Driver user experience

Sometimes the memorable thing about using a device or program is one particular feature. There are one or two things that pop up in your mind. For example, when I think of using Microsoft Word, I think of the ribbon and the very nice font rendering and text styles - for some reason, I love staring with a blank document with a good zoom factor and see how the characters are rendered beautifully.

Anyway, enough love - moving on.

Other times there isn't one specific thing that makes you enjoy an experience like this, but it's instead a multitude of small things that show amazing attention to detail. As an example of this, I've fallen madly in love with the SYNC technology in my car. I get in the car, get going, and I have at my fingertips all sorts of useful bit of information: directions to places, traffic reports, news, music, everyone on my contact list. And it's really not distracting at all: I just talk to the car to get whatever information I want. And all the things I do play nice with each other: pausing music when I get a call, resuming from my last playlist when I get back in the car, traffic reports that give me time estimates from wherever I may be (just say "traffic to home", and tell it your address if it's the first time - it'll do a great job at locating it).

It's good to see that this is a pretty dynamc space and things continue to evolve. You can always check the latest from Microsoft and get a peek into the future, but if like me, you're moving in from a "darker age", you really need to experience it yourself to get a good feel for how the driving experience changes day-to-day.

Enjoy!