Re: [IxDA Discuss] Is the iPhone hard to use? (was We don't make consumer products, hence no need for a UCD development process.)
I think perhaps that the iPhone borrows from a number of computer- centric and '1st generation iPod'-centric design patterns, and those patterns can give you a leg up on learning it. The concept of a drill- down (and down the hierarchy existing somewhere to the right) is an iPod pattern. The idea that the google map acts the way it does ( scroll around by moving your hand the way a drag was on the mouse was, as well as the fact that push-pins show mini-windows) is from the computing pattern. The notion of a list where you click on a line to select an item, or that you can see how far down a scroll on a document is via the scroll-bar on the right side (although on the iPhone OS, you only see that bar while scrolling and the 'thumb' is more of an indicator than something to drag with) is from all desktop OSs back to the first ones at Xerox PARC). Some of the patterns seem to fall flat, though. I really dislike the way the iPhone's Safari browser (and other apps) let you interact with a dropdown (or as Mac-centric literature used to call it, a pop-up) menu. It seems way too big and clumsy, and I keep wondering if there might have been a slightly more elegant way to handle it (maybe there isn't; I haven't given it a ton of thought). Up till now, you didn't expect these sorts of patterns to show up on a handheld device. However, does this make it easier to learn? Perhaps not, especially if you don't carry those expectations and learnings forward. However, it does mean that you can try to do more complicated things. I'm continually amazed at how complex some of the interactions we expect an iPhone to be doing. Taking a picture and posting it to a web site, and maybe twittering to others to have a look at it with the URL of the picture...Copying some text from a web page and pasting it to a note...Mapping a destination and saving that pushpin location for retrieval later...These are all pretty complicated multi-step tasks, no matter what thing you are trying to do accomplish them with. That said, there's something to be said for certain things (like calling 911) should be dead easy. The lack of tactile feedback for phone calls (among other things) has always been a problem, and in this use case, it shows how a new user could benefit from some kind of mechanism for handling this situation. There might be an opportunity for a 3rd party, but here I think it's more a matter of Apple perhaps reexamining that issue, and either making a special 'Panic Button' feature using the physical buttons (and an 'Are You Sure' mechanism that keeps you from hitting this function too easily by accident). Maybe a way of holding two buttons and saying 'Help' into the phone might do it, now that the newer phones have voice-dialing capabilities. (Btw, Joan, glad to hear that you are OK, but that sounded pretty scary!) -- David Drucker da...@drucker.ca 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] User Experience Design for Working Web Sites and Applications
Working as a Technical Writer, I VERY often see myself being put in the final stage of the development process by management. I came across the following article that i want to share with other technical writers out there: http://www.stc.org/confproceed/2001/PDFs/STC48-000107.PDF 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] Whats with IPHONE exploding here and there??
I don't have an IPHONE. I do want one but lately articles are written about IPHONES exploding in people's hands. The Danish article belows states that there are 10 cases in France. I also read about cases in the US, Japan and the UK. http://politiken.dk/tjek/digitalt/telefoni/article775823.ece Are these phones made of different material than NOKIA, SonyEricsson etc?? 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] IA Summit 2010 Call for Proposals
The Information Architecture Summit 2010 will be April 7-11 in Phoenix. You can get all the information about the event at http://iasummit.org now so you can get a head start on your planning. The Call for Proposals is open. We have three tracks this year. Business Strategy Management We're looking for case studies, tools, and techniques that help UX managers and practitioners work better with their teams and their organizations. Tell us your war stories, lessons learned, tips and tricks. You don't have to take the stage alone - we're looking for discussion leaders for working sessions and panels too! Making Refining Experience Our work is about participating in making and iterating experiences. These experiences can happen online offline. They can manifest in a product, an interaction, a ballroom. We facilitate, document, ideate, and advocate for the user. This track is about all of the juicy details of this participation. Researching and Evaluating This track is intended to present ideas about research before, during, after and surrounding the design process. We must measure what we make to understand it's success. Share the things you have learned about how to learn from your customers. Read about the proposal submissions: http://www.iasummit.org/2010/?page_id=94 Submit a proposal a proposal now: http://www.softconf.com/asis/IA-2010/. The deadline is October 12th at 8 a.m. PST. Thanks, Jennifer Bohmbach http://iasummit.org _ Richard B. Hill Executive Director American Society for Information Science and Technology 1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Fax: (301) 495-0810 Voice: (301) 495-0900 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] Whats with IPHONE exploding here and there??
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hIcyqx8Wqr0uBJOstJC4qm7liUGA __ Catríona Lohan-Conway User Experience Architect 917 405 5127 clohancon...@mac.com PPlease consider our environment before printing. On Aug 28, 2009, at 1:29 AM, Ali Naqvi wrote: I don't have an IPHONE. I do want one but lately articles are written about IPHONES exploding in people's hands. The Danish article belows states that there are 10 cases in France. I also read about cases in the US, Japan and the UK. http://politiken.dk/tjek/digitalt/telefoni/article775823.ece Are these phones made of different material than NOKIA, SonyEricsson etc?? Reply to this thread at ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45129 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] Is the iPhone hard to use?
Young children are accustomed to experimenting with their world via touch (and putting things in their mouth of course) so the iPhone fits into their normal mode of discovery. Adults by contrast have learned other means of discovery that might fail them when they have only a single button and a screen. Brandon E. B. Ward wrote: I've hesitated chiming in on this, because it's anecdotal, but Jeff's friend is not the only one to have experienced children and the iPhone. My 3 year old had unlocked (swipe to unlock) and was watching YouTube videos and playing games on my iPhone the day I got it. She figured out all the gestures on her own. Now, 2 years later, my now 2 year old uses it like a pro, partly after watching me, partly after watching my daughter. They know how to: Change settings Surf the web Send SMS and Email Play various games Call someone Take Pictures (their favorite) Basically, anything that doesn't require reading/writing - they figure it out, and they figure it out quickly. Give a 3 year old any other phone and tell me how fast they're confidently, and repeatedly accomplishing their stated goals with those interfaces and software. Could they have figured out 911 in ANY situation? No. But, I'm going out on an anecdotal limb here, if a 3 year old can figure it out w/out anyone showing them anything, and a 2 year old can get it by watching someone a few times I'm gonna surmise that the device is pretty darn easy to use. Just look at the number of kids' and small kids' apps in the App Store - mom/dad's device has turned into a portable family media station. Now - there are probably a myriad of factors involved. I'm guessing that since my kids have grown up in a world with computers, cell phones, remote controls, plasm a TVs, DVD players etc., whereas I had my first VHS at age 8, my first computer my freshman year of college etc., I think my kids are gonna be ahead of the curve compared to me when it comes to adopting and adapting new technologies. (My 5 year old has her own iBook and knows its basics as well now so...) I still come to the same conclusion - I did before, and beautifully quoted by Nasir: There is nothing wrong with having to explain the principles of operation. It is wrong only when that same explanation has to be given ... over and over again. -- Don Norman However, in the case of my iPhone - the only thing I ever had to explain to my kids in terms of usability is which button was the 'done' or 'back' button as they couldn't yet read. I'm a firm believer that the iPhone platform is one of the easiest software/hardware combinations ever invented. I'm also an admitted Apple fanboy - so choose to believe if I'm biased or 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] Contract requirements that ensure usability issues are addressed
I am hoping one of you has some legal speak you'd be willing to share on contract requirements for usability standards. We have a vendor whose product has serious experience issues and want to make sure they get addressed throughout the product lifecycle. 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] We don't make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
On 27 Aug 2009, at 11:08, dave malouf wrote: I think @jmspool nailed it. the issue isn't whether or not UCD is needed. the issue is whether or not the product has room for improvement and that those improvements speak to the core stakeholders involved. [snip] Those problems have also got to be the most important problem that the company is facing too. For example, I did a bunch of competitive analysis style usability tests for $company a few years back. While it highlighted some fairly severe problems - the competitor sites were *so* much worse it was silly (e.g. only 5 in 25 could successfully register on one of the sites.) $company chose to allocate the resources they were going to spend improving the user experience for end-users on adding features for another user group. That was absolutely the best decision for them to make (even if it did mean I'd researched myself out of a nice little contract :-) As others have said I think you need to try and get somewhere where you can help management make informed decisions about how UCD will affect them. Only then will you get the chance to actually convince them to do some. Cheers, Adrian -- http://quietstars.com - twitter.com/adrianh - delicious.com/adrianh 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] Is the iPhone hard to use? (was We don't make consumer products, hence no need for a UCD development process.)
On 27 Aug 2009, at 16:30, dave malouf wrote: 1 of the things that gets me about this conversation is that it is spoken about in terms of absolutes. the iphone is not easy to use. Aye. I keep wanting to add compare to... on the end. Adrian -- http://quietstars.com - twitter.com/adrianh - delicious.com/adrianh 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] Contract requirements that ensure usability issues are addressed
On 28 Aug 2009, at 07:21, Karen Dee Davis wrote: I am hoping one of you has some legal speak you'd be willing to share on contract requirements for usability standards. We have a vendor whose product has serious experience issues and want to make sure they get addressed throughout the product lifecycle. To be honest - I don't think I'd try that technique. Never seen attempts to specify usability standards via contract to be effective in any way. I've love to hear any counter examples :-) Instead can you start to look at (or even contractually require :-) how you work with your vendor? Getting involved with their requirement and development process so you can help make sure that the client meets your actual requirements rather than some arbitrary feature list? Cheers, Adrian -- http://quietstars.com - twitter.com/adrianh - delicious.com/adrianh 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] Global navigation: persistent or not across all pages?
I replied via email to Sascha's question, but I'll share here: The top search box (in header) is for Trendmicro.com site-wide search. The one immediately below the header is for searching the community only. This is by far not ideal, I'm aware. Not my design / recommendation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45003 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] Global navigation: persistent or not across all pages?
Paul - Thanks for all the links. The Dell site is more along the lines of what I am going towards. I've started saying, Micro-header to help relate the concept to my manager and teammates. A coworker helped me articulate my reasons for not wanting the full header on the blogs I'm building right now: blogs are where people tend to go to get first-hand information, not to be advertised to. I think, in our case, this is important. For example, we don't want to come across as the experts in our industry only to say, While you're here, have we got the right product for you!! It seems a bit self-serving, which I think goes against what the blog-mentality is. I realize, that explanation still lacks the articulation I wish to achieve here, but I think I got the point across: focus on the community aspect, not the corporate one. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45003 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] Global navigation: persistent or not across all pages?
You are right: profit interests tend to destroy communal spirit -- a lesson demonstrated time and again in Project Runway and other reality shows, as well as by behavioral economists (read 'Predictably Irrational' by Dan Ariely or see author's talk at TED). -- Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 4:04 AM, jennifer wolfgang chicgee...@gmail.comwrote: Paul - Thanks for all the links. The Dell site is more along the lines of what I am going towards. I've started saying, Micro-header to help relate the concept to my manager and teammates. A coworker helped me articulate my reasons for not wanting the full header on the blogs I'm building right now: blogs are where people tend to go to get first-hand information, not to be advertised to. I think, in our case, this is important. For example, we don't want to come across as the experts in our industry only to say, While you're here, have we got the right product for you!! It seems a bit self-serving, which I think goes against what the blog-mentality is. I realize, that explanation still lacks the articulation I wish to achieve here, but I think I got the point across: focus on the community aspect, not the corporate one. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45003 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] Contract requirements that ensure usability issues are addressed
Karen, as with any contract question, the two key issues are 1) can you accurately describe the obligation? and 2) can you get the other party to agree to it? In your case, it will be very difficult, in the absence of concrete metrics (such as SLA-type performance standards, or customer satisfaction ratings) to describe a standard of usability that the product must meet. Of course, contracts are full of vague best efforts or highest industry standard provisions that compel one party to behave in a certain way, without necessarily describing the details of this behavior. In the end, if the other party feels that this standard has not been met and a lawsuit is the result, it will end up being a judge or jury that decides the matter (not a good outcome in your case - as judges and juries know very little about usability). An alternative - which is often pursued by the party with superior bargaining strength (i.e. you, the buyer, in this case), is to simply reserve a right to terminate the contract or otherwise adjust the terms if you, in your sole discretion, deem that the product has not met an appropriate standard of usability. This is a tough measure, but if you are really concerned, and the other party is really desperate, you might get it through. Otherwise, I would agree with Adrian, that imposing a vague standard that can only ever really be enforced in court is not a good idea. Hope this is helpful - caveat: I'm a recovered attorney. Nick Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45133 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] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid
Hello, IxDers, I need to indicate that specific cell in a read-only datagrid contains not one, but multiple values. Putting the cell in focus would reveal the values in it. The project team have suggested displaying Multiple... link in the cell. Clicking the link would open a popup showing the values. There are several problems with this approach, which I am not going to dwell upon at the moment. I think a better way to do this would be to display the first value in the list as a link with an indicator of total entries, if there are more than one. A column of values would look like this then: Lorem ipsum Dolor sit amet Consectetur [+5] Adipiscing elit [+1] Cras lectus Neque [+3] Each row in this example represents a cell in a large datagrid. Clicking the cell with multiple values would open a dropdown list displaying all entries (6, 2 or 4 in the example above). Are there better ways to indicate that the cell has multiple values in it and to view the values? This is for frequently used application, not a website. Thanks, Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm 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] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid
Do you mean something like this: -- Column One Column Two -- Lorem Ipsum 1,240 Dolor sit amet 2,005 Consectetur 1,234 [5v] Adipiscing elit 2,111 [1v] Cras lectus -32 Neque -1,221 [3v] -- Values are underlined to show that they are links as well as how many items are available. My only concern about the [+ #] is users confusing those numbers with the data itself. So what I am showing is the number of additional values with an arrow icon. You could show something like this: -- Column One Column Two -- Lorem Ipsum 1,240 Dolor sit amet 2,005 Consectetur 1,234 v Adipiscing elit 2,111 v Cras lectus -32 Neque -1,221 v -- with the number underlined and an arrow icon...more than one way to approach that idea I guess. But it depends on how the rest of the data is being treated, if at all. Now when you say there could be multiple values associated with that field, are they underlying values that add to the main number in the cell, or just more of...? I am just curious about the association of the number to each other within that one cell. What you could do with the above as you described and I redrew is the following. User clicks a multiple value cell and gets: -- Column One Column Two -- Lorem Ipsum 1,240 Dolor sit amet 2,005 Consectetur 1,234 [5v] Consectetur1 1,233 Consectetur2 1,423 Consectetur3 3,221 Consectetur4 -935 Consectetur5 -321 Adipiscing elit 2,111 [1v] Cras lectus -32 Neque -1,221 [3v] -- Have the row expand to show the additional values, or expand the grid by adding rows to accommodate the additional values. I would also use a tone to indicate the grouping of the expanded values. Doing something like this would also give you the opportunity to add a notion of Expand All/Collapse All to display all hidden values in one click if that was of value. You also have the potential of a pop-up (or floating temporary panel), but in applications, especially data grids, too many pop-ups can be confusing and annoying, and if that's not the metaphor in use throughout the application, it may not be a fit. I hope this helps at least generate more thoughts. Jennifer -Original Message- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Oleh Kovalchuke Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 1:19 PM To: IxDA Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid Hello, IxDers, I need to indicate that specific cell in a read-only datagrid contains not one, but multiple values. Putting the cell in focus would reveal the values in it. The project team have suggested displaying Multiple... link in the cell. Clicking the link would open a popup showing the values. There are several problems with this approach, which I am not going to dwell upon at the moment. I think a better way to do this would be to display the first value in the list as a link with an indicator of total entries, if there are more than one. A column of values would look like this then: Lorem ipsum Dolor sit amet Consectetur [+5] Adipiscing elit [+1] Cras lectus Neque [+3] Each row in this example represents a cell in a large datagrid. Clicking the cell with multiple values would open a dropdown list displaying all entries (6, 2 or 4 in the example above). Are there better ways to indicate that the cell has multiple values in it and to view the values? This is for frequently used application, not a website. Thanks, Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm 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 This email is confidential and subject to important disclaimers and conditions including on offers for the purchase or sale of securities, accuracy and completeness of information, viruses, confidentiality, legal privilege, and legal entity disclaimers, available at http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/disclosures/email. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid
If the number of data elements in the list is limited to 5 /- 2 then you might be able to show them all inline - with line breaks in the cell. It's easier to be able to see all the values at once. Another option could be a tool-tip rollover that showed the rest of the values. One thing to keep in mind is that if you contain multiple values in a cell then you wont' be able to easily sort the column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45141 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] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid
You have the right idea, and I like Jennifer's idea of the down arrow. You might also consider these: Lorem ipsum Dolor sit amet Consectetur [5 more] Adipiscing elit [1 more] Cras lectus Neque [3 more] Might help if you have numeric multiple values, to avoid 1,234 [ 5] seeming to represent 1,239. Or perhaps just use [ ] with alt or title text indicating the number of additional items. Whether the number represents how many more items, or the sum total, depends on whether you show the original item when you display the extra items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45141 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] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid
Plus symbols didn't come thru on IxDA, but I meant to say: Or perhaps just use [ ] (plus symbol) with alt or title text indicating the number of additional items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45141 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] Website UI competitive analysis
Hi Toby, I prefer Webnographer http://www.webnographer.com/ for website UI competitive analysis, but than I am also Founder of FeraLabshttp://www.feralabs.com/, who have built Webnographer (a remote usability testing tool). Of course, I would expect you to promote your own product too :) I am not sure if you mentioned on this list, that CrunchBase http://www.crunchbase.com/company/loop11lists you as the CEO of Loop11, or are there more than one Toby Biddle working in the same building that UsabilityOne and Loop11 share? All the best James Page http://blog.feralabs.com 2009/8/17 Toby Biddle t...@usabilityone.com Hi Will, We've been asked to do similar things for clients over the years. Most recently we used Loop11 (www.loop11.com) to run some online, unmoderated user tests across our clients' website and then three competitor websites. This approach might not provide all of the inforamtion you've been asked to collect, but it'll give you a good idea of how easy/difficult the same tasks are across multiple websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44753 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] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid
Hm, Gmail uses something like that in the Inbox view, however the indicator does not open a dropdown, it opens a message instead: Oleh, Jennifer (5)[IxDA Discuss] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid -- Oleh On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 1:11 PM, Oleh Kovalchuke tangospr...@gmail.comwrote: Thanks, Jennifer, for food for thought. We indicate this kind of links in data cells by changing text color (no underlining). The entire value in the cell would be treated as a link (including number of entries). Both nested datagrids and Expand All action could be good options potentially. Unfortunately they are not technically feasible around here. Also there could be quite a few randomly located cells within the grid in different rows and columns -- expanding/collapsing grid might feel somewhat jittery. Removing + sign and displaying total number of entries might be a good option. Like so: -- Column One Column Two -- Lorem Ipsum [2]1,240 Dolor sit amet 2,005 Consectetur [3]1,234 [6] Adipiscing elit2,111 [2] Cras lectus32 Neque [5] 1,221 [4] -- Thanks, Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm 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] Indicators for cells with multiple values in a datagrid
I have considered displaying [+] only, but this is not as informative as showing the number of entries next to at least one of them spelled out. Spelling out More is a bit too long for the datagrid. Hovers are not very efficient, too transient, and prevent copying data (if needed). Expanding/collapsing all values within all cells might be a valid option for this grid. As well as displaying a tiny arrow next to the number. Thanks! Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm 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] Where are all the UX freelancers/consultants in NYC?
I'm on a desperate search for independent user experience professionals in NYC. There just seem to be so few. Please fill out this survey if youre a self-employed UXer in the NYC area and pass on to any of your friends who fit the bill. http://bit.ly/15HDa0 Thanks so much! Whitney 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] We don\'t make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
Not to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but in looking at your description of the scenario, it seems like the recollection of every other phone compared to the iPhone is a bit misrepresented. It's kind of like my wife saying how amazing NYC is and only recalling the best parts of it and ignoring the smell of urine in the streets and stench of trash in the mornings. For instance, you highlighted that the iPhone needs to be woken up after you've performed the initial action and it falls asleep, but neglect to mention that every other phone you've had also needs to be woken up after a particular time has expired. Even your flip phone will fall asleep at some point and needed to be woken up. The locking issue has nothing to do with the iPhone, but rather a setting that you've enabled on the iPhone, which is something you could have enabled on any previous phone you've owned as well. Just seems a bit overplayed in that respect. Now, the criticisms of the other interactions, having to push the Home button to get out of the last app you were in is a good criticism. It's pretty easy to argue either way on the 911 app—the fact the iPhone can have one is an advantage, while the perception/possibility that it needs one is a disadvantage. Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel Principal 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Is the iPhone hard to use? (was We don't make consumer products, hence no need for a UCD development process.)
On Aug 27, 2009, at 4:05 PM, Joan Vermette wrote: I think the iPhone is hard to learn, and therefore will remain for me hard to use until I get up to speed with it. After one week? Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel Principal 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] We don\'t make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
On Aug 27, 2009, at 10:12 PM, Jarod Tang wrote: I'm afraid this will leads designers' work into a trap, if the designer really assumes the tech driven is right. What is that trap? But as a tactic, designer could avoid such fruitless discussion ( like, No, xxx should be user needs/motivation driven instead of tech driven ) , with a user centered driven mind-set in the core, and push the product development going. As the result, more than less, user centered driven methods will push tech's improvement as many designers found, which will convince tech/engineering side co- workers. I think *this* is a trap that is pretty bad. Whatever you considered user-centered driven methods are likely to be expensive. That expense isn't always justified for the results it will glean. Understanding when that expense will return value and when it won't is part of the process of good design management. Jared 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] We don\'t make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Jordan, Courtney cjor...@bbandt.comwrote: But it still holds true that to the user, Joan, it wasn't immediately learnable given a high-stress, potentially dangerous situation. - All this seems so odd to me, maybe cuz I can't relate directly.. If I were safety conscious (and I'm really just not--I guess cuz I'm a big fat hairy optimistic dude), one of the criteria I might have would be a phone that I could dial 911 on ASAP. Any phone I considered, I would look at that. If I bought an iPhone, I would find out how to do that *before* I got into the situation. I mean, I know that I am buying a phone that is not like the other phones I've had, so I can't expect it to be like those phones, especially when the main reason I'm buying it is precisely because it *isn't* like the other phones. I know up front that I have some learnin to do, but I'm making that trade-off for all the other benefits I perceive. Now within the context of the iPhone on its own merits, if you do have it locked and look at the keypad to unlock, you can see the emergency call button as Andrei pointed out. I thought that was pretty clever, even though I don't think about these things myself. If you don't have the lock setup, it's not hard to set up a favorite as 911 and then set your home button double-click to go to phone favorites (the default?), so you're talking about double-clicking a tactile button and then one tap to call. Still pretty easy, IMO. But yeah, you do have to invest in making sure you're safe. Kind of like you might make sure you have your pepper spray on you before you head out. -a P.S. I do think the iPhone has areas for improvement, but it's still the best thing since sliced bread as far as I'm concerned. 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] We don't make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Jared Spool jsp...@uie.com wrote: Personally, I think that trying to force our notion of a good experience onto companies as some sort of ethical obligation is an arrogant position. Who is to say we have the right to tell other people how they should design their products for their customers? --- We are the puppet masters, no? (http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=44195) :o) Seriously, though, people should advocate what they think is best; it's a key means of human improvement. The other people can decide to tune us out or not.. or take more drastic measures. But certainly we have the right to advocate for our way of seeing things (as you do all the time). Whether it is prudent to do so is an entirely different matter. -a 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] Website UI competitive analysis
If usability is the differentiating factor between the competitors, then a heuristic assessment would be useful. However, in many cases usability issues are table stakes that should be optimized apart from what the competition is doing. For a competitive analysis I suggest starting with the manner in which each competitor has chosen to solve the most valuable and complex needs of your customers. I don%u2019t know what industry you%u2019re in, so take the kitchen sink as an example. If you look at 4 competitors in this space you might look at Kohler, Franke, Moen, and Blanco. The links to their sinks are below. Kohler: http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/category.jsp?category=5) Franke: http://www.frankekitchensinks.com/ Moen: http://www.moen.com/ecatalog/gallery/kitchen-bar-sinks/_/N-687 Blanco: http://www.blancoamerica.com/index.html?p=KITCHEN_SINKS If you were to conduct a heuristic evaluation of these competitors, it would be very time-consuming; the results might not tell the story of what really differentiates these sites; and the site owner may still not know what needs to be done to reach parity or superiority in key areas. It would be more helpful to focus on more strategic design elements, such as: - Approach to product selection - Category-specific filters - Use of rich media - Personalization - Supporting content - Design tools - Interactive demo in a home context - Use of social media to promote awareness - Consistency with offline brand collateral To support your ratings of these strategic design elements, you could provide screen captures (e.g. using software like SnagIt) showing how customers would go from initial entry to goal attainment in the different sites. You should use a rating system, like the one in the IBM paper you referenced. But I%u2019ve found that stakeholders pay more attention to the recommendations than the assessment itself, so I always take the time to develop a perspective as to which areas should be tackled first, comparing level of effort and expense to anticipated business value. Paul Bryan Director, User Research and Design Strategy Usography Corporation (www.usography.com) Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/uxexperts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44753 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] We don\'t make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
Jordan, Courtney wrote: People need to make an emergency call in as little time as possible - as you said, it can make the difference between living to tell this story and not. And that emergency call could just as easily be a senior who fell down the stairs in their home or a cyclist who crashed off the side of steep hill and mangled themselves pretty severely on the way down. -- J. E. 'jet' Townsend, IDSA Designer, Fabricator, Hacker design: www.allartburns.org; hacking: www.flatline.net; HF: KG6ZVQ PGP: 0xD0D8C2E8 AC9B 0A23 C61A 1B4A 27C5 F799 A681 3C11 D0D8 C2E8 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] We don\'t make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
Joan Vermette wrote: With my old phone in that instance, I would have quickly dialed 911 and kept my thumb poised over the call button. The motion involved in that would have been: Flipping open phone. Feeling for raised keys on a keypad very like every other phone I've had since 1978. Glancing down for the call button. Placing my thumb on it. Holding phone in my hand. Exactly. We (USAians) haven't improved the mobile phone experience, we've turned computer-tethered PDAs into substandard mobile phones. I recently spent two weeks in Japan and spent a fair amount of time playing with their kick-ass phones and watching people use them around the country. Softbank has to give away iPhones, that's how much better Japanese ketai are than what we have in the states. Don't believe me? When's the last time you paid for your subway or lunch or vending machine with your iPhone? When's the last time you watched broadcast HDTV on your iPhone, or used your iPhone *instead of* owning a personal computer or laptop? Pretty much every phone I checked out had raised buttons, including the ones with 16:9 HD capable screens. I miss being able to blind-dial on my G1, while I saw plenty of Japanese people doing it while walking or riding the subway with cheaper phones. IMHO, replacing physical buttons with a touch-screen UI falls into the just because we can, doesn't mean we should bucket. -- J. E. 'jet' Townsend, IDSA Designer, Fabricator, Hacker design: www.allartburns.org; hacking: www.flatline.net; HF: KG6ZVQ PGP: 0xD0D8C2E8 AC9B 0A23 C61A 1B4A 27C5 F799 A681 3C11 D0D8 C2E8 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] We don\'t make consumer products, hence no need for a User Centered Design development process.
On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 6:23 AM, Jared Spool jsp...@uie.com wrote: On Aug 27, 2009, at 10:12 PM, Jarod Tang wrote: I'm afraid this will leads designers' work into a trap, if the designer really assumes the tech driven is right. What is that trap? Designer should fight for the empathy with end user, isn't it? Or other way? If designer try to base his design on this empathy, what the method should be called besides UCD or similar names ? But as a tactic, designer could avoid such fruitless discussion ( like, No, xxx should be user needs/motivation driven instead of tech driven ) , with a user centered driven mind-set in the core, and push the product development going. As the result, more than less, user centered driven methods will push tech's improvement as many designers found, which will convince tech/engineering side co-workers. I think *this* is a trap that is pretty bad. Whatever you considered user-centered driven methods are likely to be expensive. That expense isn't always justified for the results it will glean. In project design practice, UCD (or human needs driven ) could be in lightweight or other way as different designer (e.g., Alan Cooper also present lightweight persona building process in About Face, and designers really do like that), so the expense is not necessarily higher than other way. But I fully agree this, as any other design process or trick, doesn't mean definitely good result,which should be justified by real using process. Understanding when that expense will return value and when it won't is part of the process of good design management. As above, there seems no conflict. But that's just from limited observation and experience. Cheers, -- 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] Is the iPhone hard to use?
RE: Jet Townsend: IMHO, replacing physical buttons with a touch-screen UI falls into the just because we can, doesn't mean we should bucket. As an iPhone owner since the first day they came out (and I still own use the 1st gen), after seeing the Nokia Maemo - with the screen as big as the iPhone screen _AND_ a nice QUERTY keyboard, I think that might be the better route - in that it still allows you to have the whole touch screen experience when you want, and a tactile keyboard when you want as well. Brandon E. B. Ward brandonebw...@gmail.com UI • UX • Ix Design Flex • Flash Development Portfolio: http://www.uxd.me LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonebward VisualCV: http://www.visualcv.com/brandonebward A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert A. Heinlein 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
