October 2006

Idea 2006: Audio and some slides

"We have audio from every talk, and slides from many of them, free for download. Enjoy!" (idea 2006 blog)

Posted by PJB on October 30, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

Creating Usability and Sociability in Online Social Spaces

"Creating successful online social spaces requires attention to usability and sociability. Online social interaction involves individuals interacting with the technology (i.e., usability) and with each other via the technology (i.e., sociability). Attending to issues such as how users create and send messages, and communicate non-verbal cues are examples of usability design; attending to moderation, facilitation, politeness, leadership, and social support online are examples of sociability design. Both are needed for thriving social interaction online." (Jenny Preece - Oxford Internet Institute)

Posted by PJB on October 29, 2006 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

We Got Sick of Hearing About Design & China, So we Got on a Plane and Went There

"There has certainly been a great deal of speculation lately regarding the real or perceived rise of Chinese industrial design. We say 'perceived rise' to emphasize that their impending world domination in this field is not a foregone conclusion, despite the frequent flurries of listserve chatter and design-conference panel discussions supporting such a notion." (Bruce M. Tharp and Stephanie Munson - uiGarden.net)

Posted by PJB on October 29, 2006 | Classification: Information design | Permalink

Lakoff's Women, Fire, & Dangerous Things

OZ-IA 2006 talk - "What every IA should know (...). I think this was the best presentation I have ever given. This is a quite hard topic and somehow it ended up quite hilarious (...)" (Donna Maurer)

Posted by PJB on October 26, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

David Malouf and Bill Scott on AJAX

UI 11 conference notes - "What's all the fuss about Web 2.0? Marketing buzz, but really nothing new: All existed separately." (Jesper Rønn-Jensen - justaddwater)

Posted by PJB on October 25, 2006 | Classification: Interaction design | Permalink

Interfaces for People, Not Products

"Without cooperation among designers of digital products, the proliferation of complex information systems can lead to unintended consequences - chiefly user fatigue, frustration, and the confusion that results from dealing with a host of variant user interfaces." (Jonathan Follett - UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on October 25, 2006 | Classification: Information design | Permalink

The Web and Beyond: SIGCHI Conference in Amsterdam

"The Netherlands’ tenth annual SIGCHI Conference took place on Thursday, June 8th, 2006, in Amsterdam. Titled 'The Web and Beyond', the conference focused primarily on interaction design for Web 2.0. The conference drew a capacity crowd to the fabulous art deco Theater Tuschinski." (Pabini Gabriel-Petit - UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on October 25, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

No Ideas But In Things

"No Ideas But In Things is a library of controls, animations, layouts, and displays that might be a source of inspiration for interaction designers." (Dan Saffer) - courtesy of elearningpost

Posted by PJB on October 24, 2006 | Classification: Weblogs | Permalink

Conference Report: The Web and Beyond

"About the so-called Semantic Web Initiative, Jared stated that, as an historian, he wanted proof of its existence. Only when people can show him the Semantic Web will he have an opinion about it. According to Jared Spool, in general, 99.9% of everything is crap." (Peter J. Bogaards - UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on October 24, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Productivity and Screen Size

"A study of the benefits of big monitors fails on two accounts: it didn't test realistic tasks, and it didn't test realistic use. Productivity is a key argument for workplace usability, but you must measure it carefully." (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

Posted by PJB on October 24, 2006 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

EuroIA 2006 Berlin revisited

"EuroIA 2006 was a great success. I've dwelled a bit on the not-so-good presentations, but I'll get back with details on the great stuff too." (Stig Andersen)

Posted by PJB on October 20, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

Metrics for Heuristics: Quantifying User Experience 2/2

"An information architect's evaluation of user experience is often highly subjective and gains value with an evidence-based understanding produced by web analytics. User testing and web analytic data are currently the only ways to verify the heuristic assumptions upon which a website is redesigned." (Andrea Wiggins - Boxes and Arrows)

Posted by PJB on October 19, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

No more information seeking models please

"Most models of information seeking behavior look at more than behavior, they consider cognition which is quite natural for information activities, except that behavior and cognition are not the same." (Andrew Dillon - InfoMatters)

Posted by PJB on October 17, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

The Coming Age of Magic

"(...) I presented a short history of the desktop metaphor as a way of thinking about screen-based user interface design and laid out my thoughts for why magic should be a metaphor for the user experience design of ubiquitous computing." (Mike Kuniavsky - Orange Cone) - courtesy of adaptivepath

Posted by PJB on October 15, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Minimal-Feedback Hints for Remembering Passwords

"Passwords are a widely used mechanism for user authentication and are thus critical to the security of many systems. To provide effective security, passwords should be known to the password holder but remain unknown to everybody else. While personal information and real words are relatively easy for a user to remember, they make weak passwords from a security point of view because vulnerable to informed guessing and dictionary attacks." (Morten Hertzum - uiGarden)

Posted by PJB on October 15, 2006 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

Experiencing Experience

"Technically, most designers are attempting to design meaning, not experience. The experience of eating a cookie, for instance, can be described in very clear terms. But, capturing the unique meaning which that cookie had for one individual was what made Proust's madeleine the stuff of great literature. A simple cookie for one person is a trigger for emotion-laden memories for another. But, most often, designers must create experiences for people they don't know. So, how can designers create opportunities for meaningful experiences for people they don't know? By paying close attentions to patterns." (Tom Guarriello - UX Magazine)

Posted by PJB on October 15, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Why award-winning websites are so awful

"Practical and functional websites rarely win prizes for design but they do win sales and make profits." (Gerry McGovern)

Posted by PJB on October 15, 2006 | Classification: Information design | Permalink

What Is User Experience Design?

"(...) the field of user experience design takes a broad approach to the enhancement of products, combining elements from various fields to create an optimal and well-rounded experience. This wholistic methodology is often more adept at helping to reach a set of goals that encompass passive and active user interactions–goals determined both by users and the business or organization." (Paradyme) - courtesy of usernomics

Posted by PJB on October 13, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

What's The Best Way To Communicate Patterns?

"Patterns communicate design ideas from one designer to another." (Yahoo! User Interface Blog)

Posted by PJB on October 13, 2006 | Classification: Patterns | Permalink

Designing Breakthrough Products: Going Where No User Has Gone Before

"Because evolutionary products are far more common than revolutionary products, UCD techniques have focused more on how to approach projects for which the problem space is fairly well understood - both by UX designers and by users. UCD techniques are best at helping us determine how to solve such problems - which is not to downplay the challenges of those sorts of projects. However, the situation is different for breakthrough products, where potential users often have difficulty imagining a solution to a problem." (George Olsen - UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on October 11, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Designing the Mobile User Experience

"One of our biggest challenges in designing mobile services has been our inability to connect with our customers. We're making the same mistakes we've made when designing for other media, but the constraints inherent in mobile devices exacerbate those mistakes. We can overcome this challenge by following the user-centered design process we've been advocating and using all along. We should do the user research that's necessary to understand what users need and deliver meaningful, valuable products and services that integrate well with and enhance our customers' lifestyles. Put simply, the opportunity for the mobile Web is huge, and UX professionals are the right people to help companies realize this opportunity. It's yours, take it." (Richard F. Cecil - UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on October 11, 2006 | Classification: Mobile design | Permalink

Characteristics of new media in the Internet age

"(...) this article explores new artistic media and forms of expression emerging in the twenty-first century, and the effects of digital networking on them. The article starts with a historical view of the arts and the social changes that accompany them, and features a list of seven characteristics for new media on the Internet." (Andy Oram)

Posted by PJB on October 09, 2006 | Classification: Information design | Permalink

Adaptive Path's UX Week Podcasts

"IT Conversations is sharing a selection of presentations from our UX Week 2006 event. Sessions offered up so far: Chiara Fox on 'Understanding Your Content', Dan Saffer on 'What is Interaction Design?', and, most recently, Steve Portigal on 'Cross-cultural Research'." (Adaptive Path)

Posted by PJB on October 09, 2006 | Classification: Podcasts | Permalink

Participation Inequality: Encouraging More Users to Contribute

"In most online systems, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action." (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

Posted by PJB on October 09, 2006 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

EuroIA 2006 in Review

"(...) there was little or no concession made for the multilingual nature of the event. The conference was conducted in English - which was just as well for me (there's nothing like being in Europe to make you feel like a neanderthal for speaking only one language) - and understandable as English was the common tongue. Yet I couldn’t help but think that it seemed kind of strange that the proceedings were, well... so English." (Leisa Reichelt - disambuity)

Posted by PJB on October 08, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

IA or not IA

"I no longer identify myself professionally as an IA, that is to say, and I'm no longer so terribly interested in attending or presenting at IA-centric events." (Adam Greenfield - V2)

Posted by PJB on October 08, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

Form-Content-Essence: Designing Markup for Information Representation

"To define a web-format that addresses existing problems and requirements, and will last, needs a lot of work and consultation. XHTML2 is close to ready now, and will go to last call this year we expect. XForms is already in widespread use. Even if XHTML2 is not available in browsers, it is excellent as a content language that can be transformed on the fly. Several large companies are already doing this. (Steven Pemberton)

Posted by PJB on October 08, 2006 | Classification: Technology | Permalink

IA for Web Developers

"My recent presentation at Web Directions South on Informaiton Architecture for Web Developers is now here live online." (Thomas Vander Wal)

Posted by PJB on October 08, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink

Redefining Content Management

"Content publishing and management can be extremely complex, and therefore not surprisingly hard to do. Having said that, the biggest problems with content management lie not in that complexity, but in how we approach our solutions." (D. Keith Robinson - Vitamin)

Posted by PJB on October 08, 2006 | Classification: Content management | Permalink

Changing Approaches to Metadata at bbc.co.uk: From Chaos to Control and Then Letting Go Again

"More and more we expect to break the back of the work with automation while using human brainpower to perfect the results. We will have to harness the power of folksonomies while remembering there is stuff our audience will demand we know about our own content. Most of all, we have to ensure our choices of metadata systems are made with the user in mind." (Karen Loasby - ASIS&T Bulletin Oct/Nov 2006)

Posted by PJB on October 06, 2006 | Classification: Metadata | Permalink

Designing Interactions: The Book

"Bill Moggridge introduces us to forty influential designers who have shaped our interaction with technology. The early chapters are mostly about invention of precedent setting designs, forming a living history. The center section is structured around topics, so that you can find several opinions collected together for comparison, about designing in a particular context. The later chapters move more towards the future, with trends, possibilities and conjectures. The introduction and final chapter combine to describe the approach to designing interactions that has evolved at IDEO. The book is illustrated with more than 700 images, with color throughout." (Bill Moggridge) - courtesy of puttingpeoplefirst

Posted by PJB on October 06, 2006 | Classification: Interaction design | Permalink

Design and Emotion 2006 Conference Proceedings

"The Design and Emotion Society and Chalmers University of Technology invite you to the fifth conference on Design and Emotion, to be held in Gothenburg, Sweden on September 27-29, 2006. Emotions arise towards people, towards places, towards food, and towards things. Emotions influence our well-being as well as our purchase decisions. From a design perspective, we need to know more about how artefacts elicit emotions. We also need to know more about the way we can identify the relevant emotional aspects and how we can evaluate the emotional impact of a particular design. The International Conference on Design and Emotion 2006 is the arena for these topics." (D&E 2006 - Design & Emotion Society)

Posted by PJB on October 05, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Stewart Brand Meets The Cybernetic Counterculture

Book excerpt - "Like a cross between a touring rock entourage and a commune, USCO was more than a performance team. It was a social system unto itself. Through it, Brand encountered the works of Norbert Wiener, Marshall McLuhan, and Buckminster Fuller - all of whom would become key influences on the Whole Earth community - and began to imagine a new synthesis of cybernetic theory and countercultural politics." (Fred Turner - EDGE)

Posted by PJB on October 05, 2006 | Classification: Classics | Permalink

12 Lessons for Those Afraid of CSS and Standards

"#1: Everything you know is wrong... sort of; #2: It's not going to look exactly the same everywhere unless you're willing to face some grief... and possibly not even then; #3: You will be forced to choose between the ideal and the practicable; #4: Perfection is not when there’s nothing to add, but when there’s nothing to take away; #5: Some sites are steaming heaps of edge cases; #6: Longer lead times are inevitable; #7: Coherent and sensible source order is the best of Good Things; #8: Descendant selectors are the beginning and end of genuinely powerful CSS rules; #9: In the real world, stylesheet hacks will get your project across the finish line; #10: Working around rendering bugs is like playing Whack-a-Mole; #11: When you're drowning in CSS layout problems, make sure of the width and height of the water, float without putting up a struggle, and get clear of the problems; #12: Background images will make the difference between the plain and the tastefully embellished." (Ben Henick - A List Apart)

Posted by PJB on October 04, 2006 | Classification: Technology | Permalink

European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: Proceedings

"The ECSCW conference proceedings are published by Springer (until 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers), with the exception of ECSCW'89. All past proceedings are made available on-line, free of charge." (About ECSCW)

Posted by PJB on October 02, 2006 | Classification: Social Web | Permalink

Metrics for Heuristics: Quantifying User Experience

"Cooperative selection of success measures early in the project's definition or discovery phase will align design and evaluation from the start, and both the information architect and web analyst can better prove the value of their services and assure that the project’s focus remains on business and user goals. To provide a useful context for design, Rubinoff's user experience audit is one of several tools information architects can use to evaluate a website." (Andrea Wiggins - Boxes and Arrows)

Posted by PJB on October 02, 2006 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Are We There Yet?

"Collaborative iteration is the secret to getting to the right design solution. It's embarrassing that we tripped up this way, knowing how many articles this site hosts on good process. We should have realized a contest was the very opposite of good collaboration." (Christina Wodtke - Boxes and Arrows)

Posted by PJB on October 02, 2006 | Classification: Information architecture | Permalink