February 2011

Mobile Content Is Twice as Difficult

"When reading from an iPhone-sized screen, comprehension scores for complex Web content were 48% of desktop monitor scores." (Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted by PJB on February 27, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design - Usability | Permalink

Co-Designing Interactive Spaces for and with Designers: Supporting Mood-board Making

"This thesis explores why and how designers use mood boards in the early stages of the design process, and how augmented reality can support mood boarding by following a user-centered design approach. The main research questions in this thesis are: (1) what are MBs and why do designers use them, and (2) how can AR tools provide support for professional users in their work. Mood boarding is explored in depth by means of interviews with Dutch and Finnish practicing designers. The knowledge gained in these interviews is fed into co-design sessions with Dutch and Finnish designers in which researchers and end-users (i.e. designers) create augmented reality tools that support mood boarding. The co-designed tools are later evaluated to address the two research questions. In terms of the complete research process, this work also leads to an improved understanding of using different user-centered design methods (i.e. cultural probes, workshops, contextual inquiries, interviews, co-design sessions, prototyping) when trying to unveil the needs of users." (Andres Lucero Vera)

Posted by PJB on February 24, 2011 | Classification: UCD | Permalink

CS Forum podcast episode 1: Gerry McGovern

"There is nothing more important on the web than content. But don't talk about it. Talk about the success of the customer or the lack of success of the customer. Because most organizations realize today that if they're not customer centric, they don't have much of a future." (Randall Snare ~ CS Forum 2011)

Posted by PJB on February 24, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - Events - Interviews - Podcasts | Permalink

How to Make a Faceted Classification and Put It On the Web

"This paper will attempt to bridge the gap by giving procedures and advice on all the steps involved in making a faceted classification and putting it on the web. Web people will benefit by having a rigorous seven-step process to follow for creating faceted classifications, and librarians will benefit by understanding how to store such a classification on a computer and make it available on the web. The paper is meant for both webmasters and information architects who do not know a lot about library and information science, and librarians who do not know a lot about building databases and web sites. The classifications are meant for small or medium-sized sets of things, meant to go on public or private web sites, when there is a need to organize items for which no existing classification will do. It is certainly not the intent of this paper to show how to build another universal classification, nor to describe how a library that uses a faceted classification scheme can put their catalogue online." (William Denton ~ Miskatonic University Press 2009)

Posted by PJB on February 24, 2011 | Classification: Information architecture - Metadata | Permalink

STC: Content Strategy SIG

"The Content Strategy SIG is to be the STC home for members who are practitioners in this new space. The SIG is the forum in which to establish and develop the practice area of content strategy, particularly as it pertains to technical communication, to provide resources that prepare STC members wanting to transition to this as a career option, and to allow SIG members to support one another as practitioners as the field develops. Additionally, artifacts may be developed that allows practitioners to build a body of knowledge specifically pertaining to content strategy. The Content Strategy SIG was inaugurated in September 2009. As a new SIG, we are actively seeking members." (Society for Technical Communication) ~ dead-on-arrival

Posted by PJB on February 23, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - TechCom | Permalink

Measuring the User Experience on a Large Scale: User-Centered Metrics for Web Applications

"More and more products and services are being deployed on the web, and this presents new challenges and opportunities for measurement of user experience on a large scale. There is a strong need for user-centered metrics for web applications, which can be used to measure progress towards key goals, and drive product decisions. In this note, we describe the HEART framework for user-centered metrics, as well as a process for mapping product goals to metrics. We include practical examples of how HEART metrics have helped product teams make decisions that are both data-driven and user-centered. The framework and process have generalized to enough of our company's own products that we are confident that teams in other organizations will be able to reuse or adapt them. We also hope to encourage more research into metrics based on large-scale behavioral data." (Kerry Rodden, Hilary Hutchinson, and Xin Fu ~ Google Research)

Posted by PJB on February 22, 2011 | Classification: Design research - User experience | Permalink

Mobile Design Patterns: Interaction Models

"A model describing the method of user interaction with a device and its UI. Mobile devices typically use one of two models—direct or indirect manipulation. More recently, devices have been designed which also respond to gestural interactions." (Forum Nokia)

Posted by PJB on February 22, 2011 | Classification: Interaction design - Mobile design - Patterns | Permalink

Design Strategies for Brand Landing Pages on Mobile Devices

"On the desktop Web, ecommerce landing pages get a bum rap—sometimes well deserved. Laden with ads and gimmicks, pushing items with higher markups, and confusing customers with complicated information architectures, these marketing monstrosities typically strongly underperform the search results pages from a simple keyword search. However, passing a death sentence on all landing pages may be premature. On the small screens of mobile devices, well-designed landing pages can provide a much better experience than keyword search results. Currently, few mobile sites use landing pages, which makes them the next big mobile ecommerce opportunity." (Greg Nudelman ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on February 21, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design | Permalink

Content and Clout: A Chat with Colleen Jones

"There's a big difference between persuasion, or influence, and manipulation. People have experienced much interactive marketing (...) as a collection of manipulative tricks—to the point that the connotations of marketing and advertising are now almost synonymous with lying. That really needs to change." (Kristina Mausser ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on February 21, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - Interviews | Permalink

Prospecting in the 21st century

"Service design is the natural progression from UX – taking interactions across platforms and concentrating on the invisible and tangible connections around customer or user interactions. Information architects should be at the heart of this design work and don’t be surprised to start to see IAs appear in companies that you didn’t even think of as 'digital'. (...) It is not just interface design. It is not just about making the world more usable and ethically correct. It’s all this and more. It is a force for changing business in its approach and to make it economically stable by providing for needs but also satisfying wants beyond the present day. This is the business value of UX. How you interpret the data you collect, and create something truly unique, relies on the teams skill set and experience." (James Kelway ~ user pathways) | courtesy of petermorville

Posted by PJB on February 18, 2011 | Classification: Information architecture - Service design - UCD - User experience | Permalink

Effective Design Documentation Without a Fuss

An Interview with Dan Brown - "Design documentation is shorthand for the collection of techniques to capture and communicate design ideas to other people on the design team. Those ideas may be half-baked or they may be well-cooked, and designers have various reasons for creating documentation." (Brad Nunnally ~ Johnny Holland Magazine)

Posted by PJB on February 18, 2011 | Classification: Interviews - User experience | Permalink

Non-Profit Organization Websites: Increasing Donations and Volunteering

"Giving money on charity websites is 7% harder than spending money on e-commerce sites. Donating physical items is even harder. For non-profit websites, social media is secondary; the top priority is to write clearer content." (Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted by PJB on February 17, 2011 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

Content Strategy and UX: A Modern Love Story

"Why the gold rush? The answer is pretty simple: it's inherently impossible to design a great user experience for bad content. If you're passionate about creating better user experiences, you can't help but care about delivering useful, usable, engaging content." (Kristina Halvorson ~ UX magazine)

Posted by PJB on February 17, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - User experience | Permalink

The Untold Story of How My Dad Helped Invent the First Mac

"Jef Raskin, my father, helped develop the Macintosh, and I was recently looking at some of his old documents and came across his February 16, 1981 memo detailing the genesis of the Macintosh. It was written in reaction to Steve Jobs taking over managing hardware development. Reading through it, I was struck by a number of the core principals Apple now holds that were set in play three years before the Macintosh was released. Much of this is particularly important in understanding Apple's culture and why we have the walled-garden experience of the iPhone, iPad, and the App Store." (Aza Raskin)

Posted by PJB on February 17, 2011 | Classification: Classics - HCI | Permalink

Interaction Design Association in Europe

"Throughout Europe, the dialogue on Interaction Design in academia and business is pursued from many different angles, nurtured by the region’s great diversity of national identities and socio-economic conditions. To allow IxDA to effectively utilize those kinds of regional premises, the global organization has assigned Coordinators for the worlds main geographical areas. In Europe, the Regional Coordination promotes to embrace the areas diversity and encourages cross-national collaboration amongst its chapters to facilitate a broad and manifold dialogue on Interaction Design." (IxDA European Region)

Posted by PJB on February 14, 2011 | Classification: Interaction design | Permalink

Content Strategy Is Not User Experience

"(...) content people who come from or work in the UX world say content strategy and mean bits of all of the above, but with user-centered design at the core of the work. Product design becomes feature design; messaging and branding become content goals and style guides; data modeling becomes content templates and page tables." (Erin Kissane ~ Brain Traffic)

Posted by PJB on February 11, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - User experience | Permalink

User expectations are important

"A key principle within usability is that people carry around a 'mental model' of how we expect the world to behave. These models are based on past experiences and can be a very powerful factor in influencing how people behave in certain situations. In our experience of usability testing, usability suffers when a site does not match users' expectations. Indeed, our usability testing sessions have repeatedly shown that breaking expectations makes users unhappy." (Tim Fidgeon ~ Spotless Interactive) courtesy of usabilitynews

Posted by PJB on February 10, 2011 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

The Digital Life: Episode 12

"The Digital Life is an online radio show that explores important, timely topics in the world of digital design and technology. (...) Five questions with special guest Aaron Marcus." (Dirk Knemeyer ~ The Digital Life)

Posted by PJB on February 09, 2011 | Classification: Information design - Interviews - Podcasts | Permalink

Persuasion in Design

"Persuasion in design is often regarded as a subset of UX, but it goes beyond UX and the mechanics of traditional usability. It's about understanding the emotions that influence people’s behavior and decision-making, and then acting on that information to design compelling user interactions. Persuasive design applies psychological principles of influence, decision-making in a consumer context, engagement strategy, and social psychology to every stage of the design process, and it identifies potential barriers and emotional triggers to elicit the desired actions." (Elisa Del Galdo ~ UX magazine)

Posted by PJB on February 09, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Guide to Website Navigation Design Patterns

"In web design, there are certain common design patterns that are used for interaction. Site navigation has a wide variety of common and familiar design patterns that can be used as a foundation for building effective information architecture for a website. This guide covers popular site navigation design patterns. For each site navigation design pattern, we will discuss its common characteristics, its drawbacks, and when best to use it." (Cameron Chapman ~ Six Revisions)

Posted by PJB on February 08, 2011 | Classification: Information architecture - Navigation | Permalink

User Experience White Paper

"(...) a result from a Dagstuhl seminar on Demarcating User Experience, where 30 experts from academia and industry worked together to bring some clarity to the concept of user experience. We see the white paper as an important step towards a common understanding on user experience." (AllAboutUX) ~ courtesy of jaspervankuijk

Posted by PJB on February 07, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

The Relationship Between User Experience And Customer Experience

"Moving forward I will still use the term user experience to refer to that total library experience we want to design and deliver. In my presentations on UX I would be more likely to introduce the term 'customer experience' and point out how each term adds to our knowledge about and conversation on designing better libraries." (Steven Bell ~ Designing Better Libraries)

Posted by PJB on February 07, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Subject-Matter Experts: Putting Users at the Center of the Design Process

"This month we'll discuss the process of putting users at the center of the design process and what that means in regard to both design and product strategy. We'll also discuss some different approaches to a user-centered design process that we've come across and outline their positives and negatives. Finally, we'll outline the steps necessary to make user-centered design a reality and how to get the most out of a user-centered design process when working on different types of products. The insights we gain from interacting directly with users are invaluable. They can assist us greatly throughout the product development process and ensure user adoption." (Demetrius Madrigal and Bryan McClain ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on February 07, 2011 | Classification: UCD | Permalink

Developing Your Interview Skills, Part II: During the Interview

"(...) I'll address how to manage an interview to ensure it starts on the right track and stays there. This article also touches on some ways to develop your interviewing skills throughout your career." (Mia Northrop ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on February 07, 2011 | Classification: Design research | Permalink

Why Don't Usability Problems Get Fixed?

"How many times has this happened to you? You've finished presenting the results of your usability testing, heuristic evaluation, or other user research activity, feeling great about the positive impact your recommendations will have on a product's user experience. The audience smiled and nodded along during your presentation. Most of them agree with your findings and seem genuinely impressed by the work you've done. But, later on, you face the reality that few of your recommendations have gotten implemented fully—and many, not at all." (Jim Ross ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on February 07, 2011 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

Design, Functionality, and Diffusion of Innovations

"(...) functionality and design aren't separate things. A large part of design includes understanding what needs people have and what technologies can be applied to solve those needs. Design also isn't just about the user interface 'skin' of graphics, icons, and aesthetics that people see. It also includes the internal 'skeleton' of how the application is organized, the conceptual model and metaphors conveyed to end-users, as well as its functionality." (Jason Hong ~ blog@CACM)

Posted by PJB on February 07, 2011 | Classification: Information design | Permalink

Business Objectives vs. User Experience

"Here's a question for you: would you agree that creating a great user experience should be the primary aim of any Web designer? I know what your answer is and you're wrong! Okay, I admit that not all of you would have answered yes, but most probably did. Somehow, the majority of Web designers have come to believe that creating a great user experience is an end in itself. I think we are deceiving ourselves and doing a disservice to our clients at the same time. The truth is that business objectives should trump users' needs every time. Generating a return on investment is more important for a website than keeping users happy. Sounds horrendous, doesn't it?" (Paul Boag ~ Smashing Magazine)

Posted by PJB on February 04, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

The Changing Role of Content Strategist

"So even though the distribution of content and the role of the distributor may change, the old rules of trust and value are not going away. In fact, these features will still be the main tools bridging the gap between the brand and consumer." (Giedrius Ivanauskas)

Posted by PJB on February 04, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy | Permalink

Changing terms for changing times: Usability, HCI, UCD & more

"I am also somewhat sceptical about the value of including information architecture in this analysis. For sure, it is a term currently used within the digital community to describe the application of the principles of user centred design to the development of information-rich websites and applications. But the term was in use long before the web was invented (notably by the software industry)..." (Tony Russell-Rose) ~ courtesy of usabilitynews

Posted by PJB on February 03, 2011 | Classification: HCI - Usability | Permalink

UX Benefits to Building Mobile Web Apps

"(...) there are many business benefits to building HTML5 mobile apps, but few, if any, user experience benefits." (LukeW)

Posted by PJB on February 03, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design - User experience | Permalink

Color Wheels are wrong? How color vision actually works

"There's something to this. Something neither the wheels nor the spectrum can explain. It's time to get down to the real source of color: The ridiculous complexity of human beings." (A Smart Bear)

Posted by PJB on February 03, 2011 | Classification: Visual design | Permalink

From DITA to VITA: Tracing Origins and Projecting the Future

"DITA would have you believe that you can single source your way into every possible deliverable. In reality, you're just making potatoes in a few different ways (scalloped, mashed, boiled). You're still giving the user potatoes. VITA is a multimodal approach, giving the user a full array of nutrition options, so to speak. It educates and informs by touching almost every sensory input." (Tom Johnson)

Posted by PJB on February 02, 2011 | Classification: TechCom - Technology | Permalink

Proceedings: First Workshop on Social Interaction in Spatially Separated Environments (.pdf)

"(...) inspired by the idea that social relationships play a key role in our everyday lives. They are responsible for our well-being, for a productive working atmosphere, and for feeling part of our various communities. Today, as we are often working and living separated from our relatives, friends and co-workers, it is more important than ever to develop methods to stay connected in a global word. It is the goal of SISSI to seek for such methods in order to achieve a feeling of togetherness, presence and closeness between spatially separated professional or private social groups and individuals. Research on social interaction in spatially separated environments is an active and emerging field of studies." (SISSI 2010)

Posted by PJB on February 02, 2011 | Classification: Events - Social Web | Permalink

Designing a Reason to Come Back

"For most of us, launching and maintaining a Web site is enough of a chore. But what change is there to look forward to? Once a year, a number of sites participate in a CSS reboot, where all the styles are dropped. Some sites even commit to refresh their look on this day. This gives casual visitors - especially those who rarely visit a site, reason to come back - to see what's new. Department stores regularly have sales, seasonal offerings and other events, yet the only online equivalent seems to be cyber Monday." (Stephen Anderson ~ Johnny Holland Magazine)

Posted by PJB on February 02, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

User Experience and Experience Design

"The notion of (User) Experience as stories told through products has a potential to change the way we think and design. At the moment, the majority of commercially available interactive devices is either too practical or too open-ended." (Marc Hassenzahl ~ Interaction-Design.org Encyclopedia)

Posted by PJB on February 01, 2011 | Classification: Interaction design - User experience | Permalink

When & Where Are People Using Mobile Devices?

"It's hard to find advice about mobile design that doesn't emphasize the importance of context. While many people are quick to point out understanding mobile context is key to delivering a great mobile experience, few define context explicitly enough to make it actionable." (Luke Wroblewski)

Posted by PJB on February 01, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design | Permalink