid design studio with the mission of addressing social and urban problems through sustainable and inclusive methodologies. Sour's use of co-creation panels and extended collaboration with all the diverse stakeholders on their projects is discussed, as well as a case study in public space design they did in T...
DC154 Critique: Samsung and Sony DAPs
December 31, 2021 02:33 - 42 minutes - 35.6 MBInstructional designer Brian Duck joins Tim for two topics: why are UX practitioners still having to persuade some companies that we need access to end users on our projects in 2021, and why Sony's ultra portable digital audio player is so bad compared with Samsung's player from 15 years ago. 00:00 - 08:00 We commiserate on the need in 2021, in some companies, to explain the fundamental need for early access to the end users of our projects rather than accept what managers dictate as "Wh...
DC153 Interview: Gordon Olson on Green Water Heater Design
October 16, 2021 12:53 - 48 minutes - 39.4 MBGordon Olson, CEO of Torii Industries, joins Timothy Keirnan for a discussion about a new design of tank-less water heater. Tank-less water heaters remove the need for a large water tank to be heated 24 hours a day for occasional hot water use. Besides being inefficient use of energy, traditional tank water heaters can fail catastrophically, and provide large amounts of landfill waste after their useful life is over. The Torii solution will replace an old centralized water heater with a tan...
DC152 Interview: Medical Packaging Design with Dr. Laura Bix
August 20, 2021 01:49 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBDr. Laura Bix from the Michigan State University School of Packaging returns to the show! Her latest project was researching the packaging of medical supplies used by EMTs in the field as they stabilize patients and transport them to the hospital in the ambulance. Dr. Bix describes how most medical supplies are normally packaged for the highly controlled Operating Room environment and how they might not work as well in the field and in ambulances. From initial investigation ideas, to recor...
DC151 Interview: Memoir Design with David Loehr and Greg Swenson
July 25, 2021 21:24 - 44 minutes - 47.7 MBTim Keirnan interviews author David Loehr and designer Greg Swenson about the new memoir That's How Strong My Love Is: From Rock and Roll to James Dean. The memoir is an insider's perspective of rock and roll history, James Dean legacy, fashion, pop culture, and the counterculture of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s from New York to LA. This book is unique in that David, the world's foremost archivist of James Dean's remarkable life and career, saved so many artifacts from his own interesting life ex...
DC150 Critique: BinaxNow COVID Self Test
July 03, 2021 22:16 - 18 minutes - 26 MBThis is a solo episode in which I critique the design of Abbott's BinaxNow Covid-19 Antigen Self Test. This test is available in retail stores (in the USA a pack of two is, at this time, about $20). It tests for proteins one's body makes when fighting a Covid-19 infection, the symptoms of which not everyone experiences in the same way. The use of rapid antigen self tests could revolutionize public health for COVID and beyond. Imagine getting ready to visit someone you love whose health is co...
DC149 Critique: Garmin Dash Cameras
May 08, 2021 01:05 - 53 minutes - 45.5 MBEric Penn rejoins Tim Keirnan on the show for a critique of Garmin dash cameras. And on this show you know we bought them with our own money, no review units or other favors from the manufacturer. The guys discuss the following models: * nuviCam LMTHD that combines a GPS with a dash cam * Garmin 35 * Garmin 46 * Garmin Mini In both Eric's and Tim's critiques, Garmin customer support was a big positive to the customer experience. The products were useful and usable, without any outstandin...
DC148 Interview: Charlotte Purvis on The Customer Communication Formula
February 28, 2021 16:00 - 44 minutes - 36.4 MBCharlotte Purvis joins Timothy Keirnan for a discussion about ensuring good user experience with customer service professionals. When we call an organization for help with a product or service, these people are on the front line of customer interaction. How well they assist us will impact our perceptions of a product and the brand of the company that sold it. Charlotte's new book is The Customer Communication Formula: How to Communicate with your Customers and Boost your Customer Service Bra...
DC147 Purism Librem 5 Smartphone Hardware Impressions
January 02, 2021 12:45 - 24 minutes - 45.2 MBThe Librem 5 is Purism's re-envisioning what a smartphone could be and should be. It runs on Purism's own Linux distribution PureOS, which is certified by the Free Software Foundation to be free of non-transparent, proprietary code such as many commercial products use. The "Evergreen" batch of Librem 5 phones is the first official production model, and possesses unique qualities not found in most smart phones: * Hardware switches to turn on/off camera, microphone, WiFi, Bluetooth, and cel...
DC146 Susan Weinschenk on 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People
November 12, 2020 03:09 - 51 minutes - 41.8 MBSusan Weinschenk joins Tim Keirnan to discuss the second edition of her wonderfully useful and usable book 100 Things Every Designer Should Know About People. First published in 2011, 100 Things... has helped many kinds of professionals and students learn to be better designers. https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/100-things-every/9780136746959/ Visit Susan's company at https://theteamw.com/ Susan has been on the show multiple times over our 15 years and you may enjoy hearing these ol...
DC145 15th Anniversary Episode with Two Special Guests
October 07, 2020 03:39 - 53 minutes - 38 MBWe're 15 years old! Tim Keirnan is joined by show co-founder Tom Brinck plus UX legend Stephanie Rosenbaum for a celebration of the show's 15th anniversary. From July 2005 to October 2020, we've kept going when other shows faded away. Where did the time go? But time discussing product and service design is always well spent. Tom and Stephanie continue our discussion series on the buzzwordification of UX--the good and the bad of our terminology becoming popular in the past five years--and m...
DC144 Sunday Times Website Dark Pattern
August 08, 2020 22:31 - 14 minutes - 13.8 MBThis is a short episode on the dark pattern of not allowing a customer to leave a service without unnecessary effort. The Sunday Times website does not allow users to cancel their digital subscription on the site. It took a 15 minus chat online to accomplish what should take one minute and a couple clicks. Hear all about it and think about what decisions like this mean to an organization hell-bent on annoying customers. The Dark Patterns website referred to in this episode is at https://...
DC143 Interview: Kelly Goto on Universal Design and More
June 10, 2020 02:13 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBKelly Goto, owner and principal of gotomedia and gotoresearch, joins Timothy Keirnan for a discussion about universal design and related topics. Dave M-R and Tim discussed Kelly's excellent 2018 article about professional terminology in episode 135 last year. Now she is on the show herself to cover a fun range of topics, including Universal Design, Inclusive Design, Accessibilty, Japanese design, and Designing for an aging population It's 45 minutes of serious discussion that does...
DC142 Critique: Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
May 01, 2020 01:57 - 48 minutes - 34.2 MBLarry Rusinsky returns to the show to help Tim critique the Bose QuietComfort 25 acoustic noise canceling headphones. The links referred to in the episode include: How Noise Canceling Headphones Work Comparison of the Bose QuietComfort 25 with the 35 Bose: Why Audiophiles Should Stop the Hate Bose Store Locator
DC141 Interview: Ladder Fire Truck Design with Chief Dan Phillips
February 23, 2020 16:28 - 1 hour - 62 MBChief Phillips of the Plymouth Township Fire Department has the mind of a firefighter and the heart of a User Experience designer. Join him and Tim Keirnan for a sequel to our pumper truck design episode, this time to discuss the design of our township's new ladder truck. How does the purpose of a ladder truck differ from a pumper truck? What did the fire department learn from ordering and using the pumper truck that improved their design of the new ladder truck? How is the human machine ...
DC140 Critique: Tesla Model 3
December 20, 2019 17:24 - 1 hour - 71.9 MBTesla Model 3 owners Ryan Malcolm and Syed Ibrahim join Tim Keirnan for a thorough critique of their cars while Tim moderates this ad-free, in-depth discussion. We follow the show's Critique by Values model to learn how Ryan and Syed experienced each of the phases of product experience: Encounter Decision Purchase Initial Use Longitudinal Use This is not a review of the car as much as it is a conversation about people's transportation needs and how the Model 3 fit into their current l...
DC139 WordCast: Paul Fitts, his Law, and his List
November 24, 2019 19:26 - 32 minutes - 26.5 MBDr. Rebecca Grier joins Tim Keirnan for a wordcast episode about Fitts' Law and Fitts' List. Who was Paul Fitts and how did this legendary psychologist impact our design professions to this day? In a beautiful bit of synchronicity, Wired magazine published this excellent article about Fitts and Chapanis solving a design problem on the B-17 Flying Fortress during WWII.: https://www.wired.com/story/how-dumb-design-wwii-plane-led-macintosh/ Dr. Grier recommends the following links to use i...
DC138 Conversation: The Buzzwordification of UX #2
September 13, 2019 02:37 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBJared Spool and Dana Chisnell join Tim Keirnan for a conversation about what Tim is calling the "buzzwordification" of UX. Has the increasing notoriety of this profession label helped us? Has it hindered us? Maybe it's a balance of pro and con. Maybe we just need to meet in a rental car in a parking garage somewhere in Dearborn and hash it out. Jared can be found at User Interface Engineering and the Center Centre school. Check the UIE site for his upcoming appearances in a city near you. ...
DC137 Critique: The Brilliant Mundane of the E-SDS KVM Switch
August 09, 2019 01:54 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MBMike Velasco joins Timothy Keirnan to critique the E-sds HDMI 2 Port KVM Switch Box. This item enables the use of two computers with a shared keyboard (K), video monitor (V), and mouse (M). The holistic excellence of this product is surprising. When a company does the mundane as well as this product, it shows what can be done with all details gotten right. From its excellent user interface, to its rugged build quality, to its beautiful packaging, to its well-written and well-illustrated do...
DC136 Interview: Paul Axente on UX in Romania and Everywhere
June 30, 2019 02:05 - 56 minutes - 22.9 MBPaul Axente, host of meetup group UX City and producer of the new Design Conversations podcast, joins Tim Keirnan for a wide-ranging discussion about UX in Romania and other topics, including: * UX City's purpose and meetings * Paul's unique route to a UX career * The Design Conversations podcast * Dark patterns in online retail * Concerns about Amazon's long-term effects on customers and communities * Paul's reservations about "corporate command" in the design process * Ethics of des...
DC135 Profession Labels for "Designers of Stuff" with Dave MR
May 13, 2019 00:19 - 36 minutes - 25.3 MBDave Mitropoulos-Rundus returns to talk with Tim Keirnan about labels for our field. This continues our long-running friendly discussion about what we call our profession and why, and is there a difference--or should there be--between User Experience and Customer Experience? Dave appreciates the terminology differences whereas Tim wonders why we make such fine distinctions when at the root level we're all "Designers of Stuff". Kelly Goto's excellent 2018 article: https://www.gotoresearch...
DC134 The Buzzwordification of UX (1 of ?)
March 14, 2019 02:04 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBKeith Instone and Serena Rosenhan both return to the show for an episode about UX and "buzzwordification". The last 3-4 years have seen a big rise in the use UX terminology in the media and among coworkers. What are the advantages and disadvantages for UX practitioners now that UX has become popular beyond academia and professional societies? Tim Keirnan sets up the roundtable discussion and the wisdom pours out of these two veteran UX professionals. The fireplace crackling gets a bit loud...
DC133 Wordcast: Minimum Viable Product with Syed Ibrahim
February 24, 2019 03:24 - 41 minutes - 28.9 MBSyed Ibrahim returns to the show to talk with Tim about his side project, Shoutouts.app. Syed's story of creating this web application is a terrific example of doing a minimum viable product. He candidly shares both advantages and disadvantages of releasing an MVP, and walks us through the details of having an idea, acting on it to create something that works at a basic level for a specific audience, and getting it out there to continue learning and enhancing it. You can find Syed at http...
DC132 Critique: Fiskars StaySharp Max reel mower
December 16, 2018 03:22 - 44 minutes - 15.6 MBBen Woods joins Tim Keirnan for a single point perspective on the Fiskars StaySharp Max reel mower. Needing neither gasoline nor electricity, this lawnmower is completely powered by the user to cut the lawn. Ben discusses the values that led to his wanting this mower and his experience with it over several summer months of use. As usual we follow the critique structure to learn his experience with Encounter Decision Purchase Out of the Box Longitudinal Use Ben can be found at www...
DC131 Interview: Fire Engine Design with Chief Dan Phillips
October 28, 2018 13:24 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBFire Department Chief Dan Phillips joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion about designing the new fire engine for Plymouth Township, Michigan. How does a fire department decide which features are most needed, most wanted, and affordable for a given budget and for the the engine's coverage area? Unlike most passenger cars, a new fire engine is custom built and takes ten months to deliver. Their cost is over half a million US$. The pressure is on a department to get it right, because the service...
DC130 Interview: Giles Colborne, Author of Simple and Usable 2nd Edition
August 20, 2018 01:37 - 43 minutes - 30.3 MBAuthor Giles Colborne returns to Design Critique to talk with Tim Keirnan about the new second edition of Simple and Usable: Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design. Simple and Usable is one of the best books on UX we've owned in our careers. The contents are simple and usable just as the title promises, and this is one book that both practitioners and stakeholders will benefit from reading. Giles and Tim talk for 40 minutes about various topics including Giles' career having progressed alo...
DC129 Critique: Milwaukee Vertical Toolbox
June 10, 2018 19:08 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBMike Velasco joins Tim Keirnan for a critique of the Milwaukee 13" Jobsite Work Box. This tool box is oriented vertically in contrast with conventional tool box designs, which provides both advantages and disadvantages. While Mike enjoys the design and uses his tool box regularly, Tim has not been as impressed despite the numerous positives of the product's design and construction. This is why we do the show! Good designs of even "simple" products like a tool box cannot always please every u...
DC128 Interview: Gene Duarte, Industrial Designer at Mychanic
April 25, 2018 02:20 - 49 minutes - 20 MBIndustrial designer Gene Duarte joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion about the Pod Light and the Blade Multi Light, two of Gene's designs for Mychanic. As Head of Product Development, Gene tells the story behind the designs of these two creative and usable reinterpretations of the shop light. Tim has used them successfully for ten months and explains why they serve his needs in the garage and the house so well. Well done, Mychanic You can find Gene's Pod Light and Blade MultiLight at http:...
Update: Molly Fuller Design's Indiegogo Campaign
April 11, 2018 01:37 - 4 minutes - 2.18 MBMolly Fuller from episode 127 returns to tell us about her Indiegogo campaign to fund development of more stylish and affordable compression clothing for teens with autism and sensory disorders. Check it out at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/molly-fuller-design-clothing/x/16724313#/ and http://www.mollyfuller.design
DC127 Interview: Molly Fuller on Medical Fashion Design
March 21, 2018 01:34 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBMolly Fuller joins Tim Keirnan to discuss creating stylish clothing for teens with autism spectrum disorder or other sensory needs. Her clothing designs use compression as a form of deep pressure for comfort and relaxation. Medical clothing does not have to look “medical” and she tells us about her interest in fashion design in school, and her tying it together with her career in medical service design, including working at the famous Mayo Clinic. You can learn more about Molly and her pr...
DC126 Critique: Toro and Craftsman Snowblowers
February 28, 2018 02:26 - 53 minutes - 21.3 MBLet it snow! This episode finds Tim and guest cohost Mike Velasco talking about the customer experience of snowblowers. Or snowthrowers. Tim relates his newbie snowblower customer experience with the Toro SnowMaster 724 QXE while Mike relates his long history with snowblowers in general and his Craftsman 881730. In a world where the word "innovation" is all too often misused by advertisers and Silicon Valley snake oil salespeople, the Toro is truly innovative. The light weight, the joystic...
DC125 Critique: Reizen Jumbo Talking Calculator
December 31, 2017 01:43 - 33 minutes - 15.2 MBAccessibility expert Mike Elledge joins Tim Keirnan for an out-of-the-box critique of the Reizen 12-Digit Jumbo Talking Calculator. This calculator has many features that make it a good choice for people with low vision or coordination troubles, with its oversized buttons and display and its ability to speak values entered and calculated. However, Mike finds opportunities for improvement, including the typeface chosen for the buttons, the very small and distant minus symbol and other symbo...
DC124 Critique: Ford FiestaST
November 21, 2017 03:19 - 1 hour - 47.4 MBEric Penn and Ryan Claffey join Timothy Keirnan for a critique of the Ford FiestaST. We never pretend to be objective on Design Critique, as we are too honest. We admit our biases so you know where our opinions are coming from. In this product category, our bias is small sporty cars with less mass and great handling that let you feel what's going on. The Ford FiestaST is a hot hatchback that won our undying admiration from the first drive. Tim calls it the American MINI Cooper, and he ough...
DC123 Critique: Motorola MotoG4 Android Phone
August 22, 2017 02:58 - 46 minutes - 18.7 MBSyed Ibrahim joins Tim Keirnan for a critique of the Motorola MotoG4 smart phone. While the G4 was touted as an affordable, "pure, clutter-free version of Android", Tim's experience was anything but pure Android. Syed's expert Android wisdom provides a counterpoint to Tim's confusion and disappointment as the discussion ranges from the pluses and minuses of the G4 to the shortcomings of various reviews of the phone when it came out. Our conclusion is that, if the botched implementation of t...
DC122 Critique: Garmin BaseCamp, Plus Email from Listener Costan
June 30, 2017 02:12 - 54 minutes - 22 MBWe return to the Garmin Nuvi 2598LMTH to try Garmin's companion application for it, BaseCamp. Aravindh Baskaran is back to help Tim Keirnan try to create a customized commute route in to the office and upload the route to the GPS unit. This is a very informal usability test and Tim wanted Aravindh around because the first time Tim tried to do this, he was not successful. Aravindh has used Base Camp to create car club routes on back roads with the Windows version of BaseCamp, so he is acting ...
DC121 Critique: Garmin Nuvi 2598LMTHD, Plus Email from Listener Katie
March 02, 2017 01:32 - 1 hour - 20.8 MBAravindh Baskaran joins Tim Keirnan for a critique of the Garmin Nuvi 2598LMTHD. We follow our usual critique structure that includes the following: Encounter Decision Purchase Out of the Box Initial Use Longitudinal Use The Garmin 2598 is an interesting mixture of excellence and frustration. On the positive side, we found that * The map screens, both day and night versions, are very well designed. * The voice sounds terrific because it is both pleasant stylistically and cuts th...
DC120: 2003 Subaru WRX Longitudinal Review
December 31, 2016 22:55 - 1 hour - 26.3 MBThe Subaru WRX is a legend, and life is too short not to drive legends. The "bug eye" version of this all wheel drive sporty car from 2002 and 2003 was a success worldwide but especially in the North American market where it was the first time we got this car. Later generations of the car delighted owners as well, yet the bugeye models delighted customers in a unique way that the newer cars do not duplicate for all their recent advantages. What made the bugeye WRX so attractive then and to...