Readdress Success

My side projects have not made me millions. I’ve not been featured on the App Store. I have not won Site Of The Day on Awwwards, I’ve not even had an Honourable Mention. I’m now over the hill and into my 30’s. My best is past me. I’ve failed at life.

Or at least that’s how it can feel. Every day you can read articles about 20 somethings “disrupting industries” and making millions or people hitting the big time with a lucky strike. I want to be successful and what that success is has been drilled into me by countless “inspirational” stories I’ve read. I’ve lived by the “Dream Big” mentality and it hasn’t helped me. With definitions of success as grandiose as these it’s no wonder that all of my ideas and side projects have been dead before I’ve even started building them.

I’VE LIVED BY THE “DREAM BIG” MENTALITY AND IT HASN’T HELPED ME

For years I’ve planned out the game that changes the game industry; the app that changes the way you live your life; and the website that will change the world. These ideas sat and gathered dust whilst I waited for all of the correct pieces to fall into place. Where the pieces were falling from I couldn’t tell you. God maybe? The stars? Maybe the designs for one of my apps are sitting on a USB drive on the International Space Station. One day, one of the astronauts will be looking down kindly on me and they will eject the USB Drive which will somehow survive the journey back down to earth and land flat in my palm. Or maybe not.

I couldn’t start these projects as they were doomed to fail the exacting standards I’d set myself. For the ones that did manage to fight for themselves and get started an abrupt end was in store for them. My ideas crumbled under the weight of my aspirations. Finishing these projects would just confirm to me that they had failed; that my ideas were never as good as I thought; and that I was never going to be the success I hoped to be. So these half made things, full of promise got pushed aside and they too gathered dust.

MY IDEAS CRUMBLED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF MY ASPIRATIONS

Earlier this year I started working on a new idea for an app. A weather app for cyclists who commute to work, a narrow market but I knew I would definitely find it useful. I’d recently picked up Ionic, which gave me a rapid way of building and releasing iOS and Android applications using web technologies (if you’re a web developer and haven’t looked at Ionic I thoroughly recommend playing about with it). Using Ionic to solve a problem I was having felt like a great opportunity for me to learn some new skills. I didn’t worry too much about process (I spend a lot of time worrying about process in my day job), and I had gained some momentum. Instead of wireframing, designing and marketing I just coded. I wanted to get something working as soon as possible.

You may be surprised to learn that my app didn’t make me rich

And I did get it working, sort of. There were a few bugs which needed ironing out. The design needed to be improved slightly. But I had an app that was running on my own phone. It wasn’t on the app store yet but the momentum was carrying me forward. Small steps were making a big difference, and not worrying about the bigger picture meant that I was working stress free.

SMALL STEPS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

The app I was building was specifically for me, but it was definitely going to make a few hundred thousand. Who doesn’t want to buy a cycling specific weather app? However, I put future riches out of my mind and continued the snowballing momentum I had. The snowball was so large that it actually smashed straight through the brick wall that is Apple’s provisioning profiles, app deployment and review process. Earlier this year I released my first app, solely created by me, which people were paying for.

I’d completed a personal project and this achievement has changed the way I approach all of my side projects now.

You may be surprised to learn that my app didn’t make me rich. It hasn’t got a shed load of 5 star reviews and apple haven’t noticed it one bit. But I feel happy nonetheless. I designed, built and released my own idea. Every time I think, “Well it’s not made any money.” I invariably start thinking, “Well at least I finished it. At least it works”. And it does work, it looks good and I’ve learnt a lot whilst creating it. I’ve navigated the labyrinth that is iOS provisioning and certifications. People can download it and use it, and some are. This is what success is for me.

I found a project I was interested in and didn’t worry about whether it would be popular, or make me rich. I ignored people telling me it wouldn’t work, or wouldn’t be popular. I focused on small steps instead of worrying about selling my idea to Google, or getting featured in the AppStore, and I found that everything became much more accomplishable. All I wanted to do was make it work. If I could get it on the AppStore then it was a success.

I don’t want to get bogged down by fear of failing and it’s not going to stop me from creating things anymore

I’ve started thinking of success as an evolving goal. At the moment success means to me, finishing and releasing the project. After the project is released I can look at what’s next for the project to be more successful, but all the while knowing that the project is already a success. I don’t want to get bogged down by fear of failing and it’s not going to stop me from creating things anymore.

I DON’T WANT TO GET BOGGED DOWN BY FEAR OF FAILING

I have already noticed a difference in my mindset. Ideas big and small seem less stressful. I have a couple of projects in the works and my primary goal is to complete and launch them. When I achieve that the projects are a success and after that everything is a plus.

So as a parting note, if you’ve ever not started something because you’re afraid of it not becoming a success, readdress what success means to you. Start small, stay small and finish it. You’ll feel a lot more successful than you do if you never finish anything.

By   Adam Hughes    - Orginal Post: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2017/09/readdress-success/

Read More

When Slower UX is Better UX

When it comes to technology, faster isn’t always better. 

It’s true that 47 percent of people want web pages to load in two seconds or less (and 40 percent abandon sites that take three seconds to load). But when load times drop significantly below that two-second threshold, users start to get skeptical.

To understand why, put yourself in the shoes of someone checking his credit score. In the past, he may have spent hours on the phone to get even one bureau’s credit report. Now, using an app, he can get all three reports in mere seconds with just a few taps.

Yes, the app is fast, and yes, from an objective perspective, it’s user-friendly. Its designers clearly did their homework. But does he trust the app’s results? Is it a scam? Did the program really gather all three reports, check them for errors, and present them in a matter of seconds?

No way, he might think. Given his past experience, he’d be perfectly reasonable in thinking that the app couldn’t possibly have done it that quickly.

WHEN SLOWER SOFTWARE WORKS

In most cases, a speedy user experience makes sense. Optimization is important, and frankly, most sites need more of it, not less.

But there are certain situations in which a slower UX can actually increase user trust and engagement. Consider slowing your software in order to:

1. CREATE SECURITY THEATER

When you fly, the Transportation Security Administration’s job isn’t just to make you safer; it’s also to make you feel safer. This same labor of illusion is what made you confident when filing your taxes with TurboTax earlier this year. Intuit created fake animated loading bars that show that it triple-checking your returns for errors even though it actually does so along the way.

Slowing down this stressful process tells users that TurboTax is working hard for them and that they can trust it with sensitive information. Facebook provides random security checks for a similar reason: By drawing attention to something that’s already happening behind the scenes, Facebook gives users confidence that their data is secure.

When, exactly, should you provide a security-show slowdown? One might be in order if the user has provided sensitive information (such as a social security number or home address), paid money to use your service, or engaged deeply with it.

For example, imagine a home-finding startup. Rather than you doing the legwork of finding the perfect home, the startup’s app handles it for you. Because it costs money and requires personal information, it’s imperative that it slow the process down. In order to build trust, the app should explain why it needs your sensitive data, how it will use that information, and assure you that it will keep your information safe. A free messaging app, on the other hand, needs no such slowdown. Its goal is merely to gain and keep its users through a seamless experience with the least number of barriers.

2. EDUCATE USERS ABOUT MODERN TECH SPEEDS

Thanks to Moore’s Law and the maturation of connected devices, many modern technology products are fast and efficient with little perceived latency. Mobile computing and network speeds are remarkably quick compared to even five years ago.

But with so many users accustomed to spotty internet service, old technologies, and buggy software, fast operating speeds can cause them to worry about whether your product is working correctly. Wells Fargo’s eye scan technology, for example, was so quick that users didn’t believe it was doing what it said it was. The developers artificially slowed the process by strategically including scanning and authenticating progress bars. 

Slowing your product to match user expectations should, however, be a stopgap solution. Look for opportunities to educate users on today’s software speeds. Within the product itself, explain how your software is faster than ever. 

Facebook, again, provides an illustrative example. Ever notice how it pushes temporary notifications into your newsfeed following a product update? Each update mentions how Facebook is constantly working hard to improve the platform’s speed.

In your own product, take it one step further and include a call to action to allow users to provide feedback. Have an FAQ ready (or, even better, live support) to respond to this feedback and help users understand what’s really happening behind the scenes of your software.

3. WORK WITHIN SYSTEM CONSTRAINTS

Keep in mind that not all devices are connected to fast internet providers. Your product’s users might be of modest means or live in rural areas, or your own server infrastructure might not be up to snuff.

Either way, progress indicators such as loading bars can remind users that your product is still working on their request. For example, FirstRand Bank Limited of South Africa baked an artificial progress bar into its web interface. Because its infrastructure is outdated and slow, information can’t be displayed as quickly as it could, say, in Wells Fargo’s app.

Again, consider the user’s experience. If you’re a FirstRand customer staring at a blank screen for 15 seconds after clicking a button, wouldn’t you try checking your connection and refreshing the request? Unfortunately, these actions only make the bottleneck worse.

A fake loading bar might not be the ideal solution, but it’s better than providing no feedback at all. Animation to show that your software is handling the user’s request provides relief for both your servers and your users.

SPEEDING UP OR SLOWING DOWN?

All this talk of slowing down software requires some historical context. System limitations and users’ past experiences may be slowing things down, but on the whole, technology is pushing toward faster user experiences.

The more time that elapses, the more long-term tech users we’ll have. The more long-term tech users become accustomed to instantaneous results, the less UX designers will need to slow down their technologies. The faster technologies work — and, importantly, work correctly — the more users will trust them. Meanwhile, younger generations without the preconceived notions of their parents will grow into adults who are accustomed to seamless technological experiences.

Older generations who aren’t comfortable with technology still exist, however, and two people of different demographics rarely have the same comfort levels with the same technologies. Today, intentionally slowing down certain product scenarios can help older users feel comfortable with what’s happening to their data.

When slow systems (by today’s standards) are gone and people are used to instantaneous results, how much systems reveal to us about their back-end operations may become a question of personal freedom. As humans, we want to feel in control. Choices are comforting.

Ultimately, speed is important, but so is matching users’ expectations. No matter how fast we move into the future, slowing down will never go out of style.

By   Mike Godlewski   - Orginal Post: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2017/09/when-slower-ux-is-better-ux/

Read More

Sega Mega Drive Console for High Quality Games

Mega Drive Console for High Quality Games

Who doesn’t love gaming? It is hard to find anyone who really doesn’t like to play game. So, it is the hottest topic in current era.

After the invention of personal computer, gaming becomes so popular that is near to a person. People who have a personal computer, he/she easily can buy a game on online store or physical store and can play game on his/her personal computer.

Though playing game of personal computer is fun but the real gamers are really freak. Most of them are not happy to playing game on personal computer only. Because playing game on personal computer sometime becomes irritated. So, they are looking for a gaming console to play their desire games.

For the gamers, in marketplace there are some companies whom are producing gaming console.Like, Xbox from Microsoft, Play Station from Sony, Nintendo Wii U. All of them are really popular in present situation.

Besides all of those console Mega Drive is also gaming console. It was so much popular in worldwide at the time it first come to the market and became much more popular on the regions those are the outside of North America.

History Behind Mega Drive:

Actually, the Mega Drive is called Sega Mega Drive. But in North America it called Sega Genesis as well as Super Game Boy also. The Super Game Boy named come from the later Super Aladdin Boy in South Korea. In 1988 the Super Aladdin Boy gaming console was developed by Sega. It was a cartridge based video game console.

Mega Drive is the third gaming home console from the Sega. After the SG-1000 which includes SG-1000 II and Mark III (also called the Sega Master System). In the development process the Mega Drive was also called the Sega Mark V, which was the codenamed of Mega Drive. But now it is become a part of fourth generation video gaming consoles.

Sega Drive had a software library system. For these, more than thousands of games released for this gaming system and store on software library. So, on that time, gamers didn’t buy game from market. The Mega Drive had built game compatibility at its time being.

The main competitors for Mega Drive was Nintendo’s Famicom (NES) and following on Super Famicom (SNES). Besides this, NEC’s TurboGrafx-16 (a personal computer engine in Japan), SNK’s Neo Geo, Atari Jaguar and other numerous number of home consoles and computers is always the biggest console wars of all the time.

Hardware Configuration:

Mega Drive also known as Sega Genesis is mainly a 16-bit home video game console. This gaming console builds on the technology that found in the Master System with adaptors and backwards compatible. Besides, it is upping its technical specifications that’s demanding more on gameplay, sound system and graphical interfaceso that, a number of numerous changes happened on the design of consoles that still continue.

The output Mega Drive sounds is in stereo mode and it can produce some clearer graphical views. All the Mega Drives have a top loading design like the cumbersome VCR-style cartridge loading from the Western NES that helps to removable controllers. From the day one of the console, the console can allow hardware expansions that is help for expand the configuration of the hardware system for revision versions.

In the time being of 1988, the time of its release it was the most powerful gaming console that surpassing the personal computer engine TurboGrafx-16. But the power optimization system was not surpassed until the 1990 when the Neo Geo was come in the gaming console marketplace.

Like to compare with the other home computer on that time, it was not that kind of powerful like the Sharp X6800 as know the Japan Exclusive Computer that released in 1987 or FM Towns which released later on 1989. But the Mega Drive was more powerful than other Western home computers in the late of 80s including the Amiga.

Technical Specifications:

The system master clock rate is 53.70 MHz in NTSC and 59.21MHz in PAL. The frame rate per cycle of master clock is 896,040 in NTSC and 1,067,040 in PAL, where per scanline in master clock is 3420.

Processor:

Main CPU:Motorola 68000

Clock rate: 7.670453 MHz (NTSC), 7.600489 MHz (PAL)

Instruction set: 16‑bit and 32‑bit CISC instructions

Data bus width: 32-bit internal, 16‑bit external

External data bus clock rate: 5 MHz (5 MB/s external data access bandwidth)

Arithmetic logic units: 16-bit data ALU, 32-bit address ALU (2x 16-bit ALU)

Sound CPU: Zilog Z80

Clock rate: 3.579545 MHz (NTSC), 3.546894 MHz (PAL)

Data bus width: 8‑bit

CPU instruction performance: 1.861363 MIPS (NTSC), 1.844386 MIPS (PAL)

68000 performance: 1.342329 MIPS (NTSC), 1.330086 MIPS (PAL)

Z80 performance: 0.519034 MIPS (NTSC), 0.5143 MIPS (PAL)

Sound:

FM sound chip: Yamaha YM2612, clocked at the 68000, clock speed (7.670453 MHz in NTSC, 7.600489 MHz in PAL)

PCM sampling quality: 8‑bit depth, 8–22 kHz sampling rate

IRQ interrupt capabilities: IRQ2 sound interrupt

PSG sound chip: Sega PSG (SN76496), clocked at the Z80 clock speed (3.579545 MHz in NTSC, 3.546894 MHz in PAL) and built into the VDP

Four audio channels: Three channels of pure square wave tones, and one noise channel

Graphics:

GPU: Sega 315‑5313 VDP (Yamaha YM7101)

Clock rate: 13.423294 MHz (NTSC), 13.300856 MHz (PAL)

Pixel clock rate: 6.711647 MHz (NTSC), 6.650428 MHz (PAL)

Internal data bus: 16-bit

External data buses: 16-bit CPU bus, 8/16-bit VRAM bus (Dual Port VRAM, 16-bit RAM/SAM, 8-bit RAM)

IRQ interrupt capabilities: IRQ6 VBlank interrupt, IRQ4 H‑Int (Horizontal Interrupt) scanline interrupt

Video Encoder DAC: Sony CXA1145 (NTSC/PAL)/ Fujitsu MB3514 (PAL)

Color burst clock frequency: 3.579545 MHz (NTSC), 4.433618 MHz (PAL)

Refresh rate: 59.92274 Hz (NTSC), 49.701459 Hz (PAL)

Progressive scan resolutions:

NTSC: 320×224, 256×224

PAL: 320×224, 256×224, 320×240, 256×240

Interlaced resolutions:

NTSC: 320×448, 256×448

PAL: 320×448, 256×448, 320×480, 256×480

Memory:

System RAM: 136 KB

Main RAM: 64 KB

VRAM: 64 KB

FPM DRAM: 64 KB

SAM buffer cache: 256 bytes

Audio RAM: 8 KB

VDP internal cache: 232 bytes

Sprite cache: 80 bytes

Cartridge memory: 512–8224 KB

ROM: 512 KB to 8 MB

SRAM: 8 KB to 32 KB

Bandwidth:

Main RAM: 10.526314 MB/s (16-bit, 5.263157 MHz)

VRAM: 8–11.764705 MB/s (NTSC), 8–8.333333 MB/s (PAL)

Audio RAM: 3.030303 MB/s (8-bit, 3.030303 MHz)

Cartridge ROM bandwidth: 10 MB/s

Models:

Mega Drive:

The main Mega Drive measures 28cm x 21.2cm x 7cm. Its top unit divided into two parts or components. One is a circular emboss which carries the cartridge slot and other one is tagline. But in the later improvise version the tagline was omitted. There also a control panel, which containing the power and reset options and for the headphones jack there is a volume slider. Though the headphone jack was used for stereo sound the audio output system in the original model was mono using A/V port. So, the A/V port convert the sound system slightly.

But in different country there is a little bit differences in model. Like in Asian, Japanese and South Korean models there is cartridge locking system that prevents cartridges for being removed while the power button is on. In the improvise version the TradeMark security system is added also. This security ensured that, Mega Drive became an intellectual property globally.

Mega Drive 2:

But in later 1993 the Mega Drive 2 was released. This one was the most cost reduced design from the very first one. It measurement was 22cm x 21.2cm x 5.9 cm.

In this model the stereo headphone jacks were being removed. Instead of, there was a favor of output through a redesigned A/V port which includes 9 pins.

But a major problem of Mega Drive 2 was lacks a Z80, actually Zilog Z80. Z80 was the most important chip on this time for the Mega Drive 2. Because the lacking of this chip many games that would run on Mega Drive 2 was no sound at all. But in the later revision versions, Z80 integrated into a custom ASIC that incorporated with major chip components.

Genesis 3:

In 1998 a small version of Mega Drive released only for American market. This time it was called the Genesis 3. This version of Mega Drive is released by Majesco. In this version, all kind of bugs including memory controller bugs were being fixed like unplayable some games and the Sega CD as well as 32X unusable rendering problems.

Some Popular Games of Mega Drive:

There were very popular games which ran on Mega Drive at time of it was released. Some of are, Phantasy Star IV, Shining Force II, Gunstar Heroes, The Revenge of Shinobi, Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

It is hardly that the Mega Drive was the most successful video gaming console on its time era. This gaming console was sold over 40 million of unit internationally including United States, Japan, Western Europe and Brazil. Though Mega Drive was an analogue machine type console but it is not totally ancient or nostalgic or dead. It will be still fun to play the most popular games of Mega Drive with friends and family with this console. It costs also exciting and demanding experience that really remembering.

See full specifications and price here: https://ebgames.com.au/loot-220618-Sega-Mega-Drive-Classic-Console-Loot

Read More