Pleasure and Pain

Improving the human experience one day at a time

Pleasure and Pain: photos by Whitney G. Hess

Entries Tagged as 'Pain'

How Little You Really Know

February 26th, 2010 · Comments · Pain, Research, User Experience

You have no idea how little your users really know. And that shows just how little you know.
You work in technology for a living. You’ve been using a computer since you were born. You are obsessed with learning new things. You are a nerd and you hang out with other nerds. You constantly think about [...]

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Photo of the day: The Non-Intersection of Duane and Reade

February 16th, 2010 · Comments · Photography

Not all New Yorkers realize that the omnipresent drugstore Duane Reade gets its name from its very first location in downtown Manhattan, on Broadway between Duane and Reade Streets.

I suppose that’s why they think they can get away with this billboard ad that shows the intersection of Duane and Reade — which simply doesn’t exist. [...]

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I admit it: I’m always five minutes late. And it stops now.

February 10th, 2010 · Comments · Pain, Productivity

I was just smacked in the face by a recent blog post by my dear friend Jeffrey Zeldman, Free advice: show up early, about the consequences of being late to client meetings. Why? Because it forced me to finally fess up to one of my major flaws: I’m always five minutes late.
Sure, five minutes [...]

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Photo of the day: Departures and Arrivals

January 22nd, 2010 · Comments · Pain, Photography

Tuesday morning I was sitting in the Amtrak waiting area at New York’s Penn Station when I glanced to my right to see if my track number had been announced.

There were two screens, one stacked on top of the other, with two metal plaques that indicated Departures on the top and Arrivals on the bottom. [...]

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Photo of the day: Dollars and Cents

January 21st, 2010 · Comments · Photography

On June 28, 2009, the New York City MTA increased the rates for subway and bus rides.

Apparently the ticket agent who dutifully wrote this sign is unaware of the one-currency-symbol-per-value rule.
Is the new fare 2.25 dollars or 2.25 cents? A smart, frugal person might have recourse to argue the latter.
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