push? pull?

For some reason me and doors don't get along. I probably pull a door when it should be pushed or push a door when it should be pulled, about 3 out of 4 times AT LEAST.

Ok, I really hope it's not just me. I see a flat panel where a handle should be on a door and to me that means push right? These doors I have no problem with. If I see a door with a vertical handle, I assume I need to pull and oftentimes I'm right. But then there are the few where you're supposed to PUSH. Why in the world would you have a handle if you need to push the door? It just boggles my mind.

How about doors with knobs? Thats like a 50/50 chance right there. Do you turn and pull or turn and push? My first instinct is to pull, so I do, but then I'm always wrong and then people behind me snicker. Ugh...

So now I'm really confused. I spoke to someone at the fire department in Ontario and they told me that all doors should be PULL to go into an establishment and PUSH to leave, for fire safety purposes. Makes sense -- if you're in a rush to leave a building on fire, you'd just have to push the door to get out. But there are just too many stores, doctor's offices, buildings, schools, etc out there that just don't follow this rule. I'm not sure if Vancouver has the same rules as they do in Ontario to uphold fire safety.

These interactions with doors should be second nature. If you see a panel, push. If you see a handle, pull. I'm still not sure what to do about door knobs though.

wow its been a year!

I haven't posted on my user experience blog in over a year! I know, pretty bad. Last year, I applied to study at IVREA and Domus Academy in Italy for January 2006 and to my surprise, I WAS ACCEPTED! Imagine - a whole year studying in the design center of the universe -- Milan! It was a hard decision to make as I had just landed a great opportunity at IBM in Interactive Media Design that I just couldn't refuse. So I decided to postpone my Masters degree in Interaction Design for another year or two and see how things go...

Well, it's been a year and I've been thinking about my future lately. I've learned so much in my n years in visual design and have tried to incorporate guidelines and processes learnt regarding creating an engaging and compelling user experience into all the projects I have worked on. I've found that without even realizing it, I've taken great efforts to create a usable interface. Working with clients through IBM, and with the e-design team at Morgan Stanley Japan, I was gradually exposed to processes behind business analytic reports, heuristic evaluations, use case studies, UI guidelines, wireframes, and user testing. Sure, going to study interaction design would have given me a good foundation to build upon, but nothing can beat gaining UI design experience on the job.

So, I'm not ruling a year in Italy studying out. It's still on my mind and might consider again. I still have a few more months to really decide if I want to study in 2007 or postpone for another year...