Manoj Pillai

Developing wow products

From the speech at the Bangalore Design Meetup

It’s a written truth that if you want to develop a product which others want to call Great or a sound like ‘WOW’ you have to work really really hard. It’s not a miracle or merely an accident

I really wonder about people who ignore UI aspect when they develop a product. Ofcourse engineering is important. But equally important is usability. You have to put money and effort to make a fantastic user experience when people use your dear product. It’s not an easy job

I have a chance to work with best engineers available in India especially when I was a consultant to many companies. But the truth is truth. They are having a very little understanding in user experience design. I think our technical institutes must look into it very seriously when they develop curriculum for engineering. Ofcouse our engineers are very good in developing models which aim at implementation. But users always look at models from a conceptual point of view

I found people who are all confused about Visual design and interaction design. Both will fill up the core idea of usability. Visual design is designing the application and interaction design is developing the flow , navigation and information architecture.

There is a close relation between the functionality of the application and product user experience design. You have to ensure a smooth user experience to achieve product functionality without frustration and making the user think too much.

I just love making sketches and developing wireframe using PowerPoint if I stuck with an idea. Also there are lot of online wireframe making software there you can quickly make mock ups to give your ideas flesh and blood. The core idea is that if you have a working wireframe you can test it whenever you want. You have to test your product again and again on various platforms and systems. You have to test it early. You testers must be the users who must be you’re the people you are looking forward to buy it. Then only you can develop a good user exp.

Before we move ahead with engineering we have to test the usability aspect of the idea and you have to find out how feasible the idea to get a business and to what extent the customers willing to shell out some money to buy the product you develop.

To be continued..

Manoj Pillai has 11 years experience in the field of IT product development and management and worked as a consultant to Cisco for their top clients like Verizon, Singapore Telecommunications, Dubai Government and Cisco’s own HR management system. Manoj holds MBA in Systems from the prestigious University of Mumbai. Currently he lives in Bangalore, India. He can be contacted at mmpillai_2000@yahoo.com

Ria

Where is the next part?

28 June 10 at 10:20

manoj

Hi Ria. I am recollecting what i was preaching:) Give me sometime

28 June 10 at 10:21

My review of iPhone4

I was or am an ardent fan of Apple since I began to use apple products. I always amazed at their creative power and design. When I came to know in 2007 that apple is entering into mobile phone making I really got thrilled by changes of innovation going to happen in our mobile life.

Now it’s 2010. Three years have been passed since Apple launched its first iPhone. It’s a revolutionary or game changing product in mobile phone world. Let me review their new gadget iPhone4

1)Oh boy, my iPhone is so old

If you are using the previous versions of iPhone, you will be ashamed to use it again after seeing the latest iPhone4. It’s a classy new look loaded with incredible new features making your old iPhone far outdated. Apple must think about it and adopting an easy approach to exchange their old Iphone with the latest ones.

2)What a look and feel!

Yes, it’s sleek and comes with two attractive colors. It’s so thin approximately (0.37 inch or 9.3 mm) compared to your iPhone 3G which is nearly ½ inch thick. Look wise your friends will be happy when you show to your pals and a gadget that you will be proud to hold it. Its classic metallic look is eyeing catching stuff that Apple paid lot of attention when they develop their next generation gadgets. The stainless steel rim is the secret behind this though it’s the phone antina! The front and back glass covering is a must attraction

3)In India we love multitasking and my iPhone too

All including me love multitasking especially when we use a smart phone. Apple made your life easy! With iPhone 4 you do multitasking like never before. When you do any activity you can go ahead with with background activity like sending an email and listening to your favourite song. The happy news is that this won’t come at the cost of your battery!

4)My digital camera is a waste now

I spent around 6K for my Olympus digital camera. Now with IPhone4 do I really need a digital camera? I am sure wherever I go, my iPhone will follow me with 5 megapixel camera on its LED flash for a perfect frame to capture sharp and clarity images. I was so sad about the picture quality I was getting from my old iPhone 3Gs. It’s a great enhancement and will prompt so many users to buy iPhone4 only on this reason. That includes me. Apple went far with adding an additional front camera to enable the iPhone for video talking. It captures images 30 frames/sec. The light sensor will definitely will enhance the quality of the pictures taken.

5)With iPhone 4 I will never forget my way!

I always thought about the enormous scope of the online mapping features. iPhone 4 with its added gyroscope . Its motion sensing capability is second to none in this category and must tech for gaming and mapping features. iPhone 4 is the only gadget with its three axis gyroscope.
This new technology will make the motion sensing with more precision capability something that game addicts always wished for

6)I always concerned about my phone battery and speed. No concern now

Apple gives power to iPhone 4 with its A4 processor chip, a powerful chip machine in this category. Engineers at Apple struggled a lot to make it too small so that they can accommodate a much bigger battery. The processor I am taking about knows well on how to make an efficient use of your battery. Your iPhone battery is big that means, more life expectancy. 7 hours for 3G talk and 6 hours for 3G browsing makes me so happy

7)I am more pixilated like never before!

Your viewing experience is a treat with new iPhone along with your movie and gaming outlook. Apple allows display with 326 pixel/inch with a 3.5 retina display. It’s not limited to this only. IPhone latest addition called IPS technology is perfect for wider viewing angles and more columns

8)Now onwards I am a videographer with my iPhone

I think the most powerful feature Steve added to this magic gadget is the powerful video features. It will help you record high quality video with 720 pixels to 30 frames per sec with sound. Its powerful video editing features will seamlessly edit your videos. You can also do video and photo geotagging. Here only limitation is your imagination
I really suggest that Reliance will get a tie-up with Apple to deliver iPhone 4 with an affordable price in India. It also will make good exchange and up gradation plans. I can’t expect this from Vodaphone and AIrtel. But Reliance can become a trend setter in this space

What you think about this review? Please write to me at mmpillai_2000@yahoo.com or add comments

Mike

Hi Manoj I bought iPhone4. Its far ahead of its previous versions. I have just started to look into other features. ...

9 June 10 at 08:16

12 Blogs I love to read before I sleep

1.Silicon Valley Product Group

2.Lead on Purpose – Blog by Michael Ray Hopkin

3.Ask a good product Manager by Jeff Lash – Your product management questions answered

http://ask.goodproductmanager.com/

4.Productmarketing.com by Steve Johnson

5.Good Product Manager by Jeff Lash – Blog on product management by Jeff Lash

6.Accidental Product Manager by Jim Anderson

http://www.theaccidentalpm.com/

7.ProductManagement on Alltop

8.The Cranky Product Manager

9.The Productologist by Ivan Chalif

10.Customers Rock by Becky Carroll – Everything about customers and business profit by making customers happy

http://customersrock.wordpress.com/

11.M4B Marketing Blog by Susan Oakes

12.On Product Management by Saeed Khan

My apple iPAD mockup

This is what my imagination of iPad. I just made a mock up to imagine and eagarly waiting for the apple iPAD to touch the market.