Earlier today while speaking with a 9 year old I was introduced to the term “hope chess.” Apparently this notion represents a style of game-play where players engage in with no consideration thoughtful for their opponent’s move. Essentially, the basic analytical principles of the game to strategically build and attack are ignored.
Makes no sense right?
Off course it doesn’t. This approach is usually that of of a novice with little or no experience with the game. And while forgivable in case of a 9 year old learning the ins and outs of chess, this careless attitude would be inexcusable for grand-masters like Kasparov or Bobby Fischer. Reasonably so, I expect experienced players to execute the fundamentals at a higher level. It’s simply inexcusable for major brands online to ignore user experience in the process.
NBA
The mobile development team of the NBA (btw- one of my favorite media properties) decided to forge some half hack with their user interface in hopes of increasing social media shares by conveniently placing the f-share button right under the button to close video highlights.
- Great user experience where user-actions align with users-expectations should always matter more than the possibility of an accidental user share on social.
American Express
Here is an example from American Express where a mobile experience is being forced on a desktop browser by forcing the user to scroll horizontally.
There are clear opportunities where the user experience can be improved more. Looking forward to the next iterations on these!