Re: [IxDA Discuss] Basic time tracking and invoicing for a solo consultant
Hi Michael. It looks to me that what you are in fact looking for is TSheets.com. We meet each of your requirements, and have a few extras you didn't mention. How about the ability to take your time tracking with you on the go? We're developed the first iPhone specific time tracking app that will work seamlessly with your browser based TSheets account. We were recently featured on TechCrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/08/tsheets-lets-you-clock-in-to-work-from-your-iphone/ Come have a view at: http://www.tsheets.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=32072 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] Basic time tracking and invoicing for a solo consultant
I am in the same boat and tried many of the apps that you have listed. I do not need invoicing, but need good time tracking. I have it narrowed down to Harvest or Office Time. Feature wise Office Time does everything I need, although it is not as sexy as harvest, and it is desktop (I use Mac) only. I had problem using the timer UI until I got use to it. Harvest seems to be the app that I want to use in theory, but it has several very annoying problem -- 1) the use of decimal time, 2) do not track actual start/end time of each entry. I want to track start/end time of each task so that I can see how my days went, i.e. what I did in the morning vs afternoon etc. 3) Lack of subtotal reporting. I am on my last few days of the free trials of Harvest time, and I am seriously thinking about switching back to Office Time. P.K. www.pkshiu.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] IxDA iPhone users straw poll
What I think is most interesting about this straw poll is the number of respondents who choose not to follow these simple instructions: What are the top *3 things* you find yourself doing now with your iPhone If people on this list won't follow user instructions then who will? --Patrick V. Barrett -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Shaun Bergmann Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:45 PM To: Todd Zaki Warfel Cc: IxDA List Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] IxDA iPhone users straw poll Unfortunately, being Canadian I don't own an iPhone yet. However, I've been watching these responses and one of the things that I've really caught from this list (as well as talking to other iPhone users) is that the GPS functionality has really made an impact on the users ability to navigate accurately while driving. So many of the responses are expectedly referencing how the iPhone has changed the immediate personal lives and actions of the device owner, (I don't miss the turnpike exit anymore) but on a much bigger scale, think about how a device like this is actually making an impact when the sheer number of users is taken into account. The GPS functionality seems to be really well designed and heavily used. I am completely enamoured with the idea of sustainable interaction design, and although a pretty much disposable device such as the iPhone misses the mark in many ways, I love the fact that it has most likely reduced fuel consumption and emission when its global scale is taken into account. I would hope that we as a group can always start with the user's needs, and then take a step back and picture how our work will affect ALL the users over time. Shaun On Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Todd Zaki Warfel [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: In order of use: 1. Use of GPS on things like Google maps, Yelp, and other search related things. 2. Surfing web and email more often 3. Twitterrific to view and update status, whereas previously I just texted to 404-40 or whatever the number is 4. Playing Texas Hold 'em (games) Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel President, Design Researcher Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. -- Contact Info Voice: (215) 825-7423 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AIM:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Blog: http://toddwarfel.com Twitter:zakiwarfel -- In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. 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] IxDA iPhone users straw poll
Well, crap...now you make me wish I had done fifteen. Scott On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 8:06 AM, Patrick Barrett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What I think is most interesting about this straw poll is the number of respondents who choose not to follow these simple instructions: What are the top *3 things* you find yourself doing now with your iPhone If people on this list won't follow user instructions then who will? --Patrick V. Barrett -- The lesson here is that we cannot remove artificial dependencies, but we can reduce them. - Hao He 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] IxDA iPhone users straw poll
On Aug 15, 2008, at 8:06 AM, Patrick Barrett wrote: What I think is most interesting about this straw poll is the number of respondents who choose not to follow these simple instructions: What are the top *3 things* you find yourself doing now with your iPhone If people on this list won't follow user instructions then who will? Isn't one of the tenets of Interaction Design to extend the boundaries of current practice and behavior to explore new options? I would think this behavior is right inline with what one would expect from IxDers. Jared 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] IxDA iPhone users straw poll
Along Jared's lines, I always see requirements as a point of analysis to distinguish between manifest suggestions and true latent requirements. Basically, there are not requirements, only guidelines or suggestions. ;-) BTW, there has been press on the battery more importantly the chip issues of the 3G version of the iPhone and that Apple will be distributing a new update sometime this or next month to deal with these issues. Is this the first time in Apple history where the 1.0 was better than the 2.0? -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=31985 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] MS Office Fluent user interface
Happy Friday everyone, I'm working on an interface for a new product and considering using the MS fluent user interface as a model instead of your basic menus. I've been googling it this morning and there's actually a surprising lack of UX writing on the subject - or I am simply not finding it. I don't want to use something without having a good understanding of it first. I did read this from MS http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101679411033.aspx Which is a fine overview but doesn't quite get too deep. Anyway, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the interface. Is it effective? Like or dislike and why? We don't have office 07 here but I do have MindJet MindManager which uses it, so I've been playing around with it. It is certainly different. One advantage we have is that this is a completely new product, so there is no preexisting bias for an old interface. Of the things I did find, people seemed to be upset with the fact that there was no backward compatibility with the old app. We won't have that issue. Thanks Tom 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] MS Office Fluent user interface
On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 9:48 AM, Nick Iozzo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am under the impression that MS has many patents on this design. Right or wrong is not for this thread, but I would dig into that if you are developing any commercial software. Wow, didn't even think of that - thanks for pointing that out. I'll look into it. It is hard to comment on this design from a neutral point of view. I have used it for a while, I was very use to the old office design and where to find things. I find myself struggling to find things I use to be able to find effortlessly. On the other hand, I have found things I never knew existed. So it has some benefits. I look at this design as a merger of client and web app design (e.g., the ribbon is just an AJAXian toolbar). A good perspective. Thanks. 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] MS Office Fluent user interface
I am under the impression that MS has many patents on this design. Right or wrong is not for this thread, but I would dig into that if you are developing any commercial software. While that may be true, buying a WinForms/ASP.NET control set like those from DevExpress (my favorite) or Infragistics covers the right to use that design paradigm. Using the DevExpress controls, I do design work on a software product that is more or less a Word/Outlook 07 hybrid/look-alike and we haven't had any problems with that end of things. It is hard to comment on this design from a neutral point of view. I have used it for a while, I was very use to the old office design and where to find things. I find myself struggling to find things I use to be able to find effortlessly. On the other hand, I have found things I never knew existed. So it has some benefits. I look at this design as a merger of client and web app design (e.g., the ribbon is just an AJAXian toolbar). A good perspective. Thanks. 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] MS Office Fluent user interface
Sterling: I don't believe it is true that buying the Infragistics XAML controls for the MS Ribbon gives you the right to use that design paradigm. We are using the Infragistics package for XAML and found a specific note in their site that the buyer needs to make arrangements with MS to use the Ribbon. I can get the details if needed. Steven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=32084 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] MS Office Fluent user interface
On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 11:33 AM, Tom Dell'Aringa [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm working on an interface for a new product and considering using the MS fluent user interface as a model instead of your basic menus. [...] http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101679411033.aspx Which is a fine overview but doesn't quite get too deep. Anyway, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the interface. Is it effective? Like or dislike and why? On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 9:48 AM, Nick Iozzo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It is hard to comment on this design from a neutral point of view. I have used it for a while, I was very use to the old office design and where to find things. I find myself struggling to find things I use to be able to find effortlessly. On the other hand, I have found things I never knew existed. So it has some benefits. Hi Tom, I'm not the right person to make a comment on the interface. I've installed this Office version without been aware that it was totally different from the previous concept, and I got very surprised when I started using it. But, as Nick, as I'm much more used to the old model, I thought it would be such a pain to learn everything again in this new interface and decided to use an older version, instead of trying the new one. This may be something to think about. To what extent the familiarity users have with an interface is something that we have to consider when designing a new proposal? For some users sometimes it's more important to be familiar with a not so good interface than to have to learn a better one? One of Microsoft's team arguments to this new interface is that it makes us more aware of the options the program have. The commands, they say, are more evident in the interface. My first impression when I opened MS Word was that I had too many options on the screen! It was overwhelming. They say they have cleaned the interface, but I had the opposite impression. I wanted a clean interface, and the new one was cluttered with buttons, tabs, icons and other stuff. As I wasn't expecting a change, and as I was also needing to work at once, I couldn't even figure out if the change was for better or for worse. To me, at that point, changes were not good at all, just because they were unexpected, and I had not time to learn something new. And talking about most used commands, one particular thing that has nothing to do with the interface, but with the software itself, is that most Office applications have too many options. I guess most of them are useless to the majority of users. Jasper van Kuijk has pointed that in his Uselog: http://www.uselog.com/2007_09_01_archive.html I quote him: At a US conference Bill Gates gave the development team of Microsoft Excel a huge compliment for the features they had come up with in the new version of Excel. Too bad that those 'new features' already had been a part of the spreadsheet program for last three years. Gates had simply not noticed them in the previous version. However, Gates was in good company. Steve Ballmer (Gates' successor) revealed that most Office users have no idea of what was possible with the software package. 'Nine out of ten of the new possibilities people would like to have in the new edition of Office, were already part of the current one,' according to marketing manager Paul Coleman. 'The users simply couldn't find them.' Research Microsoft performed revealed that office workers that used Office 2003, only used 23 'core features' on a regular basis. For your reference: Microsoft Word alone offers 1500 tasks. By performing an extreme makeover on the user interface of the Office package, Microsoft claims to have been able to raise the number of features that are used regularly to 60 or 70. Office is to me one of the worst software I know. Even after using it for more than 10 years, I still have a hard time to find commands and to use it. Still, I'm very curious about this new interface. Maybe I'll give it another try sometime, to see if it's better or not. Till now, the fear of change is something that is making me avoid this interface, as a regular user. The designer is curious, though. ;-) And maybe you could share some thoughts about it when you get depper into this subject. :-) regards, -- prof. mauro pinheiro universidade federal do espírito santo centro de artes depto. de desenho industrial 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] MS Office Fluent user interface
On 8/15/08, Tom Dell'Aringa [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It is hard to comment on this design from a neutral point of view. I have used it for a while, I was very use to the old office design and where to find things. I find myself struggling to find things I use to be able to find effortlessly. On the other hand, I have found things I never knew existed. So it has some benefits. I would echo Nick's sentiments here. I currently have FOUR versions of office installed on my machine (2003, 2007, 2004 for Mac, 2008 for Mac... I know, it's ridiculous) and I often have to bounce between them, which I feel allows me to offer some insights. My basic opinion is that I strongly prefer Office for Mac's Inspector interface to Office 2007's ribbon. As Nick said, very basic things (Open, Save, Save As, Print, etc.) are hidden. The items I mentioned are hidden beneath the Office logo, which absolutely does NOT look like a button. (There is a tool bar that you can configure to add common stuff to, but most users would likely not discover this.) On top of that, the tabbed ribbon interface causes users to *always* have to make two clicks if they are changing MS-defined contexts (e.g., from editing text to editing a table). This is often frustrating for me, because I often need to edit tables within a larger text document (like 95% of all other knowledge workers out there). The way Office for Mac (2004 2008) is set up is that there's the typical Mac menu bar at the top, a main toolbar, task-specific toolbars (e.g., Reviewing), and the Inspector. The main toolbar has all the usual suspects: New, Open, Save, etc all that stuff 2007 hides under the Office logo. In 2008 you can also dock some (but not, to my great frustration, all) of the task-specific toolbars underneath the main toolbar. So far this is all fairly standard, but the Inspector deserves its own paragraph. : ) This object accomplishes the goal that the ribbon is trying to accomplish but in a much more flexible way. The inspector, for the most part, is a collection of palettes that can be collapsed and expanded. For example, I always use styles rather than fonts, so I always have the Font palette collapsed while the style palette is always open. There are other palettes that come and go as you need them, like when you're editing a table. I can do Insert Table from the main toolbar or menu bar, click on the table, and then table formatting options appear in the inspector. When I click out of the table, they go away. When editing the rest of my document, if I need to go back into that table I just click it and my table formatting options show up again. In 2007, I'd need to click the Table tab, and only THEN would I have access to table formatting options. So yeah, I'm not a fan of the ribbon. Nice shot, but MS didn't hit the mark. Ironically, they were closer with their Mac product. Maybe it's just that there isn't a strong Inspector metaphor in Windows, whereas it seems relatively common in Mac apps. - F. -- Fred Beecher Sr. User Experience Consultant Evantage Consulting O: 612.230.3838 // M: 612.810.6745 IM: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (google/msn) // fredevc (aim/yahoo) T: http://twitter.com/fred_beecher 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] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites
Interesting enough it has to do a bit with the user interface on the PNC Virtual Wallet site: The site features several orange balls used to highlight products and services PNC offers. ING alleges that PNC's use of the orange balls could confuse customers who associate the orange balls with ING. More info on the Post-Gazette site: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08228/904608-100.stm -- --- G. Jason Head Web Developer University Marketing Communications University of Pittsburgh 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] Basic time tracking and invoicing for a solo consultant
I've been using Freshbook regularly for my freelance work and it's been working like a charm. My wife also uses it for a Conference we are working on now too. I've found it to work well, and especially well with the time tracking. I've had odd number of clients ask about it too. In fact, I know of at least 2 that ended up using it simply because they were impressed with how well it worked. Also - it sort of makes me look good when I bill :) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=32072 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] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites
On Aug 15, 2008, at 4:16 PM, G. Jason Head wrote: Interesting enough it has to do a bit with the user interface on the PNC Virtual Wallet site: The site features several orange balls used to highlight products and services PNC offers. ING alleges that PNC's use of the orange balls could confuse customers who associate the orange balls with ING. More info on the Post-Gazette site: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08228/904608-100.stm Yup. Trademark infringement. Surprised that PNC went ahead with it. Usually these things are settled before the suit is launched. (There's a bunch of steps that ING would go through, starting with a standard Cease Desist letter.) The interesting thing is that you can't easily argue it's a trademark infringement if the elements are functional. By definition, trademark (and trade dress) elements have to be non-functional, which is why we don't see more of these types of suits on web sites. However, that's a defense, which means that PNC will have to spend a lot of money in court to protect the use of the orange balls. That's why I'm surprised it's gotten this far -- I'm betting it's not worth it to keep them orange. But, what do I know? Jared 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] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites
Hi Jared: I've often thought that one way to defend this type of suit would be to conduct usability testing to see if, in fact, there was confusion. There was a similar suit against a small company called teracycle by Scotts Fertilizer. Personally, I didn't see the similarity. But it ought to be a question that could be answered empirically. Charlie Charles B. Kreitzberg, Ph.D. CEO, Cognetics Corporation -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jared Spool Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 4:49 PM To: G. Jason Head Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites On Aug 15, 2008, at 4:16 PM, G. Jason Head wrote: Interesting enough it has to do a bit with the user interface on the PNC Virtual Wallet site: The site features several orange balls used to highlight products and services PNC offers. ING alleges that PNC's use of the orange balls could confuse customers who associate the orange balls with ING. More info on the Post-Gazette site: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08228/904608-100.stm Yup. Trademark infringement. Surprised that PNC went ahead with it. Usually these things are settled before the suit is launched. (There's a bunch of steps that ING would go through, starting with a standard Cease Desist letter.) The interesting thing is that you can't easily argue it's a trademark infringement if the elements are functional. By definition, trademark (and trade dress) elements have to be non-functional, which is why we don't see more of these types of suits on web sites. However, that's a defense, which means that PNC will have to spend a lot of money in court to protect the use of the orange balls. That's why I'm surprised it's gotten this far -- I'm betting it's not worth it to keep them orange. But, what do I know? Jared 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] IxDA iPhone users straw poll
On Aug 13, 2008, at 1:06 PM, Petroff, Greg wrote: What are the top 3 things you find yourself doing now with your iPhone that you did not do before and why? 1. Email anywhere (even from a tent). 2. Web access anywhere (ditto). 3. SMS (I never used it on previous phones.) Jack L. Moffett Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations. - Paul Rand 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] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites
Standard disclaimer: IANAL. Everything I know about trademark law and the tests come from the information I've gleaned from lawyers as I've prepared for my expert testimony. I'm sure there is much more I don't know. The following are the eight factors that most courts look at for likelihood of confusion: 1. the similarity in the overall impression created by the two marks (including the marks' look, phonetic similarities, and underlying meanings); 2. the similarities of the goods and services involved (including an examination of the marketing channels for the goods); 3. the strength of the plaintiff's mark; 4. any evidence of actual confusion by consumers; 5. the intent of the defendant in adopting its mark; 6. the physical proximity of the goods in the retail marketplace; 7. the degree of care likely to be exercised by the consumer; and 8. the likelihood of expansion of the product lines. [From this list, you can see why ING has a good reason to be going after PNC. PNC's not got much to stand on here, from my limited exposure to the fact.] Usability testing would only help with #4 and maybe #7. The rest is done by the courts (judge or jury). If only one test passes (suggests a likelihood of confusion), the judge/jury could rule in favor of the infringement. If you were to do usability testing, it would have to stand up through a heavy cross examination. Practically every case I've been solicited on has suggested testing. And it's almost always disqualified because to make it rigorous enough for court would be impractically expensive. So, they tend to just rely on expert testimony -- still expensive, but much cheaper (since you still need the expert testimony to explain and back up the testing). Remember, failing the tests are just a defense. Ideally, you avoid needing a defense, since it's extremely costly. That's why so many cases are settled. Jared On Aug 15, 2008, at 5:19 PM, Charles B. Kreitzberg wrote: Hi Jared: I've often thought that one way to defend this type of suit would be to conduct usability testing to see if, in fact, there was confusion. There was a similar suit against a small company called teracycle by Scotts Fertilizer. Personally, I didn't see the similarity. But it ought to be a question that could be answered empirically. Charlie Charles B. Kreitzberg, Ph.D. CEO, Cognetics Corporation -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jared Spool Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 4:49 PM To: G. Jason Head Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites On Aug 15, 2008, at 4:16 PM, G. Jason Head wrote: Interesting enough it has to do a bit with the user interface on the PNC Virtual Wallet site: The site features several orange balls used to highlight products and services PNC offers. ING alleges that PNC's use of the orange balls could confuse customers who associate the orange balls with ING. More info on the Post-Gazette site: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08228/904608-100.stm Yup. Trademark infringement. Surprised that PNC went ahead with it. Usually these things are settled before the suit is launched. (There's a bunch of steps that ING would go through, starting with a standard Cease Desist letter.) The interesting thing is that you can't easily argue it's a trademark infringement if the elements are functional. By definition, trademark (and trade dress) elements have to be non-functional, which is why we don't see more of these types of suits on web sites. However, that's a defense, which means that PNC will have to spend a lot of money in court to protect the use of the orange balls. That's why I'm surprised it's gotten this far -- I'm betting it's not worth it to keep them orange. But, what do I know? Jared 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] IxDA iPhone users straw poll
On Aug 13, 2008, at 1:06 PM, Petroff, Greg wrote: What are the top 3 things you find yourself doing now with your iPhone that you did not do before and why? 1. E-mail anywhen. (Not just anywhere, but when I walk from my office to the bathroom or to get coffee or in the morning for a couple minutes just after breakfast, I pull up my e-mail and read as I walk. Even if I only get through 3-4 messages at a shot that way, it's time spent on something, and it lessens the email load later.) 2. Staying up to date and participative on the IxDA list. Ever since being gone to Ireland for 7 work days in Feb/Mar, I've not been able to deal with current posts on the list, wanting to go through my backlog first (hah! I delete anything in that more than a certain age, and I still have 500 items!). I'm now trimming the backlog from the front instead of the back. 3. Dance choreography. Just having the speakers has made it somehow okay to start a song playing, put the phone in my pocket or on the desk, and work on the choreography; I could have done this before with earbuds and an iPod, but I didn't, for whatever reason. (4. I've only had mine for a week now. I'll begin to make more PDA-type uses of it in the coming weeks, I'm sure.) -- Jim 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] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites
On Aug 15, 2008, at 8:53 PM, John Vaughan wrote: Cool. The usual flock of parasitic sheissters manages to engineer yet another frivolous lawsuit. So now we can't use round orange shapes Um, no. You just can't use round orange shapes to represent elements of a financial services product and then try to compete against ING who has made round orange shapes integral to their look. Feel free to use round orange shapes for anything else. Jared 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] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites
Jared said: Um, no. You just can't use round orange shapes to represent elements of a financial services product and then try to compete against ING who has made round orange shapes integral to their look. Feel free to use round orange shapes for anything else. John says: Um, only if that flock of expensive lawyers manage to make that argument credibly. And apparently that question - I emphasize question - is open to interpretation, at least in the opinion of Charlie (I didn't see the similarity) Kreitzberg. Me neither, Charlie. That's okay. I'm sure there's plenty of money to go around for us expert witnesses to guide the frivolous legal proceedings In the meantime, I think I will, as Jared points out, feel free to go design something that is disturbingly orange and round. For one of my financial services clients. - Original Message - From: Jared Spool [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: John Vaughan [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: G. Jason Head [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 9:08 PM Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites On Aug 15, 2008, at 8:53 PM, John Vaughan wrote: Cool. The usual flock of parasitic sheissters manages to engineer yet another frivolous lawsuit. So now we can't use round orange shapes Um, no. You just can't use round orange shapes to represent elements of a financial services product and then try to compete against ING who has made round orange shapes integral to their look. Feel free to use round orange shapes for anything else. Jared 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] Basic time tracking and invoicing for a solo consultant
Hi Michael, Cashboard does all of those things you require. Sign up with promo code CASH_ALPHA and get 60 days free instead of 30 on any account plan. My gift to you and the IxDA list ;) seth - subimage llc - http://sublog.subimage.com - Cashboard - Estimates, invoices, and time tracking software - for free! http://www.getcashboard.com - Substruct - Open source RoR e-commerce software. http://code.google.com/p/substruct/ On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 5:52 PM, Michael Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm neck-deep in looking at various options for doing basic time tracking and invoicing just for me, not a whole agency. I've wasted a ton of time on this and figured I'd tap the collective wisdom here. Up until about a year ago I used a pretty simple timer on my Treo and an Excel spreadsheet for the invoices. Then I migrated over to iPhone/MacLand, and I've used an online timer called Toggl and iWork Numbers, but Toggl is buggy and the Numbers thing each month was getting to be a pain. I've looked at stand-alone apps and web apps, and despite the recurring cost, I'm leaning toward a web app, as I do work at a variety of client sites and don't always have access to my personal laptop. Here's what I'm looking for: 1. Time tracking that can use either time as you go, or direct entry 2. Ability to track multiple projects in a day 3. Multiple clients, and for each client, multiple projects 4. The ability to track number of hours against a total for a given project 5. The ability to track number of hours against a monthly amount for a given project 6. Basic invoicing - create a PDF and email it 7. Invoicing that allows me to bill multiple projects in one invoice 8. When billing multiple projects, show subtotals for hours and dollars 9. A way to have custom info for each client invoice (vendor#, cost centers, etc.) 10. Some ability to track invoice payments Nice to have features might be: - iPhone access - A way to track prospective clients and make them active once a contract is signed Stuff I really don't need: - Task management / to do lists (I'm using OmniFocus) - Checkbook functions - Electronic payment / client logins - Project management So far, I've looked at: - Harvest - so far my top contender, but it doesn't do #5, 8 or 9. But the design is lovely and it doesn't waste my time. - CreativeProOffice - seems like overkill for what I need - Cashboard - looks promising, but I haven't spent the time to really evaluate it - Blinksale - invoicing only (I could consider Harvest + Blinksale, but then we're talking $24 a month) - Simply invoices - same issues as Blinksale (invoice only) but a bit less cost - Freshbooks - could be a contender - if anyone's used it, let me know! - SimplyBill - also looks promising For stand alone applications I've looked at: - Billings - looks pretty good, but can't invoice two projects at once - Office Time - Does what I need, but clunky timing - On the Job - looks good and is cheap, but doesn't appear to be well supported - TimeNet - clunky and hard to use - TaskTime4 - can't send one invoice for two projects together to a client - iBiz - overly complex and can't send one invoice for two projects - Studiometry - expensive but can do everything then some, but seems overly complex and tedious for what I need So as you can see, I've looked at a lot of stuff and given myself a massive headache and no income to show for it. If any of you have used these programs, or know of something better that meets my basic needs, I'd be forever grateful for your advice! Thanks Michael -- Michael B. Moore • Pure InfoDesign • www.pureinfodesign.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 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] ING sues PNC over alleged similarities of Web sites
Sometimes I'd swear this is the goth list. On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 9:31 PM, John Vaughan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Jared said: Um John says: Um -- The lesson here is that we cannot remove artificial dependencies, but we can reduce them. - Hao He 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] Basic time tracking and invoicing for a solo consultant
Hi Jennifer, Thanks for the tip - it wasn't really even on my radar. When I looked at the time video, it seemed like you have to do a lot of clicking around to enter some time. And I wasn't really clear if the module part was required or not - it just seems like an extra layer of categorization I don't need. (For me, all I really need is Client-Project-Task). Also, do you have to set up all the tasks beforehand? For one of my clients the tasks aren't established at the start of the project - it is an ongoing gig and I work on things as they become priorities. If these impressions are wrong and it really is easier than the video suggests, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks Michael On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 12:54 PM, Jennifer Brook [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: We are using Intervals (www.myintervals.com) and love it. Michael, I reviewed your requirements and I believe it will fit the bill nicely. We explored many options before finding Intervals and even went through a painful six-months with an enterprise software. My Intervals top three: 1. Cost-effective hosted solution (iphone friendly) 2. Awesome timer functionality 3. Outstanding reports Let me know if there are specific requirements you need me to wax ecstatic about. Jennifer Brook -- Michael B. Moore • Pure InfoDesign • 415.246.6690 M • www.pureinfodesign.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
