[IxDA Discuss] Shared virtual whiteboard: Suggestions?
I am looking for a setup to share a virtual whiteboard in geographically distributed design sessions. NEEDS-TO-HAVE: - runs on Mac and Win, or (even better) platform-independent - supports free-hand drawing - imports bitmap files or screen shots to draw on - more than one user can draw simultaneously NICE-TO-HAVE: - runs without installing very complicated dedicated server software - freeware, shareware or affordable payware My intention is to use it together with audio/video conf such as Skype for a small project team (2-4 people) to run focused creative sessions across geographic locations. So far, I have looked at the following products and deemed them unsuitable: Yugma, Persony, uSeeToo, Sketch Pad, TalkAndWrite, Whiteboard Meeting and Skype 3.0 beta sketchpad extra. Any suggestions would be most appreciated! Thanks, Jonas Löwgren Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Fields order in a job form
Hi Yann From my experience working on interface design for job boards (e.g. http://seek.com.au/) and talking to a number of job seekers, I think keywords is the main search field. Some job seekers will have an idea of area and contract type, whereas others won't. This means these fields are a lower priority and should come lower in the order. Also, area and type of contract are often malleable for the user. That is, the job seeker will compromise on area or contract type for a position that really appeals. The problems with a drop down job list are that it: - Will only really work for a small number of jobs. As soon as the number of jobs becomes reasonably large, the drop down list will be overwhelming - Relies on job seekers having a consistent understanding what the job titles mean. The discussions on this very board about user experience/usability/interaction design/interface design etc should be enough to convince you that for many professions, there isn't a consistently understood set of job titles. Add to this that there is often a different understandign between companies, recruiters and applicants, and you can see what a minefield this is. Good luck Jessica -- Formulate Information Design Ridding the world of poorly designed forms http://formulate.com.au . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26374 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
In any case, once one learns that they are a 0 / 1, they must then find the proper mapping. Which one is off, and which is on? 0 should be off, 1 should be on, but I can't say whether that transfers across cultures. I understand that the concept of zero has different backgrounds across the world and is quite different in the East. That's a good point. Although the fact that the graphic shows one interrupting the other simply indicates a change of state--so really, it doesn't matter which signifies on and which signifies off. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Interaction Design and Theatre
Hello N... yes, your hint was very interesting... Actually I'm still exploring the domains of application of my ideas about theatre and Interaction Design. As I can see so far, they still obey to apparently different laws, for what they have many points in common and would have a lot to exchange. Still searching Thank you again ___ L'email della prossima generazione? Puoi averla con la nuova Yahoo! Mail: http://it.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
There seem to be two things here: 1) When should we set/accept/challenge standards? 2) How much how people have to learn to interact with these abstract ideas that are so new in our evolution, and how much should be metaphor? Personally, I would want to go with the broken-circle-with-vertical-bar representation. It is a standard whose 'etymology' is based upon the engineering notation that have allowed these things to exist in the first place. It is becoming more and more widely used. It is visually distinct: OK, I can only speak for the roman alphabet and the symbolism that I have encountered over my lifetime, so there would be more investigation needed here. It is simple and elegant (a little subjective, but _I_ think it's elegant). Do we need to re-visit the symbol? The representation is consistent with the on/off 1/0 yes/no that is intrinsic to computers and is fairly unique to the man-made realm. You can't switch a goat off and on again. And what else could you use? What represents power or something functioning? Lightning? I would associate that with danger. The army? Inappropriate. An engine? Well, perhaps, but the association is a bit ropey. What does everyone think? Alex. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Means to an IxDA message? WAS: Where are all the designers?
I think it's legitimate for a body repair shop to show examples of damaged cars before they fixed them, so it should be okay for a design company to show its process on its way to creating a successful design. I think you're asking whether it's okay for companies, and not individuals, but personally, I put wirefames in my portfolio after a few interviewers wanted to see more of my work under the hood so to speak. Bryan http://www.bryanminihan.com -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:discuss- Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Means to an IxDA message? WAS: Where are all the designers? Has anyone else posted their wireframe designs in their portfolios? web:heraghty.net blog:mediajunk.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Means to an IxDA message? WAS: Where are all the designers?
Thanks for sharing your experience Scott, Gretchen. I guess I will stick to only showing the finished product in the portfolio! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26265 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
I think it looks a little like an ashtray... Which reminds me of the unfortunate name our team adopted at my last company...Global Application Services. We especially liked sending out emails right before promoting new software, called GAS Release alerts. Bryan http://www.bryanminihan.com -Original Message- Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon At least one person thought that it was a cannonball-bomb with a fuse. Other people wondered have wondered if the icon looked on or off. -- Jody Tate Web Developer - UW Network Systems http://staff.washington.edu/jtate/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Offtopic: What music do you listen to while you design
Mosly jazz, or anything soft. I usually have my Radion http://www.trennova.com/radion.html with World music or Jazz channel turned on. Gaurav On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:18:59, John Dailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: No music... Just the purring of my cat. I find that music continues, but always changes or stops. My cat purrs then goes to sleep. Both her purring and her sleeping are more soothing than any style of music to me. Now, get me out of the office and I'm ready for live jazz... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26467 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] power icon
Some great user research on power icons was done by the group who developed the IEEE 1621, the Power Control User Interface standard. (offical name:*Standard for User Interface Elements in Power Control of Electronic Devices Employed in Office/Consumer Environments)* ** See http://eetd.lbl.gov/Controls/publications/pubsindex.html - Michele Marut Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
Alex, great questions, and more importantly, what I would consider the proper attitude. And I also like how you have presented your perspective as a personal one and not pretend to speak for entire populations or all of humankind. I think this is one good way to make progress in a contentious setting (dropping bombs on and imprisoning protestors being another way, although not a very healthy one). I will just speak to one thing that popped out of your message: What represents power or something functioning? Lightning? As a matter of fact, there is just one word in Hindi and Urdu for both lightning and electricity -- the word is 'bijlee'. Who'da thunk, hunh?! So for Hindi/Urdu speakers (who live in Northern India and much of Pakistan) a lighting flash symbol is likely to work well. Just how did you know, Alex? ;-) - murli On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 3:42 PM, Alexander Livingstone [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What represents power or something functioning? Lightning? I would associate that with danger. Alex. -- murli nagasundaram, ph.d. | www.murli.com | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | +91 99 02 69 69 20 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Comparison Tables/Compare Items Examples
Hi, I'm looking for some best practices or web examples for comparison tables, much like a product comparisons. There will be about 30 rows of data for comparison and the user will decide how many things to compare. The best example of the kind of table I'm looking for is at Wiki Matrix: http://www.wikimatrix.org/index.php Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks Shelley Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] [JOB] UX Designer - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada - Primal Fusion - Full time or contract
Primal Fusion is a web startup about to come out of stealth mode, which means I can't describe what we're up to on the IxDA list quite yet. I can say, however, that your work will be challenging, rewarding, and will have a real impact on our success. We've assembled a terrific team of talented and experienced people who appreciate the importance of design. For more info, contact me directly at the address below. Unfortunately, we aren't able to offer relocation assistance at this time. bbb at primalfusion dot com This is a full-time opportunity, though we are also interested in independent contractors who feel they fit the bill. DESCRIPTION Itching for an opportunity to work in a company where design really matters? Here¹s your chance. From the beginning, Primal Fusion has understood the critical role that product design will play in the success of our business. We¹re now looking for another designer to help us conceptualize and sweat the details of our web applications¹ user experience. As a User Experience Designer at Primal Fusion, you will: - Imagine new opportunities to hit the ³sweet spot,² that place where our products delight customers while fulfilling our business goals. - Develop a deep understanding of our customers¹ motivations and behaviors through user research methods such as field studies. - Lay the groundwork for new products by modeling workflows, crafting personas, writing scenarios, and sketching storyboards. - Design the form and behavior of our products by creating prototypes of increasing fidelity and detail, from concept sketches to wireframes to interactive simulations. - Improve your craft by subjecting your work to rigorous assessment, including usability studies, A/B testing, and web log analysis. - Help to further elevate the practice of design at Primal Fusion. REQUIREMENTS - A passion for design. ³Design thinking² isn¹t something you turn on and off, it¹s how you think all the time. - An entrepreneurial and energetic spirit. This is a startup environment in which things move quickly; you¹ll have the opportunity to wear many hats. - Demonstrated experience in designing elegant and highly usable websites and web applications. - A proven understanding of why, when, and how to create artifacts such as workflow and mental model diagrams, personas, scenarios, sitemaps, and wireframes. - Graphic and information design skills. You have a demonstrated ability to make visual design choices that guide users in their interactions with a product. - Experience in communicating design requirements and shepherding products through the development process. - Expertise with Adobe applications such as Fireworks or Illustrator. BONUS POINTS FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING - Experience in designing for large-scale consumer web applications. - Experience in conducting usability studies and A/B testing. - Ability to code in CSS+XHTML, Javascript, or Flash. - Strong written communication skills, especially for web copy. - Post-secondary education in Design. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Filtering-- Seen any good examples recently
Bill Scott posted his own thoughts on filtering in this post: http://looksgoodworkswell.blogspot.com/2008/02/pattern-refining-search.html There's a few good examples from Bill, plus a few of his anti-patterns and click through to read the basis for his post. ...Dan Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
Until I joined this conversation I had not noticed the difference between the power on/off and standby symbols. Yes, now I can see the difference, but I had no idea before that the two were significantly different. And I was trained as a (mechanical) engineer. It's far too subtle a difference for most (regular) people. The symbol also looks vaguely sexual, although this is probably just my mind. -murli On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 7:39 PM, Bryan Minihan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I think it looks a little like an ashtray... Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
On Feb 28, 2008, at 6:32 PM, Murli Nagasundaram wrote: Until I moved to the US from India in 1986, I don't recall having encountered the 0/1 power symbol more than a couple of times. Given that the symbols were defined in the early 1970s, and it's now 2008 where they've finally seen the kind of widespread adoption to be more universal... I'm not exactly sure what your point is bringing up 1986. That was two years after the first mainstream GUI was introduced by Apple. That's a lifetime ago in the digital industry. That's more than 20 years ago now. Even today, the symbol is quite rare except on computers and some other digital products. The symbols are not rare. They are near ubiquitous. They are on nearly everything that has an electronic component or requires electricity these days. Nearly every modern appliance now uses these symbols. This is not a rant against the 'Standard Power Symbol' -- it's simply to take note that naive assumptions about universality and a dismissive attitude towards raising questions about the issue are very similar to the attitude of some system developers who view users as being 'losers' and if they are unable to appropriately use a system then its their own problem. The IEC and IEEE develop standards with far more rigor and process than anyone in this young field of IxD ever does. Getting standards passed with the IEC is tough, and they put a lot of thought into the things they do. Language and symbology does take time to permeate through society, particularly a large, diverse, complex one. While most symbols are at least somewhat arbitrary, the 'right arrow/right-pointing triangle' used for the PLAY button is much less so -- pointing and arrows developed early enough in the evolution of the species that the symbol could be considered 'universal'. The Pause and Stop symbols, however, are pretty darned arbitrary -- the mapping to the real functions is cognitively more taxing. Entirely made up. You are picking and choosing your reasoning without concrete, factual, researched evidence to back it up. Sitting here in my parents' home in India, I can step out of the house and point at any random person outside and be fairly certain that they don't understand the 0/1 symbol. Give India another 20 years and I'm sure they will. The symbols were developed in the early 1970s and it hasn't been until late the 1990s that most people in the United States started understanding them better. It takes time. There are no shortcuts. This situation is unlikely to change for a long while. See above. I live with my aged parents in India now. Every day -- and indeed several times a day -- I encounter situations that they are unable to cope with because of an inability to deal with arbitrary symbols or conventions, or complex processes. Generalizing design principles from a Web 2.0 user base of twenty-something, college-educated, Americans leaves a whole lot of people out in the cold. The power symbols were developed by experienced professionals in the well established field of engineering in the early 1970s. The symbols are not arbitrary, and had a lot of thought and process put into developing them, just like a lot of the other standards put into place. Your logic simply does not stand. Honestly... it's threads like this and random, arbitrary, unfounded logic or selective picking of whatever reason one feels like without knowing the history of the thing that gives designers a bad name in the eyes of engineers. Stop it. Please. -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] c. +1 408 306 6422 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
On Feb 29, 2008, at 9:59 AM, Bill DeRouchey wrote: I'd rather spend time trying to rethink the Setup or Configure icon that is usually displayed as gears or a wrench/spanner. To me, the latter implies that my product is broken and I need to fix it. That's definitely the wrong metaphor. There has to be something better than that. How about the Save icon? It's often still a 3.25 floppy disk, which probably befuddles the heck out of anyone born after, say 1985. :) Dan Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Shared virtual whiteboard: Suggestions?
Hi Jonas, This looks like a tall order. I can think of products that do three out of four of the needs-to-have requirements, but not all. GE Imagination Cubed http://www.imaginationcubed.com/ Multiuser, freehand drawing, platform independent, but no image annotation. WebEx http://www.webex.com/ Freehand drawing, image annotation, Mac/PC, but no collaborative editing (only broadcast). e/pop http://www.wiredred.com/web-collaboration/ Multiuser, freehand drawing, image annotation, but PC-only. Some of your discarded options (like TalkAndWrite) seem to do everything you need except run on a Mac. Have you considered installing a copy of Parallels to eliminate this fourth hurdle? If that's not an option, what about hooking up a few of these solutions in serial? Screenshare a TalkAndWrite session through WebEx so the Mac crowd can at least follow along... // jeff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26680 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] iPhones on Campus
Surely so. More frightening to me than the specific notion of de-skilling is the dilapidation of the human mind that will be a part of human evolution. On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:26:21, Jeff Howard [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Geoff wrote: Am I just old and paranoid? I don't think so. Left unstimulated, neural pathways go dark. I think this is a real concern for design. There's a lot to find on the topic by searching google for the keyword de-skilling // jeff -- Geoff Barnes Fortune favors the bold. -Virgil Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. -Sir Walter Scott Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. -G.B. Shaw Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] iPhones on Campus
Well I agree, to an extent, with the basic thesis of deskilling. That said, what keeps me up at night these days is not deskilling, per se, but the degradation of fundamental problem solving skills, the development and maintenance of which have been for eons the cornerstone of evolution. We're systematically closing down many of the avenues for such practice, in myriad ways. And UX designers often end up the unwitting instruments of this foreclosure. Just a thought. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26579 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
I think it's flippin me the bird. On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 9:57 AM, Murli Nagasundaram [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Until I joined this conversation I had not noticed the difference between the power on/off and standby symbols. Yes, now I can see the difference, but I had no idea before that the two were significantly different. And I was trained as a (mechanical) engineer. It's far too subtle a difference for most (regular) people. The symbol also looks vaguely sexual, although this is probably just my mind. -murli On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 7:39 PM, Bryan Minihan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I think it looks a little like an ashtray... Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Default value in chekbox
Amen, Jessica! Can I share a little personal experience I had on this matter? One day I was researching interactions on a dating/social site. (Research, riiight.) No really I was. I was interested in their heavy use of DHTML. I'm happily married. (comes into story later) So I went to an area on their site where I intended to invite a couple friends to check it out. It used the Google Contacts lookup that seems to be getting more and more popular. So there I was with all 300 of my gmail contacts. Now, mistake number one: They redesigned the checkboxes to be a little more stylized. This made it unclear to whether or not an item was checked or not. Mistake number two: I had assumed they wouldn't default ALL contacts to send invites too. BUT THEY DID. I thought I had checked my 2 friends but really was un-checking them. I hit Invite. Thinking I had only invited two, I had Invited nearly all contacts out of my Gmail account. I had to send a rather embarrassing apology so that nobody thought I was leaving my wife or looking for a mistress through a dating site. I am still a little ticked about it. In fact, I just may list the URL right now, right here: www.iminlikewithyou.com There I did it. Save your users. Do not default to All. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26405 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
Some great user research on power icons was done by
the group who developed the IEEE 1621, the Power
Control User Interface standard. (offical name:*Standard
for User Interface Elements in Power Control of Electronic
Devices Employed in Office/Consumer Environments)
*
I printed out that 55 page document on Wednesday, and it is probably
the best source of information I was able to find on the matter.
Specifically, on page 26 where it states:
3.4 The User Interface Standard Content
Key elements of the User Interface Standard %u2014 the static
interface %u2014 are to:
Use only three power states when possible: On, Off, and Sleep.
Use the word Power for terminology about power.
%u2022 Redefine the ('standby') symbol to mean %u201Cpower%u201D
as for power buttons and power indicators; use
the symbol (on/off) only when necessary.
As much of a contentious issue this seems to have become, I think
what it's served is bringing to the surface the fact that the
'signs' that have been incorporated as standards for power are far
from being universally (or even just globally) recognized.
As an interaction designer, I strive to ALWAYS adhere to the
standards that are already in place when doing whatever it is I do.
Unfortunately, in this case, if I were to have stuck to that strict
adherence, the product would have taken a fairly significant hit in
usability:
As I'd mentioned before, my users are most likely only going to use
this product once. (for the duration of their rental of the
conference room). Therefore, there were two options
1. Design it using the original standard with the vertical bar '1'
to 'power on' the system, knowing that the majority of users will
not immediately recognize that sign and will be somewhat confused,
but still get some satisfaction as an evangelist knowing that there
is now one more person in the world that has walked away with a new
knowledge and understanding of the icon. (go tell it on the
mountain!)
2. Forget the icon altogether and put the word Start. Not nearly
as elegant, and the convention center could have people coming from
any country speaking any language, so not ideal.
Thankfully the referenced document pointed out the fact that the
Standby icon is perfectly acceptable.
I think the very fact that the standard has shifted a bit and is now
suggesting that the standby icon can sort of be the 'master' for
power speaks to the fact that there has been a history of confusion
over this set of signs.
I wasn't there, but I'm sure there was a lot of thought and
discourse put into the creation of this set of standards way back
when.
Are they ideal? Thus far they don't appear to be.
Do I have any better suggestions? Nope. Perhaps if the creation of
the standard were to happen today with this level of international
communication the group could come up with something better, but as
it stands... these are the standards and I am happy to live with the
you can use 'Standby' if you need to addendum.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26596
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
How about the Save icon? It's often still a 3.25 floppy disk, which probably befuddles the heck out of anyone born after, say 1985. :) A few years ago, when I was still a teacher, our school had PCs that used floppy disks. It was really nice to hold up a floppy disk as a visual reference for saving. Those kids I taught were born in 1995. Moving to Palo Alto definitely opened my eyes to the differences in how people view technology here and how they see it in a rural border town. Here people Twitter rather than text message, assuming that everyone has an iPhone or n95. But you're right Dan, the floppy disk is outdated. The more I try to come up with a visual model for 'save' the more I think about synapses in a brain, firing away. Perhaps in the future, when the documents we make find and create their own parallels between eachother, the icon for save could be a stylized neuron, firing on use. Or maybe we could just think 'save' and do away with icons altogether. -Abi Jones Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
I'd argue that it is a global standard for populations using *computers* to access the internet, which makes it very safe globally in any web application. Alot of this argument revolves around the battle between idealists and realists. Realist: There's no better way to do this... Idealist: You can't say that! THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY. You're just not creative enough and you are close minded! Bad Designer! Realist: okay... show me a better way Idealist: ... well back in 1970's when I was in India ... P.S. - YOU eat muffins and drink coffee so there! Anyways ;) --- I still think using a different power icon is like fighting an uphill battle that is both pointless as it is futile. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Power icon
One of my favorite books on this or any subject is Man and His Symbols, by Carl Jung, dealing with universal archetypes. Abi said: The more I try to come up with a visual model for 'save' the more I think about synapses in a brain, firing away. Or a piggy bank. Or a squirrel. Or (ducking) Jesus ... / idealistic realist and apparent blasphemer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26596 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Shared virtual whiteboard: Suggestions?
WebEx http://www.webex.com/ Freehand drawing, image annotation, Mac/PC, but no collaborative editing (only broadcast). Well - there is the meetmenow thing: http://webex.com/individual/online-meeting.html I'm going to be trying this out - we've a new corporate WebEx account. It does have desktop sharing - and controll.. Pass control of your computer to any attendee and let them steer the meeting. Now, I've just got myself a Wacom tablet (for my poor crippled fingers) which will also be GREAT for drawing and I can see WebEx being scribbled on with this like a whiteboard. I think the one-at-a-time control will be quite good too (can you imagine several cursors on screen drawing different things? Ugh!) although still slightly artificial. Jonas, I feel your pain - I have to work with guys in Asia/Australasia AND the States / Canada. There is no easy solution. One of the products I'd like to play with for collaboration is ephox's editlive. I think (as it's installable on your own servers) the best document collaboration tool that I've seen-without-using. I'd certainly love to not have to piece together 14 word documents with changes tracked - even WITH the merge feature... Alex. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] iPhones on Campus
My biggest fear of de-skilling comes from what I consider the wide scale if not complete functional illiteracy of children that have graduated [sic] from high school in the last 20 years. This trend is accelerating at an exponential rate such that almost every child born today will be functionally illiterate by the time they graduate from high school in 18 years. So - yes, but Will - how do you define functional illiteracy? Simple. The ability for any child in the US to read any work from the canon [unabridged] understand it, and write a coherent, well formed paper from that reading. I don't think the iPhone will lead to a dilapidation of the human brain as part of evolution since it would require heavy, consistent use over a minimum of a few hundred thousand years for natural selection to actually change things. I believe illiteracy is already having significant effects on society in America today, and the functional illiteracy of most of the population will definitely have effects over the next millennium. On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 1:17 PM, Geoff Barnes [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Surely so. More frightening to me than the specific notion of de-skilling is the dilapidation of the human mind that will be a part of human evolution. On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:26:21, Jeff Howard [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Geoff wrote: Am I just old and paranoid? I don't think so. Left unstimulated, neural pathways go dark. I think this is a real concern for design. There's a lot to find on the topic by searching google for the keyword de-skilling // jeff -- Geoff Barnes Fortune favors the bold. -Virgil Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. -Sir Walter Scott Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. -G.B. Shaw Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help -- ~ will No matter how beautiful, no matter how cool your interface, it would be better if there were less of it. Alan Cooper - Where you innovate, how you innovate, and what you innovate are design problems --- will evans user experience architect [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] iPhones on Campus
Geoff wrote: More frightening to me than the specific notion of de-skilling is the dilapidation of the human mind that will be a part of human evolution. A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. --Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love (1973). // jeff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=26579 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] [Job] Senior Designer at Blurb
Senior Designer - Interface Web -- Do you love books and fiend over pixels? Looking to team up with a tight-knit crew of designers, engineers and product gurus to lead the design of our website and collaborate to conceptualize and build brilliant solutions for Web 2.0 applications? Check out Blurb (www.blurb.com). Blurb is a company and a community passionate about books – reading, making, sharing, and selling them. Blurb’s creative publishing service is simple and smart enough to make anyone a bookmaker. Located in downtown San Francisco and funded by Canaan Partners and Anthem Venture Partners, Blurb is bringing book publishing to the masses. We are looking for someone with: • Stellar design chops (mad love for the grid, typography, and branding systems) • A broad range of web client experience • The ability to innovate and iterate with stealth agility • Fervent curiosity Skills in snowboarding, juggling, foam dart shooting, foosball, and excessive laughter are all greatly appreciated. Extra bonus: free lunch Wednesdays. Interested? Please email your resume and a link to your online portfolio to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sorry, but we won't consider any applications sent without a link to your online portfolio. Please, no phone calls or solicitations from recruiters. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Career tips for a high-schooler
Thanks guys for the good tips. My job-shadow session went well today. My high-school student came prepared with good questions and took serious notes about design school recommendations courtesy of this list. I had to get busy for a bit on a project and suggested he grab a design book to read from the shelf. Next time I looked up he was halfway through Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. Might've set the hook in this one - a profession that involves drawing pictures, textbooks in comic format, good pay, and a high-end coffee robot in the kitchen was looking pretty appealing to him. He suggested we trade places, but when I told him what sort of math grade to expect he changed his mind. If you ever get invited to host a curious youngling for a day do give it a try. Was pretty fun. All the best, Michael Micheletti Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] iPhones on Campus
I'm not sure that illiteracy is the problem. By the way, I'm not in the Excited States and don't understand the reference to this canon that kids are supposed to be able to read and comment on, as a demonstration of literacy. Things are changing. Here's an anecdotal tale: while editing a blog posting of mine, online with a remote colleague, using Skype (voice only) and a basic HTML editor on the Internet so we could both see the content of the blog changing, we realised that straight text offers an impoverished experience. In one particularly juicy paragraphs, there were many tangential thoughts -- extra information that provides richness: background or interesting asides. We were struggling with the limitations of the technology, looking for ways to progressively disclose the richness without distracting the reader from our main point. We found that we needed hypertext in order to express ourselves fully. Is this because we're not good enough at writing to be able to convey what we wanted in the simpler, linear/analog experience that we call text? I don't think I'm illiterate. Stupid, maybe, unacademic, sure, but not illiterate. The concept of hypertext (hypermedia) has been around since befo re computers were invented. The effect of iPhone on the way [young] people consume (two decades ago I'd have said read) their media (two decades ago I'd have said text) doesn't make me say Kids are illiterate as much as it makes me say Where the hell are the courses in information architecture for students? I'm expecting courses like that in later elementary school and definitely in high school, alongside courses that teach kids how easily their opinions and emotions can be manipulated by multimedia experiences -- much more easily than with pure text. In the previous paragraph, when I write iPhone, I really mean the whole domain of permanent communication experiences. The sensory experiences -- including text -- that previously could only come at us at a human' speed -- limited by our eyes, by flipping pages, by walking/running legs, can now be edited and spliced, pumped up, and compressed. Text isn't necessarily static or linear, and it shares the stage with sound, visual movement/animation (including all the mass-market 3D virtual reality that's coming), and touch (all the mass-market haptic crap that's coming). So, no, it's not that illiteracy is the problem, it's that the whole communication experience has increased in complexity. But, yes, I suppose you could still call the problem illiteracy at root. But it's so much larger than being able to read a canon and then write about it. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] iPhones on Campus
Good point. What a strange nexus for such a thread. As for evolution's ways: whether evolution takes place in fits and starts or over thousands of years is a matter of unresolved debate. As for whether or not We (humanity, or specifically the thin IxD slice thereof) will effect evolutionary changes, we (you and I) won't likely be privy to any such change. But I've got faith (why not confuse add another dimension to the thread?) that given time, We'll be proven to have been far from ineffectual. //GB I'm amused that the iPhone on [a Christian university] Campus thread has lead us to discuss evolution. You're suggesting we have control over evolution? Evolution takes place rapidly in the face of an environmental change/challenge, but still only over periods of 10,000s of years, I believe. In most democratic countries it's difficult to get in place government policies that last beyond the next election. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interaction Design and Theatre
Hi, Yes, as already stated Brenda Laurel's Computer's as Theater is a great resource. This is an area of interest to me as well, studying theater education with a desire to work translating the theory and techniques of theater to design processess. There are some great CHI papers around using theater, and participatory design using role playing and games. Something I've been looking at and thinking about too is looking at material like Peter Brook's The Empty Space because the theory would translate to any creative form. Also look at people doing organizational development using Improv Some resources: http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2006/05/17/35703/using-the-actor-factor-drama-based-training.html Boal, A. (1992). Introduction. Games for Actors and Nonactors. Routledge. http://www.impactfactory.com/p/forum_theatre_skills_training/issues_1230-2105-79677.html http://www.actorsmeanbusiness.co.uk/ http://www.impro.org.uk/rehe.html Saner, R. (1999). Organizational Consulting What a Gestalt Approach Can Learn from Off Off Broadway Theater. Published in Gestalt Review 3(1):6-21 Traci Lepore Graphic Designer [EMAIL PROTECTED] 617-821-2156 Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:12:50 + From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Interaction Design and Theatre Hello N... yes, your hint was very interesting... Actually I'm still exploring the domains of application of my ideas about theatre and Interaction Design. As I can see so far, they still obey to apparently different laws, for what they have many points in common and would have a lot to exchange. Still searching Thank you again ___ L'email della prossima generazione? Puoi averla con la nuova Yahoo! Mail: http://it.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
