This makes perfect sense to me Gary. And at risk of prolonging the
debate, I would point out that many non-fiction works have sub-titles
or straplines that give more detail for the person arriving at it for
the first time. I would suggest something that draws attention to the
contents and target audience such as Design Handbook (guides and
examples for people trying to create usable and accessible web
interfaces). It is similar to Gary's suggestion of a prominent table
of contents and maybe a useful complement in certain situations.
John
PS I am thinking that this title conveys a lot: Mrs Beeton's Book of
Household Management - a guide to all aspects of running a household
in Victorian Britain.
(OK so I cheated a bit and adapted a line from a website the real
title was just the first bit, but it makes my point)
On 30 Jan 2009, at 17:45, Gary Thompson wrote:
This is a fascinating thread - I find it really interesting to hear
how people define and understand words.
But to the point, this issue is a classic information architecture
challenge - how to organize and classify information so that people
can find it. I've also heard it referred to as "findability" or
"scent of information". Exactly what several of you have been
hitting on. How do we ensure that our community is able to connect
with the content - recognize the classification and organization as
a match to what they are looking for? Or, discover its existence
even if they didn't come looking for it.
The fact that several people have wholly mistook the term UX Toolkit
for something that it is not indicates we likely need a better
solution.
I find looking at term definitions a helpful starting place. My
favorite way to do this is to do a google define search like this:
"define: handbook"
Which returns this result:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS291US304&q=define:+handbook&btnG=Search
<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS291US304&q=define:+handbook&btnG=Search
>
Based on said search results, and my filtered selection from the
returned definitions,
"Handbook" is defined as:
* A concise reference book providing specific information about a
subject or location
* A type of reference work, or other collection of instructions,
that is intended to provide ready reference
* A compact reference book giving the essential information in a
given field of study
"Guideline" is defined as:
* A guideline is any document that aims to streamline particular
processes according to a set routine
* Advice or instructions given in order to guide or direct an action
* A recommendation that leads or directs a course of action to
achieve a certain goal
"Resource" is defined as:
* A resource is any physical or virtual entity of limited availability
* In economic theory, factors of production (or productive inputs)
are the resources employed to produce goods and services
* Something that is available that can be used to take care of a need
"Toolkit" is defined as:
* An assembly of tools; set of basic building units for graphical
user interfaces
* A collection of procedures that can be used to create user
interface software
* A collection of technologies, products, and other supporting
materials such as documentation, that help a customer to produce a
solution
"Toolbox" is defined as:
* A box or chest or cabinet for holding hand tools
* A storage case for tools; a set of pre-existing routines for use
in writing new programs
* An area on a site that offers visitors a drop-down menu of useful
functions
Where it seems that:
* "Tool" generally indicates code/software/application (in our
context)
* "Resource" is too broad and vague - can mean many different things
If we look at what is in the UX Tookit, it seems that we have:
* Templates, personas, and examples, but not code-based "tools"
* Advice, instructions, and recommendations that could be defined as
"guidelines"
* A reference work on UX design that is intended to provide ready
reference, a.k.a. a "handbook"
Thinking about it from a different perspective: I am needing to fix
something on my car. I am inclined to try and do it myself, but I
am not a trained mechanic. I've changed the oil a few times and
have a couple of basic tools, but need additional information,
advice, how-to's, and examples. I might need some additional
tools. What do I look for? A repair manual on my car? Advice from
an experienced mechanic? A how-to article on the task I need to do
(hopefully with references to the tools I will need)? What do you
call the sum of all of those things? A handbook? A garage? A
community?
If we are to sum these three things:
* Templates, personas, and examples, but not code-based "tools"
* Advice, instructions, and recommendations that could be defined as
"guidelines"
* A reference work on UX design that is intended to provide ready
reference, a.k.a. a "handbook"
What is it? Handbook does seem close, but maybe isn't everything.
To Jess' point, we may be able to use the plithy title but attach to
it labels and descriptions, expose some of the underlying pieces, etc.
At this point, my +1 would be for Design Handbook, where Design
Handbook would be the main title and navigation item, but that there
might be a highlight box on the home page that adds the subsections:
* Accessibility Resources
* Comparative & Competitive Analysis
* Contextual Inquiry
* Design Patterns
* Persona
* User Experience Walkthroughs
* User Modeling
* User Testing
* UX Resources
Or related labels and terms to aid the findability and scent of
information if people do not immediately recognize "Design Handbook"
as the thing they are looking for.
Gary
Anastasia Cheetham wrote:
On 29-Jan-09, at 5:07 PM, Jacob Farber wrote:
a name that's likely to get the attention of a inquisitive
visitor / designer / developer / whomever and from there they will
get to see what its all about.
That's a good point, Jacob.
Considering
- who the target audience for this thing is
- what they will be looking for when they come to the site
is the name likely to make them think "Ah! Maybe that's what I'm
looking for..."
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