Usability and Project Management (IT cos.)

I happen to work in a Full Fledged Usability project from client side in Bangalore for DELL (which is rare in Indian IT companies to do….). Like any other usability projects, there were lot of expectancy from both client and our company. Everyone including us were not sure what and how we will change? This is quite natural feeling in every other Usability projects, because the subject itself is very subjective. So now question arises how to fit USABILITY in SDLC ? That’s where we are struggling to answer and explain to our PM who knows ZERO about Usability, but since Client has asked him to prepare a Plan, he is expecting to do that in sync with development project.

Why we are struggling is that Usability cycle can never be planned for each person, as it is a group activity. Usability process involves speaking to users, preparing task lists and these are all group activity, but as our SDLC demands person hours be it any process or task, we are having a tough task ahead to convince our PM.

Hopefully we would come up with a beneficial and highly successful project so that we can set up an example for our company.

Shameful Article in Times of India FRONT PAGE - 7th Dec, Bangalore

As a regular reader of Times of India, I was surprised to see a news on FRONT PAGE about what and how Kasav eats, drinks and sleeps in Jail. Now who wants to know what that Asshole is doing and that too in front page, the title read “Non-veg, Big B films on Kasav wish-list - 7 Dec 2008, 0251 hrs IST, Mateen Hafeez, TNN” saying what Kasab eats and drinks. Who cares man? Instead of beating that man to blues, we are been told that he is been fed 4 times a day. Is this a news to be in Front page. I was extremely unhappy to see that a renowned newspaper publish such a horrible article in front page.
Sad really ??? read this online…. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3803483.cms?TOI_mostread

I am angry like all Mumbaikar

I am angry absolutely angry on the recent Mumbai terror. Guns, shootouts, this is absolute COWARDLY and DISGUSTING act by so called Islamic group, who claim they are the protectors of Islam..... absolutely bulllshit. I pity them, and I am hope that each one of them who are still in huge die a dog's death.

May the souls of the died Mumbaikars rest in peace...

This is my 50th Blog.....

something to cheer and celebrate

Mumbai and Bhaiyyas

Mumbai and Bhaiyyas (People Migrating from UP) go hand to hand. I have been in Mumbai since my childhood days and have seen a steep rise of bhaiyyas and it still continous. No doubt one day their population has outnumbered so much that people living in Mumbai are feeling insecure. Previously when we used to say Watchman in bombay, all that came to our mind was Ghorkhas, but now Ghorkhas have been replaced by bhaiyyas. Now you will see 90% of private security guard are from UP. That’s a huge number. Same is the case with construction workers, Cab drivers... Well Doodwalas and Carpenters were already been ruled by Bhaiyyas in Mumbai for long time. Now suddenly as this outburst of Marathi sentiments have come up, this has not come as a surprise to me because one day this was to happen. Well its not that I am supporting Raj and MNS but if you go and see New Bombay, Mankurd, Govandi the unskilled worforce has been dominated by bhaiyyas. Why? this is debatable question everyone is wondering ? Answer is simple, First of all Bhaiyyas can work for peanuts, whatever you give they will accept. They used to be loyal, not now though, but still if you think of a carpenter you will always say "Arre woh apna bhaiyya hai na bulao usko". Such is the mark they have made in Mumbai.

Now let me explain other side of Bhaiyyas, I had this dear friend of mine who came from UP in seek of job, which JOB.... any kind of but be in Mumbai. He left his farming business and came, why because in UP he says it’s boring and lazy. So landed in Advertising firm as admin guy, took insult from everyone, used to slog like a pig… no ifs... no buts. He went on to open his own venture though not succeeded much but still surviving. So I always used to ask him why he left UP and came to this over bursting city. He had no valid answer for the same. So many people who are well to do in UP still think they can earn a high life in Mumbai, struggle a lot and not to be surprised they live a dogs life but never think of going back. It’s like USA migration in 1990s when many Indians (especially gujjus and many anadraites) used to go there and work in petrol pumps and slog but would never come back. But USA is a differnt issue as the people in US want to live a ROYAL life and they hate to do such pity jobs, they become criminals but will never accept a labourous job and atleast in US Indians feel they are better paid.

So back to Bhaiyyas, these bhaiyyas think Mumbai is the only place in this world where they can live like a TIGER but truth is that they get f*kd here, and funny part is they still don't mind and they will continue to rule some of the sectors. Now local mumbaikar’s need is to wake up and compete with them aggressively not by force but by work rather than abusing or hurting them.

Banglore Traffic woos continous….

Bangalore what can I say about the traffic, life is like an hell if you are an driver (more sad if you drive a car). Mornings or afternoon or nights all time traffic traffic and traffic congestion. I am from Mumbai and have seen worse to worse traffic but Bangalore is no different from Mumbai. Good thing about Mumbai is though you get screwed in the train and life becomes a misery when you enter that overcrowded train, but you reach on time. In Bangalore you need to have a 2 wheeler to travel to office or be in a office bus and sleep there. And I don’t see any ray of hope for improvement in Bangalore, how is it possible ??? what can Government do. The city is very small and whatever they do people keep coming on and on.

I pity people coming from US or UK to visit Bangalore. They must be getting as frustrated as me, they might be also cursing themselves for coming here.

Vodafone - Happy to help ? but are they really helping

My Sim suddenly got damaged all of the sudden and you can imagine LIFE without a mobile, a hell (but sometimes a boon if you don't want to take any calls). But for me at that time I needed mu mobile desperately because I was working in a ODC in bangalore and everytime I wanted to get in I had to call somebody to get me inside also there were many other pre-project works which needed some contacts. People were cursing me for not picking up the phone.

I grabed new sim card from a Vodafone representative and then they asked me to call up call centers to activate. Everytime I call them they used to say it will be activated in 2 hours. 2 Hours became 2 days and life was screwed royaly. Then Suddenly I realised why not try with old SIM, surprisingly it worked.

So its high time that government approves the concept of same numbers but different operators, this will not only improve the quality of service among the Service Providers but also help the customers like me.

But did you see what kind of world we are living in, sad Mobile has become like Food which needs to be there everytime. Gone are the days where we can live peacefully. We curse the mobile but still we need mobile naa...

Kumble bows in HIGH

As a immense cricket enthusiast, I like many Indians would be in dissapointed to see Kumble on other side of the ground. I still remember between 1995-99, whenever India bowlers were torn apart, people used to say “Don’t worry boss, apna Kumble is hai naa, he will bring the opposition run rate down”. Rightly said he used to do it everytime when he used to come. It seemed that there were just 2 guys in Indian team then who were star that time Sachin with Bat and Kumble with bowl. Others were like support staff. This I am talking when Azar was ruling.

What was great about Kumble was his style of bowling, he maybe called a Legie but his bowling style looked more like an Medium Pacer with incredible turn and bounce. And who can forget Kumble’s rocket like Yorker…. And that LBW which he used to trap each one of the opponent.

My first LIVE match in a stadium was Wankhade when England were playing India last day and some 2 wickets of England were down and India needed 8 wickets to make a 3-0 whitewash. And that’s when I saw Kumble LIVE bowling and man he didin’t disappoint the Mumbai crowd, taking some 5 wickets and that’s too in STYLE.

Man we all will miss you.

“Ipod”, full paisa wasool

I recently got an IPOD 8gb Nano and currently hooked to it.... must say it is full paisa wasool. Amazing and clear music, mind it buy a Ipod only if you are passive music listener, otherwise the high money which you are paying is not the worth.

For Music lovers, this is a treat.... forget your music players, this seems to have beaten all of those. What’s best about Ipod is its sound quality. Never mind that you cannot download MP3s directly to your Ipod (you need to download iTunes from Apple.com).
Talking about the USABILITY angle, it is sleek and for first few days you would find a bit hard to navigate but once you get used to the same you would enjoy.
My take on Ipod.... 10 on 10

“Ike” in Houston and “Fun” in San Antonio

Ike hurricane that came and created mess in Houston..... no power no food no water, gosh it reminded of a famine in some drought desert area. Power cut makes whole of USA so venerable that nothing works and it is like a complete war like situation. It seems someone has forgotten to have a backup plans, but here we go as people say never mess with mother nature. No matter what precaution you take, it is goanna hit you hard. Nevertheless like in India we have some roadside food vendors and chai wallas to support you, so we can survive even without power for as many days, here in US you are really handicapped, but we were lucky to have escaped from the famine like situation because we went straight to San Antonio on a Short HOLIDAY and our company was kind enough to give flight and accommodation... which sounds surprising isin't it ???

San Antonio..... is the place to be in for refreshing break from this boring corporate world. We were staying in Grand Hyatt on the banks of River Walk (Photo given below).... well you can say its US ka nalla but we enjoyed the nalla stay

We proceeded towards Sea World some 30 kms from San Antonio Downtown and what a place, I have never seen such a amazing entertainment and amusement park in my whole life. It had everything in it, water park, Dolphin Shows, Shark Show, Seagull Show.... packed with loads of other rides. It almost made us feel like a heaven there.... absolutely amazing place to be in

Then we were back to hell (Houston) on Monday with no power and no food in our hotel because of after IKE effect. Somehow we managed a day without power. And then next day when the power came everything reversed as if nothing had happened.... strange how complete country is so dependent on POWER. People say that USA is the place to stay, but looking at this hurricane situation, I would better say that we in India are pretty much equipped, if not from disaster but from recovery.

Google Chrome - New Gen Browser

Just downloaded Google Chrome, browser from Google.... was amazed the way they handled interaction. First of all the website loads 2 times more faster than any of the other browsers (IE or Mozilla) secondly its so simple and very less things to understand.

What I loved about Google Chrome is that when you load the browser, it automatically gives you a snapshot of which websites you have visited (that too as pictorial view) and also it shows your favorites. Now that is what I call user dashboard, so much simplified and yet highly interactive. Have a look at this screenshot....

But But But..... there are some issues that you will feel that it is missed, if you are downloading a file or attachment, like IE or Mozilla it does not open up in a new window, so if you close the browser, download ends. Also one more thing that is missed is the list of URLs on top drop down which is missing.

Postcard from Houston

Some of my Memories through photos of Houston

Weekend tour in Houston, TX

We had a long weekend in Houston, TX so we went for some local sight seeing, me and some of our wiproites. We went to NASA and Keema (Sort of Theme park). Here is the pic from keema....



Hey by the way the one in White Dress was our Cab driver from Bangladesh. He was with us for the whole day.

Why working in CSS based layout is magic ?

I was working in an web based application and was on rapid development phase, so once I completed some 3 screens I had to give the same to development team the HTMLs, so this went on for 15 days and the demo day came. Then now the changing of Navigation Menu and some of the other module alignment issues came. Shockingly we did that in just 15-20 minutes, without touching the JSP code. Isin't it amazing..... well that's the power of CSS based layout. They may have some limitations or might create some problem in different browsers, but a little pain you do to fix the DIVs during html will make everyone's life very simple.

Go ahead and start building CSS based layout without any fear, but don't forget to use legendary tables (yes our very own TR TDs) when it comes to DATA grid display.

Public Transport in Bangalore :( and other cities

Travelling in a Public transport in Bangalore is a big trouble.... I mean the busses, it is all and all kannada boards that you will find. Man how can I read that, no Hindi no English boards in the bus. Funny part is that some busses have marked ladies and gents seats in kannada, I mean no man/women sign also !!! crazy people, I don’t know what they are trying to achieve from that.

Here is the picture of that bus (This is mind it a VOLVO bus)

Let’s look at Chennai busses, man who told you that Chennai is only for tamilians, look at the boards in buses, they have English boards

Lets turn to amchi Mumbai.... I don’t understand at times Mumbai buses, they have in front written everything in Marathi (fortunately people knowing hindi as reading can also read Marathi) but the side section of the bus has English wordings, sounds surprising.... maybe our raj bhaiyya will change that too in marathi...

Lastly Pune.... very pathetic state, have a look at the bus, so dirty and mucky, forget the signboard ??? do you even dare to go inside.

My First trip to US, Houston Tx

So finally after long wait and many hurdles, arrived in US, city Houston, Tx. Tiring journey had to pass through 3 flights, Bangalore to Mumbai (mumbai airport has become crazy and messy), Mumbai to London (British Airways, again very clumsy plane) and then London to Houston(vey clean and neat). Head was spinning when I finally reached on 19th July 2008. Got into studio plus (hotel in Indian language), but is called studio suite. Why because it has an in-build kitchen in it. So am here probably for 2 months (or maybe 3 months, it all depends on how much is the work). Climate in Houston, cannot say as I did not venture out much and stayed in the studio the whole day, except for Sunday some hours I went for shopping, climate is somewhat like Hyderabad, hot but not that dry and a bit humid, but still better than India.

Posting this blog from my first day in office (client ABS).... nothing much to say about houston. Only place that I visited was best buy and Wallmart to grab some cooking materials. Taxi and cars.... no place to walk, thats my first reaction.

Let me get backto work and see how the work culture is in here and how tough will be my assignment.

Loyal to Company

There are many employees who work in big organizations, but few are too loyal to the company, the once who stay for some 10-15 years in one single firm. How often do you hate these guys not because they stayed so much long in the company because they tend to behave as if it is their grand-father’s company? Such kinds of employee are a real threat to both company as well as co-workers. In big IT companies like infy, Wipro, TCS, satyam, such mega superstar employees are in ample capacity and are been cursed a lot by others. In my 8 companies that I worked in 12 year career span I have seen many of those. These are the people who love to praise the company and also hate to see someone bashing their company. My advise to them is be yourself boss, it is good to be loyal but also be loyal to your task, that is most important and don’t be a pain to others

I am obsessed to “Indian Ocean” music

It all started from their “Black Friday” album. Ohh what jazzy background score. The one Chase number from black Friday is amazing. So after getting grooved into Black Friday album, had planned to listen to some of their other Albums, Kandisa and Jhini…. Music of these albums were better and very catchy. True mixture of Jazz, rock and classical, every song starts with a slow pace and ends with high note. The voice of guitar, drum beats and not to forget the Tabla and Dholak mixture will make you go mad.

Simply irresistible….. music of theirs grow on and on as you listen every time.

Check out their official website http://www.indianoceanmusic.com

“Lekin” Film Album - Extraordinary music

I still remember this film album had come at around 90s and we (our family) loved the album so much that our Audio Cassette got spoilt and we bought it again. We even bought a CD after some 5 years of its release. Such was the album songs of it… simply extraordinary music. Even still I hear that in my mobile.

The trio of Mangeshkar’s created magic in that album. True usage of Hindustani classical music touch with a tadka of folk and a bit ghazaly touch. Hridaynath, Lata and Asha produced their life in all the songs. If anyone gets a chance download it and listen.

Checklist for a better intranet portal

How many times have you abused your intranet ? How many times do you feel that the intranet would have been much more better than the existing ? Thats what I also feel after looking at out company portal. People generally don't take intranets seriously because they think why waste money and resources on internal portal. But as the employee increases the need of putting up robust intranet is must. Here is Checklist to a better intranet

• List out all the tasks done by users
• Try grouping each task and give title to each group
• Prepare a rough sitemap after you group each items
• Separate task (links) and information (content)
• Prioritize each groups based on its high usage and criticality
• Place all the groups and Information in a paper and give it a structure
• Once the structure is ready, copy the same and make a draft design (wireframe)
• Take one group and try to make a flow of each task (start to end).You will end up finishing navigation for one task
• Try the same with other groups.
• Collate all and make a detailed draft and run the same in sequence, show it to some of the users and take feedback from them and see how well you can improve.
• After that you jump to creative design, converting the wireframes to design (Now you don’t have to worry about what will come here and there because you have your structure ready and you just have to concentrate on visual design)
• Finally after you complete the design process, concentrate on HTMLising
  Make CSS based layout so that your layout will be flexible to change.
  Try coming up reusable HTML templates, so that you don’t have to rework on the new modules or pages.
• Finally don’t forget to make a STYLE guide and SITEMAP of the entire portal
  

Redbus.in, online BUS booking in India

Great site for VOLVO bus bookings and that too online.... also if not online they even send tickets at your house. Website Interface is pretty clear and clean, cleartrip.com sort of... Good thing is that you can book bus tickets from anywhere. Way to go guys you have done a great job for people like me who have to travel from bangalore to pune, hyderabad to bangalore, chennai to bangalore.... and so on....

http://www.redbus.in/

Marathahalli, bangalore - concrete jungle

If you happen to visit Marathahalli in bangalore, you would wonder if this is actually Bangalore, the garden city.... complete concrete jungle, buildings and buildings. All the trees have been literally chopped off, you can see that chopped portion even now at the sides of road. Traffic jams (which though is common nowadays in Bangalore), no place to walk.... crazy place.

Passport Renewal India – Painful Process

If you thought that renewing your passport is easy task in India, think again… It is as painful as taking a sign from Government officers or say RTO. More worse if you have been relocated in different state. Unfortunately I fell in this category. My painful journey of 2½ days which I spent in passport office is nothing less than a thriller or say frustration.

Preparation to go to passport office
Firstly I downloaded the form, 2 copies, you never know when your form gets rejected because of some errors.

• Taken 8 photographs 3.5 x 3.5 cms (NOTE White Background is needed)
• 2 Address Proofs (out of which one proof needs to be showing atleast 1 year stay in that city)
• For TATKAAL – Annexure I and Annexure F (Format you will find it in Passport link), if you are fortunate enough, Annexure F is not needed. Acutally Annexure F I scalled Verification Certificate which needs signature from either magistrate or police commissioner or IPS officer or GM from public sector, which is very tough to get.

First Day in Passport office
Reached at around 11:30 am, people laughed at me saying you came very late….. procedure is to get token and then go inside to submit the form…. Token timings were 9:30 to 12:00, so off-course moment I nearing the counter it closed. After which there was chaos all around and people stated to scream in protest to reopen the gate and extend the timings….. Some I have heard saying that they would call up the media people to show how passport offices harass the public. Felt sorry for them as some were standing since 9 am even before the token issue time, I was a mere spectator, We were some 20 to 25 people who barged into the security gate protesting and some desperately shouted and asked the police guy to allow us to speak to the passport officer….. but it seemed that we were shouting in front of deaf ears, one security guard said that even if the PM comes after the speculated time they won’t entertain ???? all the protest went in vain, some even tried to speak to the passport officer, reply was typically government of India kinda, “Sorry saar, we can’t help you, gate closes at 12” which was expected. Some media news channel people came….. the got what they wanted…. Scoops, interviews from public for masala in their news. What worse to follow was next day was FRIDAY and a holiday, why “Mahavir Jayanti” funny, in Bangalore I have not seen single Jains, why then close for MAHAVIR JAYANTI, even the rickshaw wala laughed when I told him tomorrow is holiday for passport office, because of mahavir jayanti. So 3 day off and I was in a fix whether I would get my passport renewed or not.

Day Two, Monday after weekend
I left home at around 6 am and reached passport office at 7 am, I thought that there won’t be much of a line, HOW wrong my prediction was ???? there was some 100 people standing to get the token which opens at 9:30 am, stood patiently for 4 hours, then was allotted the token at around 11:30 am. I was relieved, but my relief was for short duration as worse to worse thing was waiting for me inside. Sat there for some 45 minutes awaiting my token number to be called…. Moment came and I was happy, but my happiness was turned into rude shock when the officer who checked my documents told me that he needed marriage certificate and Annexure F which was missing with my documents…. And that was needed for tatkaal. I gave him my company written letter for Tatkaal (fast processing of passport), he told me such letters are useless, get me Annexure F….. god daam it I was silent for a minute…. After standing in line for almost 5 hours, I had to go

I did not loose patience, ran to small court to get annexure F and Marriage certificate affidavit… again bad experience in the court… no stamp papers available, had to run to another place to get stamp paper, now Marriage photo was needed, asked my mother to go and get a photo, meanwhile I had to shell out some 500 bucks to get the documents types and stamped by the lawyer…. I though that at-last this could be over, but it seemed that I had worse day of my life. The magistrate refused to sign the document and even after the layer pleaded infront of him he blantly refused, why because he was in a bad mood and I came to know that he got his transfer order t some village so was upset, and he showed all his anger on me and the lawyer…. If you have a bad day then nothing goes right for you…. That was a case for me.

Finally after finishing all these went back at around 4 pm back to passport office only to find that they have closed for the day…… luckily good thing was they do take into account the token no. for the next day. Went home leaving behind an horrible day in my life.

Day 3 - finally the D Day
This was the day which I though I would do anything but get my work done, so went to passport office at around 8 am, was sent inside only at 10 am. I went to the same officer, he starred at me and told me to come when the token no. is been called. Token No. was 3 at that time and mine was 163….. I said to myself that worse to worst time is not yet over… I took a chance and went back to him again after some 30 minutes, he again starred at me and told me that OK he will check the documents and then he will call me. Luckily he checked all my papers and asked me to write a self letter and get a photo with white background and come at around 12pm….. small glimmer of hope seemed to be visible to me. I ran to get the photo reached back and finally finally got my document accepted by the officer. Well not yet I was told to meet the deputy Passport officer, who fortunately didn’t say anything but signed and accepted the same…. Sigh of relief for me, paid the fees and came home.

So a lesson to me and some of you who think if your passport is getting expired and you can do it in a day or so, think again... start the process some 8-10 months before your passport expires and please please do visit an agent to get the document verified, don’t just go directly to the passport office, and if you have the time get the renewal done by the PASSPORT AGENT……

News portals in India how good are they ?

Every morning we come to office and first what we do check mails, and if there are no fire fighting emails, next thing what we do is read news from many of these news portals which provide daily scoops and updates all around the country. As internet speed has increased a lot in India, we generally tend to open 2 or more news portals…. Even I do so, which is the best in India, let me put my views on these….

IBNLive.com - * * * *
What I like about this site is the clean UI and excellent categorization of the news, also I read the blogs written by their news editors which are fun to read and they constantly update the blogs. You can spend at-least 10 to 15 minutes in the homepage itself, lots of scoops, around the world happenings. There is also this shopping which I haven’t ventured as yet…. Even if you go to inside pages, you won’t be lost, there are enough reasons to navigate within the pages very easily. Must say a clean, to the point and yet very much attractive news portal, very much like their news channel, IBN

Rediff.com - * * *
Hmmm… Ok sort of portal, thing is that rediff has been there for long long time and to be in dot com for these many years is commendable. Not much has changed for rediff, good thing about the site is their editorials are excellent and they constantly change every minute, which makes you glued to this site…. Apart from this their shopping site is also great. Very few people know that REDIFF also gives Railway schedules and that too a quick glance, Flight Schedules and Image search.

HindustanTimes.com - * * *
Don’t expect something great from this portal, but here again if you are an avid news and article reader, you will like this site. Homepage might look a bit crowded but ample of things very well structured. It seems this portal is been directly lifted from NewYorkTimes website, nevertheless worth a read…. J They give good coverage of cricket matches.

Mid-Day - *
Last year this was my favorite site, not only because it gave excellent scoops, but also through this site I was able to get updates of Mumbai and happenings in the city, but sorry to say the new version sucks big time. In the name of Web 2.0, they have forgotten the basic need of users, who come to the site to read and not watch the website, the new version is like very much disturbing and you won’t feel like reading…. BAD EXPERIENCE, check out Khalid Ansari column which is the only saving grace for Mid-Day.

Indiatimes.com, TimesofIndia.com - * *
Nothing much to say about these sites, not so great but not that bad either… surf it if you have ample of time in office

IndianExpress.com - * *
Again not that good experience in terms of UI but Indian Express editorials are regarded as A1 and SUPER… check out the Walk the Talk with Shekar Gupta http://www.indianexpress.com/fullcoverage/30.html

Gopalan Mall - Lousiest Mall in Bangalore

I have seen many malls in various cities in India, but this one Gopalan Mall in Mysore road, Bangalore is one of the lousiest and worst malls in terms of its overall design and its approach inside. Not only is this pathetically made but it lacks basic amenities like proper air conditioning, bad structuring of shops, basically you won’t feel like buying anything from there. Food mall is shabbily made; play zone is no where near to standards. And lastly this mall cannot withstand the crowd control.

Don’t know why in the hell people spend money in constructing without proper planning and why they don’t do proper research before designing the mall. Anyone going to Gopalan Mall, please think twice better go to some street shopping or visit a park rather than going in this shabby mall in Bangalore.

Online Flight Booking, India

As domestic flights have become cheap (is it so ???), travel portals are a big hit in India.... almost 5 to 6 portals are been seen, some are really good , some with bad interface but have very customer friendly approach. So which of these websites holds a key or strike a chord to survive in this competitive travel business, I have used almost all of them, so let me just recall on each of them and what it lacks and what's so good about them.

ClearTrip.com

Good Experience

• Here is one portal which is a treat to every traveller, and this is also talked by many UI guys for its clear and precise transaction and booking navigation.
• Firstly this site has no ads and flashing banners and all that false travel promices that every site gives, buy one get one free.... conditions apply sort of nonsence, so here what we see is just the booking parameters and thats it. See it book it and close it...
• Next step is you are directed to a even much better screen wherein you have the power to modify even in this stage without even refreshing the whole session, AJAX technology maybe
• Transaction page are split in 4 steps in same page, in 5 minutes you are through.
• Now thats what I call quick booking

Bad Experience

• One of the major drawbacks of clear trip is that once you book a ticket they (cleartrip people) can't modify or reschedule, which is bad. You need to call up the airline guys to do so, these guys should take up this responsinility.
• eTicket comes to you email very late, some 30 -40 minutes after you book, which is very late I mean if you are eagerly awaiting the ticket for printouts.
• Customer care is bit laid back and their so called TOLL FREE number dosen't work, you need to shell out money to call their land line number in Mumbai.

Makemytrip.com

Good Experience

• Not that pleasing interface, very similar to all other travel portals, but what differs from others is their process (internal process) is quick, prompt responce and quick eTicket delivery.
• You get eTicket in a blink of seconds after you book a ticket, at times you will be surprised to see eTicket reaching so fastly in your email.
• This is the only Portal which alows, cancellation and modification of ticket anytime (I mean except 4 hours before travel time), however for modification you need to call them up, but cancellation happens through internet (need to check on cancellation how fast I receive my funds)

Bad Experience

• Same old boring interface with lot of Jing bang, foolish ads, false promotional activities, which really distracts attention.
• Booking page after you key in dates and place, is not that pleasing, and a bit confusing, cleartrip beats them in this. Too many repetitive links and not that clear on where to click.
• Too much of Colors painted, though only blue combination has been used, but because of this the visibility goes off, thats the reason creats confusion.
• Should get away with 800 x 600 resolution and make it compatible for 1024 resolution as almost every person nowadays work on 1024 or more resolution, due to 800 x 600 resolution, page looks very compressed so data cannot be readable properly

Yatra.com, TravelGuru.com and Ezeego1

Again these sites are not that bad but lacks basic needs of customers, their websites many a times are on maintainance or server down problems, call centers are always busy, so these two are a big NO, if you consider cleartrip and MakeMyTrip.

So things are very much improving in travel sectors, many of these sites have also stared to give train schedules, which is very good. So finally it seems that these travel guys have learnt the theory of user centric approach to their process, IT people have to learn from them, especially from ClearTrip.com

Also now we have website which is for booking of VOLVO busses, thats great naa... its http://www.redbus.in/, Its good but try only if you are 100% sure of travel..

Is you application USABLE?

How do you state that the application is usable or not? Or do we really give it a thought anytime… some questions to ourselves,

• Is the application user centric, I mean does he have the freedom to customize?
• Is the main navigation placed appropriately and not scattered in all pages?
• How many clicks do the user has to do to complete his/her task, if more then can it be reduced?
• Is each element in the page properly grouped to be easily recognizable and not repetitive?
• Are your forms too huge and many fields repetitive?
• Is the application taking hell of a loading time to load, if yes why?
• Is your application totally CSS controlled? This maybe one of the answers to tackle above point
• Are images placed in the application explanatory or some really needed?
• Is the application smart enough to understand and answer user’s query?
• Are error message appropriately given and not demanding?
  

These are some questions we need to ask our self to application. Some of them are very common but really helpful.

Many think “Daam…. But do we really need to do these things? We will do what the client wants and client demands. Who cares about usability and user centered approach…. These are all book written jargons, practically just a TRASH. Why in the hell we waste a resource on checking these things”.... sadly in India many of them have the same thoughts

I am busy, can you call up later

Wonder how you react if you are in the receiving end and you desperately call up somebody say your manager and he replies back “I am busy, please call me back later”…. And same goes after an hour and it goes on. This happens to most of the people in today’s IT managers who tend to be busy or try to act busy, maybe pricy. But whatever you say this has becoming a trend nowadays, more you are busy it seems that you are doing efficient work, that is what tendency of we Indians go.

What bugs me more is that some people don’t even call back or understand that how important that call maybe. It takes just 2 to 3 minutes to speak but even that seems like a time consuming then why keep a MOBILE. I understand that if you busy in a meeting or con call then why the hell you picked the phone. My understanding is that if you are in official call with the client then you should keep your phone shut or silent.

My learning - simple usable application

I was preparing this wireframes for small application for Japanese client wherein it was to be used by their associates to add vendors and check for their bank account and add in their database.

Now this is where I stated the exercise,

Screen 1 -

Screen 2 -

Screen 3 –

Screen 4 –

Screen 5–

Screen 6 – Last screen and output

This looked so simple and precise, yet if you notice lots of interaction involved and user had many options and freedom to search the data and add in. Also if you notice in all the above screens, there is not much of data for the users to be filled and it is very easy. Mainly this can give users who will be using this more comfortable and hassle free to USE…. Less of thinking for him

Now that’s what I call usable. Good self learning for me

My trip to Calcutta/Kolkata

My one and half month stay in kolkata.... yes calcutta, had a mixed feelings. Day I landed here to Wipro office was in Salt Lake which is also called the new Kolkatta, something like New Bombay, and surprisingly it belongs to cleaner part of bong native. For first 2 weekends (weekend was the only period wherein I would venture out), I happen to visit city center which is a BIG Mall and happening place for all the cal youngies and yes I felt 5 years younger visiting that place. Most beutiful part of the Mall is that it had more open areas than just shopping, and it is not a AC Mall, partly open to air and partly closed, was good to roam around.

Next 2 weekend I happen to see the real kolkata, the tram yes the TRAM viewing was terrific


Though I didin't travel into this heritage stuff but a mere viewing felt very good. I saw the real crowd, traffic jams (very much like mumbai) and ofcource some cinema halls attached to MALLS. Ohh not to mention the yellow CABS in kol, a big Ambassador car blocking almost half of the road, and if you are travelling alone, it is like traveling in a mini truck. Though the fare are pretty much reasonnable, unlike in hyderabad or bangalore, these taxi walla don't run after you or be behind you for 1 or 2 rupees, they charge as per the fare, thats good, a la Mumbai, now I know why living in Metro is better than other cities.

So all in all a good trip, KOlKATA is the only metro city in India wherein you see manual cycle rickshaw. Will try to see more heritage places if time permits and if I don't get release from my project in KOLKATA

And yes I also happen to taste mishti and rossogullas....

My Dream Travel Portal

I would love to do travel bookings through internet provided I get best of deals and the site if well made. What do you made by well made? Well I mean something wherein I can get all travel related info in one roof off course a very easy simple approach and delight after booking, most importantly get a feeling of confidence and trust in the portal.

So this is my dream come true travel portal which if I got a chance I would make it and naturally only if lots of funding is in my hand. So how I wish to be that portal…. Firstly I would break the home page in 2 main sections (one transport bookings and package tour).

This wireframe show the plan…

Now I would also like flight bookings to be made flash version I mean an option to users to click on the city to city to view and book there in there….. but that will be optional simply because not everybody likes too much of interactivity. So apart from flight I will keep train schedules in elaborative fashion yet make it as simple and precise and lastly VOLVO buses info.

In Package tour not much drama, just 2 sections, one Make my package and great deals. So this is my dream travel portal, all in one roof, which will not only contain online transaction but also lots of information and interactive information, visual information wherein users will have lots of choice….making it sophisticated yet very simple approach, easy to locate and easy to use.

My joining Wipro in Chennai – 14th Jan 2008

Finally after 2 month long marathon talks and follow up finally got into Wipro, not a great journey though I had tough time handling Joining HR while salary negotiation and then after the offer had even more tough time running after the joining HR team for my accommodation and other things.

So strange things happened, firstly I was recruited for Hyderabad location but my base location was said to be Chennai and for the first 3 months I was to be posted in Calcutta, now I am really in confused state on where exactly would I land up in, Calcutta or Hyderabad or Pune

Now first day in Chennai, 13th Jan and city was gearing up for PONGAL, and I was staying in the most crowded and happening place in Chennai, T Nagar which the house of all jeweler dwellers. Streets were crowded like a mela. Guest house room was a sharing one…. So that was major disappointment for me.

Day of joining, 14th Jan – BOGI PONGAL day (first of the 4 day festival in Chennai), was suppose to reach at 8:30 am but to add up to the mess, I took a wrong bus and had to walk off some 3 km to office, 9:10 am and presentation had already begun, fortunately I didn’t miss much action. Though first of the 2 day induction was boring and dragging, made some friends from Pune and Hyderabad, good to see people from your city. First day was kind of too much of information but useful to certain extent. Second say was a holiday and god what do I do, landed up in one of my relative’s house only to make my day more dragging and dull. Somehow managed to escape from there after having LUNCH (though food was homely).

The last day of induction was a bit team building exercise sort of…. Which they call it “Spirit of Wipro”, had some fun in that session, but after lunch (typical madrassi lunch with loads of rice and sambhar and rasam) I was even more confused as my project manager was on leave for the whole week, so who to contact ? Had to shell out 200 bucks and reach Guindy office (suppose to be my base location) where I spoke to my alternate supervisor about my travel plans and what am I suppose to do in Calcutta. Had a mess of a time that evening and left everything and went straight to guest house. Next day I came in with fresh mind studied Wipro’s intranet closely, learnt how to raise travel request, how to follow up with people, finally in the evening I got tickets to go back to Pune and on Monday to Calcutta…. Was relieved finally back to home pune after dragging week in Chennai.

My Last day at Zensar Pune- 10th Jan 2008

Usually I am used to exiting the company with a happy face and there is always a excitement on the last date and at times relieved. This happened to me when I left 3i Infotech where I worked for 2 ½ years, main reason because the team itself was going on Graphic Designing way and not the usability way… well that’s history. Now the last day in Zensar Pune date – 10th Jan 2008.

Frankly speaking not a good feeling for the first time even after my 7 company change, 2 reasons for the same, one because buddies were cool and co-operative, we worked as a team, be it low fidelity task or high one, secondly the city PUNE which was like staying in home (simple reason because I was brought up in Mumbai, so that feeling of homely was there).

Lastly in my last 7 companies, no one has ever given me a FEREWELL, but this team though not very much united at work, held together to bid a farewell to be…. I felt high.

No doubt wherever I go, Zensar UI Team (Rahul, Anu, Zia, Lokesh, Srini.....) will always be in my memory, you never know I might go back there sometime, only time would say that….

Best Cricket matches that I have seen

Some matches which I liked the most and will always remember are:

Chennai Test - Tie match between India and Australia (1986)

Was a gem of a match, full of aggression and one of the great run chases in last day. Also remembered for a short aggressive hitting by Srikanth on 4^th day (some 50-60 runs he scored run a ball). The last day of test match was also remembered the way Ravi shastri instead of keeping the stike, gave the last man Maninder singh to bat the deadly greg mathews…

India England at Natwest trophy final (Run chase by Yuvraj and Kaif) - 2002

Never ever though of Indian batting line up down 4 wickets will dream of coming even close to 250 or 260, leave 300, but the unbelievable thing happened and that too in final, also remembered for that shirt wagging of Ganguly.

Australia - South Africa semi final at England 2000 world cup

South Africa will never ever will forget the way in which the match ended, some powerful hitting by klusner not once by twice in that over, 2 runs in 3 balls and that last run out of Donald, unimaginable....



India - Pakistan game at Australia 1992 world cup

Remembered for Javed Miadad hopping and then his stumps approoted by srinath. India won the match and which was like winning world cup then.




India - Pakistan game at Bangalore 1996 world cup

Again Remembered for Aamir Sohail and Prasad row.... Aaamir showing his bat after hitting a boundary and the very next balll his stumps routed, also astonishing batting by Ajay Jadeja where he hit some 40 odd runs in just last 3 overs


Australia - South Africa - 870 runs in 50 overs

How can a team firstly score 436 runs in 50 overs and how can a team dare to chase it and win. This impossible task was done by South Africa, always remembered by flurry of runs scored by Smith and Gibbs, almost like murdering the bowling


India Pakistan, Channai test - Final Day

Though India lost it, will be always remembered for patient batting by Sachin and then loosing his concentration when just 16 runs were required to win and 4 wickets were left. This test proved to the cricketing world that how much well you bat, you will be rewarded only if you finish it in style. Some great bowling by Saqlain Mushtaq and great pressure applied and aggression by the pakistan (sadly which it lacks nowadays).


Laxman special in Eden Garden vs Australia - test match
Eventually this was not only a match winning 280 runs but also raised the tempo to win series against Australia in India..... Also remembered for some exceptional bowling by bhajji



Lastly

India - Pakistan clash in 20-20 Finals and the league match

These 2 matches were always special to all cricketing lovers, You will feel for Misbah-ul-haq, who had not once but twice brought close to victory, but what a bowling performance from both teams, and who said 20-20 is regarded as batsman's paradise..... these 2 matches proved wrong and big bashers of the ball Sehwag, Afridi, Yuvraj, Dhoni all failed..... These 2

matches brought life to the newly emerging game 20-20, making test matches and one day matches a boring watch.

There are many more which can be cherished again and again....

I always had this passion of collecting and memorizing the cricket matches right from 1987 reliance world cup, I always loved to keep the records of one day game and also test cricket till, there where times during my schooling days I even used to keep up puotos of VIV Richards, Krish Srikanth (who was the like SEHWAG of India those days). Used to do all crazy stuff, playing statistics game within myself, wring down the scorecards and net run rates…. Even though I was poor in mathematics, my cricketing stats was always powerful.

Working after 6pm….

I don’t know why people take pride in saying “I was working till 12 since last 2 weeks…..”. Is it because they love working or they are in-efficient, maybe because they are used to it. According to me mix of all these 3 factors.

I was working in Patni in Bombay and was always lucky enough to move out of office at 6 pm….. rarely had I ever sat beyond 7, so one of my co worker asked me “How come you always leave by 6? Don’t you have enough work ?”. For a moment it hurt me not because he said I don’t have work, but because people still think (especially these so called emerging new Management Trainees and Engineering trainees) that you are a good efficient employee only if you sit out after 6 and go home only at 9 or 10.

This is not only with the IT people, I have seen one of my cousin in Pune who is a business person and has some 20-30 staff working under him. He always says “ aree yaar, There is not a single day that I have come home before 11 pm”, crazy stuff, if you are so cribbing about your late hours then why can’t you complete your task before time. In India this has become a norm that people who stretch their selves beyond working hours are regarded as hard workers, sad really sad.

Rightly sad in a way by Narayan Moorthi that “In IT If you can’t complete your task withing the stipulated period, then you are not fit to be in IT Industry”, maybe a very common notion which you guys may have heard from chain mails, but is very true. Even I work beyond 6 at times but inside I ask myself that why I stretched myself, shouldn’t I have completed the task on time.

So people who say that person leaving that by 6 or 6:30 an ALARM BELL or tease him, better look to yourself…. You are the one who is in-efficient not him, so better complete your task and go home, ENJOY LIFE…..