About me

During their 1982 world tour, Van Halen had a stipulation in their concert contract that said the venue must provide them with a bowl of M&M’s backstage—but all brown M&M’s had to be taken out. They made this request because it showed how much the person managing the show paid attention to detail.

I’m not in UX for winning a beauty contest…

Still, aspire to create aesthetic designs. Aesthetic designs are perceived as easier to use, are more readily accepted and used over time, and promote creative thinking and problem solving. Aesthetic designs also foster positive relationships with people, making them more tolerant of problems with a design.

Support recognition over recall

It is easier to recognize things than recall them from memory.
Think of meeting a person on the street. You can often tell quite easily if you have seen her before (Recognition), but coming up with her name (recall)? If I'll ask you to draw a dollar bill out your memory (Recall) or next to your eyes (recognition).
How we promote recognition in your application? By making information and interface functions visible and easily accessible.

Discoverability

What’s out of sight, is out of mind, and obvious always win.
Imagine walking up to an elevator and pressing the button to call it. The button doesn't light up, there's no display to let you know on which floor the elevator is and you can't hear it moving. You'll probably wait, but after a while you'll get tired of waiting and take the stairs. It's the same with web or mobile user interfaces that hide their function or don't let you know if anything's happening once you've interacted with them. This can lead to user frustration and, let's face it, closing your application or website is much easier than taking several flights of stairs.

Your end users are both rational and emotional beings.
Therefore they must rely on their working memory to keep around information. When information is not visible in front of their eyes, the interaction cost and consisting mental effort of guessing what is hidden is more painfully... Your user can immediately discover all the possible actions and where and how to perform Them.

GUI Transparency & WYSIWYN=What You See Is What You Need

Progressive disclosure: Display only the content and controls that are crucial needed to the user, when they need it.
Think about why you want something to look a certain way, and not really about how it should look. Looks can always change, but the reasons for giving something a look stay the same.

Consistent communication

Reduce noise: make your app speaks clearer.
Lack of consistency is confusing to users. Users feel more in control when behaviors & controls are familiar and consistent predictable.
Care and accuracy will show respect to our users.

Visual Speed

Consider the use for keyboard (shortcuts for your power-users). Think of your forms more as a conversation instead of inputs from a database.

Recovery

Nature is a complex interface, but we seem to manage (trial and error).
Best way to recover from an error is to avoid it @ start…

My thoughts and vision

- Always ask yourself: How can my website change the first seven seconds of my user experience? (the 3W rule: Your website must have an answer to: Where am I?, What can I do here?, Why should I do it?).
- Remember that every element of your site is communicating your value proposition — whether explicitly or implicitly. (Ensure all elements of the page are consistent with one another in either demonstrating or supporting your value proposition).
- Landing pages: make sure that your user's motivation (Hunter vs. Browser thought) will match up with your value proposition. If you break it—if you disrupt it—you lose your prospect (Avoid competing objectives and evenly weighted options).
- Evolve your business into something valuable for your users (It has to be what you DO and ARE. It can't be just what you SAY or WANT).
- Generate revenue with inbound customer service (option to save sales, up-sell, and cross-sell).
- Admit your Weaknesses (The Post Modern Consumer is not looking for perfection. He is looking for honesty. when your company will admit a weakness it will immediately opens the door for a trust relationship).
- Don't stand above or aside your user, try and stand-under his/er position/ motivation ("Hunter vs. Browser thought ") in English it's called UNDERSTAND...
- E-mail marketing: your relevant content will determine your frequency, keep in mind that the bottom line for your user is: What's in there for me? Keep in mind: your e-mails should be like a mini-skirt of a pretty woman... not too long, but short enough to cover...

I try to create a balance between the rich content and the ultimate user experience considering a few principles:
Principle of Transparency
I designed the interface that users can accomplish their tasks while being minimally aware of the interface itself, I use the Principle of Transparency. GUI transparency occurs when the user's attention is drawn away from the interface and naturally directed at the content-task itself. It is the product of several factors, including a screen layout that puts both tools and information where the user expected them to be, a language of unique icons and labels that are meaningful to the user, and navigation structure that is easy for users to recognize, learn, remember, and perform.

Site Colors and Language

Colors and Icons have psychological effect on the user and are the strength of any website and Portal creating the ultimate user experience. main guide lines: Transparency, Open, Professional, Social, Fresh, Trusted, and Growth full. The Websites and Portals are designed to be effective, efficient, and satisfying for more users in more situations (cross browsers).

I worked in the finance sector in the Netherlands and was responsible for the creation and realization of concepts for the digital channel (Portals, Websites, Intranet, Extranet, Newsletters, Social media etc.) for some of the biggest banks and insurance companies such as the Postbank (the first internet banking application online), PGGM, AEGON, Levob, Pink Roccade, Cito Groep, CBR, Organon, Graydon, Meeùs, UMG, Eno, Salland, Energiek.

I was responsible for:
- Applying brand standards while providing cutting edge creative solutions;
- Developing A/B Testing, MVT (Multi-Variation Testing), Behavioral Targeting to improve customer experience and increase marketing conversion and process optimization;
- Supporting and developing interactive marketing strategies;
- Developing, managing and driving demand/brand generation activities through e-mail and database marketing activities;
- Creating data-driven, dynamic e-mail campaigns and tests that deliver against ROI targets through a segmented customer base;
- Examining ways to improve user experience and coming up with product recommendations based on customer feedback;
- Managing Internet specialist team.

My training and courses include: Camera Obscura: School of Visual Arts Tel Aviv, various courses in photography, psychology of the eye, graphic and UI design, SEO and marketing/communications.

Education

1998 - present:
Digital Marketing (SEO), E-mail marketing, User-centered design (UCD), UI Design, Interactive design, GX, SharePoint, WordPress, Adobe, HTML, Css.

1996 - 1998:
Tutorial in HTML and graphics programs (eg Photoshop, Illustrator).

1996:
Communication and social skills.

1987-1989:
'Camera Obscura School of Visual Arts' in Tel Aviv. Subjects: Graphic design, branding, advertising, Art, black and white, studio photography, art criticism, chemistry and technology.

1987-1990:
Studio 'M' in Tel Aviv Graphic Design and photography.

1984-1987:
Military Service: Training for Intelligent Force.

1976-1983:
High School of which 3 years specialization Art, photography and graphic design.

"My God, it's full of stars!" 2001: A Space Odyssey


My interests:

Human Nature, Music, Films, Art and Primitive Art, Design, Fashion, Photography, Internet, Philosophy, Meditation and OOBE, Psychology of the eye and Scanability, Morfogenetic fields, White Magic.