Re: [IxDA Discuss] IxDA and QA

[Jim Drew]

In this thinking, turn things around: while you might have a QA  
engineer or two who provide great input on design ideas, would you put  
QA in charge of the design process?  Probably not: their expertise may  
sometimes approach or overlap those needed for design, but there will  
be holes, gaps, and so forth.  Unless you are truly cross-training,  
you're going to end up with ultimately inferior results.


Which isn't to say that having QA involved in the design process, or  
Design in the QA process, isn't a great idea.  It most certainly is.


Watch out as well for asking designers to do QA work on the items they  
designed.  They can easily be way too picky and/or unable to look at  
the pieces they designed with a fresh eye, to see interactions and  
different angles.  Better to use their designer eye to look at other  
aspects of the product.


-- Jim Drew
   Seattle, WA
   Software QA for 18 years


On Oct 27, 2008, at 7:36 AM, Damon Dimmick wrote:


The company I work for is a very lean, fast moving company, and we're
constantly looking for ways to tighten our product life cycle  
timelines.


One thing we've noticed in the last few months is that IxDA (and  
general

design practitioners) have been extremely valuable not just during the
design phase of a product, but also during the ongoing Quality  
Assurance
/ Quality Control phases as well as the final Quality Acceptance  
phases

of the product lifecycle.

This being the case, we're experimenting with the idea of putting IxDA
people in charge (or in review positions within) the QA process. I've
been playing around with this model myself on a couple of projects  
with
very strong results. The net benefit seems to derive from the fact  
that

there is really no one better to certify that a product meets QA
requirements than the very people that identified the necessary
interactions, UI results, and full design elements to begin with.

So far, this also seems to fit in nicely with the fact that our design
team tends to be very busy at the start of the project (front loading
interaction design and then visual design) and then gets much less  
busy
as the development cycle begins and ends. It seems a really good use  
of
our time to swoop back in after the design phase and act as part of  
the

QA process, making sure that developers are conforming to our
specifications via a formal testing structure.

I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this kind of
structure, and if so, what challenges, results, and tips can you  
share?

We're sort of excited about the idea on our end, as our initial forays
into this model have really helped projects move along faster and with
better results. Being a small/midsized team, we don't have a large QA
department, so this allocation of resources seems to fill a lot of  
gaps.


Any thoughts out there among my colleagues?



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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[Jarod Tang]

Hi Dave,

Your answer inspires.
Maybe, more proper is back from the result, by asking what leads to
the good design instead of UCD or ACD? I do like the IxD , in which
the design is for good user experience, and by analyzing user's
activity.

regards,
Jarod

On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 9:56 AM, David Malouf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Oy! I'm just going to ignore that Doc thing.
>
> To answer Adrian,
> If I were to design Flickr from an ACD POV I only care about the
> activities of uploading, tagging, sharing, viewing, mapping, etc.
> I really don't care whether primary persona A's goal for sharing is
> to become the next Annie Leibovitch or not.
>
> If I were designing it from a UCD perspective, I do care, or that the
> person is elderly and needs large print, or any other demographic type
> information.
>
> personally, I think ACD = backwards IxD. It is going back to that
> nasty realm of usability-based IxD where aesthetics, emotion and
> story telling (can't tell a good story w/o good characters) are core
> elements of good IxD.
>
> So I'm less concerned with is ACD X or Y, but rather, should I care.
>
> -- dave
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35466
>
>
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[David Malouf]

Oy! I'm just going to ignore that Doc thing.

To answer Adrian, 
If I were to design Flickr from an ACD POV I only care about the
activities of uploading, tagging, sharing, viewing, mapping, etc.
I really don't care whether primary persona A's goal for sharing is
to become the next Annie Leibovitch or not.

If I were designing it from a UCD perspective, I do care, or that the
person is elderly and needs large print, or any other demographic type
information.

personally, I think ACD = backwards IxD. It is going back to that
nasty realm of usability-based IxD where aesthetics, emotion and
story telling (can't tell a good story w/o good characters) are core
elements of good IxD.

So I'm less concerned with is ACD X or Y, but rather, should I care.

-- dave


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to use for rapidly generating HTML prototypes from concept model diagrams to test interactive search.

[Bonnie John]

I believe CogTool can do what you want.

Although CogTool started life as a tool for making predictions of 
skilled behavior on interfaces, it has evolved into a rapid prototyping 
tool that generates HTML and, oh, BTW, gives you predictions of skilled 
execution time at a touch of a button.


To make your conceptual models, you would have two options.

  1. Make a storyboard directly in CogTool, using our widget palette
 (including some really easy tools for making hierarchical menus,
 context menus, radio button sets, etc.) and connecting the pages
 simply by drawing transitions from widgets to other pages. This
 storyboarding technique was inspired by Landay's DENIM.
  2. Sketch your conceptual pages by hand on paper or whiteboard and
 scan them in or take digital pictures of them and import them into
 CogTool. Then stick widgets on and draw the transitions in the
 storyboard.

Either way, you just Export Design to HTML and your get the static pages 
you want, all connected together.
Change the design, choose the Export to HTML menu item again, and 
everything gets regenerated.


CogTool is free, open source, works on Mac and Windows (XP and Vista), 
and can be downloaded from

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~bej/cogtool/download.html

And, oh, BTW, if you pay attention to choosing the widgets that actually 
represent the content of your system, you will get predictions of 
skilled execution time in case that might be an important metric in 
addition to your user tests.


I have to admit that we have tested the storyboarding and cognitive 
modeling portions of CogTool more than we have tested the HTML 
generation, but if you find bugs and send reports to us, we have 
programmers who can fix them pretty quickly.


If you like it, please let me know,
Bonnie
HCI Institute
Carnegie Mellon University


Michael Long wrote:
Anyone know of a tool that can generate static, linked html pages from 
a concept model diagram? The tool needs to be a concept model diagram 
creation tool that generates individual html pages that are linked 
together. The goal being that if you were to reorganize the concept 
model diagram, the tool can regenerate html pages with the new links. 
This is needed for rapidly creating HTML prototypes in order to test 
interactive search.


Thanks.

- Michael

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers

[Jack Moffett]

On Nov 12, 2008, at 11:11 AM, Jacqueline Stetson wrote:

1. Are there any best practices around where the layer should open  
and how
it is tied to the object? (Like should the header of the layer be  
beneath or
to the right of the link? Should the stem be in the side middle? top  
left?

...)


From observation, I would say that these types of pop-ups typically  
appear above the active item. However, you need to make your decision  
based on the design of the rest of your page. Where do you have the  
most room for it? The goal should be not to have it fall outside of  
the current window boundaries and not to cover up the active item or  
anything of importance. Which placement will most likely meet these  
goals? Also, what are the dimensions of the pop-up? Is it wider than  
it is tall or vice versa? Placement of the stem would then be based on  
the placement of the pop-up.



2. Are there any best practices around delay? (Are there any  
similarities to

the 250ms menu delay?)


It should be long enough that it won't pop up when the cursor is  
moving across the screen, but short enough that it is likely to show  
before the user clicks on the link.




3. Are there any best practices on making the layer actionable versus
informational? (with links and a close button versus text only and  
closing

on mouse-off?)


Both are valid. It depends on what the purpose of your pop-ups are. As  
far as closing on mouse-off vs. an explicit close, I base the decision  
on the amount of content. If there is actionable content, an explicit  
close is preferable. If there is a significant amount of content, an  
explicit close is preferable so you don't have to worry about leaving  
the mouse stationary to read it. Short amounts of content will do fine  
with an automatic close.



Best,
Jack



Jack L. Moffett
Interaction Designer
inmedius
412.459.0310 x219
http://www.inmedius.com


The details are not the details.
They make the design.

-Charles Eames


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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to use for rapidly generating HTML prototypes from concept model diagrams to test interactive search.

[brandon]

axure would do the trick, 30 days free trial, www.axure.com 


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to use for rapidly generating HTML prototypes from concept model diagrams to test interactive search.

[Michael Long]

I wound up using Inspiration 8 of all things. I am able to organize
content in a concept diagram or outline format using drag and drop
interactions, and then export to html files that link together. It
has been very useful so far to play with taxonomies, content
hierarchies, and preliminary navigation paradigms. The HTML it
generates is very basic and will be used to move forward with
navigation prototypes.

http://www.inspiration.com/Examples/Inspiration#Multimedia




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[IxDA Discuss] JOB-Sr Product Designer-Bellevue, WA-Motricity-Full Time

[Erika Edwards]

JOB TITLE:  Senior Product Designer

 

 

About the Senior Product Designer opportunity:

 

The Senior Product Designer is responsible for designing the end-to-end
user experience for new products and capabilities. This role is an end
user advocate within the Product Management team ensuring that all
products are useful, usable, and desirable via a thorough understanding
and practice of the user centered design process. Primary
responsibilities include: developing conceptual product representations,
designing user interaction models and product information architecture;
understanding and presenting user needs and design solutions to
stakeholders; creating prototypes to support usability studies; and
translating research findings into design improvements. The Product
Designer is expected to develop domain expertise within the product
family they support, including directing field research into the needs
and behaviors of the target end users and experience evaluations of
competing products.

  

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

 

1.   Develop product concept visualizations used to validate and
communicate product ideas.

2.   Develop user scenarios that detail how the product will serve
the needs of the users.

3.   Design the structure and hierarchy of all the product
information and capabilities through information architecture.

4.   Design the navigation and interaction of all flows within the
product through detailed product flows and wireframes.

5.   Develop product prototypes used for user research.

6.   Validate that products are implemented as designed through
ongoing UX quality assurance.

 

 

REQUIREMENTS:

 

 

Functional/Technical Skills:

 

*  Mastery of user centered design principles and practices

*  Mastery of interaction design and information architecture
disciplines

*  Proficiency with the Adobe Creative Suite 3.0 and Visio

*  Flash, CSS, HTML, JavaScript skills a bonus 

*  Proficiency in visual design preferred

*  Strong communication and teamwork skills

*  Experience with agile development/scrum processes a plus

 

Education & Experience

 

*  Masters degree in Interaction Design, Industrial Product
Design, Human Factors, Human Computer Interaction, Technical
Communication, Information Systems, related discipline or equivalent
experience

*  6-8 years of demonstrated software product design experience
with commercial products

*  2 years experience designing PC Web interfaces preferred

*  2 years experience designing for mobile applications, mobile
web sites, or small screen applications preferred

*  Experience supporting usability testing with prototypes 

*  Experience developing user scenarios based on personas
preferred

*  Experience directing user research activities a plus

 

To apply:  http://www.motricity.com/about/careers.php

 


Erika Edwards

Staffing Manager
   
(919) 287-4781 - office

(919) 595-2531 - fax
(919) 450-7695 - mobile
www.motricity.com  
view corporate video   

 

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[IxDA Discuss] JOB-Sr User Researcher-Bellevue, WA-Motricity-Full Time

[Erika Edwards]

About the Senior User Researcher opportunity:

 

The Senior User Researcher is responsible for evaluating the end-to-end
user experience for new products and capabilities through end user
testing, as well investigating target user needs and behaviors to inform
design. In addition, this role is responsible monitoring the industry
best practices and academic research in user experience design and
evaluation to provide expert guidance in user research methods within
the Product Design team. Primary responsibilities include: designing,
facilitating, and interpreting usability studies of product designs;
designing and conducting product field research studies with target
segments; running user experience surveys; constructing representative
user personas for target segments; performing heuristic evaluations of
competing products and services to assess user experience strengths and
weaknesses; and monitoring leading UX research publications.

  

Duties and Responsibilities:

 

1.   Define and evolve the evaluation methodologies uses
to test all new products. 

2.   Design and conduct the usability testing evaluation
for all new products.

3.   Conduct user field research to understand target
segments and create representative user

 personas.

4.   Design and facilitate user surveys and heuristic
product evaluations. 

5. Survey existing and perform new user experience industry
research.

 

 

REQUIREMENTS:

 

Functional/Technical Skills:

 

*  Mastery of qualitative research methods

*  Proficiency with quantitative research methods

*  Mastery of best practices for usability testing and
evaluation

*  Understanding of methods for heuristic product evaluations

*  Experience programming online surveys

*  Excellent written and verbal communication skills

 

Education & Experience

 

*  Masters degree in Human Factors, Cognitive or Behavioral
Science, Human Computer Interaction, Technical Communication,
Information Systems, related discipline or equivalent experience

*  6-8 years of demonstrated user testing and research
experience for commercial products and/or services

*  Extensive experience designing, conducting, and analyzing
product usability studies

*  Experience evaluating mobile applications, mobile web sites,
or small screen applications preferred

*  Experience conducting field studies and longitudinal research

*  Experience developing user personas based on user interviews

*  Experience conducting product focus groups and designing
surveys preferred

*  Previous research publications a plus

 

To apply:  http://www.motricity.com/about/careers.php

 

 

 


Erika Edwards

Staffing Manager
   
(919) 287-4781 - office

(919) 595-2531 - fax
(919) 450-7695 - mobile
www.motricity.com  
view corporate video   

 

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Protoshare, anyone?

[Peter Uchytil]

Hi, Gitika, I'm Peter Uchytil, the product manager for ProtoShare. I
would be happy to answer any questions you have about our product. 

As far as good/bad experiences, let me say this: we have very happy
customers right now, and we have had trial users who have said it's
not ready for them yet. Most of the objections come in the form of
application responsiveness and overall feature set.

While not bad, the wireframing that our application does is typically
done on the desktop and it is difficult for us to match that level of
performance. We are, of course, constantly working on it. 

A word to those developing web applications: we did not expect the
number of International customers we have received. We almost didn't
add support for Internation character sets with UTF-8. Boy, that would
have been a huge mistake. It may seem obvious that it's a global
marketplace, but it's an easy thing to overlook during development.

Anyway, just want to say I'm here and can answer any questions
publicly or privately. I've been reading the list for a while but I
haven't had a lot of time to participate. Trying to fix that. 

Peter
--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ProtoShare Product Manager


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Clock Burn-In

[Jim Drew]

Eeww.

Use case failure: swing shift worker
Use case failure: busy mom, up before dawn
Use case failure: set time after the power comes back on late at  
night, zap, display goes dead (this could be worked around, assuming  
someone thought about it)


There are also non-use cases surrounding these clocks. I often use  
them to guide me in the house without turning on lights (to not wake  
up other people, or just because I can), for example.


-- Jim
   Via my iPhone

On Nov 11, 2008, at 10:12 AM, Thomas Davies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:


Why don't you actually use the clock information to reduce burn-in?

Surely not many people will be cooking late at night and early in the
morning. So just do a rough estimate and say not many people will be
using the cooker between 10pm and 6am, thats an 8 hour period where
the digital display could be turned off. Obviously if people started
to use it during this period, the clock would reappear!

I am sure this could be used for different appliances as well.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[allison]

UX designers may not be able to provide a singular definition of UCD,
but I'm not sure that 10 doctors treating cancer would be able to
come up with a singular approach to treatment, either. I think it
depends on the problem and context (patient and cancer type, stage,
funds, etc.), just as for it would for a UX professional. 

Furthermore, there's probably a difference in the type of doctor
who's asked to treat the cancer. I've been thinking lately that
some of the difficulties in defining terms in the UX profession has
more to do with the type of the professional being asked the
question, than with the terms in the question itself. If you asked 10
psychologists what's the best treatment for depression, you'd
probably get 15 different answers too, because the question doesn't
take into account which psychologists are cognitive psychologists or
child psychologists, and which are family counselors or university
researchers. 

In a similar way as UCD vs ACD, for some psychological treatments,
such as addiction, an immediate solution to the problem is to break
the addiction. If you're addicted to using X, stop doing X. This
will treat the behavior, an activity-centered approach to addiction,
but it probably won't help the patient for long. And, if you asked a
psychologist what's the best way to break a person's addiction to X,
there will probably be different responses to the best treatment
option. 

Then again, the UX problems are not as complex as human psychology,
and if the APA has the DSM...??


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[Jarod Tang]

Hi James,

> How do you combine Persona's and Activity Theory?
How do you separate human activity from human ? Persona just reflects
human ( human with motivation and goals in specific context), and
activities reflects what/how they do, isnt  it?

As previous discussing from other thread, you can say not all guys
advocating activity centered design appreciate ActivityTheory (because
it's dry and not so practical until now). Instead designers use the
situated scenario (some guys calls it HIS/HER version of use case )
for many years, which can be regard as activity enabled design.

If you looks through the practice, you''ll find designers combine
persona and scenario (activity) frequently and naturally.

Regards,
Jarod



On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 7:41 AM, James Page <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Richard,
> How do you combine Persona's and Activity Theory?
>
> I don't see how the two are compatible. AT looks at activities through real
> behaviour.
>
> If you add Personas you are adding a multitude of parameters in the middle.
>
> James
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 10:38 AM, Richard Rutter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> Jared your points reflect a conversation we often have here at
>> Clearleft. We say we do UCD, but ask ourselves do we really do ACD? I
>> reckon the answer is both. Or more particularly we do ACD with a UCD
>> wrapper. That is to say we do user research and personas, but only
>> enough to give useful context for the subsequent ACD.
>>
>> So the research and persona development is activity-focused. It's
>> used to determine the activities that need to be designed and
>> provides the settings in which that activity might occur.
>>
>> In your example of a photo sharing site, one activity would almost
>> certainly be to upload a photo. Our research and personas would
>> indicate whether users would be happy uploading one photo at a time
>> or whether there should be a batch (instead or as well). It may even
>> identify that uploading is not viable for the majority of users, and
>> that an alternative solution would need to be developed.
>>
>> The point is that the UCD is limited to informing the ACD, thus
>> avoiding dogmatic processes and freeing us to be able to choose the
>> most appropriate tools to the job at hand.
>>
>> [Expanded upon at http://clagnut.com/blog/2208/]
>>
>>
>> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
>> Posted from the new ixda.org
>> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35466
>>
>>
>> 
>> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
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> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[James Page]

Richard,
How do you combine Persona's and Activity Theory?

I don't see how the two are compatible. AT looks at activities through real
behaviour.

If you add Personas you are adding a multitude of parameters in the middle.

James


On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 10:38 AM, Richard Rutter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Jared your points reflect a conversation we often have here at
> Clearleft. We say we do UCD, but ask ourselves do we really do ACD? I
> reckon the answer is both. Or more particularly we do ACD with a UCD
> wrapper. That is to say we do user research and personas, but only
> enough to give useful context for the subsequent ACD.
>
> So the research and persona development is activity-focused. It's
> used to determine the activities that need to be designed and
> provides the settings in which that activity might occur.
>
> In your example of a photo sharing site, one activity would almost
> certainly be to upload a photo. Our research and personas would
> indicate whether users would be happy uploading one photo at a time
> or whether there should be a batch (instead or as well). It may even
> identify that uploading is not viable for the majority of users, and
> that an alternative solution would need to be developed.
>
> The point is that the UCD is limited to informing the ACD, thus
> avoiding dogmatic processes and freeing us to be able to choose the
> most appropriate tools to the job at hand.
>
> [Expanded upon at http://clagnut.com/blog/2208/]
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35466
>
>
> 
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
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[IxDA Discuss] Is anyone using Protoshare or Jumpchart

[Anthony Zeoli]

Hi:

Just wondering if anyone is using Protoshare or Jumpchart for creating
clickable wireframes? Jumpchart seems to be fairly linear with no advanced
GUI options. Protoshare has a lot of Omnigraffle and Visio type diagramming
tools and stencils. Thoughts?


-- 

Anthony Zeoli | ZAAH.COM
VP Product & Business Development

e: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

+1 631.873.2007 | Direct
+1 631.873.2007 | Main
+1 917.705.4700 | Mobile
+1 631.873.2050 | Fax

AIM: djtonyz | Yahoo: anthonyzeoli | MSN: djtonyz | Skype: tonyzeoli |
Twitter: djtonyz

6 Dubon Court
Farmingdale, NY 11735

This document contains proprietary and confidential information, which are
the exclusive property of Zaah Technologies, Inc.  Unauthorized use of this
or any document, marked confidential is strictly prohibited.
Copyright© 2008 Zaah Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



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[IxDA Discuss] Pacemaker DJ product

[Anthony Zeoli]

Although I¹m working in IA and UxD by day, I¹m also a DJ. We¹re a discerning
bunch when it comes to product usability. I love this new product, Pacemaker
DJ.  It¹s clear there were a host usability issues that needed to be worked
out with this device.

Here¹s a video that takes a look at the product¹s functions. You can get a
pretty good idea visually of interaction with the unit. The host describes
why some functional aspects of the product were decided upon to prevent DJs
from unintentionally turning the product off or calling a function at the
wrong time.

http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/exclusive-video-pacemaker-unboxing/

-- 

Anthony Zeoli | ZAAH.COM
VP Product & Business Development

e: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

+1 631.873.2007 | Direct
+1 631.873.2007 | Main
+1 917.705.4700 | Mobile
+1 631.873.2050 | Fax

AIM: djtonyz | Yahoo: anthonyzeoli | MSN: djtonyz | Skype: tonyzeoli |
Twitter: djtonyz

6 Dubon Court
Farmingdale, NY 11735

This document contains proprietary and confidential information, which are
the exclusive property of Zaah Technologies, Inc.  Unauthorized use of this
or any document, marked confidential is strictly prohibited.
Copyright© 2008 Zaah Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/exclusive-video-pacemaker-unboxing/

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[James Page]

>
> coz I don't see how you can think about activities without having some
> concept, however minimal, of the end users goals, needs and context.


Activity Theory breaks everything down into activities, actions,
and operations are what then informs the design. Activity Theory very much
takes the user in :-

In AT, the perspective of the individual is at the center of everything. AT
> focuses
>
on the cognitive process of an individual situated in a social, cultural,
> historical,
>
and artifactual world.

>From 
>http://www.research.ibm.com/
So 
cialComputing/Papers/CAH1.
pdf 

Hope this helps
James





On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 7:48 PM, Adrian Howard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

>
> On 11 Nov 2008, at 14:30, Jared Spool wrote:
>
>  On Nov 11, 2008, at 3:01 AM, Adrian Howard wrote:
>>
>>  On 11 Nov 2008, at 02:51, Livia Labate wrote:
>>> [snip]
>>>
 How far removed from the ultimate user goal/ambition is the step/thing I
 need to design? The more layers of abstraction between the atomic tasks or
 set of tasks that represent an activity and the end goal for the user, more
 helpful a UCD approach. The less abstract/more direct, more helpful ACD.

<-- ACD usefulness grows
 focus on ACTIVITY  focus on USER GOALS
   UCD usefulness grows -->

>>>
>>> Ah - this actually makes sense to me. ACD & UCD as different ends of a
>>> spectrum - rather than different things.
>>>
>>
>> I don't see that. You can't design with a focus on user goals without
>> thinking about activity. So, in my mind, they are not different ends of the
>> spectrum. ACD ignores goals, needs, and context, whereas UCD does not. It's
>> a superset / subset relationship.
>>
> [snip]
>
> I guess this leads back to my question of not really getting how ACD can
> ignore goals/needs/context - coz I don't see how you can think about
> activities without having some concept, however minimal, of the end users
> goals, needs and context.
>
> It briefly made sense to me as:
> * ACD = uses activity as the driver for design (supported by user models
> when necessary)
> * UCD = uses the user as the driver for design (supported by activity
> models when necessary)
>
> But you're right - it's subset/superset.
>
> So... I still don't get ACD... can somebody point me to some background
> reading that might clarify it for me?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Adrian
>
> 
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[IxDA Discuss] What to use for rapidly generating HTML prototypes from concept model diagrams to test interactive search.

[Michael Long]

Anyone know of a tool that can generate static, linked html pages from  
a concept model diagram? The tool needs to be a concept model diagram  
creation tool that generates individual html pages that are linked  
together. The goal being that if you were to reorganize the concept  
model diagram, the tool can regenerate html pages with the new links.  
This is needed for rapidly creating HTML prototypes in order to test  
interactive search.


Thanks.

- Michael

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[Michael Long]

We (my design team) do not see any separation between UCD and ACD.
They are NOT mutually exclusive in any of the products we design.
When we incorporate ACD (more specifically, Activity Theory
Framework) in our practice we introduce many opportunities to
discover new tools and features for our Users.

Check out this diagram from a conference session I recently conducted
regarding Activity Modeling:
 
http://openscreens.com/articles/activity-modeling-for-kanban-pull-systems/attachment/activitymodeling_ux_kaizenconf-copy

Let me know if you have any suggestions or questions.

Cheers!




. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[James Page]

>
> ACD ignores goals, needs, and context, whereas UCD does not. It's a
> superset / subset relationship.
>

Just to clear up Activity Theory does not ignore this.
For example you start off by observing users. From this observation you
break down the groups into praxis (people doing the same thing), and then
you break the individuals behaviour into activities, of which you break down
further into actions, which are further subdivided into operations.
The activities, actions, and operations are what then informs the design.
Dependent on your users the activities, actions, and operations may be
different for different users.

Take your nurses example. The experienced nurse may have
different activities, actions, and operations then the Trainee nurse, even
though they operate in the same praxis.

On the other hand with UCD you again start by observing users, and then from
this observation you create "Personas", which then informs your design.

So the difference between the two approaches is the output used to inform
design.

James



On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 2:31 PM, mark schraad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Another way of looking at it is this: Are you looking to drive
> behavior or accommodate it? WIth functionality that is new you may
> have more liberty in directing the tasks and activities. For improving
> functionality that already exists, you may want to lean towards
> integrating that pre-existing behavior. In this later situation, user
> research becomes critical.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 3:01 AM, Adrian Howard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> >
> > On 11 Nov 2008, at 02:51, Livia Labate wrote:
> > [snip]
> >>
> >> How far removed from the ultimate user goal/ambition is the step/thing I
> >> need to design? The more layers of abstraction between the atomic tasks
> or
> >> set of tasks that represent an activity and the end goal for the user,
> more
> >> helpful a UCD approach. The less abstract/more direct, more helpful ACD.
> >>
> >>  <-- ACD usefulness grows
> >> focus on ACTIVITY  focus on USER GOALS
> >> UCD usefulness grows -->
> >
> > Ah - this actually makes sense to me. ACD & UCD as different ends of a
> > spectrum - rather than different things.
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
> > Adrian
> > 
> > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
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> >
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[James Page]

Jared,
Great post.

I think one important difference of ACD vs UCD is that ACD has a strong
paradigm behind it. ACD comes out of Activity Theory. This should make ACD
more concrete than a UCD approach, which seams to have little of a core.

In your email you quote the following "Who cares what we call it? My
clients/co-workers don't care what it is, as long as I produce great
designs. Let's just agree that what we do is a good thing, whether we label
it ACD or UCD or whatever."

For example another approach in another industry is Agile. Just look at the
adoption...  Part of the brilliance was giving  a set
of practices a foundation. Most of the rules where being used already, when
the Agile Manifesto was created.

The manifesto gave agile, as Imre Lakatos (to the centre of Philosophy),
would say a core, or if you are Kuhn fan (to the left of Philosophy
) believer a paradigm. UCD lacks the core, or paradigm and therefore if you
are believe in either, Kuhn or Lakatos, or Herb Simon, UCD will be
challenged in building up a centre of knowledge, that can be expanded upon.

Just to clear up the view that ACD does not use User Research.
My business partner, Sabrina Mach explained in another email discussion,
that ACD can use it:-

For example the difference between pure ethnography and activity theory or
> distributed cogition is that ethnography is completely unstructured.
> Ethnographers start observation without any preconception, they simply
> observes and do not judge. The advantage of Activity theory on the other
> hand allows the observer to structure their observations. It focuses on the
> individual in terms of their sociality of work, members of the system,
> working division of labour, and artefacts.
>

This paper explains distributed cognition and Activity theory quiet well.

http://www.research.ibm.com/SocialComputing/Papers/CAH1.pdf
 


So in the end it depends what the aim of a study is... if you want to gather
requirements and understand behavior, AT and DCog are probably quiet good...
if you want to be able to predict how well something will work you are
better of with a method that allows more quantitative assessment.

What is reduced in using ACD is what is used to inform the design.

This ambirgurity in what is UCD in turn creates a risk for the client. If
one can not define the approach how can we compare which method is best? So
your categorization is very useful. But would it be good idea to further
refine it by looking at the stage of processes. Research,  Idea generation,
Testing, Launch, and Refinement?

For example if we take your "genius" and "ACD" example where does Morita and
the Walkman fit in. He spent allot of time thinking about the Activity of
the device, after coming up with original idea. Does it need a record
button. Size: It needs to fit into a suit pocket without ruining the cut of
a jacket.

In his book "Made in Japan" that Sony differed from the American style of
design by getting to a working prototype fast, and then testing where he
said the Americans believe in doing mock ups and simulations.

James


On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 3:33 AM, Jeff Stevenson
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Thanks, Jared. This really helps me to understand better where you
> were coming from in your IA Summit keynote.
>
> To me, the difference between UCD and ACD is mostly about WHEN, in
> the timeline of a project, you start doing your research. Let me give
> an example.
>
> Let's say my client is a financial institution. They come to me
> saying, "We really want to target people who are setting up their
> first bank account. We're not sure how to make ourselves stand out,
> so what do you recommend?." At that stage in the process, I would
> definitely want to do UCD. I want to know what types of personas are
> creating their first bank account. What are their unmet needs? What
> do they want to do online with their bank account? What keywords are
> they searching for when they research bank accounts online? etc. I
> would begin with UCD.
>
> But consider another scenario. Let's say the same financial
> institution comes to me and says "I want to create an online tool
> for people to check their balance, transfer money, and order more
> checks." In that case, I could just begin designing a solution that
> met those requirements. I wouldn't technically need to know more
> information about my users to execute on that request. The
> requirements have already been defined, so I would begin with ACD.
>
> The problem is that the tool I build may or may not solve anyone's
> real problem. I haven't gotten to the important questions, which
> are:
> - Why does the bank want to build this tool? (What is their business
> objective?)
> - What functions do the users want to be able to do?
> - Which functions are most important?
> - What would help this tool to stand out relative to the bank's
> competitors?
>
> And that's the nice thing about UCD. It 

[IxDA Discuss] [EVENT] World Usability Day and Manaus Charpter

[Sonny]

*World Usability Day '08 – Manaus and IxDA Manaus Chapter*
Making life easy !


What is?
The World Usability Day (www.worldusabilityday.org <
http://www.worldusabilityday.org> ) is an event  what happens all november
13th around the world and discuss about design with designers,  industrials,
educators, people e and government. One objective: make sure technology can
help people to live with all potencials and can create a new world for all
people.

Title
 "How can transport impact out society?" and questions about transportation.
We're gonna talk about Manaus issues and our people's needs.

Public
For all academic community, Transportation professionals, designers,  Small
and Little companies.

Who is promoting
This local event is been made by Nokia Technology Institute - INdT (
www.indt.org.br  ) and IxDA (www.ixda.org <
http://www.ixda.org> ) Manaus Chapter, with the support of Amazon Design
Association (ADAM).

Program

19:00 às 19:10 – World Usability Day presentation
19:10 às 19:20 – IxDA Manaus Presentation: Rodrigo Correia
19:20 às 19:40 – INdT Presentation  - André Salgado
19:40 às 20:10 – What is this? User Experience: Fran Maciel
20:10 às 20:40 – User Experience and Open Source: Miguel Peres
20:40 às 21:10 – The future of Interaction Design: Discussion
21:10 às 21:30 – Conclusion

When?
November 13th (Thursday) 7 pm

Where?
Auditório do Sebrae/AM – Av. Leonardo Malcher, Centro

-- 
Rodrigo Santiago
www.rodrigosantiago.com

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Clock Burn-In

[Thomas Davies]

Why don't you actually use the clock information to reduce burn-in?

Surely not many people will be cooking late at night and early in the
morning. So just do a rough estimate and say not many people will be
using the cooker between 10pm and 6am, thats an 8 hour period where
the digital display could be turned off. Obviously if people started
to use it during this period, the clock would reappear!

I am sure this could be used for different appliances as well.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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[IxDA Discuss] [Event] Reminder; IxDA Helsinki happening tomorrow!

[Sami Niemelä]

Hello all,

this is a quick reminder about the first ever IxDA Helsinki get- 
together tomorrow, 18:00 at Nolla, Helsinki.


According the activity on Facebook & Upcoming, we should have 40- 
something crowd attending so it's going to be good. Still no  
presentations or formalities but we've got a little something planned  
up. See you tomorrow!


++

Address: Ravintola Nolla, Pohjoinen Rautatienkatu 21, 00100 Helsinki 
http://www.ravintolanolla.fi

Upcoming: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1264810
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=31995161949

cheers & see you there,
sami


--
Sami Niemelä
+358 50 528 9265
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Personal › http://www.saminiemela.com
Work › http://www.nordkapp.fi


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[IxDA Discuss] Job - Lead Designer/Creative Director for well funded startup - SpeedDate.com - San Mateo, CA

[Mary Stephens]

SpeedDate is transforming the billion dollar online dating industry by 
pioneering a highly interactive web experience that is more effective 
and engaging than traditional online dating. Within our first year, we 
are signing up new customers at the same rate as E-Harmony and Match.com 
by using the viral power of social networks.


We are looking a person who thrive in a fast paced, technology-driven 
culture and enjoy the challenges and rewards of an early stage venture. 
If you are a motivated designer who has the desire to work in a fun, 
fast-paced, and creative environment then this is the place for you!


Job Description:

- Lead in the design effort for both the visual elements and the user 
experience on the SpeedDate website.

- Lead the design effort for our applications on Facebook, Myspace and Bebo.
- Create design mockups and implement by using HTML and CSS.
- Perform AB Testing to determine effectiveness of design solutions.
- Work closely with both engineering and marketing to define and create 
designs that achieve business objectives and motivate users.
- Work on marketing campaigns which may include developing landing 
pages, advertising banners, and email campaigns.

- Expert and manager of UI, UX and IA for all aspects of the website.

Desired Experience:
- 8+ years web and print design experience
- 5+ years experience using HTML and CSS
- Ability to design and implement creative web solutions that have a web 
2.0 look and feel

- Ability to assist other team members in problem solving
- Consumer internet experience a plus

We offer competitive compensation depending on experience and generous 
stock option packages. Our goal is for everyone that helps with 
SpeedDate’s success will be rewarded. Send your resume to Mary Lee - 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] This is full-time position located in San Mateo. At 
this time, we are not considering remote candidates.








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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[Scott]

I would argue that ACD is more part of the evolution of UCD. Design is
about framing problems, and ACD is more of an evolving perspective of
UCD to frame design problems.

I would agree with following view point made 
On 11 Nov 2008, at 02:51, Livia Labate wrote: [snip]Dan Saffer
differentiates ACS and UCS in his Designing for Interaction book very
similarly/succinctly. His best point is that the PURPOSE of an
activity is not necessarily a user goal, meaning looking at a design
problem with a user goal in mind may be too esoteric and not
necessarily helpful (which is the pro argument for ACD).[trim]

Fundamentally for me ACD for me draws on the principles framework set
out in Activity theory and so for this reason I would argue that it is
much more that a modern day task analysis to design. At its core
activities consist of the tools people use, the subject the people
themselves and the material object that can be tangible or totally
intangible.

There are also several interesting point made by Josha Porter on the
blog post - http://bokardo.com/archives/activity-centered-design/. 

A particularly interesting point from the blog post is a point raised
by Don Norman in the article %u2018Human-Centered Design Considered
Harmful%u2019. Norman says:
%u201CMany of the systems that have passed through HCD design
phases and usability reviews are superb at the level of the static,
individual display, but fail to support the sequential requirements
of the underlying tasks and activities. The HCD methods tend to miss
this aspect of behavior: Activity-centered methods focus upon
it.%u201D

To this I would ask how much of ACD and USD methods differentiate and
overlap in design practice?



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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[IxDA Discuss] "What have you left behind?" project

[Mariana Mota]

Hi everyone!

I am writing you to tell about my final project of the Master in Interactive
Media, at University of the West of England, Bristol.

I am developing a project in which I am sending small notebooks for people
in different parts of the world  collecting answers about what they have
left behind.

I am always very interested in projects that is applied to different media.

Check the website and blog:*
www.marianamota.com/whathaveyouleftbehind*

Any ideas or comments are welcome! ;)

Many thanks for your time.

Best wishes,
Mariana Mota.

-- 
Mariana Mota
graphic | interactive designer
www.marianamota.com

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[Richard Rutter]

Jared your points reflect a conversation we often have here at
Clearleft. We say we do UCD, but ask ourselves do we really do ACD? I
reckon the answer is both. Or more particularly we do ACD with a UCD
wrapper. That is to say we do user research and personas, but only
enough to give useful context for the subsequent ACD.

So the research and persona development is activity-focused. It's
used to determine the activities that need to be designed and
provides the settings in which that activity might occur.

In your example of a photo sharing site, one activity would almost
certainly be to upload a photo. Our research and personas would
indicate whether users would be happy uploading one photo at a time
or whether there should be a batch (instead or as well). It may even
identify that uploading is not viable for the majority of users, and
that an alternative solution would need to be developed.

The point is that the UCD is limited to informing the ACD, thus
avoiding dogmatic processes and freeing us to be able to choose the
most appropriate tools to the job at hand.

[Expanded upon at http://clagnut.com/blog/2208/]


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Gmail Labs: Mark as Read Button

[Mauro Gullino]

"mark as read" is a blessing

i use to leave unread those emails i have to reply later, or emails
with job to do

i receive a lot of emails a day from servers reporting status or
different activities. just press shift, mark several of them, mark as
read, archive (yes, i don't read them all. rather, i use gmail as an
archiver)

well done gmail team!



On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 6:05 PM, Alvin Woon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> interesting how we differ in the way we use gmail. I for one just archive
> everything, read or unread, just to clear the top queue.
>
> - Alvin
>
> On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 2:49 PM, Loren Baxter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>> For those of you using Gmail to read the IXDA list, I'd highly recommend
>> turning on the "Mark as Read" button that was recently introduced in Gmail
>> Labs  (Settings > Labs).  I was getting pretty sick of using the dropdown,
>> and you probably are too :)  It's also an inspiring example of how even the
>> smallest design decisions can impact your experience and efficiency with a
>> product.
>>
>> My clicks went from:
>> Select Unread > Expand Dropdown > Mark as Read > Select None
>>
>> to:
>> Select Unread > Mark as Read > Select None.
>>
>> If Gmail is feeling really on it, what I really want is a simple "Mark all
>> Unread Conversations in this Label as Read" button.  Then I would only need
>> one click!
>>
>> Best,
>> Loren
>>
>> -
>> http://acleandesign.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)!
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>



-- 
labs.vardump.com.ar
Y sobre ese follaje se acaba de posar, hace siempre un minuto, una
bandada de pájaros

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to choose? (technical writer or technical tester)

[Laura Lemay]

Speaking as a long-time technical writer, if you do go that route, make 
sure you aggressively market your IxD skills inside the company (and 
keep up on the trends outside the company) even as you build tech 
writing skills.  Tech writers are not high on the development food 
chain, and you may find yourself pigeon-holed as "just the writer" if 
you're complacent about it.


Laura


Ali Naqvi wrote:

Hello members,
well the reason why I only can choose from these two job openings is
that I have ben jobless for 3 months now and have been offerede these
lately. I cant wait any longer since I have to pay mortgage and
support my family. 
(No more loans granted.)

I had a meeting regarding the tech writer job, and the hiring manager
actually liked my portfolio and said that he MIGHT send me to the
usability or user experience group instead. (though the tech writer
position is a part of their overall user experience group) 
He wasnt sure whether I would fit in the tech writer position since

my portfolio was too strong. I might be over qualified for that he
said... BUT lets see what happens. They do EVERYTHING inhouse and he
told me that my skills might be needed in their new created user
experience / usability department. 



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] PC Suites and mobile handsets

[Karri Ojanen]

Hi Tiago,

I agree with Sachendra, establishing the connection between the phone
and the computer should be a snap, and easy as making a phone call
(actually, easier :). Nokia Multimedia Transfer for Mac does that
quite well, when using a Bluetooth connection, not when I have to
connect cables first and see if the crappy Nokia USB cable works this
time...

I haven't used Nokia PC Suite on a Windows machine in a while, but
what I can tell from previous versions is that it's way too
engineered, has way too many components that seem cool, perhaps
useful, but that I never ended up using. I would like it that the PC
Suite software would better integrate with all the other things I
normally do on my computer. The Suite could be constantly running,
seamlessly in the background, and when I want to send a message, it
could let me choose between sending an SMS using my phone (but typing
it on the computer) or sending an email. Nokia PC Suite enables that,
but not seamlessly, together with other software on the computer. I
need to start it first, go through menus and then choose to type an
SMS.

Above all, I, too, would like the PC Suite software to concentrate on
a couple essential features, like how to sync and back up, transfer
photos and music, and how to quickly convert videos for the phone so
that I can watch them on the phone. That's the one thing that's
really missing from Nokia's Suite: there are third party solutions
that let me convert video files for the phone, often through a
complicated process that sometimes fails, but Nokia's own PC Suite
doesn't give a handy solution for that (I think they have something
called Media Convert or Media Transfer, but it doesn't work with all
media files).

Maybe not everybody watches video on their phone, so that's not an
essential feature, but backup/sync and music photo transfer
definitely are I think.

---
Karri Ojanen
Sr. Information Architect
Organic, Inc.




. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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[IxDA Discuss] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers

[Jacqueline Stetson]

Hello IXDA-ers. Long time lurker. First time poster.

I am looking for best practices on incorporating a mouseover layer onto a
web page.

Here is a description of my interaction:

There is a link on the page. On rollover, the user gets a layer that gives
the user more information about the item. When the user moves the mouse off
of the link, the layer goes away. On click, the user goes to the detail page
of the object.

We are using a third party site to create our layers. There are a lot of
options and limitations for stems, hooking, targets, delays, etc.

My typical web search to get to best practices didn't reveal much. What
terms do you use to describe this interaction?

I know the interaction design always "depends" but I was hoping someone out
there has done some testing to help better inform my decision. I work in an
Agile environment and am not in a position to test designs prior to launch.
(That certainly is another topic I'd like to follow up with in a separate
discussion!!)

I'd like to know your thoughts on:

1. Are there any best practices around where the layer should open and how
it is tied to the object? (Like should the header of the layer be beneath or
to the right of the link? Should the stem be in the side middle? top left?
...)

2. Are there any best practices around delay? (Are there any similarities to
the 250ms menu delay?)

3. Are there any best practices on making the layer actionable versus
informational? (with links and a close button versus text only and closing
on mouse-off?)

4. What else should I be concerned about that I'm not thinking of yet?

Thank you so much for your time.

Jacqueline



-- 
Jacqueline Stetson
http://www.jacquelinestetson.com

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[IxDA Discuss] How much setup information to give test participants

[Joel Tachau]

I'm preparing a usability test on a major redesign of an online
marketplace for manufacturing. Our customers are going to see major
changes to the way they source RFQs using our online app. I am planning
to go into the interviews without telling the participants what has
changed. There will be emails and online training before and after the
launch. However, we all know people usually skip over this material. 

Would it be fair to give the participants a brief explanation about how
the process has changed? I am inclined NOT to do this for three reasons:

1) Don't want to lead the use
2) Want to determine knowledge gaps so we can adjust launch
communications and online support
3) There will be limited help text and help icons (for popup help). We
will see  in the test if the users read or click help and if they
contact customer service (email or chat). This will tell us where we
need to beef up the support.

On one hand we want the test to help determine where gaps are so we can
fix issues and develop support materials. But in a test setting, they
will read whatever instructional content we give them for each task and
we can't assume our customers will actually do this when we launch.

Thanks in advance for your help.

- Joel


Joel Tachau
Director of User Experience

Direct > 678.384.6377
Email > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
skype   > mfgjoel
http://www.MFG.com


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[IxDA Discuss] Lessons for UX Consultants from Barack Obama

[John Yesko]

New blog post at Roundarch:

http://impost.roundarch.com/2008/11/10/lessons-for-user-experience-consultants-from-barack-obama/
impost.roundarch.com 


Enjoy!

John Yesko
Roundarch
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-- 
View this message in context: 
http://www.nabble.com/Lessons-for-UX-Consultants-from-Barack-Obama-tp20427620p20427620.html
Sent from the ixda.org - discussion list mailing list archive at Nabble.com.


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[IxDA Discuss] JOB / Lead Interaction Designer / Palo Alto / Recruiter / Full Time

[Carey, Jessica]

Emailing to post the following job description: to the job discussion.
Let me know if I am missing any required info, thanks.

 

 

Our client, one of the biggest tech brands on the planet, is seeking a
Lead Interaction Designer (Lead iXd) to create and drive interaction
strategies across all their businesses and platforms.

 

The Lead iXd will deliver "killer" interaction strategies and designs
for the digital aspects of a variety of high-impact, strategic
initiatives - from deepening the dialogue with customers by harnessing
social media to developing an end-to-end customer experience across
products and services. Reporting to the VP, Corporate Design, the Lead
iXd will develop a company-wide interaction design program to leverage
core businesses and to identify and build on user interface design
related opportunities both internally and through strategic external
partnerships. 

 

Specifically, we're looking for: 

-6+ years in strategic interaction design roles

-Finely tuned interactive skills, high taste level and skills in visual
design, and an understanding of brand

-Experience leading development of broad-based customer experiences,
preferably across product, sales, and support, etc.

-Self-starter, who can initiate, drive and execute across a complex
global organization 
-Strong communication skills with potential to influence high-level
business executives

-Bachelor's degree in Design, or equivalent work experience (Master's
preferred)

-Ideal background in rich media (interactive/web/video, etc.) 


For a full job description or to upload your resume, please go to
www.ritasue.com
  , click on View Opportunities and see job
#4129. Or contact Jessica Carey, Senior Consultant at:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] to learn more.

 

 

-- 

 

Jessica Carey | Senior Consultant | [EMAIL PROTECTED] 

RitaSue Siegel Resources, an Aquent company | www.ritasue.com
 

162 Fifth Avenue | New York, NY | 10010 | T + 212 682 2100 

 

Download the 2008 version of Getting a Design Job at
www.ritasue.com/book

 


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[IxDA Discuss] [JOB] INTERACTION DESIGNER - AMSTERDAM - TOMTOM - FULL TIME

[Ingrid Halters]

JOB DESCRIPTION: 



TomTom is looking for talented interaction designers who have extensive
design experience in the mobile industry and who have the ability to
work in fun but pressured environments. You will be working on state of
the art projects on mobile platforms; you will be enthusiastic; you will
be passionate about creating products that satisfy the needs of our
users and you are able to work both independently and as team member.

 

The Interaction Designer will join the User Experience team at TomTom,
which is at the forefront of product design and innovation, and has an
absolute commitment to delivering the best possible experience to our
users. 

 

The Interaction Designer defines the concept for interactive products
which meet the business goals of TomTom within the project constraints.
He or she applies a User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology to understand
users and their needs in order to create the most compelling experience
for TomTom users.

 

TASKS & RESPONSABILITIES:

 

The Interaction Designer is responsible for:

* The interaction design of products or features.

* Primary contact for all design issues (as design lead). 

* The design process within projects and time estimations of
design tasks.

 

Tasks:

* To perform user analysis and documenting it appropriately
(e.g. personas, scenarios, or task models).

* To perform product analysis to assess possibilities for
improvement and documenting it (e.g. expert reviews).

* To translate business and user requirements to the final
design concept (design idea, functional design, information architecture
and interaction design).

* To document the designs in detailed and accurate
specifications.

* To monitor the implementation process to ensure that the final
product matches the design specifications.

* To design, plan and execute usability tests.

 

JOB QUALIFICATIONS: 



We're looking for candidates with 4+ years of interaction design
experience. Right now, your job title may be interaction, interface or
user experience designer, information architect, or even GUI developer. 

To be successful in this role, you will need a passion for great design
and a holistic understanding of what makes a great user experience.
Additionally you need:

 

* At least four years professional experience designing digital
products and services in the mobile industry.

* A master degree in Media & Design, Human Computer Interaction
or Industrial Design.

* Experience with one or more mobile platforms and their style
guides.

* Experience with Visio, Photoshop, Axure or similar tools. 

* A presentable folio at interview stage.

* A strong attention to detail and exceptional organizational,
logical and analytical skills. 

* Creative problem solving techniques to come up with innovative
concepts. 

* A good understanding of interactive technologies. 

* Strong understanding of usability engineering.

* Good presentation and writing skills (in English). 

 

Whether you have experience working in a design agency, a phone
manufacturer or mobile network provider, we would like to hear from you
if you think you fit the bill. In return we offer a competitive salary
and generous benefits.

 

Interested in learning more? Please contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 

ABOUT TOMTOM:

 

TomTom is one of Europe's fastest growing, most successful and most
innovative consumer electronics companies. As a leading provider of
personal navigation products and services, we focus on innovation,
quality, ease of use and value. Since 1991 the company has grown
substantially, and we are European market leader for personal navigation
devices. Our navigation solutions are used in 20 countries with a
mission to further expand our global customer base. TomTom has its
headquarters located in Amsterdam, and has offices in Europe, Asia,
North America and Australia.

 

 

Ingrid Halters  | Head of User Experience & Requirements Management |
TomTom | [EMAIL PROTECTED]   |
+31 (0) 646 101 987 mobile | 31 (0)20 75 74939 office 

 



This e-mail message contains information which is confidential and may be 
privileged. It is intended for use by the addressee only. If you are not the 
intended addressee, we request that you notify the sender immediately and 
delete or destroy this e-mail message and any attachment(s), without copying, 
saving, forwarding, disclosing or using its contents in any other way. TomTom 
N.V., TomTom International BV or any other company belonging to the TomTom 
group of companies will not be liable for damage relating to the communication 
by e-mail of data, documents or any other information.

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Gmail Labs: Mark as Read Button

[Ricardo Couto]

Or you can just press "I" (uppercase i)
:)

In the second case, I use the shortcut: * U I
* - all
U - unread
I - mark as read


On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 4:49 PM, Loren Baxter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> For those of you using Gmail to read the IXDA list, I'd highly recommend
> turning on the "Mark as Read" button that was recently introduced in Gmail
> Labs  (Settings > Labs).  I was getting pretty sick of using the dropdown,
> and you probably are too :)  It's also an inspiring example of how even the
> smallest design decisions can impact your experience and efficiency with a
> product.
>
> My clicks went from:
> Select Unread > Expand Dropdown > Mark as Read > Select None
>
> to:
> Select Unread > Mark as Read > Select None.
>
> If Gmail is feeling really on it, what I really want is a simple "Mark all
> Unread Conversations in this Label as Read" button.  Then I would only need
> one click!
>
> Best,
> Loren
>
> -
> http://acleandesign.com
> 
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
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>

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[IxDA Discuss] Installing Windows software: choosing client, server, standalone

[Chris Collingridge]

I'm currently writing some guidance for developers who create installers for
Windows applications (a sphere for which there seems to be very little
advice - book anyone?).

An issue that has come up is asking the user whether they want to install
the server software, the client software, or (essentially) both to install a
standalone version. While my initial reaction was that it would be simpler
for the user not to have to make this choice at all there is also a cost for
them in having different installers for all these purpose - a system admin
would have to administer 3 install exes for example: effectively just
forcing them to make this choice at a filename rather than a UI level.

Has anyone designed a screen for this purpose? When did you include it in
the installation process? Has anyone seen a particularly good example of a
screen of this type?

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Good examples of Help Tooltips

[brandon]

The first idea sounds cool, but i can see why it was nixed, as it is
something i've never seen, and it would most likely require help
text to describe how to use the draggable question mark. 

i too have to deal with complex pages on a legacy design requiring
multiple tool tips. I think having one question mark with a large
tool tip to describe everything on one page could be a solution which
i have proposed in the past. although it is as elegant as others
suggested, i think it may solve the problem


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35373



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Re: [IxDA Discuss] PC Suites and mobile handsets

[Bryan Rieger]

Hi Tiago,

On 10 Nov 2008, at 14:18, Tiago Marques wrote:
Question: how do YOU guys use your PC Suite? And what do you wish  
would be improved or extended on the overall experience?


I've often found PC Suites more hassle than they're worth - especially  
for transferring files, for which I simply Bluetooth my files across  
after pairing my device with my laptop. On both Mac and Windows many  
of my devices show up as drives regardless.


Typically, I do however still have the following use-cases for PC  
Suites:


- upgrade of device firmware and general software updates (Apple does  
this very well with iTunes, Nokia - not so good)

- using the device as a modem for my laptop on the go
- backing up my messages, contacts, etc (just wish it synced easily  
with my laptop mail, contacts, etc)


My biggest improvements would be:

- fewer choices (images, pictures, music, documents, etc are all files  
- do we need separate app to transfer each)?
- less engineer speak (too many messages that mean nothing and only  
confuse users)
- avoid having too many pop-up windows for all of the various tasks,  
it's quite confusing and often you can't perform more than one task at  
a time.
- make it work with what I already use (Outlook, Windows Mail,  
Mail.app, etc), don't make me learn and manage more apps/data


Cheers,

Yiibu: Mobile user experience and design
http://yiibu.com | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
tel: +44 (0) 793 273 8782
twitter: bryanrieger

Mobile Design UK
http://mobiledesign.org.uk/

http://bryanrieger.com
...on design, devices and distractions.

http://linkedin.com/in/bryanrieger

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[IxDA Discuss] [JOB] User Interface Designer (GUI) - Northern California - Recruiter - Contract

[Arnab Chatterji]

The following opportunities are for some of our major clients from the
hi-tech sector, based in Northern California! If you are interested in
exploring these opportunities, please reply as soon as possible including
details requested under the HOW TO APPLY section (scroll down below). In the
event you aren't interested, please feel free to pass on this requirement to
any acquaintance who may be.

 

 

TITLE: UI Designer

Type: Onsite Contract

No. of positions: Multiple

Locations: SFO Bay Area (Peninsula) and Sacramento, CA

Duration: 4 - 12 mths, can be extended

Pay rate issues: Depends on geographic locale and level of candidate's
experience. Job-seeker's are opent o quote their expected pay rate. W2
preferred!

 

Description:

We are seeking highly motivated and creative individuals to design web-based
tools and applications. 

Here the UI Designer will be responsible for working closely with project
teams and product owners to create and layout the information flow for the
user experience. He/she will collaborate with team members to understand
functional and usability needs, and design cohesive and aesthetically
pleasing user interfaces. Essential duties will include :

Creating and documenting UI concepts and solutions that support the client
product suite. 

Creating site navigation trees and flow charts that are clear and detailed. 

Creating wire frames, mockups, and interactive prototypes. 

Working with the engineering and business teams to create a consistent look,
feel and functional design system. 

Developing and documenting standards for usability including screen
components, graphics, styles, page navigation and functional interaction. 

Collaborating with product managers, business analysts, architects and other
project stakeholders across the team to design and document the USER
experience.

 

Required Skills:

Must have 5 or more years experience in web design, especially in the UI
design area. 

Must have excellent UI design skills with an outstanding portfolio of
interactive projects.

The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of human interface
design and website layout/design which complies with established corporate
design standards and universally accessible design (I18N/L10N/508 compliance
etc). 

- In addition, the ideal person will not only have experience building
sites, but also understands the importance and methodology of color,
placement, grouping and   follows best practices. 

- This person should be proficient in Flash, working knowledge of AJAX, Flex
and other Rich Internet Application methodologies. 
Solid understanding of the relationship between content, visual design, user
interface and technology. 
- Possess expert-level abilities with HTML, CSS and graphic design tools
such as Adobe Creative Suite or equivalent. 
- Should have prior experience and participation in the complete product
delivery lifecycle. 
- Must be able to quickly generate mockups to illustrate design concepts. 
- Must be able to present multiple design options and recommend approach. 
- Should possess strong understanding of implementation technologies and how
to design within limitations. 

Soft skills:
Possess strong communication skills (in English, both verbal and written)
with the ability to listen, collaborate, articulate designs and advocate
best practice solutions. 
Ability to take direction to meet creative and business needs is a must. 
Must be organized, work effectively under deadlines, and manage multiple,
concurrent projects. 

Education:   

Undergraduate or graduate degree in Fine Arts, Graphic Arts, Human Factors
or related field or an equivalent combination of academics and relevant work
experience. 

 

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested candidates should e-mail us a MS Word copy of their resume with
the subject line

" US-Northern CA: Need User interface designer (GUI)" along with details on
the following (please fill inline): 

1. Your current work authorization status in US? Please specify 

2. Your present location? 

3. How soon will you be able to join on site, if selected? If you
have a specific job locale preference, please indicate so.

4. Best time to call you for a telephonic conversation (please
specify time-zone). 

5. Expected hourly pay rate (on W2) during the contract term? Should
be all inclusive.

 

Please do not alter the subject line of the e-mail for all future
communication on this .. 

 

 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Technical Recruiter

ICONMA LLC  

Toll Free:   (800) 801 8840

Fax:  (800) 489 8046

E Mail:   [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Web Site: www.iconma.com

 


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Re: [IxDA Discuss] [EVENT] IxDA St. Louis World Usability Day Celebrate/Challenge Nov. 13th 6:30 - ???

[Lois Lewis]

OK, I'll be there - so how will others know us? I guess I'll
recognize Nathan by his beast of burden but any other ideas? I'm
considering something mundane like IXDA gear or WUD stickers.

If you plan to attend identify yourself in some geeky IXDA way ok?

Lois


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Ballot design research

[Caroline Jarrett]

To add to Phil's suggestion:

The Brennan Center for Justice is active in researching and fighting for
better electoral processes. 
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/section/category/voting_rights_election
s/

Their report on 'Better Ballots' was published earlier this year, and
references recent research including different ballot designs and how they
performed in actual elections. (I had the honour of being a contributing
expert on this report). 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is the leader in
the field. Summary of their work is here:
http://vote.nist.gov/

best
Caroline Jarrett 


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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What extensions would you like to see in a mobile browser?

[Jeff Seager]

1) Display As Text (like Lynx?)
2) Read Aloud
3) Override with Local Stylesheet
4) Search This Page
5) Search Again
6) Set Target, ZOOM to target

My thinking is this: Graphic design is nearly irrelevant on mobile
devices because of their diminutive size. Content is king. Use the
mobile device's strongest features: text and sound. But allow for
zooming in to view content that may be indispensable.

Good question!
Jeff


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35476



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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Good examples of Help Tooltips

[Mark Pawson]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Very enlightening.
To give a bit more context. Many of the help tips they want to
display are concerned with explaining to the customer the science
behind the control as opposed to explaining control X runs Y. The
applications are focused on geological and geophysical modeling and
interpretation. Hence the dialog could have controls that each run a
different simulation algorithm. We want the customer to stay in the
interface while understanding in a brief paragraph the potential
results of each algorithm. 
And of course combine all that with the standard help tips for the
purpose of other controls.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35373



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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits

[Adrian Howard]

On 11 Nov 2008, at 14:30, Jared Spool wrote:


On Nov 11, 2008, at 3:01 AM, Adrian Howard wrote:


On 11 Nov 2008, at 02:51, Livia Labate wrote:
[snip]
How far removed from the ultimate user goal/ambition is the step/ 
thing I need to design? The more layers of abstraction between the  
atomic tasks or set of tasks that represent an activity and the  
end goal for the user, more helpful a UCD approach. The less  
abstract/more direct, more helpful ACD.


<-- ACD usefulness grows
focus on ACTIVITY  focus on USER GOALS
   UCD usefulness grows -->


Ah - this actually makes sense to me. ACD & UCD as different ends  
of a spectrum - rather than different things.


I don't see that. You can't design with a focus on user goals  
without thinking about activity. So, in my mind, they are not  
different ends of the spectrum. ACD ignores goals, needs, and  
context, whereas UCD does not. It's a superset / subset relationship.

[snip]

I guess this leads back to my question of not really getting how ACD  
can ignore goals/needs/context - coz I don't see how you can think  
about activities without having some concept, however minimal, of the  
end users goals, needs and context.


It briefly made sense to me as:
* ACD = uses activity as the driver for design (supported by user  
models when necessary)
* UCD = uses the user as the driver for design (supported by activity  
models when necessary)


But you're right - it's subset/superset.

So... I still don't get ACD... can somebody point me to some  
background reading that might clarify it for me?


Cheers,

Adrian

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[IxDA Discuss] [EVENT] IxDA Toronto Meeting: Wed Nov 26, 7pm

[Meredith Noble]

We're excited to announce that Matthew Milan, principal at Normative,
will be presenting at the next IxDA Toronto meeting, exactly two weeks
from today.

---

Saab Owners Never Forget: The Role of Novelty in Interaction Design

Affordance and consistency are nice: nobody complains when you create
something that is easy to use. But in the business world, being usable
or even useful just isn't enough. Experiences need to stand out and
drive brand recognition.

The talk will explore the role of novelty in interaction design, and how
it can be applied to create memorable branded interactions.  In addition
to digging into examples of how novel interactions have been used to
build and reinforce brand affinity, the session will also explore the
theories behind the use of novelty in design. Novelty isn't about making
things different for the sake of being different.
Instead novelty is a driver of innovation and change, and helps to more
closely connect experiences with brands.

Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of why novelty matters
in interaction design, and what considerations go into using novelty to
create strategic business advantage.

---

Details:

Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Ave, Suite 120
Wednesday November 26, 7pm

We will head to The Rivoli after the presentation for refreshments.

Please RSVP on Upcoming if you're attending:
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1339417

Alternatively, if you're Upcoming-shy, email us: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Everyone is welcome - bring a colleague!

Sign up for our mailing list to be notified of future events:
http://groups.google.com/group/ixda-toronto/

Meredith & Matt
IxDA Toronto Coordinators

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Clock Burn-In

[Lisa deBettencourt]

To not address the clock/no clock issue (as it could be specific client
request, etc.)

Assumption here: the appliance is in a fixed location like the kitchen.

Do you have control over the brightness of the display? One option would be
to have a light sensor in the device where you detect the ambient room
lighting. In brightly lit rooms, you could up the brightness of the display
and in dimly lit rooms the probability of use might be lower (again, not
knowing your product or its application) so you could reduce the brightness
level. At least 1/2 the time the room would be dimly lit (at night)

It is, however, an additional part cost as well as EE/embedded SW dev cost.

Cheers,
Lisa

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[IxDA Discuss] [EVENT] IxDA Chicago event - webstreaming details

[Chicago IxDA]

For our event tonight, "Social to Mobile," the webstream will be viewable at
the following address:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ixda-chicago-local-event

If you miss it during the broadcast, you can also visit this location to
view the video at a later date.

Carolyn

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What extensions would you like to see in a mobile browser?

[Barbara Ballard]

On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:21 PM, Sachendra Yadav <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> What extensions would you suggest to enhance the browsing experience on 
> mobile?
>

Most of my extensions are in the "fix things broken with the browser"
department. As such, they are at risk of becoming obsolete. URL fixer
seems obvious, session restore, readitlaterlist (a must try, and can
work across browsers), delicious integration, Google Gears, and
load-in-background.

On that last one, if I (a) have an unlimited connection and (b) know
what I'm doing, then PLEASE don't make me wait for a tab I have open
to reload every time I glance at it. Do a combination of finish
loading when a tab is in the background, respecting the page's
refreshes, and NOT reloading the page when I glance at it.

Next, I want to use plug-ins to give me access to local data and
capabilities, a la the BONDI initiative and Oracle's nifty
make-sure-you-have-local-data-but-sync-it-when-network-is-available
database system.

Once I have all that, I'll undoubtedly think of more stuff. But
that'll be 2+ years out, so I have time.


http://readitlaterlist.com/


Barbara Ballard
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 1-785-838-3003

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What extensions would you like to see in a mobile browser?

[Cone]

I'd like it to save the file to a location when I do a screen capture.

 If possible, I'd also like it to give me an option to:

1) Let me set a default for what format/ compression to save the file in,
every time I do a screen capture

2) Let it ask me every time I do a screen capture on what file
format/compression to save in with a preview of it in how (if I want to
upload it directly to the web without editing, I'd like to choose the
optimum format depending on how many colors are there on that page or
section of a page I am zooming in on)

I'd like the option of choosing between gif, jpg, bmp and png for file
formats. These four would well suffice for me,

Cone

www.conetrees.com
www.twitter.com/conetrees

On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 10:48 AM, Sachendra Yadav <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Would it suffice to be able to download the page to device memory and
> be able to access it later even without network connection, or would
> you specifically prefer the screengrab (might be a significantly small
> area given that screen-sizes of mobiles)
>
> Sachendra
>
> On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 11:41 PM, Cone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I'd like to see an extension for taking screenshots of pages in the
> browser.
> > That's one thing I can immediately think of.
> > Cone
> > www.conetrees.com
> > www.twitter.com/conetrees
> >
> > On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 10:51 AM, Sachendra Yadav <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> The first extension for Mozilla's mobile browser "Fennec" has been
> >> released. It's a URL Fixer, a handy tool that corrects typos in URLs
> >> typed in the address bar... makes perfect sense for a mobile browser.
> >>
> >> What extensions would you suggest to enhance the browsing experience on
> >> mobile?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Sachendra Yadav
> >> http://sachendra.wordpress.com
> >>
> >>
> >> 
> >> Reply to this thread at ixda.org
> >> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35476
> >>
> >> 
> >> 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
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Cone Trees- User Research & Design
> > http://www.conetrees.com
> > http://www.twitter.com/conetrees
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Sachendra Yadav
> http://sachendra.wordpress.com
>



-- 
Cone Trees- User Research & Design
http://www.conetrees.com
http://www.twitter.com/conetrees

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Ballot design research

[Phil Chung]

Alan,

There's a lot of research going on. Barbara Ballard, who I think is on this 
thread, can probably offer more information, but here's a link to get started 
(my old lab):

http://chil.rice.edu/projects/accurate/index.html

Phil





From: Alan Wexelblat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: IxDA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 10:46:35 AM
Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Ballot design research

FiveThirtyEight posed a ballot design question that I think ought to
be easily answerable with research and I'm also vaguely remembering
that someone did this kind of research.  Can anyone help?

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/ballot-design-quiz.html#comments
- three versions of a ballot are shown and the research question is
which version would produce an undervote.

There's a lot of discussion underneath the entry but it mostly seems
to be guesswork.  Anyone got research?

--Alan

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[IxDA Discuss] Ballot design research

[Alan Wexelblat]

FiveThirtyEight posed a ballot design question that I think ought to
be easily answerable with research and I'm also vaguely remembering
that someone did this kind of research.  Can anyone help?

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/ballot-design-quiz.html#comments
- three versions of a ballot are shown and the research question is
which version would produce an undervote.

There's a lot of discussion underneath the entry but it mostly seems
to be guesswork.  Anyone got research?

--Alan

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