Monday, April 7, 2014

[conference] KR Mobile Week 2013

Title
KR Mobile Week 2013
Place
COEX Grand Ballroom 101
Time
July 15, 2013 10AM~5PM
Speaker
Chris Yerga, Dan Galpin, Haisoo Shin and more
Organizer
Google Korea
Focus
Android, Google+, YouTube API

I.       Welcome & Keynote [yerga@; Chris Yerga, Engineering Director]

II.      Android Platform Updates [dgalpin@; Dan Galpin, Developer Advocate for the Android team]
1.       Updates
1)      Google Play service updates
  Google Maps Android API v2
  Location APIs
A       Fused Location Provider- more accurate result
B       Geofencing- (A geo-fence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. <source: Wikipedia>)
C       Activity Recognition- help users measure physical activity
  Google+ Sign-In
  Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)- synced messaging
A       GCM (Definition: a service that helps developers send data from servers to their Android applications on Android devices, or from servers to their Chrome apps and extensions. <source: Wikipedia>)
2)      Google Play game services updates
  Cloud save
  Achievements- share achievement w/ friends
  Leaderboards- how much better you are compared to friends
  Multiplayer- through mashed network
3)      updated Android Studio, NDK
2.       What’s next?- Faster UI, reordering & merging, multi-threading, Bluetooth LE (low energy), Android on TV (Latest Chrome, Project Butter, NDK)

III.     YouTube API Platform Updates [amandas@; Amanda]
1.       Updates
1)      YouTube- is a platform that can empower the next generation of video-based businesses
  Tastemade (food network)
2)      YouTube API
  Creation
  Disocvery + context
A       Topics API- e.g. intersante (recommendation), Soundslice
  Live streaming- e.g. elgato
  BuzzFeed
  Enterprise- E.g. mediastudio
  Analyticis + promotion- audience analytics (e.g. tubular’s awesomenesstv), trend meter (e.g. Next Big Sound; for artists how to improve their marketing)

IV.     Google+ Platform Updates [cartland@; Chris Cartland, Developer Programs Engineer]
1.       Updates
1)      Google+ benefit: one identity (one google account) relationships (circles),  sharing and recommendations (share w/ the right people)
2)      Social Sign-in Examples
  The Guardian- user choices (facebook, g+, twitter, etc)-> user control
  Snapette- increased user registration by 16%
  Fandango- app installs-, 40% acceptance rate for over-the-air installs
  Fancy- cross-platform single signon
  OpenTable- explicit sharing (interactive post), deep linking
  Glamour- YouTube integration
  Forbes- content recommendations
  Flixster- Google Calendar integration

V.      Google+ Sign-In partner Fancy.com talk [Haisoo Shin, Director of Engineering at Fancy]- G+ Sign-In
1.       Fancy service intro
1)      Fancy- means like
2)      USP- includes purchase function
2.       Key takeaways
1)      Barrier examples for users- discovery, app installation, sign-up, payment
2)      An example to lower registration barrier- Google+ Sign In
3)      Examples to enhance installation and discovery function- app installs, interactive posts, cross-platform SSO, etc.

VI.    Play Services API (Location / GCM) [htchan@; Tony Chan, Android Developer Advocate]
1.       Updates (for Google I/O video: bit.ly/io13-android)
1)      Notification
  Cloud Connection Server (CCS), Upstream Message, User Notifications, etc.
  CCS vs. GCM
2)      Location APIs- using sensors like gyro, barometer, accelerometer, GPS
  High accuracy- 10 meters, 5 sec
  balanced power- 40 meters, 20 sec
  no power- 1 mile, N/A
3)      activity recognition- vehicle, on foot, still, on bicycle
4)      Geofencing
2.       Key takeaway
1)      How to combine two Geofenching & GCM: e.g. promotion in a geofence

VII.   Supercharge your Apps with the YouTube API Platform [jarekw@; Jarek Wiliewicz, Developer Advcate]
1.       Updates (4 kinds)
1)      Creators- Creation e.g. elgato, everyplay,
2)      Viewers
3)      Enterprises
4)      Marketers
2.       Reference: youtube.com/dev

VIII.  Modern Android Design [pakoch@; Adam Koch, Android Developer Advocate]
1.       Updates
1)      Design patterns: navigation, navigation drawer, unofficial patterns
  Action bar: consistent bar (component: brand/app icon, drop-down spinnup, search, movie), Action Overflow (extra options)
  Navigation: spinner (drop-down navigation item), fixed tabs (underneath action bar), scrollable tabs, drawer (primarily for main app navigation, Action Bar stays in place, Drawer overlays content)
  Navigation Drawer Interaction: introduce the drawer on first use, give the user a quick peek, highlight the current screen)
  Unofficial patterns: Fading Action Bar (introduced in Google Play Music, part of other Play apps as well), Swipe to Refresh (experimental pattern, currently only used by Gmail app), Action Drawer (used by Google+, One Today for app notifications, shows scrollable list of items), Cards
2)      Responsive design: why responsive?, SlidingPanelLayout, Other tips
  Device variety- screen size, resolution, vertical to horizontal support
  Why responsive? – android:layout_width=”match_parent”
  Combination- side-by-side
  Fragments
  Master/Detail Flow template-> File > New> Android Object
  SlideingPaneLayout- enough room then show everything, if no, then slides to the right (e.g. Google I/O 2013 app)
  Dimension files- page_margin, headline_text_size, etc)
3)      Pure Android: Why Android/Holo?, Balancing Brand andPlatform Consistency
  Why design Android/Holo?
A       Better User Experience- Platform consistency, intuitive use of app, improved usability, engaging content-first design)
B       Easier, More Robust Technical Implementation- designed to handle hardware variations such as screen sized, densities, on-screen vs. hard navigation buttons, OS version and device compatibility)
C       Beautiful, Flexible Design- efficient use of white space and typography
D       Brand consistency- split into IA, IxD, Visual design
4)      Examples- Fancy (card base, scale on a different sizes), Expedia (split screen into 2 for tablet), TED (action bar, thumbnails)
2.       Reference
1)      Google I/O 2013: Google.com/io
2)      Android Design in Action: androidDesignInAction.com
3)      Android Design Site: developer.android.com/design
4)      Navigation Drawer: developer.android.com/design/patterns
5)      Responsive Design: Goo.gl/RY1dT
6)      Other resources: goo.gl/hh8pg

IX.     How to build a great Android app [khmin@;Kyunghwan Min, Korea Lead, Apps & Games Google Play]
1.       Key takeaways
1)      ABC of Building Application
  all screen size adaptable
  Android design guidelines (esp. Action Bar, Navigation, Pure Android)
A       #1: Action Bar- delete unnecessary items
B       #2: Navigation (Up vs. Back)- in game, back button-> pause
C       #3: Pure Android- use Google identity icons (e.g. no text included icon, no right arrow, use API)
  Quality Checklist
  Localized screenshot, video, etc
2)      ABC of Marketing Application
  Create an awesome Play store listing
A       Feature Graphic- need a promotion banner (device image, screenshot)
B       Description, Title- use user query, be careful in using promotional description
C       Icon- use unique representative icon
  Simplify Sign-in w/ G+- drive downloads/ increase engagement
  Increase downloads through Play badging- e.g. Get it On Google play
  Immediate Play- get ready for users to start playing games right away (include GUEST LOGIN icon)
2.       Reference
1)      developer.android.com/distribute
2)      play.google.com/+

X.      New words
1.       Schema: In psychology and cognitive science, a schema (plural schemata or schemas), describes an organized pattern of thought or behavior. It can also be described as a mental structure of preconceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information. <source: Wikipedia>
2.       URI: In computing, a uniform resource identifier is a string of characters used to identify a name or a web resource <source: Wikipedia> c.f. http://goo.gl/4XGVDv
3.       JSON: or JavaScript Object Notation, is a text-based open standard designed for human-readable data interchange. It is derived from the JavaScript scripting language for representing simple data structures and associative arrays, called objects. Despite its relationship to JavaScript, it is language-independent, with parsers available for many languages. <source: Wikipedia>
4.       Geo-fence: A geo-fence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. <source: Wikipedia>
5.       Taxonomy: is the process of naming and classifying things such animals and plants into groups within a larger system, according to their similarities and differences <source: Collins Cobuild>
6.       Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)- is a service that allows you to send data from your server to your users' Android-powered device, and also to receive messages from devices on the same connection. The GCM service handles all aspects of queuing of messages and delivery to the target Android application running on the target device. GCM is completely free no matter how big your messaging needs are, and there are no quotas. <source: developer.android.com>
7.       Alan Kay- Alan Curtis Kay (born 17 May 1940) is an American computer scientist known for his early pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface design. <source: Wikipedia> 

[event] AdSense OPG Korean Blogger Event 2014

Title
AdSense OPG Korean Blogger Event 2014 (<-not an official title)
Place
Gangnam Finance Center 23rd Fl.
Time
January 9, 2014
Speaker
HyeIn Kim, Sewon Yoon
Organizer
Google Korea
Focus
money-making tips for bloggers

I.       Message
1.       be No 1. on SRP; if can’t, be No 1 in contents
2.       if wanting to draw new visitors, open up new pages related to current hot keywords
3.       design website focused on visitor demographics: e.g. for moms, use bigger fonts and larger spacing between information categories
4.       get basic SEO done: e.g. use title, description, H1 tags

II.      Takeaway
1.       get AdSense on my blog

Thursday, April 3, 2014

[lecture] Policy to Create Businesses through Opening Up Public Data

Title
Policy to Create Businesses through Opening Up Public Data
Place
KAIST Dogok Software Grad School Chin’s AMP Hall 103-ho
Time
April 3, 2014 5PM~7PM
Speaker
Yong Suk Lee
Organizer
KAIST Software Graduate School
Focus
available public data

I.       Message
1.       Common examples of open data
1)      GPS data: street navigation
2)      Transportation data: Seoul Bus iPhone app
2.       Concepts of openness: open everything except 8 categories of information (e.g. corporate private info)
3.       Data providers- data.go.kr (c.f. data.gov, data.gov.uk)
4.       Best practice
1)      Inside Korea- Smart Big Board for national emergency watch, Vitamin MD (MediLatte), SweetTracker (스마트택배), 모두컴퍼니 (모두의 주차장)
2)      Outside of Korea- Zillow (real estate info)
  Date combination=> Zestimate: real estate + GIS info (Maponics)+ population stat info + academic sector info (via GreatSchools)
5.       Data quality effort
1)      For project managers, visit or call
  issues at www.gooddata.kr 1600-2187
  use one-stop service at www.data.go.kr 1566-0025
2)      governmental standardization effort: category (e.g. parking lot-> address, phone number), term (W/C, bathroom-> restroom)
6.       Cases utilizing big data into actions
1)      Google: flu trend-> vaccine
2)      Amazon: purchase suggestion-> more purchasing
3)      Seoul City: night time phone frequency-> night time bus routing
4)      Small and Medium Business Administration: commercial area information system-> locationing businesses in lower rent and selling hot items in local area
7.       Others
1)      Open Data Barometer (ODB): more data needs to be opened in Korea [news: linksource: link]

II.      Takeaway
1.       New cases of big data: MediLatte, 스마트택배, 모두의주차장

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

[personal UX reflection: holistic approach] an enlightening thought about product development at a civil-defense training

story: At a civil-defense training today esp. on fire prevention, a thought came up that designers and engineers need to take a great consideration even in selecting materials for doors knobs because the knobs can become a guiding signal whether the room behind is on fire or not by transmitting heat on the material. By making it with perhaps copper or heat-transferable material, the careful selection of material may save lives for people who are trying to escape in a panic room caused by fire. 

lesson: all people involved with product development (e..g product managers, designers, engineers) need to approach the product's design with a holistic and inclusive perspective to think beyond its directly intended function; though a decision made for a material choice for the product may seem small, the decision can save lives. 

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

[personal UX/UI review] information design for Google Knowledge Panel's "You will get updates on Google Now"


  • feature: Knowledge Panel feature on Google Search product
  • issue: not clear usage of words by "updates"
  • recommendation: if the "updates" is referring to Google+ posts, how about 
  • (1) using "Google Plus post updates" instead of "updates" to send a clear message so that users can not just be assured by where (i.e. Google Now card) the updates will be displayed and what kind of information (i.e. Google+ posts) will be updated
  • (2) removing the line under "Get updates about Kevin Kelly" and somehow put the get updates and "Recent posts" modules together so that information hierarchy is clear to understand
  • (3) inserting a new line between "Recent posts" and Books module because they are two different entity
  • lesson: in UI design, to avoid confusion sometimes it is important to specify what and where users get when they press a clickable link or button

[tool recommendation] cloud-based, annotate-able and share-able screenshot software: Monosnap

 The best screenshot tool ever for your desktop (both PC and Mac), iPhone, and iPad to annotate and share seamlessly. 

The best part is that this tool is FREE even for the usage of its cloud system! 
Because of this tool's user-friendliness, functionality and perhaps most importantly simplicity, I just couldn't close my mouth after install the program on my PC and iPhone and use it. 

Thanks to whoever designed and developed this tool. Highly recommended!

- URL: http://monosnap.com/

[Personal UX/UI review] unnecessary interaction to see iOS's Messages's time stamp



  • app: Messages (iOS's default text message app)
  • issue: the time stamp appears when swiped to the left although the space doesn't change after swiping interaction
  • recommendation: just display the time stamps so users don't even need to swipe to see when each message is sent or received