In this followup to episode DC82a, Tim describes the conclusion of his interaction with Logitech Customer Support. Unlike the MINI/BMW car maker attitude towards service after a sale, Logitech proves itself exceptionally good at listening to a complaint about a defective product and fixing it quickly without hassle.

If only more companies took their customer experience after the sale as seriously as Logitech does! Service after the sale is as important as the product design itself. Indeed, it IS part of the product design. Only arrogant, “take the money and run” companies, such as MINI, fail to understand this. Long-term brand loyalty is usually increased by responsive customer support.

The longitudinal review of Tim’s 2009 MINI Cooper is here! A car so unreliable that he had to get rid of it after only 2.5 years. Automotive human factors engineer Ken Mayer (cohost from our earlier Saturn SC2 car critique) returns to help Tim on this very detailed critique of the second generation MINI Cooper, a stunning mix of greatness and disaster (the car, we mean, not this critique). If you love cars, you’ll love this episode. We put the long in longitudinal product reviews!

Basically, the second generation (post-2006) MINI Cooper is a frustrating mix of unreliable components assembled unreliably. MINI refused for over a month to send Tim’s dealer a new piston and rod when those went bad at only 31K miles. The flaky electronics are infested with more gremlins than, uh…that movie named “Gremlins”. An addictively fun car such as the MINI almost makes you forgive its shoddy quality…almost but not quite. Tim broke his addiction and is now in MINI detox. Please pray for his recovery.

But there’s still a lot to praise about the things MINI got right in this car. Buckle up for a rollicking, passionate, detailed review that covers everything you want to know about a car that inspires passion, both positive and negative, in an era of unloveable, boring “familymobiles”.

Then join TrueDelta to tell the world about your car’s reliability. Write your own reviews for your car(s) to tell the world what you’ve enjoyed and disliked. Check it out right now at
www.truedelta.com

Tim critiques the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 portable speaker system for iPods, iPhones, and other sound-making gadgets. The Pure-Fi Anywhere was Logitech’s sequel to the highly successful mm50, which Tim and Alan reviewed way back in episode DC39.
This longitudinal review covers two years of experience using this product, including the new user interface, the industrial design that both delights and disappoints, the improved sound quality of the bass response, and a problem with the battery that we should all be upset about in consumer electronics.

Internet User Experience 2011 is coming to Ann Arbor, Michigan, this autumn! Check out what this terrific annual conference has to offer this year at
www.iue2011.com

Sixth Anniversary Edition! Dr. Susan Weinschenk joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion of her latest book, 100 Things Every Designer Should Know About People. Not just a collection of opinons, 100 Things… presents up-to-date research on the fundamentals that uderpin our work as UX professionals, while exposing several popular myths and misconceptions along the way.
Thanks for listening for six years! I’m proud of what Tom Brinck and I started back in the summer of 2005, and appreciate any and all feedback you send.

Susan’s blog is at
www.whatmakesthemclick.net

Her Twitter is
@thebrainlady

Check out the Colours In Cultures color wheel by David McCandless at
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/colours-in-cultures/

You can read Tim’s article about usability testing for entrepreneurs at the Entrepreneurial America website at
http://www.entrepreneurial-america.com/2011/07/product-usability-testing-for.html

Tim interviews Carol Smith about the Usability Professionals Association’s body of knowledge project. Carol led Michigan UPA members in a body of knowledge work day hosted at the offices of Tec-Ed, Inc., in Ann Arbor on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

If you would like to assist us in developing the UPA body of knowledge for our profession, contact Carol at
project at usabilitybok.org     (substitute the @ symbol for ” at “, no spaces before or after)

See the body of knowledge project at
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_projects/body_of_knowledge/bok.html
and
http://usabilitybok.org

You can find listener Yannig Roth’s blog at
http://yannigroth.wordpress.com

Davin Granroth joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion of a structured design review method. This way to critique a design obtains maximum useful feedback with minimum pain to people’s feelings. Tim refers to it now as “The Granroth Review Method” but Davin is quick to thank some writing professors at Michigan State University for the concept, which Davin has adapted well to our UX professional needs.

You can read about this method over at Davin’s blog:
http://blog.davingranroth.com/2011/01/a-model-for-ux-design-reviews/

You can read about Sugru, a clay-like fixit and “mechanical hacking” material, at
their very well-done and fun website:
http://sugru.com

Finally, here’s a link to Red Green, whom I referred to in the closing minute:
http://www.redgreen.com

The ultimate longitudinal review, five years in the making. Sennheiser has changed their once-terrific PX-100 headphones for the worse. We don’t often do negative reviews on Design Critique, but it’s useful to analyze how a great user experience can disappoint after several years ownership. Reliability is the Achilles heel of the PX-100 and now it’s even worse with brittle plastic, reduced cushioning, and wickedly tight pressure through the headband.
In other news, Tim has a chapter in the new UX Storytellers book, which is free for download, and a blog post for Altitude Inc. We have email from two, count ’em TWO, listeners. All this in under 30 minutes.

Interesting PX-100 reviews for the PX-100 and PX-100 MkII can be found at
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PX-100-Lightweight-Collapsible/dp/B000089GN3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293124224&sr=8-1

http://www.headphone.com/product_review.php?icn=0020081010

Tim’s chapter in UX Storytellers, UX Professional Buys a Car, can be found at
http://uxstorytellers.blogspot.com/

Download the whole book and enjoy!

Tim’s “How User Experience Research Saved the Chevrolet Corvette” post on Altitude Inc.’s blog can be read at

http://altimeter_blog.altitudeinc.com/bid/33288/How-User-Experience-Research-Saved-the-Chevrolet-Corvette