Spotlight on Experience: February's Best

February was a short month, but there was certainly no shortage of stories to get us at EchoUser talking about experiences and design. From Mobile World Congress news to stories about maps and public transportation, here's a round-up of some articles that got us talking over the past month:

• Windows designer explains why Windows 8 is such a mess, Brad Reed, BGR — We love Microsoft, but we’ve also questioned some of its UX choices for Windows 8. Microsoft UX Designer Jacob Miller recently explained a few of the decisions on Reddit, and as Brad Reed's article reveals, he brought to light a company trying to please too many people. Consumer and enterprise development can and should feed off each other, but it’s hard to please both audiences with the same design.

• How Geographically Accurate is Your City's Subway Map?, John Brownlee, Co. Design — From redesigning subway maps in more inventive ways, to how public transportation could be re-imagined, to the future of keeping commuters engaged, we saw lots of public transportation design talk in February — and we especially liked this post about visualizations of subway maps vs. the actual city grids they're hypothetically representing. Taking public transit is an experience many people participate in every day — and one close to our heart — so we're always excited when this topic hits prime time. Check back next week for some deeper thoughts on this subject.

• Some Thoughts on Being Flat, Jessica Holt-Carr, UX Magazine — Ever since Apple’s iOS 7 release, flat design hasn’t spent a day out of the spotlight. Many, including some here at EchoUser, still question whether shedding the skeuomorphic was right. Holt-Carr provides an interesting take, suggesting that skeuomorphism was a bridge between our older, physical metaphors and new, digital metaphors we're now creating. Skeuomorphism is a crutch we no longer need.

• Pacemaker: a Groundbreaking DJ App for iPad, Powered by Spotify, Kyle Vanhemert, Wired Design — Music is the lifeblood for many, and while we’ve been bombarded with thousands of listening apps, music creation has not seen the same innovation. But Pacemaker is different. As Wired points out, “With a brilliantly simple UI, it’s not just a DJing app — it’s DJing reinvented for the touchscreen.” This is a great example of putting your users' needs first and working backwards to design an app that meets them.

• Samsung Galaxy S5: New Design and a Fingerprint Scanner, Leslie Horn, Gizmodo — The Samsung Galaxy S5 dominated headlines following its launch at Mobile World Congress in February — and with good reason. The phone offers a fingerprint scanner that not only opens the phone (a la Apple's Touch ID) but unlocks hidden data and completes transactions with just a touch. It also has a built-in heart rate monitor that, when paired with an app, turns it into a fitness tracker. Is this the start of even more devices authenticating to us individually by capturing our own unique biometrics?

Want to see what's been making our list all year long? Check out all of our Spotlight on Experience posts. What made your watch list in February? Hit us in the comments section, or @EchoUser on Twitter, to keep the discussion going!