The Best Job In The World?

1999 was probably the worst year of my professional life. Unsatisfying office jobs followed by long periods of unemployment and claiming benefits. I’d also missed out on an opportunity to train as a Microsoft certified programmer because I was unable to find a placement. The dream of making my way into the world of employment had turned into an absolute nightmare, at times I felt like a total failure.

Towards the end of 1999 an opportunity arose for me to work in a casino. I’d always loved card games after seeing the glitz and glamour of casinos in James Bond movies. Dissatisfied with life in Northern Ireland, at the age of just 20, I packed a couple of suitcases and ended up going to the Isle of Man to train as a croupier (casino dealer) in January 2000. 18 months later I was working on my first cruise ship, and 18 months after that I was boarding the QE2 (the most famous ship of them all) to do a world cruise.

For a young man from a housing estate in Antrim, Northern Ireland this was beyond even my wildest dreams. On a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool in 1997, I’d once seen a pontoon table and croupier and dreamt what it may be to work as a casino dealer on the high seas.

Everything aboard the QE2 was as you would expect, starting with Captain Ron Warwick, who looked exactly what the captain of the QE2 should look like (Google the name if you don’t believe me). Passenger facing crew were immaculate in their appearance. I could probably have shaved with the crease on my pressed tuxedo shirts, and on a number of occassions when I had been sunburnt in port, I could feel the creases cutting into my tender skin as I dealt the cards that evening in the casino.

The great thing for croupiers on cruise ships is that they only work when the ship is in international waters, in port, the casino must close, and casino staff are free to do pretty much whatever they want. Casino staff have a cabin steward who cleans their cabin and takes away their dirty laundry and brings it back fresh each day. We did a 103 day world cruise which included stops in places like Hong Kong, Sydney, Cape Town, Hawaii, Mauritius, Nagasaki, Tahiti and Singapore to name a few. I managed to do some amazing excursions like diving in the great barrier reef, quad biking in the Namibian desert, and dining in all sorts of fine restaurants, trying delicacies like Springbok, Kangaroo, Crocodile and Kobe beef. We made stops in 5 continents, crossed the equator and even experienced living a Tuesday in consequetive days when we crossed the world timeline. Imagine that, you go to bed on Tuesday night, wake up the following morning and its Tuesday again, but this was far from groundhog day.

The role in the casino was not about taking passengers’ money like in a land-based casino, it was about providing them with fun and entertainment. The passengers were friendly and pleasant, many of them being extremely successful people (I understand the lowest cabin cost for a world cruise on the QE2 was about $50,000 in 2003). A lot of the passengers had never played in a casino and were fascinated to learn and experience the one onboard. Just getting to know some of these people was an experience in itself, and a large part of the role in the casino was simply to entertain them whilst they were in the casino.

There were also celebrity passengers. We would finish work and go to the crew/members bar where we would have guest entertainers like the late Des O’Connor and the magician, the late Paul Daniels down to have a drink. God bless them both.

Was my job the best job in the world? Maybe not for everyone, but it was beyond even my wildest dreams and the 6 month experience, as well as the amazing people I met will be something I treasure forever. I was very lucky to have lived this experience and will always be incredibly grateful for it.

Many years have passed since then and I’ve always missed the buzz of casinos which is how Fun 21 Casino Hire was created in 2021. My celebrities now are anyone who hires the No Money Fun Casino that I provide for parties and celebrations, and I aim to give the same experience that you would expect onboard the QE2.

How to Utilize Colors strategically in website design

Color can be a powerful tool for website design. It can draw attention, convey emotion, inspire an atmosphere of desire, or directing conversation all these and more are accomplished through the clever and well-planned application of color. Similar to layouts and style of your words the color visitors will see on your website will determine the way they feel about it and whether or whether they’ll return.

What makes color important for Website Design

Colors can increase the visibility of your brand and can also entice visitors to your website to engage. The impression they form subconsciously about your company could be based on your website’s color scheme. So when a web design firm is first deciding to design your site, they first look at two aspects – the feelings your brand wants to create, and the cultural and philosophical contexts that it would like to be in line with. This is the initial step to choosing the right colors for the design of your website.

Color Psychology – colors trigger emotions

Psychology of color is the term used to describe the impact that color can influence a person’s feelings behaviours, feelings, and moods. Although the rules are not fixed in stone, we are drawn to certain colors because they affect our feelings. The context here is crucial. Red could mean fear and risk to certain people, but enthusiasm and passion to other people. When using colors in web design, it should blend seamlessly with aspects of the website including copy, typography, and images.

Below are some colors and the emotions they bring. While they aren’t fixed in stone, these are generalizations and can have an impact on the people who are watching. This will help you determine the color of your choice in accordance with how you would like your viewers to feel and the actions you would like them to do.

• Red Power, Love passion, danger exhilaration

• Orange: fun, warmth, comfort, freedom, playfulness

• White Peace, Clarity pure, purity, and cleanliness

• Blue: calm, confidence peace, trust and logic, as well as reliability

• Purple: luxury, sophistication, mystery, loyalty, creativity

• Pink: gentleness, sincerity, nurturing, warmth

• Green: health, nature, prosperity, abundance

• Brown nature protection, security, support

• Yellow: happiness, creativity, optimism, friendliness

• The Black: class, control power, sophistication and depression

Cultural Context

While various colors could have different meanings for individuals, colors can are also associated with cultural significance. In many Western countries, it is believed that black symbolizes mourning and death, while the same color is used in a variety of Eastern nations.

The color Red is thought to be associated with focus and pressure in Western culture, while many Eastern cultures believe it is associated with luck. It is important to consider the context when making a selection of colors. Most of the time, you’ll prefer to select the colors of your company based on the audience you want to reach. Based on the location where your market is located the colors displayed on your site could convey significant messages in different ways.

However, it’s not always the case particularly when it comes to massive and well-known brands that have images already embedded in our consciousness. The red color of Coca-Cola or KFC, for example, will typically have no negative associations anymore, considering the extent to which well-known and loved they are.

The Basics of Color Theory

Theory of Color is an established set of rules that can be helpful in understanding and creating complementary colors and combinations. These basic principles can assist you in creating a color colour scheme that is appropriate to your company’s specific requirements.

Primary Colors: They are three in total – blue, red and yellow.

Secondary Colors: These colors are created using primary color combinations like the green (yellow and blue) and orange (yellow and red) along with purple (blue plus red).

Tertiary Colors: These are colors made by mixing primary with secondary color.

Shades, Tints Tones: The colors listed above are referred to by some as “pure shades”. But, these colors can be used to create other colors. Tints are created by adding white to pure colors, which makes them less intense and lighter. Shades are created by adding a lack and making them heavier and more powerful. It is possible to use white and black in different levels to create tones using pure hues.

Contrast: Contrast is the perception of the difference between two hues when put next to each other. The greater the contrast, the more the two colours stand out from one another. This is a crucial idea since different levels of contrast can make an entirely different look to your site. A text that is colored and placed with a background that is low in contrast could cause issues with reading. Contrast may also make certain elements stand out (or even deflect attention from particular elements when used effectively) in your website and can make them stand out visually.

Color Models

When designing graphic designs, color is defined using color models. This is due to the fact that it is possible to find millions of different colors and it’s impossible to list every single one. The standards were developed to allow us to easily define colors by using numbers.

RGB Model: The model that is used when working with designs on the screen. RGB refers to Red as well as Green and Blue. The three colors are assigned a value of zero to 255, and the different combinations give us different shades. The colors are typically displayed as color codes, six-digit hexadecimal code numbers. It’s an “additive” color model.

CMYK Model: This model is utilized to print for printing purposes. It is a combination of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black Each color is described using its proportion of these colors. It is a “subtractive” colour model.

the LAB Model: The word LAB means lightness, A channel as well as B channel. It’s a more complicated model. It includes the lightness factor, which is a range of zero to 100, an A component that is located on the red-green axis, and a B component that is located on the blue and yellow axis. This means that the color description is more akin to human perception when compared to RGB and CMYK models.

Making Color Palettes

The first color you select for your website is the primary color of your company’s branding (Red is the color of Coca Cola, for example). This is where the psychology of color is particularly useful. The color you choose is in accordance with the feelings and the personality you want to communicate. Following that, you build your color palette with the colors that complement the base color. This is the time when the color wheel is used.

Color Wheel: A color wheel can be described as an instrument that is used to illustrate the connection between different colors. It’s basically an abstract drawing that arranges different hues of color within a circle.

With the aid of a color wheel, you have are five primary types of color palettes you can make with the help of color wheel

Analogous Palette: Analogous colors are put on top of each other in the form of a color wheel. They are in low contrast against each other and work well together, giving an elegant effect.

Monochromatic Palette: The palettes are made up of one hue that is distinctive, and is complemented by elements of various colors and hues. The palette is appealing to look at. To prevent an uninteresting look it’s beneficial to add different colors, or even complimentary elements to your website.

The HTML0 Triad Palette – This palette is composed of three colors, which are evenly spaced from each other on the wheel of color. This method should be employed with care, and not only to select colours that go well with each other and blend well but also to utilize the colors in a way that doesn’t appear too cluttered and loud.

Complementary Palette: The Complementary palette is made up of colors that are on opposite sides of the spectrum of colors. This is a great way to create striking art designs that attract attention to certain parts of your site.

Split-complementary Palette: The palette is similar to complement palettes, but it has another color placed beside one of the colors that complement each other on the wheel of color. If used correctly this design can be effective in creating a natural appearance without too much sound.

Effective Tools to Inspire

Inspiration for new colors can be found everywhere from competitor websites to nature, and the beautiful outdoors. It’s also beneficial to keep abreast of the new trends in branding. Here are some helpful tools to help you get going with fresh color concepts right away.

Pinterest The website Pinterest is a wealth of color palette concepts developed by designers from all over the globe. They can be an incredible source of ideas.

Pantone: The color Pantone has been the leading company in the area of color. It is an index of color that determines the various shades of the various hues. The most recent trends in color in fashion and design generally stem from pantone.

color-scheme Creation Websites: There are many dedicated color websites for designers that can assist you in creating colors and play around with the palettes in any way you would like. This is a fantastic opportunity to try out and create new palettes for yourself. Websites such as Adobe Color Wheel, Color Collective along with Design Seeds can be great for quick ideas.

Conclusion

While color alone may not be the sole factor in website design, it does play an important role. If used properly and in a way that is appropriate, the color(s) that you use be a defining factor for your company’s image. Utilizing the tricks and tips that were mentioned earlier, you will not have any issues using colors in your web design to get the most impact.

What is learnability in UI and UX Design?

Simply put, the term “learnability” within UI or UX Design is how quickly a user can be taught how to operate a gadget. It could be a blender television remote or an electronic kettle or a microwave, for example. Most people prefer to avoid complex lengthy procedures due to the fact that they are uncomfortable.

Learnability is the ability of the application user to learn the application. The more a program is able to be learned by users is more time-saving and effort it takes to make it easier for users to use it. Help them learn by implementing efficient UX as well as UI design on your site as well as your app.

Why Learnability is Important

In the realm of user initerface (UI) or user experience (UX), learnability is the most important factor. Poorly constructed UIs are often difficult to navigate and frustrate users and make them quit your website. However, well-designed UIs enable users to complete what they wish to do and help them reach their goals swiftly and effectively. This is the reason why a well-designed UX/UI design is crucial. It will make your app or website simpler to use improving its user-friendliness and increasing the likelihood to keep users coming back.

A single important usability heuristic is learnability. It has a significant influence on the number of prospective customers who leave your app or remain with it. App retention and abandonment are two of the most crucial concepts for learning in order for your application to succeed. Let’s look at the two aspects:

App retention

App retention is about how many people stay in the app after they have downloaded it. Retention of users is dependent on two aspects:

Well-designed User Interface (UI) as well as user experience (UX)

Usability

App abandonment

App abandonment, on other hand, is about why users choose to remove apps from their mobiles. People are more likely to leave your app if its UX/UI design is not appealing or if the app is difficult to navigate. Increase your odds of keeping new users on board by ensuring that your app is following certain rules that can assist you in avoiding this typical issue. These are the three most important rules to adhere to:

Begin small and keep onboarding initially so that new customers don’t become overwhelmed.

Create an app that is simple to use. The simpler your app uses, the higher chances you will be able to keep new users.

Make sure you have a design of the user interface (UI) as well as user experience (UX) design. Learning ability is crucial because an effective UI/UX will make customers want to stay with the app for longer. If users think that something is hard to comprehend or complex, they may be reluctant to return to it in the near future.

It’s equally important for marketers and product owners to be aware that a lot of people do not realize the criteria for usability until they’ve encountered it. If you’re creating an item, you must take care not to guess what users might find simple or difficult. Instead, try testing your app to the maximum extent you can and observe what features users struggle with. After that, you can use the information to improve the next version of your app.

Complex and difficult-to-understand devices and products are becoming more widespread

The market is increasingly flooded with complicated products, like smart appliances. This is due to the fact that they are looking to save money and also find them simple to use. But, they aren’t aware that poorly-designed products could cause many problems for users.

It’s usually the result of a steep learning curve. Customers want their new appliances to be easy enough so that they are able to master how to utilize them quickly and without a lot of effort. If the process isn’t user-friendly or requires a lot of effort from their side and requires a lot of effort, the majority of users will be disinclined to use the appliance in the near future. In reality, poor UI/UX design has emerged as one of the main factors behind customer churn over the last several years.

Due to the increase in devices that are smart is becoming increasingly crucial for product designers and manufacturers to consider learning ability in the design of their products.

In the world of consumer electronics, for instance, firms like Samsung are struggling to compete with companies like Apple with regard to UI/UX design. The iPhone User Interface is great that it’s become the industry standard. It is going to be fascinating to learn what happens when Samsung (and others) deal with this issue with future models. It’s evident that more companies have to work on polishing UX/UI design for their future and current products.

Problems with UI/UX design

These issues are particularly important in the context of connected devices at home that is basically computers that have internet connectivity that people can control heating, lighting and security systems, appliances and just about everything else. Security is among the main concerns that people are concerned about with regard to the context of IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as smart locks.

In the event that you are unable to locate your smartphone or tablet, or someone steals it from you, they will gain access to the various security devices you’ve put in your home. It’s simple for companies like Samsung or Apple to promise the privacy of user data since their products don’t need to be concerned with physical security.

The modern consumer expects devices that are easy to use and comprehend. They don’t want technology to be so complicated that it is difficult or restricting. If companies are able to develop products that are based on the ability to learn, then users are more likely to stay with these products for longer as they are aware of how to use the products.

With intuitive interfaces that users actually love and use-product designers will be rewarded with more satisfied users who’re more likely to endorse their products family and friends.

Learnability Best practices in UI as well as UX Design

There are several fundamental best practices in learning that product designers need to remember when designing user interfaces.

Create a complete learning program

Don’t assume that users will intuitively discover the way your product functions. Instead, you should take the time to design an extensive training plan that describes the way users use your products. The plan should contain everything from basic controls to gestures to more sophisticated features.

Use positive reinforcement

If users accomplish the task or take action in your application, reward your users with positive encouragement in the form of acknowledgement or feedback. This will make them feel satisfied and motivate them to keep up with your application.

Make it easy

Don’t overwhelm users with numerous options or features in one go as this can result in them becoming overwhelmed and annoyed. Instead, break down your design into smaller pieces that users can use right away.

Designs for everyone

If you are creating an educational plan, you must make sure that it’s appropriate for all kinds of users. The old and young are tech-savvy and not so tech-savvy. Most people in the world don’t have advanced studies in computer science or engineering, so they just want tools that function without any effort.

Provides regular updates in UX

The ability to learn is a key factor in UI or UX Design should make sure that your software is kept up-to-date by providing frequent updates that include the latest features and improvements as time passes. In this way, your customer base grows as more users are exposed to the products you offer.

Use appropriate scaffolding

In the event that you present new tasks or new capabilities to customers, you should use appropriate scaffolding in order to help them to understand how to utilize these functions. This includes giving clear instructions and guidelines whenever needed to ensure that users don’t get confused or confused.

Avoid obscure choices and command

Do not hide important options or commands within the user interface as people will never discover them. All controls and options should be readily accessible and easily accessible to be utilized when required.

Use appropriate feedback mechanisms

Be sure to utilize the appropriate methods of feedback (e.g. tactile, visual, audio) to give users details about their current situation and any potential errors that could occur. This will keep them well-informed and avoid any frustration.

Provide helpful error messages

If your application isn’t able to perform an action in the way you expected be sure to clearly convey the issue by delivering the appropriate error messages. These messages must be clear in order to provide customers with useful details they can take action on to address the issue quickly.

Do not use technical terminology

Avoid using technical jargon or terms used in the industry when communicating with users, as it will make them even more confused. Make your feedback systems easy to comprehend by using simple words instead of complicated phrases that only experts can comprehend. For instance “Hey Cortana, set my alarm at six am.” In contrast “I need to set my alarm for 6:30 am.”

Use the contextual assistance

Be sure to offer contextual assistance for complex tasks or features that are difficult to understand or. For instance when your application asks users to upload photos of themselves, provide helpful tips (e.g., “Please upload an image that clearly displays your face of your”) to facilitate the process.

Be sure to keep the illustrations realistic.

Do not set expectations for users excessively high by offering unrealistic functionality, or even actions in your product. If you promise users that they can do something be sure to adhere to this promise to ensure that they aren’t frustrated later on when things don’t go according to what they expected. This is one of the many reasons the use of feature-driven marketing campaigns is not suggested for new products since they tend to overpromise and fail to deliver when the release date approaches.

Provide frequent reminders

The ability to learn when it comes to UI as well as UX Design includes encouraging users to use your product by giving them regular reminders or suggestions at the appropriate moment and time (e.g. at the time they launch your program prior to performing a particular task). This keeps them engaged and utilizing every feature of your program until it is a part of their routine.

Show the progress

Don’t let users be confused about what’s going on behind the scenes. This can lead to anxiety and confusion, especially when something unexpected happens along the process (e.g. the error message is displayed, or the process suddenly stops). Instead, inform users of the progress they’ve made in finishing a specific step or activity. This will let them can determine how long it will take to finish.

Conclusion

If you follow these best practices, designers can develop usability interfaces that are simple to use and enjoyable to use. This can make it easier for customers to stay with the product over time and will recommend it to others.

Phone chargers for festivals: How to keep them charged!

You’re at the Glastonbury music festival and it’s the best time of your life. You want to make sure that you don’t miss any of the action, so you need to keep your phone charged. If only there were some tips for keeping these phones charged! Oh wait, there are! We’ve compiled a list of our 8 favorite ones right here. These are your top tips when it comes to phone chargers for festivals.

Bring a portable power bank

If you’re going to be at a festival where charging your phone will be a challenge, a battery pack are excellent phone chargers or festivals. They’re small, portable and can charge phones and other devices (and even power laptops in emergencies). They’re also great for any camping trip or outdoor excursion where access to electricity isn’t guaranteed.

Keep your phone on low brightness<

If you’re going to use your phone at a music festival, then it is important to keep it charged. Luckily, there are some easy ways that you can do this even if you don’t have a phone charger .

Its incredible how much power having your screen on full brightness uses. In order to save precious power to capture those festival moments turn the screen brightness down as low as possible. You wont have any trouble viewing your screen inside a dark tent

Use airplane mode

If you’re at a festival, chances are that your phone will last longer if you turn off the internet connection. Check out the other ways you can preserve power below:

Turn off location services. You don’t need to know where everyone is at all times.

Turn off Bluetooth (if applicable). Why would you want to be checking in on an app when there’s so much else going on around you?

Turn off background processes and applications like Facebook and Twitter that engage with the internet without your knowledge.

Don’t worry about turning off WiFi as much—it’s not as big of an energy drain as cellular data or 4G/5G cellular data connections! But if there’s no way around using this feature, go ahead and disable it for optimal battery usage during long events like festivals or camping trips because those things tend to last longer than most people think!

Ask to borrow someone else’s phone charger at the festival

If you’re at a festival and your battery is low, you don’t have to worry. There are plenty of ways to get power on the go—if only you know where to look! It can be easy enough to find an outlet in some places, but if not, ask for help from someone else with a working phone.

Politely ask the person who has already been kind enough (and patient enough) to let you use their charger if they would be willing to lend it to you as well. You may find yourself walking away with two fully charged devices!

Stop using social media

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from attending music festivals, it’s that social media apps are the worst offenders when it comes to draining your battery.

While Facebook and Instagram might seem like good options since they let users post pictures in real time, these two apps are notorious for using up way too much juice (and space). So disable these apps and enjoy the moment!

Avoid using your phone a a flashlight

When your favourite act is playing what you think is their final song at the end of the night we all like to use our phones together to light up the night sky. However this is one way to quickly drain your battery. Resist the temptation to join in and keep your mobile phone in your pocket

Don’t use your mobile phone as a camera

I get it that this is a controversial one but if you want to save battery sacrifices have to be made. Taking photos, or even worse videos, will quickly drain your mobile phone battery. Consider investing in a separate camera which will last the entire festival weekend on one charge.

Leave fully charged and charge on the go

Bring extra power cables for charging at home and in the car, so you can charge up before leaving home or when you arrive to a music festival

Conclusion

Following these tips can help you keep your phone charged while keeping up with everything going on around you at a music festival. Give them a try and make the most out of your next festival! Hope you enjoyed the article about phone chargers for festivals. Why don’t you check out our questions sections which has everything you wanted to know about phone chargers