http://www.informationdesign.org/ Dedicated to the growth and improvement of the information experience industries. en-us plato@xs4all.nl 2012-08-21T09:16:14+01:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Patterns are the designer's best friend. "Typically in web design, the opposite approach is the rule: designers begin with the homepage. They then work out a navigation scheme, which pages at the bottom of the site hierarchy automatically inherit whether it's appropriate or not. The goal - or the primary content people are looking for or tasks they are trying to get done - turns out to be the last thing that gets attention in the design process." (James Kalbach a.k.a. @JamesKalbach ~ Boxes and Arrows) Patterns 2012-08-21T09:16:14+01:00 First learn to obey the rules, then break them. Not the other way around. "(...) we can neither follow nor ignore design patterns completely. Instead, we need a deep understanding of the rules of human-computer interaction, so that we know when breaking them is OK." (Rian van der Merwe a.k.a. @rianvdm Smashing Magazine) Patterns 2012-06-06T16:54:08+01:00 Or, how anti-patterns become dark patterns. "Design patterns are generally considered a good thing, but do they actually help run a user experience group? As a user experience group manager and an observer (and sponsor) of design pattern exercises, I've come to have serious questions about their actual utility. It's not that design pattern libraries are bad, but that in a world of limited resources, it is it is not clear that the investment is worth it. Fortunately, there is a better approach: reaching outside the design group to solve the whole problem." (Stephen Turbek a.k.a. @Stephenturbek ~ Boxes and Arrows) Patterns 2012-01-27T12:53:42+01:00 Re-usable patterns, templates, components, modules, elements, and 'what-have-you' for content is the future. "Content modules are small chunks of content that can be placed on standard web pages, typically in the right side-bar area or at the bottom of the page. Each module contains content that can be automatically (or manually) updated or changed based on certain criteria. Some types of pages, such as a home or landing pages, can be built almost entirely by using content modules as building blocks." (@KathyHanbury ~ E3 Content Strategy) Patterns 2012-01-11T12:02:45+01:00 User experience 2011-12-19T14:22:29+01:00 Another way of phrasing dark patterns would be e-Commerce Magic. "We might not like to admit it but deception is deeply entwined with life on this planet. Insects evolved to use it, animals employ it in their behavior, and of course, we humans use it to manipulate, control, and profit from each other. With this in mind, it's no surprise that deception appears in various guises in user interfaces on the web today. What is surprising, though, is that up until recently it was something web designers never talked about. There was no terminology, no design patterns, and no real recognition of it as a phenomenon at all. If it wasn't a taboo it certainly felt like one." (Harry Brignull a.k.a. @harrybr ~ A List Apart) HCI 2011-11-02T09:47:34+01:00 "Patterns are how we capture and share some of the common insights we see bubbling up across projects, as well as out and about in the world. They are a foundation for intuition. A way to elevate insights to the level of cultural impact. And a way to tap into IDEO's collective intelligence to do better work for our clients - even faster. We've had the privilege of tackling some of the toughest design challenges for some of the most innovative companies around the world. And what we've found is that many of these challenges are shared by multiple companies across a variety of industries. These are challenges we all have the potential to solve. But we believe that can only happen when we work together. Openly and collectively." (IDEO) courtesy of ruurdpriester Patterns 2011-05-02T11:15:50+01:00 "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) Patterns 2011-02-22T10:17:11+01:00 "A content strategy plans the full lifecycle of content: how it will be created, delivered, maintained and archived or destroyed. This project focuses on web content: all forms of digital language and media found on websites. As an integral part of User Experience, web content strategy must take account of search engine optimization, user interface design, user needs, business needs, and other aspects of online strategy. (...) To paraphrase IAWiki, "Design Patterns are solutions to common problems. As problems arise in a community and are resolved, common solutions often spontaneously emerge. Eventually the best of these self-identify and become refined until they reach the status of a Design Pattern." (Contentini) Content strategy 2011-01-17T11:32:06+01:00 The Big Questions to Ask Before Building a Pattern or Component Library ~ "Design patterns and modular components are effective techniques for designing and building long-lasting, consistent experiences." (Nathan Curtis ~ Boxes and Arrows) Interaction design 2010-09-14T11:16:23+01:00 "This month's column covers strategies for making people more aware of the filtering options that are available to them, as well as methods of improving transitions between the various states a user encounters in a search user interface." (Greg Nudelman ~ UXmatters) Mobile design 2010-05-03T09:56:19+01:00 Interview with Peter Morville about his new book Search Patterns - "(...) I'm a skeptic when it comes to grand visions of The Semantic Web. In narrow domains such as medicine, we can develop thesauri (or 'ontologies') that define terms precisely and map hierarchical, equivalent, and associative relationships. But these approaches simply don't scale, and they can't keep up with the rapid evolution of language and knowledge." (Bridgeline Digital) Interviews 2010-04-27T10:41:42+01:00 "In this case study, we reflect on how a UI pattern-based design for building standard business software affects the user experience and the user-centered design process. We learned that pattern-based design does not optimize the user experience per se. Additional factors, such as user-centered design, prototyping tools, and management support determine the success or failure of the pattern-based approach. Interweaving the factors in the right way is a prerequisite for success." (Annette Stotz and Udo Arend - SAPDesignGuild) Patterns 2010-04-26T15:35:39+01:00 "Designing good user interfaces is difficult, and thus software development organizations need effective and usable design tools to support design work. In this thesis a tool, a user interface design pattern library which captures knowledge of good UI design and shares it effectively in reusable format to the development organization (...)" (@Janne Lammi 2007) Patterns 2010-03-30T17:21:17+01:00 "Search is among the most disruptive innovations of our time. It influences what we buy and where we go. It shapes how we learn and what we believe. This provocative and inspiring book explores design patterns that apply across the categories of web, e-commerce, enterprise, desktop, mobile, social, and real time search and discovery. Using colorful illustrations and examples, the authors bring modern information retrieval to life, covering such diverse topics as relevance ranking, faceted navigation, multi-touch, and mixed reality. Search Patterns challenges us to invent the future of discovery while serving as a practical guide to help us make search applications better today." (Peter Morville & Jeffery Callender) Patterns 2010-02-01T13:57:17+01:00