News flashes

For suggestions, contact Peter J. Bogaards (pjb at bogieland dot com).

January 30, 2005

Do you make the most common mistake in content management?

"The biggest mistake in content management is writing for the organization and not for the reader. It is one of the hardest mistakes to correct, but there are ways to ensure that you don’t make it." (Gerry McGovern)

PJB @ 09:26 PM | Classification: Content management | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 28, 2005

Information Visualization

"Undoubtedly, music is one of the most engaging and emotionally powerful stimuli. Listening to music can have strong effects on people’s mood, thinking and even their physiology. I think it’s mainly because of the latter that certain songs remind us so vividly of a specific memory." (Didier Hilhorst - nundroo)

PJB @ 08:49 AM | Classification: InfoViz | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 27, 2005

Art 491: Information Design Course

"(..) designed to give you experience in participating on an interdisciplinary project research, design and development team to produce solutions that address real-world issues and clients. Information design focuses on the communication of complex ideas with clarity, precision, and efficiency (usable). Methodologies and technologies for efficient and effective information transfer are changing rapidly and will play a fundamental, and continual, role in your future. Products of information design range from computer (and other machines) interfaces, forms and documents (online or paper), wayfinding systems in 3D space (real or virtual), to maps, charts, diagrams, graphs and business presentations. Whatever your content area of specialty, you will be involved with the design and transfer of information the rest of your life." (Information Design Group - University of Idaho)

PJB @ 08:27 AM | Classification: Information design | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Modeling User Workflows for Rich Internet Applications

"As Rich Internet Applications become more advanced, the tasks, problems, and processes they address become increasingly complex, making it more important than ever to accurately model user workflows. Early Internet applications were often narrowly focused in scope, and the steps were relatively simple and sequential, for example, purchasing items through simple e-commerce, reserving hotel rooms, or renting cars. But as productivity applications move toward a web-based distribution model, the tasks become more complicated." (David Hogue - Macromedia) - courtesy of jane wells

PJB @ 07:55 AM | Classification: Interaction design | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Creating Playful Users

"Brains love play. Find a way to bring more play (or at least a sense of playfulness) into someone's life, and you might just end up with a fan. (...) Brains evolved to play, and apparently the bigger the brain, the more likely it is to play. Play turns the brain on." (Kathy Sierra - Creating Passionate Users) - courtesy of theotherblog

PJB @ 05:28 AM | Classification: User experience | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Patterns in Unstructured Data: Discovery, Aggregation, and Visualization

A Presentation to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation - "As of early 2002, there were just over two billion web pages listed in the Google search engine index, widely taken to be the most comprehensive. No one knows how many more web pages there are on the Internet, or the total number of documents available over the public network, but there is no question that the number is enormous and growing quickly. Every one of those web pages has come into existence within the past ten years. There are web sites covering every conceivable topic at every level of detail and expertise, and information ranging from numerical tables to personal diaries to public discussions. Never before have so many people had access to so much diverse information." (Clara Yu et al. - US National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education) - courtesy of frank cronk

PJB @ 04:43 AM | Classification: Metadata | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Formal Taxonomies for the U.S. Government

"For federal agencies trying to learn how to implement taxonomies, most examples in portals and on public websites are informal taxonomies where neither the nodes nor the associations between them are formally defined. Examples of such taxonomies can be found on yahoo.com, froogle.com, and dmoz.org. Such informal taxonomies are only useful for browsing and not for automated techniques like query expansion, rule execution, taxonomy integration, faceted classification, and inference. This article will examine the requirements of formal taxonomies and provide examples of each construct." (Michael Daconta - xml.com)

PJB @ 02:30 AM | Classification: Metadata | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 26, 2005

Taxonomies and classification schemas within the BBC

Martin Belam presentation at IP Lezing in Amsterdam - "The conference was very well attended, with around 350 delegates - and I enjoyed meeting some really nice people, both before and after the event. The presentation is available to download - PowerPoint presentation, 3.8M - but it is a very large file. As usual much of the worth is in the notes, not the pictures in the slides themselves." (Martin Belam - currybetdotnet)

PJB @ 09:30 AM | Classification: Metadata | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

What's the Problem?

"(...) web developers seem reluctant to adopt methods and approaches from other disciplines that could reduce their problems. Particularly during the crucial initial phase of projects, we can benefit from emulating certain software engineering practices." (Norm Carr and Tim Meehan - A List Apart) - courtesy of ui designer

PJB @ 08:52 AM | Classification: UCD | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Investing in Usability: Testing versus Training

"(...) usability professionals use their budgets to run usability studies. That is, when given money, they immediately start setting up usability programs to solve particular problems. This shouldn’t surprise anyone because many usability professionals think the value of usability is derived entirely from the results produced through usability tests. Most people think usability is synonymous with usability testing. It isn’t, and this misconception frustrates me." (John S. Rhodes - Boxes and Arrows)

PJB @ 08:32 AM | Classification: Usability | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

IA Summit Program

"Information architecture is more widely applied than ever. Decisionmakers now accept IA as critical to well-designed electronic information spaces. Practitioners use IA approaches and methodologies, and routinely include IAs on cross-disciplinary teams. There is a growing demand for IAs and greater pressure on managers and non-IA practitioners to understand IA principles. To support these needs, this year's Summit focuses on key topics, cutting-edge issues, and core competencies." - Pre-Conference Program, Main Conference Program and Poster Sessions (ASIS&T 2005 Information Architecture Summit)

PJB @ 07:12 AM | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 25, 2005

Seeking Better Web Searches

"Deluged with superfluous responses to online queries, users will soon benefit from improved search engines that deliver customized results." (Scientific American) - courtesy of ui designer

PJB @ 08:19 AM | Classification: Search | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 24, 2005

Towards collaboration between information seeking and information retrieval

"For many years researchers in library and information science have borrowed theory from other fields to provide insight into our research findings. We are moving from this borrowed theory approach to creating a conceptual framework that has been tested, refined and adapted specifically for application in our field. The conceptual framework has developed rapidly during the past ten years with early signs of application in other fields." - Papers presented at the 5th Information Seeking in Context Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 1-3 September, 2004 (Carol C. Kuhlthau - Information Research, January 2005)

PJB @ 02:24 PM | Classification: Search | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Fifth Annual Weblog Awards

"Bloggies are a set of 30 publicly-chosen awards given to weblog writers and those related to weblogs. This is the fifth ceremony, with previous winners listed on their respective sites: 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Everyone's invited to take part in the awarding process, so read below to find out how you can nominate and vote for your favorite blogs!"

PJB @ 08:04 AM | Classification: Weblogs | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 23, 2005

How to measure the value of your web content

"The way to make web content more valued is to make it more measured. The more ways you can measure the value your content delivers, the more your career will be valued." (Gerry McGovern)

PJB @ 10:52 PM | Classification: Writing | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 20, 2005

Printing XML: Why CSS Is Better than XSL

"On the web, CSS is the style sheet language of choice. However, the usefulness of CSS is not limited to screens. If you want to transfer web content -- be it XML or HTML -- onto paper, there are good reasons to use CSS. The language is radically simpler than that of XSL, and it is suitable both on-screen and on paper. This means that you probably don't have to write a stylesheet at all but can reuse an existing one." (Håkon Wium Lie and Michael Day - xml.com)

PJB @ 04:54 PM | Classification: Technology | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

What Do Tags Mean?

"I'm almost convinced that this new Technorati Tags thing is important, but I'm 100% convinced that I don't understand where it's going or what the implications are. Which is OK, because I suspect nobody else does either. (...) I've spent a lot of time thinking about metadata and have written on the subject; the most important conclusion was: There is no cheap metadata. I haven’t seen anything to make me change my mind." (Tim Bray - ongoing)

PJB @ 08:24 AM | Classification: Metadata | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Stairway to Experts: Show me, coach me, test me, let me, congratulate

"Back in the last century, people learned to operate computer software by reading thick manuals laden with obscure text and scant pictures. Or they attended training classes where they squinted at the instructor breezily demonstrating barely recognizable procedures. Or they clickety-click-clicked their way through the Help file, gleaning snippets of information but never weaving them into a coherent tapestry. Today, computer users can learn from a personal tutor who demonstrates the program, guides them through their initial efforts, monitors their growing skills, and certifies their mastery. Tools like Captivate, Camtasia, and TurboDemo make it possible for teachers and communicators to create effective software simulations–without programming. Even simple presentation tools, such as PowerPoint can create truly interactive simulations." (William Horton - WritersUA)

PJB @ 08:23 AM | Classification: TechCom | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Report: Aesthetic Approaches to HCI

"This is a report of the NordiCHI 2004 Workshop on Aesthetic Approaches to Human-Computer Interaction, which took place in October at the University of Tampere." (John Knight - Usability News)

PJB @ 08:12 AM | Classification: HCI | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 19, 2005

The Science of Word Recognition

"Evidence from the last 20 years of work in cognitive psychology indicate that we use the letters within a word to recognize a word. Many typographers and other text enthusiasts I've met insist that words are recognized by the outline made around the word shape. Some have used the term bouma as a synonym for word shape (...). This paper is written from the perspective of a reading psychologist." (Kevin Larson - Advanced Reading Technology, Microsoft Corporation) - courtesy of karel van der waarde

PJB @ 09:06 PM | Classification: Typography | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 18, 2005

Czerwinski on Vizualization: Displays to the Right, Displays to the Left, Displays Everywhere

"I think the sky's the limit. That's the beauty of working at Microsoft Research. We have a generous budget to create or purchase the kinds of equipment we need, and the beauty of working here is that we have some of the best minds in the business. (...) Well, I'll tell you that information is going to follow you around and have some understanding of your context — that's going to be there in the not-so-distant future." (Mary Czerwinski - ACM Ubiquity)

PJB @ 09:52 PM | Classification: Interviews | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Thinking Differently About Site Mapping and Navigation

"Thoughts about sitemaps, navigation, IA deliverables and the root problems with organization and content on the Web." (D. Keith Robinson)

PJB @ 08:21 AM | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Guidelines for Accessible and Usable Web Sites: Observing Users Who Work With Screen Readers

"Our focus has been understanding how blind users work with Web sites and what that means for designers and developers. Our focus therefore is users rather than specific Web sites." (Mary Frances Theofanos and Janice (Ginny) Redish) - courtesy of guuui

PJB @ 08:19 AM | Classification: Accessibility | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 17, 2005

The Role of Design in Software Product Development

Video Lecture - "ePresence Interactive Media is a research project of the Knowledge Media Design Institute at the University of Toronto." (Bill Buxton - KMDI)

PJB @ 09:11 AM | Classification: HCI | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Durability of Usability Guidelines

"About 90% of usability guidelines from 1986 are still valid, though several guidelines are less important because they relate to design elements that are rarely used today." (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

PJB @ 09:09 AM | Classification: Usability | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 16, 2005

Web content is a hidden asset

"Most people within most organizations don’t value content. In a typical organization, the higher up you go the less appreciation there is. That's all about to change because content is a 'hidden' asset of great value." (Gerry McGovern)

PJB @ 09:14 PM | Classification: Writing | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 14, 2005

User Experience: the Google Way

"Google has found that competing sites have a hard time maintaining the level of feature restraint that Google adheres to. (...) it is quite difficult to remove something once you have added it. This is especially true in large organizations with pronounced vertical structures and vertically based incentive systems." (LukeW - Functioning Form)

PJB @ 09:01 AM | Classification: User experience | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

Apple's Tipping Point: Macs For The Masses

"The graphic illustrates extreme patience and foresight from Apple to bring users to the platform by innovating increasingly towards the mass market over time without sacrificing the middle or high-end markets. In the end, the iPod continues to be the vehicle that drives Apple's ultimate goal: Switching. In many cases the biggest hesitation to switch was price. With the Mac mini this concern is now moot. We could very well be witnessing the early fruits of a five to ten year business strategy from Apple that has been in the works since the first iPod. If it works -- Apple will go down in history as a company that patiently built its brand equity through high-quality products and design -- and then, when the time was right and audience the largest, brought their superior computing experience to the masses." (Paul Nixon - Nixlog)

PJB @ 08:21 AM | Classification: Information graphics | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

January 13, 2005

Web Design for All the Senses

"Experience design requires that we design for all five senses. It is safe to say that over 99% of what is happening on the Web relates only to our sense of sight. On the surface, this might seem a logical and obvious state of affairs. In reality, it is a reflection of some mental laziness and of not thinking outside the computer screen." (Dirk Knemeyer - Digital Web Magazine)

PJB @ 02:22 PM | Classification: User experience | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design

uigarden

"(...) a bilingual online magazine that provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners who work in the user interface design (including user experience, information architecture, GUI, and usability) field in the Chinese and the English speaking worlds to publish their thinking and exchange views with each other." (Site Mission) - courtesy of webword

PJB @ 02:10 PM | Classification: Weblogs | Permalink

From: InfoDesign: Understanding by Design