If you haven't seen it yet, here is a video of Microsoft Surface 2.0. A new usability feature in this version- you can sit with your legs under the table!

If you haven't seen it yet, here is a video of Microsoft Surface 2.0

Quick Link: Eight Inspirational Interactive HTML5 Sites, plus "how-to" links, via Innovative Interactivity (II)-Tracy Boyer

I'm moving up from HTML to HTML5, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one in the world that is doing so... for that reason, I'm sharing a link to great HTML5 resources.


Enjoy exploring the HTML5 creations! 


Eight Inspirational Interactive HTML5 Sites
Tracy Boyer, Innovative Interactivity (II), 2/8/11  


For your convenience, I've borrowed a few links from Tracy's post:
HTML5 Gallery
12 Fun & Clever Examples of HTML5
10 Addictive Games That (ACTUALLY) Demonstrate The Power Of HTML5 Technology
HTML5 – Examples of interactive graphics, infographics and interactivity
Presenting an HTML5 Interactive Infographic

Mindy McAdam’s series over at Teaching Online Journalism, via Tracy Boyer:

Tips for HTML5, part 1

Tips for HTML5, part 2

Tips for HTML5, part 3: Tags we won’t see anymore

Tips for HTML5, part 4: New tags

Tips for HTML5, part 5: A closer look at selected tags

Tips for HTML5, part 6: A look at CSS3Video for HTML5: The latest update

If you are really serious about this topic, take a look at Dive into HTML5, by Mark Pilgrim.

"Where am I in this information space?" Bifocal Display Concept Video, 1982, via the Interaction Design.org Encylopedia

The following video about the Bifocal Display concept is an interesting look at how a set of ideas unfolded in the early 1980's. These ideas took flight and influenced many of the design concepts we view as "new" today.


The video was posted on the on-line Interaction Design Encyclopedia, a free, open source multimedia resource that includes a range of chapters written by leading researchers and practitioners from fields related to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Interaction Design (IXD), User Experience (UX), Information Architecture (IA), Usability, and more.



"People want to see context...." -Robert Spence

1980's Paper Prototype of  Carousel Concept (screen shot from video)

"Let's apply this idea to my in-tray,  an information that is quite varied, and often full of surprises..." -Robert Spence


For more information, see the article by Robert Spence and Mark Apperley on the Interaction -Design.org website.  Scroll down to "The Bifocal Display Explained" for great sketches of the concepts discussed in the video.  


Also take a look at the recent videos from InteractionDesign.org related to this topic.  What a great way to gain insight about the design and development process!


Video 1: Introduction to the Bifocal Display
Video 2. Main guidelines and future directions
Video 3: How the Bifocal Display was invented and launched


REFERENCE
Spence, Robert and Apperley, Mark (2011). Encyclopedia entry on Bifocal Display. Retrieved 9 February 2011 from Interaction-Design.org: http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/bifocal_display.html


RESOURCES
Interaction-Design.org YouTube Channel
Interaction-Design.org

Toyota Vision Multi-Touch Wall at the 2011 Detroit Autoshow: Good example of a collaboration between PUSH, Juxt Interactive, GPJ, and Hush (updated)

GOOD EXAMPLE!

I didn't have the chance to get up to the Detroit Auto Show and interact with the iWall, so I watched the videos.


Toyota iWall from Justin Micklish on Vimeo.


From Justin Micklish's Vimeo site:
"Named "Belle of the Ball" at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the Toyota Vision Wall is a large-format interactive installation leveraging a great deal of UX intelligence and bleeding edge technology."


This project was a collaboration between a team at PUSH Offices and Juxt Interactive (lead agency), GPJ (experience marketers), and Hush (motion graphics).


Toyota Vision Multi-Touch Wall Case Study:  A good explanation of the "how and why" of this project:

Toyota Vision Multi-Touch Wall Case Study from JUXT Interactive on Vimeo.

From the JUXT Interactive Vimeo site:
"In January, Toyota debuted the largest digital multi-touch installation ever seen at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. GPJ and JUXT Interactive created the digital touch wall experience to deliver a feast for the senses, allowing consumers to explore videos, photos and custom content through a larger-than-life, interactive surface."


RELATED
PUSH
"PUSH is a marketing & design research firm based in Venice, CA. We shirk labels and defy classifications. We have been called strategists, writers, technologists, marketers, typographers, entrepreneurs, and designers. Above all, we are curious. We make a living creating compelling experiences with our clients. Recent collaborations include work with Yahoo, West, and Sony."

Juxt Interactive 
"JUXT is a company that creates from the ground up, top to bottom, or even sideways. It kinda makes sense since we were started by a couple of architects....Lots of people ask us if we only do digital work. Well we like to think and play where people are, and these days that just happens to be the Internet. That suits us just fine because the online space has far less restrictions and barriers than other media. JUXT does not take kindly to limits, or being put in a box."
GPJ: George P. Johnson
"GPJ is the world's premier experience marketing agency, working with leading companies who are looking for innovative marketing solutions that motivate their audiences and activate their brands through live experiences."
Hush
"Hush is a design and direction studio crafting stories for digital, broadcast, mobile and physical installations. Whether using the latest technology or the most classic of techniques, we unifyu stories for agencies and brands alike."


Comment:  This post was revised on 2/11/11 to reflect a clarification from Justin MicKlish.  He's a partner and producer with Push and worked on this project with others in the role of technology consulting and software development. 

Another close encounter with in-store digital display marketing at Best Buy, bad internet TV controllers, bowling with the Kinect, and more...

Not long ago I visited a Best Buy. While I was there, I wanted to play around with the Kinect, but the demo system hadn't arrived.  As I wandered around the store, I encountered quite a few digital displays, part of  Best Buy's recent in-store digital media marketing effort.  I later shared my experience in a blog post,  Close Encounter with "Best Buy On": Example of a multi-channel marketing approach using in-store digital media that includes an on-line magazine.  


During today's visit to Best Buy,  I noticed that there were more display centers in various departments in the store, and many of the displays had useful and informative content. The Kinect demo was up and running, too.


Within the store,  I noticed a strong emphasis on HDTVs with internet capabilities. I  was hoping that the new Internet HDTVs would come with user-friendly touch-screen controllers, or at least an app for use on touch-screen smartphones, iPads, or other touch-screen tablets. 

What I found was disappointing.  On display were traditional-looking multi-button remote controllers, controllers that looked like PC keyboards,  and of course, Sony's confusing multi-featured contribution to the Internet TV scene.


None of the controllers seemed to be easy-to-use, or capable of supporting web-navigation and other web interactions on HDTVs from a distance, especially when the goal is to watch movies and video from a recliner in a darkened family room.  


What sort of user-centered design or usability studies were in place during the hatching of Sony's Internet TV controller?!  (For more about bad remote controls, one of my pet peeves,  see  "Oh! No! Sony's "Mother of Remote Controls" for Google TV, 74 Buttons and Counting")


Below is a partially annotated slideshow of pictures I took of some of the displays and other things I encountered at Best Buy.  Enjoy!



Close Encounter with Kinect Bowling
It wasn't easy trying to bowl and take video with a phone at the same time! 
(Please excuse the shaky video effects and the view of my fingers.)

Quick Link via Itvt: Miniweb's woomi Connected-TV "Marketplace" Goes Live on Samsung Connected TV's in the UK

Miniweb's woomi Connected-TV "Marketplace" Goes Live on Samsung Connected TV's in the UK | InteractiveTV Today

Immersive Labs' Intelligent Interactive Display/Billboard App Demo

"If a "Minority Report" future was possible, and if it is coming, how do we create a model of it that is not intrusive, that is fun to play with, that is social, that is respectful and not intrusive, that doesn't invade people's privacy?" -Jason Sosa, CEO, Immersive Labs



Future of Advertising Technology (Immersive Labs demo from 2 years ago)

Future of Advertising Technology from Immersive Labs on Vimeo.


RELATED
Immersive Labs is looking for an interactive developer!


Some of my thoughts on this topic:  Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It" - Revisited

Interactions (ACM) Cover Article- "Proxemic Interactions: The New Ubicomp?" - Plus - Close encounters with displays at the airport and JC Penney

Today I came home from and found one of my favorite publications, Interactions, on my kitchen counter.  Imagine my excitement when I saw that the cover article for the Jan-Feb issue was  "Proxemic Interactions:  The New Ubicomp?". (pdf)  The authors of this article are Saul Greenberg, Nicolai Marquardt, Till Ballendat, Rob Diaz-Marino, and Miaosen Wang, from the University of Calgary. (A list of some of the articles from the current issue of Interactions can be found at the end of this post.)


On the topic of proxemic interactions.... I welcome the research that is germinating in this area, and agree with the authors of Interaction's cover article that there is much work to be done in this space!   


I've been searching for great examples of interactive displays in public spaces.  Since there is much room for improvement in this field, much of what I share on this blog is a bit  disheartening.   Most of my user-unfriendly encounters with large displays happen when I'm in an airport, mall, health care facility, or a cruise ship.  Things are improving, but at a slow pace. The best work I've seen so far has been in museums.  


A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my nearly comical interaction with a large display that featured a QR tag that simply would NOT cooperate with my smartphone's tag reader.   What were they thinking when they decided that the best place for a QR tag on a large display should be at knee level?
Interactive Display with QR Tag:  Close Encounter at the Orlando Airport

There is more to this story!  On my way home,  I had a few hours to kill at the Orlando airport. I stopped by a convenience store the Orlando airport, and discovered the non-static display below. I didn't notice the display the first time I was in the store that day.


I spotted another QR tag!

There were a few problems with this set-up.  First, the display was located on a wall close to a ceiling, making it very inconvenient to scan with my phone.  The page with the QR tag didn't stay up long enough for me to attempt to scan it, although waited around until it cycled back in view-  three times.  I gave up and took a picture instead, standing on my tip-toes with my arms extended over my head, the same position required to scan the QR tag, if it would stay put!


Another problem was that the display was perched above a high-traffic area, right above the  refrigerated drinks.  The only place to scan the QR tag was in a narrow aisle, behind the throngs of thirsty travelers making a bee-line to the cold drink section of the store.  I was in the way of a number of people in this bee-line.


What were they thinking when they decided that the best place this large display featuring a QR tag should be several feet above eye-level in this particular location?  

The displays in front of the store were located on either side of the doorway, at "body" level. This is a logical place to put a display.  Potential customers can view the displays without getting in the way of other travelers.


I didn't notice QR tags on these displays.  QR tags linking to web-based reviews of books I'd like to purchase would be useful in this scenario.


Non-static displays outside of the store:





PART II: Interactive Touch Screen Display Encounter at JC Penney

Interactive displays are cropping up everywhere.  The display featured below is part of the Find More at JC Penney  campaign. The following is a quote from a JC Penney press release: 

"JC Penney has announced the launch of a new mobile initiative that connects mobile commerce with social and instore media applications that include location-based check-in offers and enhancements to its mobile apps. JCPenney's mobile initiatives are part of the company's investment in its overall digital platform, which also includes jcp.com, social media, and its in-store FindMore™ smart fixture."


"The smart fixture integrates JCPenney's online and offline stores by providing customers with a 52-inch interactive touch screen experience that allows them to view and purchase items from jcp.com while in a JCPenney store. Customers can also scan a bar code to get product details, access recommendations, or email data about an item of interest to themselves or friends."

Can you find the large interactive touch screen display?    After shopping around in the mall, I decided to go to JC Penney and check out the sales.  Below is what I passed as I entered the store.  I went up and down the main aisle a few times before I noticed a large interactive display along a side aisle.  



The stack of red holiday boxes obstructed my view:



I didn't notice the display the first few times I walked in the other direction. From the back, the display looked like a poster. 
  
When I finally discovered the display, I was impressed with the slick graphics and stylish models. 



I wasn't so impressed by the placement of the display. To interact with the screen, I had to stand in a narrow aisle, in the path of a steady stream of slow-walking shoppers, often moving in small groups, including parents with babies in strollers. 


I wasn't impressed by the confusing array of input methods on the display.  I noticed that the light blue square in the lower left-hand corner of the display is designed to provide access for people with disabilities.   I couldn't figure it out.

Accessibility:  There is a need for research in this area!

The accessibility feature was confusing to use. The virtual trackball activated a curser on the screen, but the curser did not accurately map the virtual trackball movements. This section of the screen was located on the lower left hand corner, which would be convenient for someone in a wheelchair to use. The placement of the "accessibility window" was too low for someone who might to interact with the screen in an accessible manner but don't happen to need a wheelchair.


I shot video of my interaction with the screen, but found that I was in the way of shoppers, so I stopped.  Not to worry.  Below is a video taken by Mike Cearly, shared on his 11th Screen blog post, "Out and About: JC Penney's "Find More" Touch Screen".   (Mike's impressions of this display were similar to mine and worth reading if this is an area that interest you.)

Mike uses his 11th Screen Scorecard to evaluate the technology he encounters in public spaces.  I am updating a similar rubric to use when evaluating displays in public spaces.   It is important to look at multiple dimensions, such as the physical placement of the display, weather and lighting conditions,  how the display interoperates with mobile devices or a system of displays,  how the content is presented/accessed across channels and devices, and how users share the experience with others.

Components of the 11th Screen Scorecard  -Mike Cearly
Purpose: "What is the purpose of the solution? Is it to drive awareness? Acquisition?  Loyalty?  What is the brand trying to accomplish in this medium?"
Drama: "Does the solution make a big impact on the user? Does it make them stop and interact?"
Usability: "Can the user navigate through the experience with ease? Are the paths to information intuitive?  There's also an element of functions, too, but I think that is much more subjective.  Do the functions enhance the user experience?"
Interactivity:  "How does the user interact with it?  Is it gesture based? Is it touch-based? Can the user interact with it through any other enabling technology?"
Information: "How much and what kind of content is available for the user to interact with?  Generally speaking, the more information and the different formats of information, the better."
Personalization: "What level of personalization does the experience provide?"


COMMENT

I've been obsessed with large displays and the amazing potential they hold for supporting all sorts of  interactions -  collaboration, planning, creating, information sharing, playing, viewing, communicating, learning, shopping,  way-finding, artistic expression.  

I'm also drawn to smaller screens and how we use our mobile devices- smartphones, iphones, e-readers, digital cameras, etc.,  to interact with the displays we encounter in public spaces.   We are just beginning to figure out how technology can effectively - and seamlessly-support interaction between people who are co-located as well as located in different places.

INTERACTIONS Volume XVIII.1 

Here is a list of some articles from the current issue of Interactions:

Did you ever know that you're my hero?: the power of storytelling (Sal Cilella)

The need for video in scientific communication (Jonas Lowgren)

Journeying toward extravagant, expressive, place-based computing (Matt Jones)

The (re) usability of everyday computational things: why industrial design will be the new industrial design (Roel Vertegaal)

Visual analytics and human-computer-computer interaction (Richard Arias-Hernandez, John Dill, Brian Fisher, Tera Marie Green)

Rat, rational, or seething cauldron of desire: designing the shopper (Elizabeth F. Churchill)

The Cloud (Yue Pan, Eli Blevis)

Beyond interfaces and flows: abstractions for mapping organic architectures (Davide Bolchini, Adam Neddo)

"Undercover User Experience" by Cennydd Bowles and James Box: Charlotte UX Book Club Skype Session and Discussion

I just got back from a meeting of the Charlotte UX Book Club.  The group meets in the loft office of the Charlotte branch of Atlanta-based Macquarium,  and provides a great opportunity for like-minded folks to socialize and toss around informed ideas.


Tonight's meeting featured Cennydd Bowles and James Box, the authors of Undercover User Experience.  They joined the group via Skype, on a large screen TV.  After a minute or so, it was as if they were right in the room, even though they were in the UK.  What a delightful experience!


Cennydd and James both work at Clearleft, a team of designers and creative technologies that provide user-experience consulting.  They are bright, insightful, and know their stuff.  The book packs in a lot of good information in an easy-to-read, concise, and thought provoking manner.  The author's address tools of the trade within the context of how work gets done across disciplines in organizations.  


In my opinion, this book would be useful to people working on traditional projects as well as those who focus NUI design & development for emerging technologies.


BTW: Cennyd Bowles will be the closing plenary speaker at the IA Summit 2011 in March.




"Deliverables are a step on the journey, not the end of the line" -Undercover UX Design





Here are a couple of quotes from the Amazon.com editorial reviews:

  Product Description

"Once you catch the user experience bug, the world changes. Doors open the wrong way, websites don't work, and companies don't seem to care. And while anyone can learn the UX remedies usability testing, personas, prototyping and so on unless your organization 'gets it', putting them into practice is trickier. Undercover User Experience is a pragmatic guide from the front lines, giving frank advice on making UX work in real companies with real problems. Readers will learn how to fit research, ideation, prototyping and testing into their daily workflow, and how to design good user experiences under the all-too-common constraints of time, budget and culture."

  From the Back Cover

"Once you catch the user experience bug, the world changes. Doors open the wrong way, websites don't work, and companies don't seem to care. And while anyone can learn the UX remedies: usability testing, personas, prototyping and so on unless your organization 'gets it', putting them into practice is tricky. Undercover User Experience is a pragmatic guide from the front lines, giving frank advice on making UX work in real companies with real problems. Readers will learn how to fit research, ideation, prototyping and testing into their daily workflow, and how to design good user experiences under the all-too-common constraints of time, budget and culture." 

RELATED

Cennydd Bowles on user experience: The making of Undercover UX Design

Book Review from Johnny Holland

Lots of news about interactive TV: InteractiveTV Today.

Take a look!


INTERACTIVE TV NEWS ROUND-UP (VII): TVO, VERISIMO,  TECHSTORM, VISIWARE, FOX, WILL.I.AM, YOUVIEW


(I haven't finished looking at all of the round-ups and updates. There is a lot of convergence going on in the world of ITV.)

A plug for Innovative Interactivity's Top 5 January Posts (Tracy Boyer)

Tracy Boyer's Innovative Interactivity (II) cover many topics that most likely would interest readers of this blog. She's conveniently listed the top five II blog posts for January.  Take a look!

1. Job opportunities, January 2011
2. NFB and The Goggles launch interactive documentary Pine Point
3. Adam Westbrook publicizes his top media predictions for 2011
4. Multimedia must-see: Climate Wisconsin
5. Selling Yourself: What’s your story?

W3C Touch Events Specification! Editors Draft 1/29/11 (quick link)

Touch Events Specification, W3C

https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/webevents/raw-file/tip/touchevents.html

"The Touch Interface specification defines a set of low-level events that represent one or more points of contact with a touch-sensitive surface, and changes of those points with respect to the surface and any DOM elements displayed upon it (e.g. for touch screens) or associated with it (e.g. for drawing tablets without displays). It also addresses pen-tablet devices, such as drawing tablets, with consideration toward stylus capabilities."

Editors: Doug Schepers, W3C, Sangwhan Moon, Opera Software ASA, Matt Brubeck, Mozilla

"Microsoft is Imagining a NUI Future". You can, too!

Microsoft is Imagining a NUI Future
Steve Clayton, Next at Microsoft Blog, 1/26/11


"Our research shows that the vast majority of people polled in both developed and emerging markets see great potential for NUI applications beyond entertainment. This is especially true in China and India, where 9 out of 10 respondents indicate they are likely to use NUI technology across a range of lifestyle areas – from work, education and healthcare, to social connections, entertainment and the environment. We believe that taking technology to the next billion can be aided by NUI – making technology more accessible and more intuitive to a wider audience". - Steve Clayton, Microsoft


The people at Microsoft don't own the concept!  I'm a member of the NUI Group (May, 2007) and SparkOn.  Both are on-line communities where you can find people who live and breathe NUI, learn about their work, and even share designs and code. If you are intrigued by NUI - as a designer, developer, or user, please join us.

Note: 
I've been an evangelist and cheerleader for the NUI cause for many years.  If you search this blog for "post-WIMP", "NUI", "multi-touch", "gesture", "off-the-desktop", "natural user interaction", "natural user interface", or even "DOOH", you'll be provided with an overwhelming number of posts that include videos, photographs, and links to NUI-related resources, including scholarly articles.  There is a small-but-growing number of people from many disciplines, quietly working on NUI-related projects.

RELATED
Microsoft Plans a Natural Interface Future Full of Gestures, Touchscreens, and Haptics
Kit Eaton, Fast Company, 1/26/112
Rethinking Computing (video)
Craig Mundie, Microsoft
Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It" - Revised
Touch Screen Interaction in Public Spaces:  Room for Improvement, if "every surface is to be a computer".

State of Information Visualization, 2011 InfoVis in HTML5 "how-to", and more (Thanks to Robert Kosara)

Take a look at Robert' Kosara's recent post on his eagereyes blog:
 
The State of Information Visualization, 2011

In this post, Robert reviews of some of the important trends in information visualization in 2010, discusses the potential of HTML5 for creating information visualization experiences on the web, and makes a few predictions about the near future.  Robert is pretty sure that the world is ready for "truly interactive, browser-based visualization".  He notes that the Protovis Primers he shares on his website are quite popular.

Most of the following resources and links were taken from the eagereyes website:

Information Visualization, HTML5, and JavaScript Resources (more to come)
HTML5 and Visualization on the Web

Robert Kosara, eagereyes, 12/21/10

Canvas Tutorial (HTML element used to draw graphics using scripting)
HTML5 Canvas Cheat Sheet

Dive Into HTML5 Tutorial (canvas element)

HTML5 Games/Interactive Experiments  (Hakim El Hattab)

node.js: (How to run JavaScript on a server.)
JavaScript: The Key to In-Browser Visualization
Robert Kosara, eagereyes, 2/11/10
PROTOVIS
A Protovis Primer, Part 1
A Protovis Primer, Part 2
A Protovis Primer, Part 3
"Protovis is a very powerful visualization toolkit. Part of what makes it special is that it is written in JavaScript and runs in the browser without the need for any plugins. Its clever use of JavaScript's language features makes it very elegant, but it can also be confusing to people who are not familiar with functional programming concepts and the finer points of JavaScript." -Robert Kosara

The Year of InfoVis Theory

Robert Kosara, eagereyes, 3/10/10

Telling Stories with Data:  Using visualization to create narratives and engage audiences

VisWeek 2010

Embedding Information Visualization Within Visual Representation (pdf)

Caroline Ziemkiewicz and Robert Kosara

Thanks, Robert, for sharing these very useful resources!

Quick Post: Google Summer of Code Announced!

Here is the link:

Google Summer of Code

Close Encounter with "Best Buy On": Example of a multi-channel marketing approach using in-store digital media that includes an on-line magazine.

Over the next 9 months or so,  I'll be in the market for a computer, an iPad or something similar, a Kinect, and maybe a mid-size Internet-enabled HDTV.  As a consequence,  I turned in to  a Best Buy on my way home from work Friday to see what I could find.  I didn't want to spend much time at the store, since I'm the type of shopper who goes in, finds the desired item(s), and leaves.  


During this trip to Best Buy, my shopping habits were broken, at least temporarily.  I found myself wandering around, looking at the numerous displays of all sizes located about the store.  The displays distracted me from my intended mission.  Below is a slideshow of the pictures I snapped as I wandered about Best Buy:

As a result of the displays,  I spend more time in the store than I'd planned. I left the store empty-handed.  But that is OK, since I think that this strategy, in the long run, will have the power to entice me back to the store and leave knowing that I've made an informed purchase.


According to Gail Chiasson in her Daily DOOH post,"Best Buy's New In-Store Network", Best Buy established an internal advertising and editorial team in 2009, and officially launched a multichannel network called Best Buy On, which extends the in-store network of displays, to the online magazine, also called Best Buy On .   Best Buy On focuses on different theme each month. This month's theme featured all of the cool things that were unveiled at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. 


The bottom line with in-store DOOH is that customers are provided with with enhanced information about various products in each department, and this information is coordinated with the enhanced information they can access on-line.  Put together, this might lead to better sales,  and happier repeat customers in the long run.  


As I went about Best Buy,  I thought that it would be better if the in-store network of displays was less disjointed.  I also was puzzled by the somewhat inconvenient placement of some of the displays.  People who stand in the middle of an aisle to look at a screen block the view of the screen and the other items on display, and also block the paths of other shoppers!


Although I didn't spend a lot of time scrutinizing the content on all of the screens I encountered, what I did look at gave me the impression that there is need for improvement.  Pretty multimedia content might be attractive to the eye, but if it doesn't  meet the needs of customers in specific departments, it might not be effective.  


Here is a personal scenario:
My 80-year-old mother needs a new laptop and would also like to find an eReader that is suitable for someone her age.  She needs a new printer and is thinking about getting a digital camera.  She has some money to spend, but from what I can tell, she'd be a little confused by all of the flashing screens!  


I'm not sure what my mother would make of the displays, especially those that run animated comments about products from Facebook fans!


(Note:  I plan to go with my mom to Best Buy soon, and I'll share this experience on this blog in the future.)


Although there is room for improvement, the Best Buy On approach is a start.   I would like to see more touch-enabled displays as part the in-store network, given the fact that Best Buy sells touch-screen gadgets, tablets, and all-in-one PCs.   The large-screen touch-enabled displays could provide customers with an Amazon- like advisory feature.  This is something that would be very helpful to my mom and other non-geeks.


Best Buy also needs to get the Kinect demo up and running!


RELATED

FAR OUT 1/9/11 (Best Buy On video about products at CES)

What is Best Buy On?  (Description of on-line magazine)
Best Buy Addresses High-Tech Obsolescence
Shirley Brady, Brand Channel, 1/18/11
Buy Back Program from Best Buy Helps "Future-Proof" Today's CE Purchases
Jeremy Baier, Best Buy, 1/10/11
"Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn describes the consumer electronics retailer's just-launched Buy Back program as "a game-changer." The goal: to help customers embrace new technology with greater confidence."