Re: [IxDA Discuss] Long list with multi-select
On 21 Jan 2009, at 01:13, Rachel wrote: [snip] Answer: from 1 to 250, depending on the situation - If 1, we will show read-only text, not as checkbox - If list is short, will show as a list of items w/ checkboxes - if list is long, need a special control (as I've described) [snip] As an aside - I've always been surprised by how well large numbers of check boxes test with users. They have the advantage that (in web apps anyway) the user can quickly scan all the entries. With a multiple column layout and clear styling on selected items it can be very effective. I wouldn't automatically discard a list of check boxes just because it had a couple of hundred entries. Cheers, Adrian Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Corporate website redesign, where to put intranet access?
Thanks to everyone for your support, input and suggestions; it's great to have a sounding board (especially as I am currently a one person team on this project!). In answer to your questions: As of last week we have had Google Analytics added to the site, which is already giving us a lot of the information we sorely needed (as pointed out by William and Ivy). Currently 98% of the traffic is heading towards that employee login! However, this may be because the site is not well publicised. Up until now it has been a necessity, but not a marketing tool in any way (a corporate decision). However, it looks like there is a new corporate strategy about to be embraced, promoting services, which would require much more visibility and which would obviously affect the architecture. The original reason for the redesign - and a good opportunity to update and refresh its look and organization - was compliance with accessibility laws and standards. Heuristic, accessibility and a basic SWOT analysis have been conducted (the first things I did when I started there). Prior to that they did interview the members of the board and sent out questionnaires to shareholders and other users (but I think that was in 2005-6, yep, things move slowly!). As you can tell, usability and interaction design techniques are quite new to this client, so it's a question of showing them the possibilities and improving the methodology bit by bit. There are plans to train some interns in this field, so at least they are open to ideas (as long as they don't require too much time and resources of course! hehe). Anyway, thanks to all (Bryan, Peetri, Ivy) for suggesting alternatives. Employee login or Intranet login as a visible log in box on the home page makes a lot of sense, and the About section avoids the corporate label duplication. Paul, thanks for the suggestions and pointers to resources. I completely agree that this needs to be user-focused, though at the moment because of the internal politics and structure, I would not have access to all the key shareholders (I'm subcontracted which reduces my status even more!). However, I have extracted some info from the questionnaires and hopefully Google Analytics will give me some more direction. bit by bit I hope to go addressing these obstacles. Regarding card sorting, yep, I think it is essential. That I think I can do by email within the company, which would at least be a start. Scenarios and personas will be the next challenge! Kind regards, Elizabeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37401 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Drawbacks of using Flex for data processing application?
Oleh I'm involved as the interaction designer on a Flex-based financial trading application at the moment. I'm curious what sort of data processing application you have in mind. How much data would you be sending to the client and at what rates? Or is your concern solely about the ability of Flex to present data-intensive UIs? Best, --Alan Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
This reminds me of a debate I used to have about instructional design. My friend liked to contrast the scientific approach, based on research, with the intuitive approach, based on... well, he would said nothing but instinct. I would say that while the scientific approach breaks everything down into individually verifiable tidbits, the intuitive approach simply makes a great many - just as rational - decisions at once. Of course, the catch is that the results are good only when the person making the intuitive design decisions is really smart, understand technology, and has a great instinct for users as well. When Steve Jobs does it, it usually comes out pretty well (ipod) but not always (Newton - or was he gone then?)! Anyway, there are some designers who have a good sense of what works and what doesn't. (BTW another factor in the Jobs/iPod success is that the designer had the power to see the concept through to complete expression in all aspects; many great concepts get watered down and compromised through bureaucratic compromise, turf wars, etc.) Sure, some testing is better than no testing, and before release is better than after, but there are some critical limitations of testing to keep in mind: - Testing is not design. Testing reveals problems, but simply reversing the condition you tested is seldom the best design solution. Usually there are clusters of related issues, and to solve them well, it takes design, and creative design always involves some element of integrative intuition or, if you well, genius. - You can't test everything - except in the case of the final product in the market (though even there success can be influenced by non- product factors). During development, you can choose the aspects you are most uncertain about and test them and improve them, but you never know - some aspect that you thought was a no-brainer could turn out to be the most problematic for users. - Don't forget the factor of fashion! Sometimes the market likes something that doesn't make a lot of sense but just seems new and fresh! These things seldom come out of research. In short, a bit of research never hurts, but it's not substitute for creative design. Cheers, - Jim Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
Hi Jim, On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 9:20 PM, JimH j...@hoekema.com wrote: This reminds me of a debate I used to have about instructional design. My friend liked to contrast the scientific approach, based on research, with the intuitive approach, based on... well, he would said nothing but instinct. I would say that while the scientific approach breaks everything down into individually verifiable tidbits, the intuitive approach simply makes a great many - just as rational - decisions at once. I often do like following, do design research first, and keep in zen mind-set for enough time(this is a art, as we know, many designers have their own style at this phase ), and the design intuitively with team brain storming. The point is design research is not conflict with intuivitive approach, instead it's the precondition that enabling intuitive approach for solid and fruitfull design. Regards, Jarod -- http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
If you search the discussions here you will find many spirited conversations surrounding 'genius' design. The connotation being a smart approach to design, which it very often isn't. I think Dan's intent (please correct me if I am wrong Dan) was to put a label on design that is largely executed without direct user input or research. There several several facets of this. 1) young or uninitiated designers that don't know better. 2) those that cannot or will not allocate resources for user research. 3) designers with extraordinary domain expertise... that can be successful without user or market investigations specific to a project 4) designers who are largely designing for themselves, or people just like themselves. Judge the application of 'genius design' as you will... but the debate is clearly still a flash point for some. The term 'ego-centric design' was received with a great deal of defensiveness. While I am not sure who coined it, I know that when I used it, it was meant to signify that the designer was at the center of product knowledge and the vision... thus making many design decisions without the benefit of user research (without the rather subjective judgement of smart vs. not smart). I certainly never intended for its use to be interpreted as 'ego-maniac' or 'arrogant' designer. Genius design Is not a great label or term, but the community at large as failed to come up with anything better... and well, it is in print. Mark On Jan 25, 2009, at 1:39 AM, Andrew Boyd wrote: Hi Jarod, some unkind observers may have referred to this same phenomenon as ego-driven design - notwithstanding that there will be some people that can get away with it some or most of the time through either absolute domain knowledge or sheer blind luck (and there is a tendency for some people to confuse one with the other). I know some people that I would trust to get it right most of the time within a set task domain and a specific set of end users that they have worked with in the past - but they are the exception. Other wiser heads than mine have said it many times in the past - the design is always tested, either before release or after. Cheaper to test earlier. For myself, I am happiest when I can involve users early and often in the research/design/evaluation process. Best regards, Andrew On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 4:29 PM, Jarod Tang jarod.t...@gmail.com wrote: as guys keep asking genius design, and seems some newbie designer take it as the secret path to grand design success, which is not a good thing from my understanding. from http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/designing-for-interaction-an- interview-with-dan-saffer Genius design is when the designer relies on his or her own experience and skill to design, without any input from users. It's done by designers who either don't have the resources or the inclination or temperament to do research. Too often, it is practiced by inexperienced designers with little skill, but it can and has been used by many designers to create impressive things. Reportedly, the iPod was made with no user research, for example. there's many problems from this discription, 1. Reportedly, the iPod was made with no user research, for example, as we know iPod is not first portable musice player, with many previous players, with bounch of user's feedback, so even by criitcle design, he also get user's feedback indirectly(so he did get user's input). Further, apple designer adjust the design generation by generation, what's the driven force? user's feedback of cuz.(how can one explain it in other way?) 2. relies on his or her own experience and skills to design, without any input from users. With doubtfull iPod case, it's solid to say one cant can create a produce without user's feedback, with one expecptioin, himself is the user ( so you hardly find he visit outter user) 3, with one expecptioin, himself is the user ( so you hardly find he visit outter user), this is not because of genius but because he's the user Genius is died ( or never there), thy user is long life. There's genius designer instead of genius design, who can 1. have good sense of good or bad design 2. come up with spark design solutions according to insight on user 3. empathy with user effectively. Regards, Jarod -- http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help -- --- Andrew Boyd http://uxbookclub.org -- connect, read, discuss Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Looking for good examples of resolving sync conflicts
Yes, I was thinking of something more like that than a diff program. I'll probably need to link that kind of a side-by-side display with a list that allows the user to see progress and go back or randomly move among the items. Thanks for the suggestion. Michael On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 2:45 AM, Auke van Scheltinga auk...@gmail.comwrote: The syncronisation from itunes comes to mind. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/2655852452_0ba7ca2973.jpg the user can simply compare two version's visually and clicks the correct one. After clicking you go to the next conflict. Good luck! Auke 2009/1/23 Michael Moore mmo...@pureinfodesign.com Hi all, I'm working on a project that will involve comparison and synchroniziation of two lists, with the need to see the details of each list item as part of the comparison. The most obvious examples out there are various flavors of file directory compare tools, but the interfaces to these seem to be uniformly crappy. I'm wondering if the collective wisdom here could point me to some good examples. Thanks in advance, Michael Moore -- Michael B. Moore Pure InfoDesign www.pureinfodesign.com Reply to this thread at ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37545 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help -- Michael B. Moore • Pure InfoDesign • 415.246.6690 M • www.pureinfodesign.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
On Jan 25, 2009, at 8:14 AM, mark schraad wrote: 1) young or uninitiated designers that don't know better. 2) those that cannot or will not allocate resources for user research. 3) designers with extraordinary domain expertise... that can be successful without user or market investigations specific to a project 4) designers who are largely designing for themselves, or people just like themselves. In this IxDA post: http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=35466 and in this article: http://is.gd/gLAQ I attempt to describe what we've seen in our research studying teams over the past 10 years. We've found it useful to break these different decision styles into five categories: Unintended design, Self Design, Genius Design, Activity-Focused Design, and User-Focused Design. (Note: I changed our terminology from Activity-Centered and User-Centered, because those terms carried baggage that we didn't intend when we were talking about this, thus muddling the discussion.) In your categorization, I'd consider #1 and #2 to likely be Unintended Design, but it would be hard to tell without more study of the specific design practice. (The other option is just Poor Design, whereby the team is just acting incompetently. As I recently twittered: Competence is bounded but incompetence has no such boundaries.) #3 is what we'd call Genius Design, in that it leverages the existing experience and knowledge of the design team without the need for further research. We've seen this many times in our travels and have come to believe it's a solid style that often has positive outcomes. #4 is what we'd call Self Design. This can work really well in some niches, such as musicians creating instruments that they themselves will perform with. (Many don't know this but this is how Bill Buxton got started in computers.) In our research, we've met surgeons who created surgical tools and receiving dock managers who created enterprise supply chain software. In all these cases, a good design outcome is possible. However, our early research results (we're still working on this, though we're sharing a lot of it in our upcoming roadshow -- http://www.uie.com/events/roadshow/ ) shows that the more informed the design decisions, the better the end experiences for the users. Informed decisions can come from many places, but rarely happen by accident. Hope that helps, Jared Jared M. Spool User Interface Engineering 510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845 e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561 http://uie.com Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks Twitter: jmspool UIE Web App Summit, 4/19-4/22: http://webappsummit.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
So, where would you draw that fine line that defines when your expert opinion overides the users bad habits? Novice users do become power users shedding guilty design pleasures in the process. Sent from my iPhone On Jan 25, 2009, at 8:25 AM, Dan Saffer d...@odannyboy.com wrote: On Jan 24, 2009, at 9:29 PM, Jarod Tang wrote: 1. Reportedly, the iPod was made with no user research, for example, as we know iPod is not first portable musice player, with many previous players, with bounch of user's feedback, so even by criitcle design, he also get user's feedback indirectly(so he did get user's input). Competitive analysis is not the same as generative user research. Further, apple designer adjust the design generation by generation, what's the driven force? user's feedback of cuz.(how can one explain it in other way?) Again, getting feedback from a product already on the market has nothing to do with creating a product via a user-centered design approach. 2. relies on his or her own experience and skills to design, without any input from users. With doubtfull iPod case, it's solid to say one cant can create a produce without user's feedback, with one expecptioin, himself is the user ( so you hardly find he visit outter user) Everything I've read about the genesis of the iPod, including the definitive The Perfect Thing by Steve Levy backs up my assertion. People create products all the time without user feedback *into the initial design process.* I've done it many times, as have probably many of the people on this list. 3, with one expecptioin, himself is the user ( so you hardly find he visit outter user), this is not because of genius but because he's the user Genius is died ( or never there), thy user is long life. Designers with insight, skill, and experience will always be able to design beautiful or at least functional products that people want to use. In fact, one could argue that nearly everything we use has been designed this way. UCD didn't create the GUI, the car, email, Twitter, ATM machines, the Wii, the iPhone, dishwashers, washing machines, laptops, etc etc etc. Dan Dan Saffer Principal, Kicker Studio http://www.kickerstudio.com http://www.odannyboy.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org 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 ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
People evolve. We used to all use manual typewriters. On Jan 25, 2009, at 2:21 PM, Angel wrote: So, where would you draw that fine line that defines when your expert opinion overides the users bad habits? Novice users do become power users shedding guilty design pleasures in the process. Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel President, Design Researcher Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. -- Contact Info Voice: (215) 825-7423 Email: t...@messagefirst.com AIM:twar...@mac.com 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 ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
As a User Centered Design graduate I find it quite irritating to be working in an environment where engineers run everything. My position does not allow me to say much yet as a Tech Writer/Project Manager assisting the engineers on usability issues I have had it! They all believe that designing for the end users only involve usability issues... Should I send them a copy of Allan Cooper's The Inmates are running the asylum? :) Few of them have taken some HCI courses and THATS IT! There is NO qualitative research and both hardware-/software engineers think that their own opinion about the products matter. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
Time to work on your persuasion skills, patience, and what Peter Merholtz refers to IA (in this case, IxD) Judo. And, use Stephen Anderson's Eye-Candy is a Critical Business Requirement to build your case, http://www.slideshare.net/stephenpa/eye-candy-is-a-critical-business-requirement.http://www.slideshare.net/stephenpa/eye-candy-is-a-critical-business-requirement It's not they're engineers that makes them this way - feeling unswayed by arguments beyond their own opinion. This tends to be the case when one group dominates. They're not accustomed to being challenged or questioned, and they probably don't realize that you're trying to make an impact. In the early days, you're likely more a pest to them than one who is bringing valid arguments for product improvement. I've had similar experience is creative-dominated organizations and merchant-dominated organizations. Those groups matured long before the front-end was a substantial part of the work, so they were settled and stubborn. To me, it seemed like they didn't care at all. In fact, they just cared about things that were at first not visible to me. In order to become part of the team, I had to first get a glimpse of what was important to them. In some ways it's like going to a new high school and having to infiltrate a new clique. I've just joined a new, creative-dominated group and am experiencing the same challenge all over again. First, show them that you can work with them, on their terms. Your goals would be keeping up and still adding value while swallowing your pride. You've learned a lot in school, so you feel like you know how to fix their problems. But, they've been doing their stuff for a while too, and no one likes to have a newcomer who thinks they have all the answers. You have to pay your dues, earn your chops. Next, find partners, whether they're inside or outside the engineering group. Make a connection with those people, learn from their mistakes and successes so you can move faster and smarter. Sometimes friends can vouch for you when you're not there, but would want someone to support you. For instance, when project teams are being formed, or when there's a new problem to be solved. Then, work on something of your own that is a strong statement of your UX/IxD skills and is *not* a challenge to their way of doing things. For instance, maybe a ux-oriented process improvement for a problem that's been bothering the engineering team. In the merchant-oriented business, going from static wireframes to interactive prototypes showed them results faster so they could make decisions faster and with less ambiguity. That made me look valuable in a way that helped them. I hope this helps. The culture is significant determinant of the quality of the product. I consider it a major component of my job to to improve the culture I work in, just as much as I improve the quality of the products. Roughly quoting Hackos and Redish, usability is about improving the quality of the product...and improving the quality of the process by which products are made. -Jay On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 4:12 PM, Ali Amrohvi a...@amroha.dk wrote: As a User Centered Design graduate I find it quite irritating to be working in an environment where engineers run everything. My position does not allow me to say much yet as a Tech Writer/Project Manager assisting the engineers on usability issues I have had it! They all believe that designing for the end users only involve usability issues... Should I send them a copy of Allan Cooper's The Inmates are running the asylum? :) Few of them have taken some HCI courses and THATS IT! There is NO qualitative research and both hardware-/software engineers think that their own opinion about the products matter. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help -- Jay A. Morgan Director, UX at Gage in Minneapolis twitter.com/jayamorgan google talk: jayamorgan skype: jaytheia Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Infrastructure Initiative update - Jan 25, 2009
Dear IxDA members, I'm pleased to provide a progress report on the Infrastructure initiative. This project, for which I am the project manager, aims to significantly update the IxDA.org website, most particularly in the areas of local groups, an events calendar, member profiles and improved discussion tools. Please visit the IxDA Board Blog for the full story! See http://board.ixda.org/node/8 If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to voice them. Thanks for your attention and continued support of IxDA as we valiantly strive to improve our community's experience! Cheers, Liz Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
Ali, I sympathize. What Jay recommends is excellent advice for grappling with any overly strong and unreflective group, but there are more specific approaches that work best with engineers and similar personality types. Occasionally there are even advantages in having such a group. There are two issues with engineer-driven environments. - *Persuasion.* Building relationships and a business case is helpful. Focus on using data that appeals to the scientific part of their brains. Their logic and vanity will both appreciate that. I find any relevant neuroscience data very helpful, as well as analysis that incorporates different user types, including their type. So, have a smart engineer persona and what works for them (probably what they're recommending), and then explain the other types and needs, and how your approach meets them all. - *Development style. * More and more engineering-driven places are using Agile and Agile-esque approaches such as Scrum for development. This can make it challenging to meet big-picture needs such as UX IA. It is indeed possible, however. First, establish public best practices and what works tips, and where possible train all teams in the basics. Second, establish UX as part of an integration team, and let them track all the separate project streams in one place, to see overlap and conflict. Lastly - and this isn't necessary, it just helps me personally - remember that Agile Scrum are basically the creative process writ large, applied to technical development. The very act of working this way makes engineers and developers more accessible to alternative approaches - and makes the design people more immediately aware of dev needs, too. I said it could help at times, too. I worked at Texas Instruments for a while, and it's a very engineer-driven environment. However, the audience was just over 80% engineer as well. So we could turn to our own engineers as well as user engineers for research and testing, and happily design primarily *to* engineers, which is a rare joy in UX. The focus is clear and there's very little confusion as to what works and what doesn't, although there are a few differences with the rest of the world. (For example, for something like training informaiton, engineers prefer one long page that's well-anchored internally, rather than multiple pages to keep most content above the fold.) So, those are my comments on dealing with the engineering mind set. Hope they're useful to you! bests, Alex O'Neal ux manager/social network analyst -- The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is now. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
Genius Design = Intelligent Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37589 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
Ask them how many engineers use their software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37605 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
*Development style. * More and more engineering-driven places are using Agile and Agile-esque approaches such as Scrum for development. This can make it challenging to meet big-picture needs such as UX IA. It is indeed possible, however. I'd love to learn more about this; maybe I'll start another thread? The Dev team at my company is Agile/Scrum all the way and we're trying, as a Design Team, to insert ourself much earlier in the process. It's tough to get ahead of it! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37605 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
@Jared #3 is what we'd call Genius Design, in that it leverages the existing experience and knowledge of the design team without the need for further research. We've seen this many times in our travels and have come to believe it's a solid style that often has positive outcomes. Agree, it possible. But do maybe mark already anwsered the question Genius design Is not a great label or term, but the community at large as failed to come up with anything better... and well, it is in print.? @ Josephine, Would you mind very much reviewing it, making the corrections necessary, and reposting it? Reframed it as following. Guys are keep asking genius design, and it seems to me some newbie designers take it as a secret path to great design success, which is not a good thing from my understanding. from http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/designing-for-interaction-an-interview-with-dan-saffer Genius design is when the designer relies on his or her own experience and skill to design, without any input from users. It's done by designers who either don't have the resources or the inclination or temperament to do research. Too often, it is practiced by inexperienced designers with little skill, but it can and has been used by many designers to create impressive things. Reportedly, the iPod was made with no user research, for example. there's problems from this description, 1. Reportedly, the iPod was made with no user research, for example. As we know, iPod is not first portable music player. iPod designers may do critical design according to previous music player and the user feedback indirectly(so they do get user's input). Further, apple designer adjust the design generation by generation, what's the driven force? user's feedback. (how it be explained in other way?) 2. relies on his or her own experience and skills to design, without any input from users. With doubtful iPod case, it's solid to say one cant can create a produce without user's feedback, with one exception, himself is the user ( so he may not visit other user) 3, With one exception, he himself is the user. This is not because of genius design but because he's the user so he can understand user from his own using experience. Genius is died (or never existed there), thy user is long-life. There's genius designer instead of genius design, who 1. has good sense of good or bad design 2. come up with spark design solutions according to insight on user 3. can empathy with user effectively Regards, Jarod -- http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
In work environments like this, I have found that forcing our discipline into the process is the least effective... the you MUST work with us mantra will fall on deaf ears. It's often relationship building, one person at a time. Get one or two engineers who have seen the positive impact your perspective has on the end product become your advocates. Also no one likes to feel like a dumb ass. Everyone wants to feel like they know what they're doing. So consider how you can approach the challenge as less a Debbie (or Donnie) Downer [ie. here are all the things that are wrong with what you've made], and more how you can make them feel like the perspective you brought made their work better. May seem easier said than done, but I think most of the battle is getting someone to feel like you're a needed resource because they couldn't possibly do the work as well without you. janna On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 5:12 PM, Ali Amrohvi a...@amroha.dk wrote: As a User Centered Design graduate I find it quite irritating to be working in an environment where engineers run everything. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
I think that is great advice. I like it. But their are some enormous A-holes that engineer. I think every department should have one person from another department on that team as a liaison. The last four or so gigs I've had have been on engineering teams and it is not my background. What brought me to it is that as a designer you hit road blocks when someone says 'You can't', 'Don't', etc... It is often b*ll sh*t and the engineers are operating behind a curtain like the wizard of OZ. With the last PM I worked with I said 'if you can explain it we can make it happen.' I don't think a good engineer says it cannot be done. I've also worked with stellar engineers and I always make it a point to ask what is a good deliverable for you (why) and the good ones have sent me exactly what they want and why they want it that way. The others riddle off reasons why they are of a superior breed and the like, they usually couldn't engineer their way out of a wet paper bag... On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 5:00 PM, Janna Hicks DeVylder ja...@devylder.comwrote: In work environments like this, I have found that forcing our discipline into the process is the least effective... the you MUST work with us mantra will fall on deaf ears. It's often relationship building, one person at a time. Get one or two engineers who have seen the positive impact your perspective has on the end product become your advocates. Also no one likes to feel like a dumb ass. Everyone wants to feel like they know what they're doing. So consider how you can approach the challenge as less a Debbie (or Donnie) Downer [ie. here are all the things that are wrong with what you've made], and more how you can make them feel like the perspective you brought made their work better. May seem easier said than done, but I think most of the battle is getting someone to feel like you're a needed resource because they couldn't possibly do the work as well without you. janna On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 5:12 PM, Ali Amrohvi a...@amroha.dk wrote: As a User Centered Design graduate I find it quite irritating to be working in an environment where engineers run everything. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org 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 ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:25 AM, Dan Saffer d...@odannyboy.com wrote: On Jan 24, 2009, at 9:29 PM, Jarod Tang wrote: 1. Reportedly, the iPod was made with no user research, for example, as we know iPod is not first portable musice player, with many previous players, with bounch of user's feedback, so even by criitcle design, he also get user's feedback indirectly(so he did get user's input). Competitive analysis is not the same as generative user research. Further, apple designer adjust the design generation by generation, what's the driven force? user's feedback of cuz.(how can one explain it in other way?) Again, getting feedback from a product already on the market has nothing to do with creating a product via a user-centered design approach. This depends on how we define the goal of existing product analyze. The feedback and anayze is to reveal how a product fit or not fit into user's life, so what's inside the core of the analyze other than user, user's needs, movtivations, behaviour patterns? So the essential part is still know the user, and the only difference is how we approach it. 2. relies on his or her own experience and skills to design, without any input from users. With doubtfull iPod case, it's solid to say one cant can create a produce without user's feedback, with one expecptioin, himself is the user ( so you hardly find he visit outter user) Everything I've read about the genesis of the iPod, including the definitive The Perfect Thing by Steve Levy backs up my assertion. Maybe more, http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2006/10/71956?currentPage=2 The basic hardware blueprint was bought from Silicon Valley startup PortalPlayer, which was working on reference designs for several different digital players, including a full-size unit for the living room and a portable player about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Schiller's scroll wheel didn't come from the blue, however; scroll wheels are pretty common in electronics, from scrolling mice to Palm thumb wheels. People create products all the time without user feedback *into the initial design process.* I've done it many times, as have probably many of the people on this list. 3, with one expecptioin, himself is the user ( so you hardly find he visit outter user), this is not because of genius but because he's the user Genius is died ( or never there), thy user is long life. Designers with insight, skill, and experience will always be able to design beautiful or at least functional products that people want to use. In fact, one could argue that nearly everything we use has been designed this way. UCD didn't create the GUI, the car, email, Twitter, ATM machines, the Wii, the iPhone, dishwashers, washing machines, laptops, etc etc etc. Designers with insight, skill, and experience is a general statment, which no designer dare denying it. But for making more sense ( for realworld design project), we shoud know What's the insight on and for?, be removing the flowers on the cover, we may all find the user at the core of the insight, or what else? From above analyze, it's not a difficult thing to say that nearly everything we use has been designed this way, but we should care about where this way to and for. Regards, Jarod Dan Dan Saffer Principal, Kicker Studio http://www.kickerstudio.com http://www.odannyboy.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help -- http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
Hi Janna, Also no one likes to feel like a dumb ass. Everyone wants to feel like they know what they're doing. So consider how you can approach the challenge as less a Debbie (or Donnie) Downer [ie. here are all the things that are wrong with what you've made], and more how you can make them feel like the perspective you brought made their work better. May seem easier said than done, but I think most of the battle is getting someone to feel like you're a needed resource because they couldn't possibly do the work as well without you. Thanks for your inspiration. Yes, designers job is judged by what they can build instead of insist by words. Thanks, Jarod -- http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Would you test my designs?
I totally agree. I'm shocked at where this post went. The fact of the matter is you, my fellow designer, are my target audience (so long as you have CMS experience). As an experience designer, I not only want to talk to you, I want your advice on how you could improve my work. If this is wrong, I question the integrity of this forum. I don't however think it is wrong. And the response rate I received also suggests it is not wrong. Thank you for those that signed up. You'll be hearing from me in the not-so-distant future. Jeff On Jan 23, 2009, at 12:26 PM, Josiah Johnson wrote: I've recently joined onto this IxDA thread, and while I don't have much cred in this community, I'd like to point out that we're starting to get pretty unprofessional as this thread goes on. If your post essentially amounts to spam or personal attacks, I'd rather not see it on this thread. What I mean to say is, while a few of the earlier people had potentially valid objections to using this thread for simple work advice, the commentary is starting to degrade. Let's keep it professional and on topic people. Thank you. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37519 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org 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 ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Would you test my designs?
On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 1:06 PM, Jeff Noyes jeff.no...@acquia.com wrote: I totally agree. I'm shocked at where this post went. The fact of the matter is you, my fellow designer, are my target audience (so long as you have CMS experience). As an experience designer, I not only want to talk to you, I want your advice on how you could improve my work. If this is wrong, I question the integrity of this forum. I don't however think it is wrong. And the response rate I received also suggests it is not wrong. Thank you for those that signed up. You'll be hearing from me in the not-so-distant future. Jeff Jeff, what I found odd was that you were asking for advice and asking people to pre-qualify with the survey - not that you were asking for help, but that you wanted to check people out prior to accepting their help. When I asked, you confirmed that you did want to pre-qualify people. I spend most of my off-work time helping people, and I am no stranger to being asked to help, or offering to do so. This doesn't make me fit to offer you advice in this particular field - but I've never asked anyone to pre-qualify prior to hearing what they have to say, and I've never been asked to prove myself through survey prior to offering advice. People know me or they don't, and if they don't, they may take whatever I say with a grain of salt, and I'm not offended. Perhaps it is a cultural thing, but the inference created by pre-qualification was that the average reader of this list was not fit to offer you advice. Which may or may not be correct depending on the source, but it does seem a little tactless to mention it. That was the beginning and the end of the discomfort I felt at your request. I wish you all the very best with this process, and trust you will understand that I do not wish to have anything to do with it myself, regardless of any CMS experience that I may have had. Best regards, Andrew -- --- Andrew Boyd http://uxbookclub.org -- connect, read, discuss Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
On Jan 25, 2009, at 7:41 PM, gavin burke|FAW wrote: You have to understand also the engineers perspective. From their perspective they are the most important part of the process, without them there would be no product just fresh air. [...] My advice is to wait around, cut your teeth abit more and when your in a more senior position use what you are going through now as a way of improving things for everyone, user, engineer and yourself. On 26 Jan 2009, at 01:10, Angel Marquez wrote: I think that is great advice. I like it. But their are some enormous A-holes that engineer. Wow. This Us vs. Them shit is really a bit disturbing. There are workplaces where people collaborate well. There are workplaces where they don't. It has nothing to do with job titles, schooling, or base training. While there are engineers that are assholes, there are also designers that are assholes. And managers. And customer service people. And just about every other job. Creating stereotypes by job description isn't any better than creating them by race or religion or sexual preference. Personally, I'd like to see this conversation move to something constructive without the bigoted tone. To answer the crux of Ali's question about what to do: I always recommend that you follow the money. If there are usability problems with a product, that means that there are people who are frustrated. In my experience, whenever someone is frustrated, that frustration shows itself on the organization's bottom line. Either customers are moving to competitor's products, or they are filling up the support lines, or the developers are wasting time redoing designs because they got it wrong the first time. If you look for how the frustration is impacting the bottom line, you'll often find someone in charge of making that problem go away. That person is likely to be a huge champion for any UX work that can fix their problem. Tell them that you know how to fix their problem in cost-effective manner and you'll get their attention. If there is no pain -- inotherwords, if the organization can't feel how their hard-to-use product is hurting them -- then there is probably nothing you can do. (Remember the first law of consulting: You can't stop people from sticking beans up their nose.) In this case, if you find this frustrating, you should consider looking for an organization that does get it. There are more and more of those every day and it'll be a better fit for your personality. I wrote about this in more detail here: http://is.gd/heqq Hope that helps, Jared Jared M. Spool User Interface Engineering 510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845 e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561 http://uie.com Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks Twitter: jmspool UIE Web App Summit, 4/19-4/22: http://webappsummit.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
Dude(s),I've worked for number 1 in the nation marketing and advertising agencies. Start ups Freelance In a variety of industries. If you are asking your engineers to change something like moving a button your process needs to be revised. Ideal is you slowly iterate and shave off the input as the design goes down the pipe. Check done, pass, check, done pass, oh we have a request, sorry to late next time, check done, done, done. Yea right! That never happens. The more process you involve and the more people you involve the more entropy creeps into the system and wackiness occurs. Trying to make people understand is a waste of time. If they are able to understand than they already do and they are using it as leverage for whatever motivates them. I just had this discussion with a friend that wanted to offer me some unsolicited advice on some lame design I did and I was all hey give me a break. I would love to provide everyone with some custom work of art; but, c'mon! Trying to maneuver someone into a well thought out plan is like trying to get my cats in their carrier when they know I'm taking em to the vet! It's near impossible with trickery, chasing, them while closing and locking doors to corner them. I can't even shake their treats to get them from hiding when they know it's time. I also was all you have different types of customers. Some customers 1.) you are going to stretch your own canvas, make your own brushes, mix your own oil paints, do some studies, sketch, paint, hand craft a complimentary frame and voila 2.) or you are going to get a lot of pre made canvases, throw down some acrylics, whip it out, put into one of those nice packaged frames and be done with it. 3.) or you are going to have some ready to go out the door packaged done pieces they can throw on the wall of their hotel lobby and collect the ambience fee. It is our job when to know when to offer what to whom. I also just had a convo with a client that is having photo shoot. As a future reference measure I wanted to point out to the client how the photo shoot goes. I asked, why did you pic the photographer and how much is it costing you? She said she is allowing me to take as many poses as I want, whatever. But I know it is 1 day and 1 day only and once that lady prints and shows her what she has to choose from the show is over! She's not going to go on photo shoot part 2 unless you pay for part 2. That is the same way any design process should roll... right? am I wrong. Am I missing something? On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 7:41 PM, gavin burke|FAW gavin.bu...@futureaudioworkshop.com wrote: You have to understand also the engineers perspective. From their perspective they are the most important part of the process, without them there would be no product just fresh air. So they feel they own it in a way. Underneath the interface is a whole different world of complexity. If an interface designer comes up to their desk while they are working and tells them I think the ok button needs to be more over to the left so the user doesn't get confused, its like a voice from another plant. Add on top of this the pressure of scrum or a difficult project that is make or break on a technical level and you won't get a look in. With good product management this should never happen but the way things are going with shorter and shorter development cycles and its associated pressures this type of situation is inevitable. My advice is to wait around, cut your teeth abit more and when your in a more senior position use what you are going through now as a way of improving things for everyone, user, engineer and yourself. On 26 Jan 2009, at 01:10, Angel Marquez wrote: I think that is great advice. I like it. But their are some enormous A-holes that engineer. I think every department should have one person from another department on that team as a liaison. The last four or so gigs I've had have been on engineering teams and it is not my background. What brought me to it is that as a designer you hit road blocks when someone says 'You can't', 'Don't', etc... It is often b*ll sh*t and the engineers are operating behind a curtain like the wizard of OZ. With the last PM I worked with I said 'if you can explain it we can make it happen.' I don't think a good engineer says it cannot be done. I've also worked with stellar engineers and I always make it a point to ask what is a good deliverable for you (why) and the good ones have sent me exactly what they want and why they want it that way. The others riddle off reasons why they are of a superior breed and the like, they usually couldn't engineer their way out of a wet paper bag... On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 5:00 PM, Janna Hicks DeVylder ja...@devylder.com wrote: In work environments like this, I have found that forcing our discipline into the process is the least effective... the you MUST work with us mantra will fall on deaf ears. As a User Centered
[IxDA Discuss] Rapid Expert Design (R.E.D.)
Discussions of approaches and methodologies of design are among our field's most perennial and cherished. In the past few years we've seen a number of attempts to create a taxonomy of approaches to and philosophies of interaction design. I've had some interesting and in- depth discussions with Dan Saffer regarding the category he defined in his book as genius design and here I'll lay out my reasoning for why a) labels matter a great deal, and b) why this term is particularly ill-suited and counter-productive for the approach it attempts to label. First, the idea of framing must be raised. Framing refers to a schema of interpretation, and is embodied in a collection of stereotypes that then become the basis for how the framed issue or subject is understood and responded or reacted to. Linguist George Lakoff has written a great deal on the social theory concept of framing and how it's affected our national political discourse. I suggest that that people not already familiar with framing begin by reading up on it, as my primary objection to the term genius design is one of objectionable framing which I reject. See: http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/projects/strategic/simple_framing/ I use instead the term, Rapid Expert Design or R.E.D. It is a method I've learned, first through substantial side-by-side apprenticeships with older, more experienced designers beginning twenty-five years ago, and one that I continue share with my consulting network and work colleagues and have myself passed on to younger designers working with me or as part of our teams. I'll begin by addressing the framing problems resulting from the term genius design.” Next I'll address some of the key differences inherent in why I believe some people have less problems with the term and conclude with why I and others believe Rapid Expert Design better describes the approach we use. I see the primary problem with the term, Genius Design is that it's impossible to believe that it's an approach that many people would aspire to. In other words, it's already *at least* something that one would perhaps *resort* to if no other method were available. This is an important and negative framing right at the start. Secondary framing problems of the label genius design are: 1) Young designers may simply think, Well, hey, I'm not a genius, or don't/won't consider myself to be one, so I guess this approach isn't for me. 2) Even experienced designers are likely to cringe at the term, and would be loathe to self-label their philosophy and practice as genius design. It is not an aspirational term, and seems unlikely that it ever could be. Now I agree with a great deal of what Dan Saffer has to say about what he characterizes (I make this distinction of his characterization of the approach) as genius design. He acknowledges that much design, and much successful design, is done this way. He says that much of his work is done this way, and he alludes to the realities of design practice that all designers face. In *my reading* however, and I'm willing to reconsider if he objects, I detect an air of this approach being more of a fallback and unfortunate reality, rather than a core philosophy and approach that can be studied, practiced, and continually improved throughout a designer's career. The section of his book on genius design is the last and shortest of all the philosophies/approaches he describes, and though he mentions the Apple iPod, there's really very little about this approach explored in any depth. I believe that the framing of Rapid Expert Design as genius design has led directly to the kind of reactions to the term we've seen here on the IxDA list. Namely it's an approach asking to be ridiculed, dismissed, or attacked. Rapid Expert Design is not a fallback approach or philosophy for me, nor my long-time team and network of collaborators. Nor is it ego- driven. I actually find the ego-driven label gambit to be an even more problematic and pejorative framing of what R.E.D. really represents. Some respondents in threads have claimed that the term ego-driven led to defensiveness on the parts of some. I believe that they mistook legitimate criticism of the semantics and framing for defensiveness. No designer who's practicing intensive and successful Rapid Expert Design is doing it to feed an ego. To call it ego-driven would be like comparing a Special Forces soldier to one in the regular infantry and claiming the Special Forces soldier was simply more ego-driven. You can see it's not a very effective way, nor the most accurate way to describe the actual differences or need for both. And this difference between Special Forces and regular infantry is one of many ways to see how R.E.D. compares to other approaches to design. Rapid Expert Design is a valid and largely missing and
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Infrastructure Initiative update - Jan 25, 2009
Great news. I can't wait to hear more. On the kicking of CMS wheels... Since you sound still-open-minded, I'd like to suggest a peak at MODx CMF (my current platform of choice, for non-ecommerce webbyness). http://modxcms.com/ You might be surprised by the level of simplicity it brings to a complex development problem. Mike Caskey Elizabeth Bacon wrote: Dear IxDA members, I'm pleased to provide a progress report on the Infrastructure initiative. This project, for which I am the project manager, aims to significantly update the IxDA.org website, most particularly in the areas of local groups, an events calendar, member profiles and improved discussion tools. Please visit the IxDA Board Blog for the full story! See http://board.ixda.org/node/8 If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to voice them. Thanks for your attention and continued support of IxDA as we valiantly strive to improve our community's experience! Cheers, Liz Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org 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 ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?
So I just went to write our new US administration my first e-mail from whitehouse.gov. Ready and eager for that much-touted new open line of communication into our government! I filled out all my info. on the contact form, wrote a title in the message box stating (pleading), PLEASE MAKE WALL STREET ACCOUNTABLE! then hit the paragraph return button. It submitted my message (ahem.. title only) to the White House. Would have been nice to explain my point. It's always boggled my mind why the gov't doesn't put UX advocates (including designers, researchers, coders, QA) front and center in the design of citizen-technology interfaces. Don't even get me started on voting. Does anyone have any experience/ evidence... HOPE?? to the contrary? Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
I have found that in a situation like this the best defense you have is to clarify your job description with your manager or CTO. By having your responsibilities defined in writing you hold the pass key to throw your weight around in the fighting ring especially when it comes to issues that directly coincide with your expertise. Once you have the authority make sure that when a project is planned out, anything you feel that should be necessary is planned into the Functional Requirements Documentation, such as; Qualitative research, as you mentioned. You'll find that once it is in writing you'll have a foot in the door. It then comes down to relying on your research and reason to sway the team in one direction or another. Hope that helps. Good Luck! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37605 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??
People are best at doing things they know already works. Learn their language and then figure out a simple translation so you can help them see how their already great work could be added to. Find a willing partner (one of them) to work through what you are thinking with. When there is time inviting people into the process rather than challenging will always yield better results. Chris Finlay www.twitter.com/chrisfinlay Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
