quiz – redesign

redesign | ux: How would you improve this Google Maps experience?

January 15, 2015June 7, 2016 Rakesh Agrawal

This quiz if focused on the items shown in the picture, specifically Budget and Avis. (Judging from the Twitter answers, that was unclear.)

Frequent travelers often rent cars. This involves picking up the car and eventually returning the car. Google could automatically track where you began your rental (in my case, Avis). When you want to return to the airport, instead of directing you to the airport terminal, it could automatically guide you back to the rental car return. One way to do this is to use GPS trace data. i.e. look at the paths of people who have rented from Avis and look at where they return the car.

Bonus points for showing me the last gas station on the route so that I don’t get stuck paying $9 a gallon to have the car rental company refill the tank. (Travel tip: You should almost never accept the prepaid fuel option.)

Some Twitter answers that reflect other issues with Google Maps.

https://twitter.com/Very_QC/status/555793461761564673

@rakeshlobster Make that chevron that denotes compass direction more visible!!! It drives me nuts!!

— Mike Burvill (@mburv) January 15, 2015

@rakeshlobster Map/compass buttons are unclear.I can never figure out which way the compass is pointing relative to how my phone oriented.

— Steve Weir (@sweir) January 15, 2015

redesignQuiz: What is wrong with this Walgreen’s retail display?

August 8, 2014 Rakesh Agrawal

Difficulty: Moderate.

Provide answer here.

redesignQuiz: What makes this brochure great?

August 5, 2014 Rakesh Agrawal

Difficulty: Easy

Provide your answer here.

Improving Amazon’s GC

August 5, 2014November 20, 2024 Rakesh Agrawal

Supposedly the Amazon app can scan real world objects. But Amazon requires you to manually enter the claim code. You should be able to scan a bar code or QR code to automatically apply the code to your account after logging in. OCR technology is also good enough that you should be able to scan the text as printed.

Amazon has a wide range of gift card products. Some of the responses focused on emailing gift cards and doing things electronically. Amazon already does that.

But Amazon also offers gift cards at retail and through incentive programs. This particular gift card was received through a credit card rewards program. I’m not exactly sure what the magnetic stripe is for, because I can’t swipe it on my computer. My best guess is that it’s for activation.

This particular card doesn’t have the scratch off; cards sold at retail do. (There used to be gift card fraud where crooks would copy down activation codes and wait for them to be activated.)

Print the card on card stock so it can be recycled or biodegrade. Whole Foods does this with their gift cards. I’ve seen other gift cards made of a plasticky corn based product.
Use all alphabetic characters. The intermingling of numbers and letters makes entering the code on mobile devices especially hard because you have to toggle between keyboards.
Make the print of the redemption code larger so that older folks or folks with vision issues can more easily read it.

iTunes already does this, making it easy to redeem Starbucks app and song of the week codes.

redesignQuiz: What is the worst flaw in these icons?

August 1, 2014 vmarks

Difficulty: Easy to moderate

These are the icons for Software Update Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632404.aspx

They are meant to show the states for Normal, Superseded, Expired, Invalid, and Meta-data only software updates.

What is the worst flaw in these icons?

Provide your answer here.

redesignQuiz: Why was this used car purchase a bad buy?

July 30, 2014 Chuck Marshall1 Comment

The image below is a CarFax report showing the title history of a used car recently purchased by an acquaintance. CarFax, in case you do not know, is the current industry leader providing auto title histories to consumers and dealers alike. CarFax markets itself as providing information that may impact the purchase decision of a car through a detailed VIN history.

For the purpose of this quiz, assume this car was sold at fair market value for a typical car of this make and model year. When I saw this CarFax report, I told my friend he should make all efforts to undo the deal immediately. There are at least two factors in this report that should have warned him away from purchasing this car for that price. List the factors and explain why this was a bad deal.

NOTE: I redacted the dealer’s name.

Submit your answer here.

redesignQuiz: Why is the tab torn on this cable I purchased from Walgreens?

July 28, 2014July 28, 2014 Rakesh Agrawal

Difficulty: Moderate

Why is the tab torn on the packaging of this cable?

Answer here.

redesignQuiz: Why is the back of the subway stairs protected with an enclosure?

July 25, 2014July 25, 2014 saranordmann

I take the subway every day, both out of necessity and because I love public transportation. The backside of the staircase in this subway station has a metal enclosure around it–what purpose does it serve? (Hint–the answer is not specific to this location.

Answer here.