Typical Price – Google Hotel Finder

Lots of people are talking about Google's new hotel finder. One thing I thought was really clever was this.

Because hotel prices are not the same from one city to the next, it is difficult to know if you are getting a good deal or not. 

Most of us begin the hotel bookings process with a bit of research. We compare a number of hotels to establish the typical price, which we use as a bench mark to compare others to.

This handy little tool does the research for us, it even gives the relative cost in the hotel details (top right) 

Hopefully we will see this used a lot more across the internet, real-estate might be a good place to start.

Physical Email

I've been thinking about some sort of physical email for sometime now. Something that recaptures the tactile nature of receiving a letter while maintaining the convenience of email.

I stumbled upon this the other day – genius.


Tableau: physical email from John Kestner on Vimeo.

You can read more about his work here.

10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design

Watch presentation

The Playful Experience

The digital space is conducive to play—exploration, imagination, and learning. And many successful digital products are built for play or incorporate play into their interaction design. No matter how important our jobs, serious our responsibilities, or stiff our personalities, all people need to play—whether we admit it or not. Is the boss looking? 

An interesting article about the importance of playfulness in user experience design.