All posts from
June 2004

What is Cognitive Ergonomics?

Added on 14 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“Cognitive ergonomics is especially important in the design of complex, high-tech, or automated systems. A poorly designed cellular phone user-interface may not cause an accident, but it may well cause great frustration on the part of the consumer and result in a marketplace driven business failure. A poor interface design on industrial automated equipment, though, may result in decreased production and quality, or even a life threatening accident.” (Ergonomics Today) – courtesy of lucdesk

The SIGCHI Bulletin Web Site is here

Added on 13 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“Welcome to an exciting new development in our organization: an interactive Bulletin Web Site. You not only can read about the latest developments at SIGCHI you can participate in those developments via discussions, letters to the editor, and your own articles. Likewise, articles can be read on line, printed out or sent via e-mail.” (ACM SIGCHI)

Apples and Oranges

Added on 10 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“Designers and user researchers need to communicate effectively, with mutual appreciation, in order to achieve an optimal outcome. In my opinion, as expressed earlier, user researchers need to have an understanding of fundamental design principles such as typography, emphasis, style, layout, composition, color, perspective, space, placement and size.” (Didier P. Hilhorst – Digital Web Magazine)

The mentality Of Homo interneticus: Some Ongian postulates

Added on 9 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“Because typical experiences will differ, the mentality of the typical Internet user, or Homo interneticus, is likely to be significantly different from that of the typical reader of printed works or of writing or of the typical member of purely oral cultures. These differences include deep assumptions about time and space, authority, property, gender, causality and community.” (Michael H. Goldhaber – First Monday 9.6)

7 Things to Know about Building a User Experience Team

Added on 8 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“1 – Make sure each team member clearly understands the underlying business case for the user experience, and the measures of success. 2 – Executives and managers should set the standard for “customer-centric” behavior. 3 – Hire only team members who are driven to develop the best customer experience – for the customer. 4 – Make ongoing conversation about user experience a part of the company culture. 5 – Be fluent in the analysis of customer experience data. 6 – Understand the impact of integration – or lack thereof – on the user experience. 7 – Encourage team members to continually learn about new techniques, practices and technologies to enhance their skills in developing better customer experiences.” (Karen Donoghue in Built for Use) – courtesy of elegant hack

Adam Greenfield: The InfoDesign profile

Added on 7 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“Adam Greenfield is an internationally recognized information architect and user experience consultant. His practice is focused on making complex artifacts easy to understand and use, without sacrificing thoroughness or depth. Adam was the lead information architect for the Tokyo office of well-known web consultancy Razorfish; (…) He now works as a Happy Cog principal with Jeffrey Zeldman. His award-winning personal site can be found at www.v-2.org.” (InfoDesign: Understanding by Design)

An Architect in the City of Bits

Added on 5 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“The trial separation of bits and atoms is now over, says William J. Mitchell, head of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT. Computers are ubiquitous. Wireless links provide constant connectivity. Everything is media. Increasingly, we are living our lives at the points where electronic information flows, mobile bodies, and physical places intersect in particularly useful and engaging ways. These points are becoming the occasions for a characteristic new architecture of the twenty-first century.” (David Pescovitz – TheFeature)

User-Centered Research: A status report

Added on 3 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“During the past twenty years, user-centered research (UCR) has become an increasingly common and important part of contemporary product development. The origins of this approach to design and development actually stretch back to the beginning of industrial design in America. Starting in the 1940s and 1950s, Henry Dreyfuss, widely considered the father of industrial design in the United States, practiced a method of design that clearly focused on studying people’s behaviors and attitudes as a first step in designing successful products. During the next forty to fifty years, Dreyfuss’ example served as motivation for other highly successful and influential designers (e.g., Robert Probst, Jay Doblin, Niels Different and William Stumpf) to adopt a user-centered research and design approach.” (design philosophy papers)

Gurus v. Boggers: Round 2

Added on 3 June 2004 Peter Bogaards
“Playing for the Gurus this time around? We have Brenda Laurel, John Maeda, Christina Wodtke, Jesse James Garrett, Eric Meyer, and Nathan Shedroff. (…) For the Bloggers? We have Angie McKaig, Ben Fry, Veerle Pieters, Bob Baxley, Dave Shea, Shaun Inman, and Luke Wroblewski. Plus, I have a surprise twist of events that rivals the season finale shocker on Survivor that gave Rupert an extra cool million. You’ll just have to read on to find out what happens.” (Andrei Herasimchuk – Design by Fire)