Re: [IxDA Discuss] Raising awareness for Interaction Design in a corporate IT company
I had recently written a post about the need to evangelize Usability in organizations: Easy is good but it is not enough http://sachendra.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/easy-is-good-but-it-is-not-enough/ You might find the links on analyzing the business case for Usability (important to convince the big wigs on ROI) and digging down deeper into promoting usability in organizations helpful. Sachendra http://sachendra.wordpress.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
[IxDA Discuss] how to make automatic mails junk filter proof
Hi guys, Some consumer applications are marketed as an exclusive and only invitation based registration. For instance when gmail started people could get it based on selective invitation only. Sometime these message get into the junk folder of your email and you may not see them or open them So what needs to be done to the subject of the mail, text of the automatic mails. to prevent it from geeting it into junk. ant useful pointers would help. thanks, Ram 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] IRC for IXDA?
I too think that Twitter is the new chat mechanism. I have set up a twitter account http://twitter.com/ixda If you follow that account and someone sends a direct message d ixda [message] everyone who follows will get it. I'm using a twitter app called grouptweet.com When you send a direct message it will show up in the follower's feed as: ixda via @[sender]: [message] But I can also see how chat is different and better for certain things. A better version of chat might be to use something like Campfire by the folks at 37Signals. It is good b/c it allows more robust communications but in the same synchronous manner as IRC. Just a thought. But for now anyone and everyone is invited to follow ixda on twitter. In the end if people like different channels and the channels are free or close to free, what's to stop people from using them. I guess the only concern is that you represent the org when you set these things up. -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=28908 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] Do you ask for Functions or Scenarios?
It seems that the guys/girls over at 37Signals also prefer design over functional spec. http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives2/the_interface_as_a_spec_including_stories_inline.php 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] Ubiquitous computing -- Pulse livescribe smart pen
I ordered one of these pens a few weeks ago. Will do a review when I get it. Chauncey On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 8:45 PM, Rob Tannen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been following this product for months since pre-launch. and wrote about its promising application to a number of user research methods: http://www.designingforhumans.com/idsa/2007/12/lightscribe---p.html Unfortunately the customer service behind the product has not been altogether impressive with multiple launch dates (January, March), but no products shipped. I'm supposed to get my pre-launch order (from six weeks ago) sometime this week. I still believe it's a valuable product,especially because it provides binaural microphones for realistic audio recording - but am losing my patience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=28968 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] Visual indication of a partially selected group
Are there any good conventions for displaying a partially selected checkbox? One I have seen a lot (in Windows) is a gray checkmark for Case 2. HTH, -- Martin Polley Technical writer, etc. +972 52 3864280 http://capcloud.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] Visual indication of a partially selected group
I have seen it done with check box, which is selected with grayed check mark (the checkbox itself wasn't gray). That made me think, but not for too long. -- Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 9:30 AM, David Mathew [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Are there any good conventions for displaying a partially selected checkbox? I have a tree of checkboxes and I'm trying to think of the clearest way to show the user an indication that a parent checkbox is in one of the following three states: 1. All of its items (child checkboxes) are selected/checked 2. Some but not all of its items are selected (partially selected, ie some child checkboxes are checked and some are not) 3. None of its items are selected (no child checkboxes are checked) Cases 1 and 3 are easily shown with a checkmark or lack of a checkmark, but what about case 2? What is the best way to visually indicate the partial selection to the user? Should the indication be different in a web application as opposed to a windows application? (I'm currently working on a web application) 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] RSS for IxDA
I recently subscribed to this discussion's feed and would like to follow it instead of the mailing list. I find it too easy to fall behind on email and can read the feed via my mobile on the 1.5 hour daily train commute. The feed only displays snippets of each message. Is this a design decision or is there some technical limitation on the IxDA backend enforcing this limit? I'd vote for the full message to be included, please. ...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] Ubiquitous computing -- Pulse livescribe smart pen
I talked to someone at LiveScribe and the pens are shipping now. :) Hopefully the wait won't be much longer! Cindy -- The Experience is the Product - http://www.cindyalvarez.com On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 9:14 AM, Chauncey Wilson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I ordered one of these pens a few weeks ago. Will do a review when I get it. Chauncey On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 8:45 PM, Rob Tannen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been following this product for months since pre-launch. and wrote about its promising application to a number of user research methods: http://www.designingforhumans.com/idsa/2007/12/lightscribe---p.html Unfortunately the customer service behind the product has not been altogether impressive with multiple launch dates (January, March), but no products shipped. I'm supposed to get my pre-launch order (from six weeks ago) sometime this week. I still believe it's a valuable product,especially because it provides binaural microphones for realistic audio recording - but am losing my patience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=28968 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 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] Visual indication of a partially selected group
Are there any good conventions for displaying a partially selected checkbox? I have a tree of checkboxes and I'm trying to think of the clearest way to show the user an indication that a parent checkbox is in one of the following three states: 1. All of its items (child checkboxes) are selected/checked 2. Some but not all of its items are selected (partially selected, ie some child checkboxes are checked and some are not) 3. None of its items are selected (no child checkboxes are checked) Cases 1 and 3 are easily shown with a checkmark or lack of a checkmark, but what about case 2? What is the best way to visually indicate the partial selection to the user? Should the indication be different in a web application as opposed to a windows application? (I'm currently working on a web application) 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] IRC for IXDA?
On May 13, 2008, at 4:27 AM, David Malouf wrote: I too think that Twitter is the new chat mechanism. As an old chat guy, but relatively recent Twitter user, I must respectfully disagree. For me, at least, Twitter is almost exclusively casual watercooler conversation. Granted, people do raise questions and get answers, but I don't think the medium lends itself to rapid, back-and-forth conversations, if only because Twitter limits the frequency at which you can refresh your messages (at least when using Twitterific, that's the case). There's also a better sense of presence on an IRC channel, so I can open the channel and see who's there and know if it's worth my time to ask a question, whereas I have no idea who might actually be looking at a Twitter feed at any moment. I think a Twitter channel for IXDA would be appropriate for quick postings of interesting URLs, notices of upcoming events, and so on, but I'd much rather use IRC for interactive discussions. 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] Visual indication of a partially selected group
Does it need to have checks? Why not have a box that is completely filled in for the first [all black], half filled in for the second [black/white], and empty for the third [all white]? This may also help differentiate the parent folders from the children by having the children be all checkboxes. -Christine On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 1:15 PM, Oleh Kovalchuke [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have seen it done with check box, which is selected with grayed check mark (the checkbox itself wasn't gray). That made me think, but not for too long. -- Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 9:30 AM, David Mathew [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Are there any good conventions for displaying a partially selected checkbox? I have a tree of checkboxes and I'm trying to think of the clearest way to show the user an indication that a parent checkbox is in one of the following three states: 1. All of its items (child checkboxes) are selected/checked 2. Some but not all of its items are selected (partially selected, ie some child checkboxes are checked and some are not) 3. None of its items are selected (no child checkboxes are checked) Cases 1 and 3 are easily shown with a checkmark or lack of a checkmark, but what about case 2? What is the best way to visually indicate the partial selection to the user? Should the indication be different in a web application as opposed to a windows application? (I'm currently working on a web application) 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 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] RSS for IxDA
Nabble offers a full RSS feed for this list, and many other HCI lists: http://www.nabble.com/ixdg.org-f2305.html Dan Harrelson wrote: The feed only displays snippets of each message. Is this a design decision or is there some technical limitation on the IxDA backend enforcing this limit? I'd vote for the full message to be included, please. 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] RSS for IxDA
Hi Dan, you can get the full feed and many other feeds here: http://www.ixda.org/rss.php (It is the link under the standard RSS feed link in the right column; just my way to say it was there all along.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=28997 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] What Colors do Designers like on a Website's Home Page?
I feel turquoise this morning. -o. On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 5:58 PM, Robert Hoekman Jr [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: We are a design and usability staffing company redesigning our website. While we have come closer to the layout for our website's home page we are having a debate on the colors to use on the home page. You might be asking the wrong question. Instead of asking what colors designers will like (answer: all of them, depending on who you ask), ask what personality, mood, theme, etc, you're trying to communicate. Color choices should be part of the result of that answer. -r- 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] Visual indication of a partially selected group
The standard Mac OS behavior is to indicate partial selection with a horizontal line instead of a check mark. I think this is more successful than the greyed out check mark that a couple of people mentioned, since the greying may make the control look unclickable (unless that's what you want). Clicking on a partial checkbox acts like select all. I think there's a similar Windows standard, but I can't remember if it's a horizontal line or something else (I seem to remember a dot or square? not sure...). The horizontal line might be problematic if your tree control uses pluses (+) and minuses (-) for expanding/collapsing the tree because you'd have one visual cue for two distinct controls, which could cause confusion. Mac OS uses right-facing and down-facing triangles for expand/collapse, which avoids this issue. -Adam On May 13, 2008, at 8:30 AM, David Mathew wrote: Are there any good conventions for displaying a partially selected checkbox? I have a tree of checkboxes and I'm trying to think of the clearest way to show the user an indication that a parent checkbox is in one of the following three states: 1. All of its items (child checkboxes) are selected/checked 2. Some but not all of its items are selected (partially selected, ie some child checkboxes are checked and some are not) 3. None of its items are selected (no child checkboxes are checked) 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] RSS for IxDA
Hi Dan, you can get the full feed and many other feeds here: http://www.ixda.org/rss.php (It is the link under the standard RSS feed link in the right column; just my way to say it was there all along.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=28997 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
Most of us old-timers probably expected voice I/O to be a common part of personal computing by now. But here we are in 2008, and I don't see even early signs of voice emerging into the mainstream. Products like Naturally Speaking have some popularity, but my sense is that they're used far more for dictation than any sort of command and response interface. Both Mac OS X and Windows Vista have built-in speech recognition capability, but does anybody use them (or even know they're there)? So my question for the group is: why? Is it due to technical shortcomings, like recognition accuracy and dealing with background noise? Are there social issues, like not wanting to be overheard or feeling silly talking to a machine? Or is it that splicing a voice-based UI into current graphical interfaces just doesn't give a satisfactory user experience? This, to me, is the most intriguing possibility. Voice command today reminds me of the earliest versions of mice for PCs, which generated arrow keystrokes as you moved them around; although they were ostensibly compatible with the existing applications, they just didn't work well enough to justify using them. Could it be that an effective voice-based UI requires a more basic integration into the OS and applications? Perhaps we need an OS-defined structure for a spoken command syntax and vocabulary rather than just expecting users to speak menu items? Why aren't we talking to our computers yet? Should we be? 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] IRC for IXDA?
HI Jeff, I think you make some interesting points. I think though that different people are going to have different needs and reactions. I do have to say that there is the I need yet another application open phenomena going on. If you have an IRC client open for other things in your life then it makes sense, but opening one just for this doesn't make as much sense. The opposite is also true. I wouldn't recommend getting a twitter account and opening a twitter client up (Hate twitter in the web version) if you don't use it in other ways. I do like the idea of posting URLs, event announcements and the like. Great idea for using this. I know there has been a lot of requests for local lists and chats and what not from some local leaders, I wonder if setting up (IT IS S EASY) local group tweets might be useful to people around events and job announcements and the like. Coroflot the Design job board is using twitter for job posts now and I really like it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=28908 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] Visual indication of a partially selected group
On May 13, 2008, at 11:30 AM, David Mathew wrote: Are there any good conventions for displaying a partially selected checkbox? I have a tree of checkboxes and I'm trying to think of the clearest way to show the user an indication that a parent checkbox is in one of the following three states: I've seen a number of conventions in use, including completely filled, partly filled, and empty boxes for 1, 2 and 3 respectively as well as black check marks for 1 and grey check marks for 2. On the Mac OS the Omni Group applications use a check mark for 1 and a dash for 2 although on Windows the latter might lead to confusion with the tree collapse and expansion widgets (Omni uses a disclosure triangle for tree expansion and collapse). Corn Walker The Proof Group http://proofgroup.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
[IxDA Discuss] USABILITY EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT *Chicago, IL *WHITTMANHART *Full Time
WHITTMANHART Interactive is looking for a Usability Experience Architect to develop highly effective and valued interactive user experiences that support clients' goals through understanding, managing, and meeting user expectations Responsibilities: * Discovers, tests, and integrates business and user requirements * Develops user profiles and personas from audience information * Models user experience through all levels including interaction prioritization and support * Develops user paths and task models including multi-state models (personalized or customized) * Designs interactive navigation, focusing on issues of semantics and semiotics * Models and designs cross-cultural experiences * Assesses and facilitates ideas and requirements for interactive functionality * Assesses and understands the complexities of data sourcing and processing in the context of interactive experiences * Transforms business requirements into experience models * Gathers information, requirements, and data for interactive properties * Facilitates information gathering sessions including interviews, work sessions, focus groups, field studies, and usability testing with audiences and users * Works within collaborative team structures including concept development leaders, visual and multimedia communication resources, development teams, etc. * Interacts with audiences directly to gather data and opinions * Analyzes usage data (web logs, etc.) and develops effective and appropriate metrics for performance and evaluation models for online properties * Demonstrates expert understanding of usability issues and best practices * Provides leadership on assigned teams in collaboration and concept development to ensure information architecture is fully leveraged * Works closely with project and account management to ensure that user experience issues and opportunities are identified and dealt with * Provides thought leadership on information architecture issues at appropriate local and national events and conferences * Participates in internal process definition and refinement * Mentors new hires and provide leadership for user experience professionals locally * Provides support as needed to all new business and client presentation activities * Ensures compelling and appropriate presentation artifacts and collateral is produced * Establishes and maintain appropriate relationships and contributions to national and local professional organizations * Identifies and follows through on national and local opportunities for recognition Requirements * Bachelor's or Master's degree in a related field, such as technical communications, human-computer interaction, library science, graphic design, or industrial design * 4+ years experience developing highly interactive and content-rich websites * Experience designing rich internet applications desired * Working knowledge of HTML, DHTML, XML, JavaScript, graphic formats, CSS, popular plug-ins, authoring tools and database environments. * Proficiency in Visio, User scenario writing, documentation, test design and QA scripting To apply please send resume to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or go online to the careers page at www.whittmanhart.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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
Imagine 4 people in a small office all talking to their computers every 2 seconds to say new windowscroll down. stop...up... select file I think it is mostly social, although everyone i know that has tried voice command has given it up, even when trying home alone in the quiet house, so the tech isnt there either. plus, talking is WAY slower than your hands. On May 13, 2008, at 11:36 AM, Jeff Garbers wrote: Most of us old-timers probably expected voice I/O to be a common part of personal computing by now. But here we are in 2008, and I don't see even early signs of voice emerging into the mainstream. Products like Naturally Speaking have some popularity, but my sense is that they're used far more for dictation than any sort of command and response interface. Both Mac OS X and Windows Vista have built- in speech recognition capability, but does anybody use them (or even know they're there)? So my question for the group is: why? Is it due to technical shortcomings, like recognition accuracy and dealing with background noise? Are there social issues, like not wanting to be overheard or feeling silly talking to a machine? Or is it that splicing a voice-based UI into current graphical interfaces just doesn't give a satisfactory user experience? This, to me, is the most intriguing possibility. Voice command today reminds me of the earliest versions of mice for PCs, which generated arrow keystrokes as you moved them around; although they were ostensibly compatible with the existing applications, they just didn't work well enough to justify using them. Could it be that an effective voice-based UI requires a more basic integration into the OS and applications? Perhaps we need an OS-defined structure for a spoken command syntax and vocabulary rather than just expecting users to speak menu items? Why aren't we talking to our computers yet? Should we be? 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
I am currently dealing with the same questions / problems. I work in the clinical space where the user's hands are often gloved up and covered in fluids. Interacting with software via a touchscreen or hardware device presents sterility issues so voice is the natural solution. As simple an answer as that seems, to date, few people in the industry actually use the voice solutions that are available. It seems to be creeping in... sync in cars is becoming more common as well as the touch tone menus on the other end of many 1-800 numbers being replaced by voice. I had the same sort of thoughts... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=29005 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
plus, talking is WAY slower than your hands. You bet. At least for some things. We just did a related project and looked at voice, and one thing that came up is that StarTrek really set an expectation that's hard to deliver on. The whole computer: [insert your open ended, humanly voiced question/command here] thing isn't quite prime time. Plus, people have a hard time remembering the voice commands where a GUI can give you prompts. Another reason is that many platforms make invoking voice command hard. You often have to go somewhere/do something special and then start talking. I subscribed to Jott, thinking it would be my new fave way to set reminders for myself. But in reality I don't remember to make a special phone call to set a reminder, I go to my calendar on my phone. Input where you output! 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
David Pogue at NYTimes has been out front about how in love with voice systems he is. You can search his past columns. Chris On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 2:36 PM, Jeff Garbers [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Most of us old-timers probably expected voice I/O to be a common part of personal computing by now. But here we are in 2008, and I don't see even early signs of voice emerging into the mainstream. Products like Naturally Speaking have some popularity, but my sense is that they're used far more for dictation than any sort of command and response interface. Both Mac OS X and Windows Vista have built-in speech recognition capability, but does anybody use them (or even know they're there)? So my question for the group is: why? Is it due to technical shortcomings, like recognition accuracy and dealing with background noise? Are there social issues, like not wanting to be overheard or feeling silly talking to a machine? Or is it that splicing a voice-based UI into current graphical interfaces just doesn't give a satisfactory user experience? This, to me, is the most intriguing possibility. Voice command today reminds me of the earliest versions of mice for PCs, which generated arrow keystrokes as you moved them around; although they were ostensibly compatible with the existing applications, they just didn't work well enough to justify using them. Could it be that an effective voice-based UI requires a more basic integration into the OS and applications? Perhaps we need an OS-defined structure for a spoken command syntax and vocabulary rather than just expecting users to speak menu items? Why aren't we talking to our computers yet? Should we be? 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
It just struck me, I wonder how much of the resistance to it is probably because of Open the pod bay door, HAL. Another freaky thing hit me the other day, very disconcerting. I listen to public radio constantly at home, every morning. I imagine public radio has many reasons to want to cut costs, but unlike NOAA (the automated weather repeater you get on your weather radio as you drive through thunderstorms and tornadoes cross-country... sometimes I just listen so I can feel like Stephen Hawking is riding with me in the car... if I could just get it to talk about string theory or something fun), public radio would have REALISTIC sounding automated voice announcers, wouldn't they? I really don't think NPR is running segues and other bits from automated voice generators, but the trick of my ear is that I sometimes HEAR it that way. Maybe it is in the nature of the digital signal, I don't know, but either the fake voices being created now are being modeled on the inflections of NPR announcers (segue announcers, not story readers, who are clearly real people), or something about the transmission of those announcer voices is making them sound synthesized. I definitely have a few HAL moments while listening some mornings, that's for sure. Except it is usually that woman's synthesized voice, more like the 411 numbers. Calm and NPR-sounding women. I'm sure they test out great for delivering info in a style to keep us calm while we are being kept on hold. Chris On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 3:43 PM, Jeffrey D. Gimzek [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Imagine 4 people in a small office all talking to their computers every 2 seconds to say new windowscroll down. stop...up... select file I think it is mostly social, although everyone i know that has tried voice command has given it up, even when trying home alone in the quiet house, so the tech isnt there either. plus, talking is WAY slower than your hands. On May 13, 2008, at 11:36 AM, Jeff Garbers wrote: Most of us old-timers probably expected voice I/O to be a common part of personal computing by now. But here we are in 2008, and I don't see even early signs of voice emerging into the mainstream. Products like Naturally Speaking have some popularity, but my sense is that they're used far more for dictation than any sort of command and response interface. Both Mac OS X and Windows Vista have built-in speech recognition capability, but does anybody use them (or even know they're there)? So my question for the group is: why? Is it due to technical shortcomings, like recognition accuracy and dealing with background noise? Are there social issues, like not wanting to be overheard or feeling silly talking to a machine? Or is it that splicing a voice-based UI into current graphical interfaces just doesn't give a satisfactory user experience? This, to me, is the most intriguing possibility. Voice command today reminds me of the earliest versions of mice for PCs, which generated arrow keystrokes as you moved them around; although they were ostensibly compatible with the existing applications, they just didn't work well enough to justify using them. Could it be that an effective voice-based UI requires a more basic integration into the OS and applications? Perhaps we need an OS-defined structure for a spoken command syntax and vocabulary rather than just expecting users to speak menu items? Why aren't we talking to our computers yet? Should we be? 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
I think it'd be fair to say that voice controls would largely need to be an enhancement to screen/key/mouse driven input for all the reasons mentioned before. I fear, too, that many of the approaches to voice UI is following the past 20 years of visual UI Design, based on products out there instead of starting from the ground up of What would someone want a voice UI to do? At least if voice command phone systems and the navigation system on my Prius are any indication, anyway :) Scott -- 'Life' plus 'significance' = magic. ~ Grant Morrison 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
I think the problem w/ voice-based UIs are/would be: 1. Technical - dealing w/ accents, sound levels, ambient noise etc. 2. The computer would need to understand what we 'mean' as opposed to visual UI where we click what the computer has to offer 3. Humans work better by recognition rather than recall. Visual UI's aid recognition, while voice UI basically requires good recall. You'd have to remember the exact command that'd generate desirable response or else you're back to #2. 4. This is one of the biggest drawbacks of voice based interaction with a computer - it is essentially serial, as opposed to visual UI which is parallel. This is one of the reasons why I think the iPhone's visual vmail was such a hit. In this respect, the computer would really need to get to the level of a human-human interaction - just knowing when to interrupt and when to get interrupted in order to carry a serial interaction with almost parallel efficiency. 5. Probably I'm just used to the keyboard/mouse, but I think talking to the computer would be tiring, unless of course you're doing StarTrek - volume, tone, tenor, clarity, noise no bar - and maybe it'll be workable enough... -Peyush 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
I think I would only be happy with one if it worked as well and as kookie as those in Iron Man. There are 2 clear examples of this: 1) Jarvis the incredible AI. Very very natural speech in both directions. 2) But even his robotic arms responded to incredibly natural and often colloquial speech as well. The issue is mode changing. Going into that un-natural mode is very disconcerting. I also think you have lot of good points as well. But I really think the technology isn't there yet. I recently demoed a new Ford Sync system (co-done w/ Microsoft) and while it was novel, with good surprises, I think as a total UX it was quite, well sub-par. In the end I don't think people trust these systems enough b/c the ones we are forced through have such a negative experience (even if they are pretty darn functional). Meaning that the total experience design is flawed, so even if the technical side works correctly, our total experience emotionally is tied to a very negative response. - dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=29005 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
On May 13, 2008, at 12:55 PM, Kristopher Kinlen wrote: I am currently dealing with the same questions / problems. I work in the clinical space where the user's hands are often gloved up and covered in fluids. Interacting with software via a touchscreen or hardware device presents sterility issues so voice is the natural solution. As simple an answer as that seems, to date, few people in the industry actually use the voice solutions that are available. I can think of several reasons why voice commands in a surgical environment would be problematical. The best reported reliability I've seen for a simple voice command system was around 98%, and frankly, I didn't believe that number when I saw it. Most trials involving voice to text systems report about 95% reliability, and those usually involved a period of training the software to recognize individual users' utterances. Is ~95% reliability sufficient in the operating room? That depends, I suppose, on which functions could not be performed more reliably by the operating room staff without adding to the overall cognitive load for any one of the staff. And if we're talking about introducing introducing slightly-unreliable functionality into a risk-sensitive, cognitive-load-sensitive process, I have to ask what *actual* improvements in surgical practice (other than reducing the cost of staffing an operating room) would come from voice command systems? -Will Will Parker [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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
This is an interesting topic. I'm currently working on a Voice UI for a consumer product application. It seems to me that while voice I/O promises to deliver an enhanced experience, the technology does not and cannot yet live up to its promise. Aside from the social awkwardness of talking to your computer in an office full of people, here's what makes matters even worse: 1. Recognizers usually tend to miss-recognize short words that would feel intuitive to the user, such as back and next and stop What you are left with as the a designer is Go back, Play next, Stop now - words that consumers would never think to say, and frankly irritate them. 2. Let's assume though that they do make the effort to learn the keywords, and are alone (or ignore the folks at the office). They open their mouth wide and say Plaaay Nxt. only to be faced with their worst fear: I'm sorry, I couldn't understand that. Us humans rely heavily on being able to communicate. Our survival as a species depends on it, and our success is a direct result of the ability we have to understand each other. We are hard-wired to be really upset when we cannot make ourselves understood. At the gut-level, miscommunication is a threat. The application I'm working on gives users the option to interact either via keypad input or voice input. Only about 30% choose voice. It's convenient when they're driving, when they absolutely need to focus their eyes on something else. But in truth, with the current technology, there seem to be circumstances in which the advantage of using voice to communicate with a machine is greater than its drawbacks. Loredana 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] Visual indication of a partially selected group
David: Are there any good conventions for displaying a partially selected checkbox? I'd recommend against referring to this state as 'partially selected'; instead, think of it as 'partially activated'. You'll see why in a moment. Adam: The standard Mac OS behavior is to indicate partial selection with a horizontal line instead of a check mark. See http://twitpic.com/11co for an example from Linotype FontExplorer on Mac. The parent grouping is the Arial Narrow font family, and one of the members of the family has been disabled. I don't have a Windows box handy at the moment, but I'm sure I've seen the same usage in apps that don't use the standard Windows tree control. I think this is more successful than the greyed out check mark that a couple of people mentioned, since the greying may make the control look unclickable (unless that's what you want). IMO, 'greyed out' state displays should be reserved for 'currently inactive AND inaccessible' controls. However, if you're rolling your own control imagery, Christine's suggestion of all-black, half-black, and all-white could work if used consistently. Clicking on a partial checkbox acts like select all. I think there's a similar Windows standard, but I can't remember if it's a horizontal line or something else (I seem to remember a dot or square? not sure...). The horizontal line might be problematic if your tree control uses pluses (+) and minuses (-) for expanding/collapsing the tree because you'd have one visual cue for two distinct controls, which could cause confusion. Mac OS uses right-facing and down-facing triangles for expand/collapse, which avoids this issue. You'll also note from the Mac example that there are different visual cues for active/inactive (checkboxes for child objects), partially- activated group (check box for the parent object) and current selection (the dark background for the currently-selected font). The last of these cues is important in cases where useful information or interaction related to the *currently-selected* item can be accessed whether or not the item is *currently-active*. That's why I warn against confusing activation and selection. For example, in the UI sample I provided, Arial Narrow Bold is inactive and selected. Because it is the current selection, Linotype FontExplorer shows me quite a lot of information (not shown in the screenshot) that helps me decide which fonts should be active and which shouldn't. I can shift-click on another font, Arial Narrow Italic, to make a discontiguous selection without changing the activation state of the two fonts, and the app shows useful information about both fonts. Contextual commands are available to set all selected items to a common active or inactive state, regardless of their current activation state. Regardless of the visual design you adopt, ALWAYS account for all the overlapping functional states a given control can be in, including FAIL. That's somewhat important for the visual design, but it's absolutely required for proper communication with your developers. - Will Will Parker [EMAIL PROTECTED] On May 13, 2008, at 8:30 AM, David Mathew wrote: I have a tree of checkboxes and I'm trying to think of the clearest way to show the user an indication that a parent checkbox is in one of the following three states: 1. All of its items (child checkboxes) are selected/checked 2. Some but not all of its items are selected (partially selected, ie some child checkboxes are checked and some are not) 3. None of its items are selected (no child checkboxes are checked) Cases 1 and 3 are easily shown with a checkmark or lack of a checkmark, but what about case 2? What is the best way to visually indicate the partial selection to the user? Should the indication be different in a web application as opposed to a windows application? (I'm currently working on a web application) 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
1. Above all it is social. Working amongst fellow workers all talking to their computers would be like working in a call centre - only without the scope for eavesdropping on something interesting.. 2. It creates more cognitive load for both human and computer: - for the human, to verbalise what you want something on screen to do and then say it, then confirm that it has worked; - for the computer, to interpret the sound it detects and convert that into interface instructions I am not surprised that voice recognition is more widely used for dictation than for commands, as that is a situation where it can offer real productivity benefits. Even here, some people just prefer to express themselves with a keyboard; personally I never got used to using a dictaphone or dictating to a secretary (remember them?) . -- Tim Ostler London 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] Luke Wroblewski's Web Form Design book is now available
(apologies for cross-posting) Hi all; Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks by Luke Wroblewski is now on sale. You can order it from either Rosenfeld Media or from Amazon. Order it directly from us and you'll receive both the screen-optimized digital edition and the full-color paperback for US$36 (you'll pay the same price for just the paperback at Amazon). You can learn more and order here: http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/webforms/ All 200+ of the book's illustrations are freely available under a Creative Commons license for you to use and peruse via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/sets/72157604272550634/ Here's the blurb: Forms make or break the most crucial online interactions: checkout (commerce), registration (community), data input (participation and sharing), and any task requiring information entry. In Web Form Design, Luke Wroblewski draws on original research, his considerable experience at Yahoo! and eBay, and the perspectives of many of the field's leading designers to show you everything you need to know about designing effective and engaging Web forms. Thanks! cheers -- Louis Rosenfeld :: http://louisrosenfeld.com Rosenfeld Media :: http://rosenfeldmedia.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] Luke Wroblewski's Web Form Design book is now available
i read some of his essays and they are quite enjoyable to read. 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] Why isn't voice-based UI mainstream?
I used to work for a start-up called AgileTV. We developed a very robust speech to TV control interface. The company is now called Promptu. Check them out: www.promptu.com - Speech recognition is very advanced today. You can have anyone speak a number of specific words into a microphone and the computer adapts to your speech. Promptu's technology of speech inputserverresponse is very fast. - In many user tests the system was found to be very interesting and useful to some - mainly elderly and disabled, but we ran a regional test with a local cable company, typical users found that it was just as complicated to learn the new speech interface as it was to navigate the on screen guides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=29005 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
