While looking at the various technology blogs this morning I ran across a few posts about the invitation Apple has started sending out about the next iPhone event on October 4th.

When I viewed the first article I was thinking that the associated image attached to it was from an old invite or just a random "we need an image to fill the space" type of graphic. However, as I jumped from site to site I realized the image was the actual invite. My next response was "Really, that's the invite?" It's ugly at best.

I know they have used a similar approach in the past to announce upcoming events, but for some reason this time the invitation feels really dated, old, tired, generic. It's very "un-apple" in design. The invitation really shows how dated the iPhone approach to User Interface really is.

I don't know about you but this invite doesn't get me excited, at all, about their upcoming event. The gradients are harsh, the shadows are ugly, the entire image feels fuzzy/blurry to me (probably because of the shadows).

What do you think? Does this invite really show quality? Is it dated?

I think this will be a real problem for Apple in the next 12-24 months, maybe sooner if they don't release a really kick ass iPhone 5. People are going to start realizing just how boring a grid of icons really are, just as they realized it on the desktop.

If the iPhone 5 only offers a few new elements and basic refinements I think Apple will start struggling in the phone market.

Sitting at a desk all day has numerous unhealthy side effects, weight gain, back pain, eye strain and many more issues. Over the past year or so I have been trying to lose weight or at a minimum stay where I'm at. My wife and I had a mini challenge to see who could lose 20lbs faster (she had just had a baby and wanted to lose they baby weight), in the end she was the winner and she has continued to lose even more. I was able to lose about 10lbs so I was pretty happy, I had started at 190 and I'm now down to 180. I'd still like to shed those extra 10 pounds and more if I'm able.

My next approach to helping me reach that goal is to change how MUCH I eat without adding additional exercises.

Here is my plan, it's really quite simple:

• Use a smaller fork at meals
• Use a smaller plate at meals
• Use a smaller glass and drink before the meal rather than during (if I already have something in my stomach I will eat a bit less)
• Serve up food from the kitchen rather than the table (Less likely to take seconds or even thirds if the food is in a different room)
• Refrain from taking more than one plate full of food
• Using a smaller fork will make me eat slower, eating slower allows your brain time to feel full, leading to less intake of food

And that's it, simple small changes to approaching meals. It's not a quick way to lose weight, but slow and steady is good too. If I can train my stomach that it doesn't need so much food I'll be better off in the long run.

How does this all apply to Design?

In society today, the goal is for people to eat, eat, eat. Plates and forks continue to get larger and larger which is by Design a way to make people eat more (ie. spend more in resturants). So I'm changing the interface on how I eat, which will lead to direct visible results.

:: Micah

Earlier this morning Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted a public appology about the recent restructuring of their services and to announce that their DVD and Streaming services will be split up into seperate businesses.

Personally, I'm sitll not happy about the price hikes that Netflix announced a couple months ago, their goal is to get people moved to streaming versus DVDs, but yet lack a good incentive to actually do so. In my household we decided to drop down to just the DVDs, we love streaming but the amount of streaming content simply doesn't compare to that of their DVD selections. If Netflix had come out and said they have been able to move most of the DVDs to streaming, then streaming would have been an easier choice. Instead what happened is that they annouced that Starz wont' be renewing their contract so now even more content will be unavailable.

Jump to today, Hastings announces that they are splitting up their services, they are creating Qwikster.com to handle all the DVD and now Games service. WHAT? Not only that, but it's a totally seperate account, different list of movies, different billing, different login area, everything is different from the streaming side.

Complexity for no good reason

What happens if we decide to add streaming back into our account? Do we have to go to both sites to maintain our accounts? - complexity

We will have two billing entries on our statements if we use both services. - complexity

How about tech support? - complexity

They are creating two fully seperate teams to manage both services - complexity

Pissed off users who were loyal. - complexity

More choices, more options, more profiles - more complexity

I'm sorry, but if your goal is to get people OFF of using DVDs, then you don't go out and make a new company around the service you are trying to kill off. It doesn't even make sense. Netflix was one of my favorite companies, it seemed like they had their heads on straight, offered great service, great price, great technology. Now, I despise them. I have tried to brush it off, but I can't I seriously can't stand them right now.

Most companies destroy themselves, so far Netflix is on that path.

Full Source: An Explanation and Some Reflections

:: Micah

With the start of my new blog, I'm also re-examining my entire perspective on Design, specifically User Interface Design. It's been about 10 years since I first started studying design so I feel it's important to go back to the basics, refresh my design foundation and hopefully learn a lot along the way.

There is nothing more basic than the Elements and Principles of design, they are the primary foundation of every design and are made to be broken.

Elements of Design

• Space
• Line
• Shape
• Direction
• Color
• Texture
• Value

Principles of Design

• Scale
• Proportion
• Unity
• Balance
• Direction
• Emphasis

Over the course of the next few weeks I will dive deeper into each Element and Principle with detailed descriptions and examples of each to help get a broader understanding of how they apply to the real world.

That's all for now!

:: Micah

Over the past few years I have had several close friends and family express their irritation with me over "ruining" the internet for them. How could this be? Well it turns out it's because I have over time, taught them about the importance of quality design. They can now tell the difference between a well designed site and one that makes you want to poke your eyes out, the fact that they are now aware of this drives them nuts. Thus, I ruined the internet.

Hi my name is Micah Iverson, I live in Minneapolis Minnesota, I have two great kids, a lovely wife and I LOVE to create designs. According to my wife I love my computer more than I love her, close, but not true. :)

Leash And Pick Up

This sign which is located at a park a few blocks from my house, sums up why quality design and copy is important. Does the sign work? Yes. A lot of designs work, but they don't work well. Tell me why exactly, I'd want to leash and pick up my dog. It's what the sign says, that's what the symbol says, right?

Obviously the sign means something else, but just think how often a design influences the way we interact with something. Whether it be a website, an instruction manual, a street sign, or anything else, it's important to provide a clear path understanding for the view.

Otherwise half the people at the park will be carrying their dogs around!

I have created this blog to talk about the projects I'm working on, to share my ideas and thoughts on User Interface (UI) design and User Experience (UX) design. My goal is to improve my own skills while helping others at the same time, I have much more to share and hope you will follow along.

You can also find me on:

Twitter: @micahiverson
LinkedIn: micahiverson

:: Micah