Senior UX Design Engineer
Human Interface Team
7/99 - 2/04
I was the second member of the Palm HI team, responsible for the UX and look & feel of consumer applications (Palm Zire 71 camera, voice memo, and dialer), desktop clients, utilities, and on-device product tours. I also directed the implementation of color and high-resolution graphics and fonts in the Palm OS.
Founding member and manager of the Palm Human Interface (HI) Team.
Designed UX and look & feel of consumer applications (Palm Zire 71 camera, voice memo, and dialer), desktop clients, utilities, and on-device product tours.
Directed the implementation of color and high-resolution graphics and fonts in the Palm OS.
Palm Zire 71: a SIGCHI case study
As spec'ed, the original Zire 71 camera UX would have been very difficult to use. The user was expected launch the Camera app and open the handset. Or open the handset and then launch the Camera app. After taking pictures, the user would then manually export pictures to an existing Photos gallery app and then manually delete them from the Camera app. Deleting was important because there wasn’t much memory on either the Zire or compatible SD cards.
Of course, there was no time to do things the right way and create a single, integrated Camera/Photos app. So, I solved the UX problem with a little smoke and mirrors. You never saw the Camera app. It launched ONLY when you opened the Zire 71. When you closed the Zire 71, pictures were automatically exported to the Photos app, deleted from the Camera app, and the Photos app was sub-launched (force-quitting the Camera app). The users saw what appeared to be a single, unified interaction experience.
My Palm Zire 71 camera UX use case was selected for presentation at the worldwide SIGCHI meeting in Vienna. One reviewer said this was the kind of case study his students needed because UX isn’t taught the way UX is actually done in the real world.
The Zire 71 was the first Palm handset with a built-in camera. Sliding the device open reveals the camera lens and launches the camera app.
Palm OS color support
I designed the color scheme for the Palm OS in support of the launch of the Palm IIIc. The final scheme took legibility, branding, and notification into account. I was lucky to be able to hire Susan Kare of Macintosh fame to do the detailed icon illustrations.
Palm OS high-res support
I was responsible for redesigning the typefaces for the new, high-res handsets. I worked with the Dubberly Design Office to create literally thousands of character variations.
Palm OS dialer
Before Palm acquired Treo, it intended to make its own phones. I designed the dialer. My goal was to make setting up conference calls so easy that no one would ever again say, “If I drop you...” User-testing success rates were in the high 80% range. And this was designed three years before the iPhone.
Tours, installers, and set-up
Palm devices were easy to use—once you had them set up properly. I designed multiple installation and configuration sequences for both handsets and desktop computers, experiences I still draw on when designing account creation and log in sequences today.
