Consuelo Valdes

Using the Kinect to identify pinch to select menus and change tool options. #verycool #clever

This demonstrates an alternative to the ribbon system that Word currently uses. It demonstrates that presenting all possible options speeds up action completion time more than it overwhelms a user visually because of the consistent location of the menu and the mode of accessing the menu: resulting in spatial memory, in addition, to the muscle memory of the action (pressing the control key).

I’m sure you are familiar with the idea that the more individuals you have committed to a cause; the more powerful your actions or contributions toward the cause will be. A conversation with a colleague got me thinking about this. He was reflecting on the administrative flaws of his previous employer. They would set a plan in action towards a goal and always come up short, time and again, reallocating resources for other projects. This issue transcends time, sectors, and project/organization size.

In my experience with a larger institution, I found the problem to be too many leaders. In any large group, there are many leaders that have goals and dreams for their role in the group: a department head drives for more resources, a leader in public relations will push for a revamp in public image, a software engineer new to a project might push for a clean start to replace an existing code-base in favor of a particular coding paradigm, etc. Think of the organization as a wheel and rather than having all the spokes support it evenly, the leadership surplus can result in a wonky wheel because some spokes are going for more wight than they can handle.

On the other hand, I’ve come across the opposite problem with several start-ups and small-group projects: no leadership. The issue in this case seems to be that the number is so small that, chances are, everyone is personally involved with the group members. This means that there are personal implications to a group members behavior, if someone takes on the role of leader they might offend their peers and adversely affect the group. This is typically the case in organically formed groups where roles are not assigned. Oddly enough, I’ve also experienced the “too many leader” tug of war as a result of a leader sprouting after the “no leader” problem in a small group.

So the question becomes: Is there a magic number for a successful organization? [Note: Obviously, this is not a rule or the end-all-be-all in terms of group structure, with the existence of so many successful businesses and organizations of all sizes.] I think the key is scalability, as in most things. Start small and organized with the vision of what’s to come. Similar to the beginnings of a code project or in constructing of a building: you need to start with a plan, create a base or scaffolding, and iterate while increasing your fidelity or resources towards your goal.

For those of you who don’t know, I live for pen and touch interaction. That is why I side with Microsoft instead of Apple [Courier]. Since the Courier died I have been anxiously waiting for the next big thing to bring this style of interaction to the forefront of tech. I bought a Pocket eDGe hoping for this seamless interaction and was sorely disappointed by the very disconnected interaction between the two screens and the poor touch capabilities. At UIST 2010, I was super excited by the interactions explored in the Pen + Touch = New Tools paper with the Surface app Manual Deskterity.

Manual Deskterity Demo

The point is, the Galaxy Note was basically destined to be my phone because it integrates pen and touch well, in ways that tablets and other smart phones don’t when you just buy a stylus for them. (This is mostly because of S Memo and S Planner, which pair sketches and handwritten notes in ways other phones don’t yet.)

Unfortunately, the Galaxy Note is not carried by Verizon, putting me in that awkward place that loyal iPhone users know so well, where AT&T has what you want and you have no other options. I was ready to switch despite the fact that it would be $20 more per month for fewer features.

Anyway, I decided to sign up for a new contract online because it’s usually easier and cheaper that way.  Plus, I like to read through disclosures, research funky options, make sure I know what I’m getting into. I went through the preliminary steps, filling out my information, credit check approved, then I got to the disclosures. Something sounded scary in the disclosure so I called AmazonWireless support just to clarify. Everything was OK, but when I got back to agree to the disclosures, I was logged out! I had been on the phone for maybe ten minutes.

I’d have to go through all that again. I’d have to agree to another credit check which is sketchy and brings down your credit rating. So, Verizon, here I stay with the Galaxy Nexus S. A great phone, but not my phone. *tear*