A Letter to UI Developers

Dear UI Developers,

It doesn't matter how great, cool and kick-ass your invention is; if people don't immediately get how they can use it in their daily lives to solve the problems they didn't even know they had, your baby will get left behind in the cyber-app race.

So I'd say, invest in some solid communications, pr, marketing, advertising, a key message, catch phrase, image, case study, anything...something that tells us in 140 characters or less what the tool is all about, what it can do and how it is different from the others. It makes little to no sense to come out with a powerfully new and improved creation that you and your team have mastered but the masses can't figure it out or see the relevance. Cough...Google +....Cough.

It's not good enough to communicate it excellently to start-up investors and leave the masses hanging. That's your brand and reputation on the line right there. Create some user friendly communications to go along with the tools too...persuasive writing not your thing? Get some help.

You know, sometimes you really just have to dumb it down and tell us straight up all the ways in which these inventions can improve our life and time.

Well that's all folks...as a society labelled early adopter, I eagerly anticipate the next best beta.

Peace and love.

A Case for the Sims in Life Coaching & Counselling

For those of you who are wondering...yes I am referring to the popular EA game. For those of you who were living so far under the rock you don't know what I'm talking about...I can't help you dears. Please set an appointment with Dr. Google at the earliest possible date.

Back to what I was saying. Of course the thought came to me while I was playing a game of Sims 3. I thought to myself, "this game, with it's built-in parameters, is so carefully and intricately patterned off of real life (well a version of it anyway)?." What if it can be used as a simulation tool for people (not just students)  who really need to get a grip on their lives and learn lessons such as the importance of time management, family planning, working towards career and life goals, working hard in school, maintaining relationships, fitness, budgeting, paying bills on time, understanding how attraction works...etc...the possibilities are endless.

Of course, in this grand age of shared knowledge, stimulation and inspiration it's hard to believe that I could be the only person in the world having this same or a similar train of thought. Here's a recent post from EA about the use of Sims in schools through SimCityEdu. For more information about this amazing initiative visit the SimCityEdu site and sign up for their updates.

Have you heard of any other instances of gaming in coaching, counselling or in the classroom?

For more on technology and social media news visit Social Media Daily.

Skype Disadvantages

Photo courtesy of blog.cycle-interactive.com

Well to answer my own facetious question...the only thing right about Skype is that it burst unto the scene first. Since then, Skype has been struggling to live up to the expectations of first-born child in the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) family.

Skype Issues

1. Frequent dropped calls. As if it weren't bad enough that one person has to turn off their video to "video chat"...on a good night don't even try having a long-distance voice call with a family member, friend or client.

2. More money for poor quality. In order to have a group video chat involving more than two persons you have to fork up the Moolah and that's still no guarantee the call won't get dropped.

3. Skype is no N'Sync so watch your Back Street boys. In other words be careful how you switch from device to device using the same account. Your previous chat history may never sync with another device;  for example when you switch from work laptop to home laptop or even from laptop to mobile phone. In-the-moment messages can even get delayed as one device receives the message while the one you are actually Skyping on does not. This even sounds confusing typing it...imagine in real life? Dios Mio!

Thankfully there are other notable siblings (read alternatives) in the VoIP family. One worth mentioning is the fun younger sibling, Google Hangout, on the infamously redundant Google+ social network. Quite recently I was asked to give a presentation on Skype. I did a Prezi and half way in the presentation I felt so foolish presenting on Skype so I started talking about Google Hangout :S... the notable attributes of which will be discussed in a follow-up post. So look out for that. In the mean time...

"What has been your experience of Skype?" 

For more thought-provoking articles on social media check out Social Media Daily.