Re: [IxDA Discuss] Why isn\'t the OS a browser?
On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 2:02 PM, Joshua Muskovitz jo...@taconic.net wrote: For the same reason your car isn't a daiquiri. I don't think this is a valid analogy. I think Kim's original questions points to the current blurring of lines that's happening between the previous dichotomy of apps vs. browser environments. You have more and more applications that do live in the browser or in the cloud, as well as hybrid environments like Adobe AIR, which are browser-based apps ported to the desktop. And we've also got HTML 5 on the horizon, which will allow us to do things in the browser (such as local data storage) that have previously only been possible in desktop environments. Finally, you've also got mobile application environments, which seem to be largely shifting over to a standardized WebKit browser platform. All of these changes lead to questions like, why isn't the OS a browser? and I think, as interaction designers, we need to think about what the browser really is to a user. Up until now, it has denoted the web, which was a separate place from everything else. But as everything is increasingly part of the web, does it make any sense to have a conceptually separated environment for it? Alexis 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] Looking for interaction designers in China
Hello, Julie, I am teaching in Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts and also running my own design company in Beijing, providing services from user research, survey, market research, usability testing, information architecture, UI specifications, GUI design, Flash lite UI demos, and so on. We have with a professional design and research team and facilities, equipments, testing labs, and abundant professional experiences and successful cases. We are one of the vendors of Nokia, PingAn Insurance, Midea, HuaWei, China Mobile and China Telecom, etc. During the past years, we have been working with our clients for many projects, like MobilEdu mobile education platform; PingAn Insurance Web UE research, Widsets mobile and web widgets; Mojing mobile shopping; Rainbow EMS Mobile agriculture services; Stroke ++; NFC mobile transportation cards, Lenovo gadgets and widgets UI, Fetion, Elive, and so on. You can visit our website at: http://www.peopeo.de Personally I got my MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design, majored in Industrial Design, and have been working in this industry for more than 12 years. I would like to participate your project with the Peking University, see if I can contribute and share some of my experiences and knowledge. If you visit Beijing with your students, welcome to visit my company and also my school, CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts), and we may also discuss some cooperation potentials. My USA phone number is: 1-888-827-2327 1-561-829-5617 Best regards, Tingbin Tang Creative Director, Peopeo Humanized Digital Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Design Business: http://www.peopeo.de MSN/Facebook: ben...@hotmail.com Skype:tingbintang Online Art Portfolio Trade: http://www.peopeo.com Address: An Wai Bei Yuan, Bei Hu Qu, Jiu Chang Yi Shu Yuan, Wine Art Zone F5001, Chao Yang District, Beijing, China, 100012 Mobile: +86-13910520734 Tel: +86-10-52023936/52023934/52023958/52023928 -8008(ext.) Fax: +86-10-52023936/52023934/52023958/52023928 -8006(ext.) USA: 1-888-827-23271-561-829-5617 On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 11:03 PM, Julie Stanford ju...@slicedbreaddesign.com wrote: I am co-teaching a Cross-Cultural design course at the Stanford d.School in the spring. The course is a collaboration between graduate students at Stanford and graduate students at Peking University. Stanford students travel to China in early spring to do user research. The Chinese students take a design intensive course in the winter to prepare for the design projects they do with the Stanford students in the spring. And, the projects are actually done for corporate sponsors of the class so students are working for real clients. This is the second year that the course is being taught we thought it would be great if we could find mentors for the Chinese students at Peking University. Do you know of any awesome interaction designers, industrial designers, or user researchers in the Peking area or have any leads on where to look? Julie _ Julie Stanford Principal, Sliced Bread Design www.slicedbreaddesign.com | 650-969-0400 x706 http://www.linkedin.com/in/jstanford Reply to this thread at ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45491 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] User Centered Design in Interface Design: Assumptions and Consequences of Considering that Users Count
Hi dear all :) In the last year I spent a lot of time reading and writing about interface design, User Centered Design (UCD) and alike. I am not a convince blogger, but I want to share my thoughts with you about some assumptions that are more or less explicit in UCD and their consequences. More than that, I hope for a discussion. As I dont like long emails, therefore I opted for a blog: User Centered Design in Interface Design: Assumptions and Consequences of Considering that Users Count http://interfacedesign-littleabouteverything.blogspot.com/?spref=tw Best wishes, magda 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] Sr. Interaction Designer Opportunities with VMware in Palo Alto -- pls contact gregd at vmware dot com to pursue further. Thanks !!
This position is devoted to the development and ownership of the user experience for enterprise class virtualization applications. The challenge: innovate and create enterprise management and monitoring tools that make complex virtualization software a pleasant experience for our users. Virtualization is the technology that is poised to change the way we think about computing. VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter. Customers of all sizes rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2008 revenues of $1.9 billion, more than 130,000 customers and more than 22,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest-growing public software companies. VMwares award-winning technology, market-leading position and culture of excellence provide the more than 6,600 passionate people we employ in 40 locations worldwide with a platform for professional growth and the excitement of being an early-stage innovator. Role: Working with multi-disciplinary development teams, the Interaction Designer will own the user experience for a particular VMware domain area (e.g. networking, storage, monitoring, VM management, etc.). The Interaction Designer is responsible for defining the user requirements and establishing a vision for product features with a focus on ease of use and consistency. Responsibilities: Candidates must be able to identify requirements, develop user models, design and prototype user interfaces for interaction, develop and maintain user interface specifications and guidelines, communicate with both development teams as well as product management to explain user interface designs, and resolve design tradeoffs and implementation issues. The Interaction Designer will conduct necessary front-end research and support usability efforts throughout the product development cycle. The Interaction Designer will work closely with visual designers to achieve a consistent branded look-and-feel that meets existing corporate standards and guidelines. VMware typically builds first-of-its-kind products and services. Therefore, the Interaction Designer is required to be involved throughout the product cycle from initial planning to development and release. Minimum Requirements: Must have 7+ years Interaction Design or equivalent experience designing software applications for enterprise, commercial desktop or web-based products. Must love the challenge of quickly distilling complex problems into clean, simple design solutions. Ability to efficiently create clear design specifications in Photoshop, Visio and HTML or equivalent tools. Must be able to lead design discussions, whiteboarding sessions, and run meetings. Must have first-hand, demonstrated experience in applying user-centered design processes and methodologies to development of commercial software products. (we will want to see wireframes, documentation, and models) Must be patient and flexible enough to work in a multi-disciplinary, collaborative, fast-paced environment. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Good attention to detail, timelines, and budgets. Technically skilled to know the abilities and limitations of programming tools such as: Flex, HTML/DHTML, ASP.NET, Visual Basic, and/or similar technologies. Additional Requirements: Portfolio of recent work available for review; preferably online. Skilled in the use of Adobe Fireworks and Illustrator; Microsoft Visio, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel; and other comparable tools. Education requirements include either an MA/MS in interaction design, visual design or highly related field, OR a BA/BS in interaction design, visual design or a highly related field and significant industry experience. 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] Examples of Experience Vision
I'm looking for more examples of an experience vision (or envisionment as some call it) for a brand, product, service or organization. Can you help me? It could be in the form of a narrative, cartoon, video - anything that tells the story of the customer's experience. Not a product demo. Here are some excellent examples I am aware of already: Adaptive Path's concept for the Charmr http://www.adaptivepath.com/charmr/ Apple's Knowledge Navigator video. Keep in mind this was produced in 1987 and predicts a number of technologies and experiences that have since become a reality, including the web itself, Google, social networking, tablet PCs... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WdS4TscWH8fmt=18 And this insurance company story shared by Jared Spool at UI13: An insured home and car owner, having just had a tree fall on their garage, will log into the site, explain the damage, upload pictures, and get initial claim approval to start temporary repairs and get a rental car all within a few minutes. Within the next 24 hours, inspection appointments and a detailed damage assessment are scheduled and reviewed, and the repairs are underway within 48 hours. All the payments are handled electronically from the insurance company, with a single NET-60 bill sent to the policy holder for the deductibles. The idea of a good experience vision is that it is a story everyone in an organization can remember, and empowers people at all levels to make daily decisions knowing whether they are moving closer to or farther from the vision. Do you know of other good examples? 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] websites as art
Not sure if this is exactly what you have in mind, but a recent article in the NY Times proposes that videos submitted to YouTube be considered a new art form: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06FOB-medium-t.html?_r=1scp=9sq=youtubest=cse -- Tom Wailes twai...@yahoo.com -- From: Christina Wodtke cwod...@eleganthack.com To: discuss@lists.interactiondesigners.com Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 9:34:57 PM Subject: [IxDA Discuss] websites as art I was chatting whit a colleague, and we could recall examples in the early days of the web where a site was a work of art, and no other thing but art, but can't think of recent examples. any sightings? 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] [JOB] Interaction Designer, Redwood City CA, Research In Motion, Contract
Hello Thomas, Can we send our resumes to you ? Best Malahat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45377 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] [JOB] Information Architect, Kansas City - MO Recruiter, Contract
I just got in a 2-3 month contract for a client of mine in Kansas City. They are in need of an information Architect. Activities - document usability requirements. Deliverables - wireframes / strategy documents. This project must be done 100% onsite but my client does have a budget for travel expenses. Telecom or eCommerce experience is a big plus! Please let me know if you know anyone who would be interested. Please feel free to pass along my information if someone comes to mind. Thank you for your time, Greg Scherzo Senior Recruiter gsche...@friedmanwilliams.com Friedman Williams Group 485 Seventh Avenue, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10018 212-867-7000 ext #113 http://www.linkedin.com/in/gregscherzo Get all our latest Tech Openings on Twitter! :: Get all our lastest creative openings on Twitter! 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] [Event] Design by Fire cafe 28 SEPT 2009 - Utrecht, NL
The event date in the body of this post is incorrect. The correct date is: Monday 28 September 2009. - Yohan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45487 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] Why isn\'t the OS a browser?
If you go back to 1987 Byte Magazine ran a cover about the Browser been the future OS. Netscape and Sun both pushed this view that the OS was dead. Sun was pushing Java applets. Microsoft then launched a browser. Years of Anti Trust battle happened. Back in 1987 there was two challenges. Most people where on dial up, and there was no Ajax. I worked back then on a project to port an application from an old mainframe to the web. The issues where speed, and error checking. The user experience was not great. The challenge now with the Browser becoming the OS is that OS's are so cheap. To build a browser you need a basic OS. When you have a basic OS why not let 3rd party apps run on it? James blog.feralabs.com 2009/9/11 Andrei Herasimchuk aherasimc...@involutionstudios.com On Sep 10, 2009, at 9:24 PM, Nasir Barday wrote: The distinction between OS and Browser is becoming unimportant. Except for the minor fact that without an OS you can't actually launch a browser. The main difference is in performance; The main difference is that the OS actually runs the hardware, things like your keyboard, mouse inputs, RAM usage, drawing to the computer screen, etc. If the browser ran the hardware, then the browser would be an OS. if you need to do processor-intensive stuff (design/development, making video, laying down tracks for your latest album, tricky features in productivity apps), a native-running app is the ticket. You've made a leap here. (One which is reasonable, fwiw.) You've gone from talking about OS versus Browser App to talking about the difference between Browser App versus Native App. With strange animals like SplashTop, a minimal OS for netbooks that runs Skype, Mozilla, and IM; Google's Gears and pending Chrome OS; and especially with Web 2.0's ability to save and use local data, as well as run without an Internet connection, what's the difference to the end-user? One runs inside the other, but what if the Browser ran alone? That's more of the question you're asking, right Kim? I'd love to know how it's possible for a browser application to even launch without an OS. -Andrei 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] [Event] UX Brighton: Remote U ser Research - A 360° degree view
--UPDATE-- Since the event sold out overnight, UXBrighton have changed venues and added more tickets - there are now more available. Even if you are not based in Brighton in the UK it will worth while to come along, as it is free, and Brighton is very easy to get to. Gatwick Airport is only 30 mins away, with many low cost airlines flying there. London is only an hour away. 2009/9/9 Harry Brignull ha...@brignull.com ** Sorry for the cross-posting ** Hi Everyone, The next UX-Brighton event on remote user research, and we've got a fantastic line-up for you. As usual it's free to attend. *When*: October 13th, 2009 (6pm start) *Where*: iCrossing, Black Lion Street, Brighton. (If there's a big demand for tickets we may move the event to a bigger venue nearby) *Tickets*: Free, but you need to book a place on eventwaxhttp://uxbri_1.eventwax.com/ux-brighton-remote-user-research---a-360-degree-view Although the audience of websites is global, the most common ways of user research are spatially bound, and confined to a research laboratory. This is in direct contrast to both the global spirit of the web and the broad selection of people who view a website or online application. Tonight's talks will show how you can use online methods for carrying out usability research at each stage of the design process. *Remote usability applied - A case study by Louise Klinker* Louise will discuss how she used a remote research tool in a recent project. She will explain how remote user research can be applied, and how it can influence the development process of the project. Louise is a User Experience Consultant at Flow Interactive. She has worked for some of the leading companies in design and research, including Mollerup Designlab, X service design, and of course Flow. Bill Buxton said in ‘Sketching User Experiences’ that “Louise can hold their own with the best of them”. She has worked with clients including The BBC, The Guardian, The Foreign Office, BUPA, Tesco, Nokia, Sky and Shell. *The Birth of an Idea - Remote Ethnography by David Tait and Ofer Deshe* Ofer and David will take us through a journey from initial concepts through the design of a new remote ethnography web service. The service is a new framework that enables easier access to contextual research and includes data capturing technologies such as smart phone apps, an online web diary, email and social media integration. Additionally, the framework includes a number of built-in qualitative analysis tools. Analysis is conducted in real-time allowing ongoing monitoring of behaviours in remote locations and contexts. Before pursuing this venture, Ofer worked as a Principal Consultant at Flow and has led numerous user experience research, design and strategy projects. David is an innovative computer scientist with expertise in designing knowledge, customer insight systems, and search algorithms. Prior to working on this service, David designed a search interface for a financial trading solution and a Mandarin phonetic search algorithm. *Testing the Prototype - Synchronous Remote Testing by Volker Gersabeck of pidoco°* Volker, who is coming all the way from Berlin, will show off the next version of pidoco°. Pidoco° is a web-based software suite for prototyping and testing. It allows for live-collaborative designing a prototype, which is instantanously available on many devices (desktop, mobile, etc). Built around the prototype are different ways for collecting feedback from all the different stakeholders. With the new version comes a module which allows for moderated remote usability tests with zero set up cost. Volker co-founded pidoco°, and has been leading its development since the first line of code was written three years ago. He also co-organised the UXcamp 2009 in Berlin, and is already planning a European one for next year. *Testing the Product - Asynchronous Remote Testing by Sabrina Mach* Sabrina will present Webnographer, a tool for un-moderated remote usability testing, which enables fast and cost effective testing of any website with participants across the world. She will show how Webnographer can be used to inform the design of your website, how it benchmarks performance, and how to gain insight into user behaviour through the different reports that the tool offers. Sabrina is co-founder of FeraLabs, a usability consultancy specialising in remote user research. Using Webnographer, Sabrina helps clients understand their user’s behaviour, providing them with formative insight for design teams, as well as summative results for benchmarking website performance. *→ **Book your free ticket now on eventwax*http://uxbri_1.eventwax.com/ux-brighton-remote-user-research---a-360-degree-view -- Dr. Harry Brignull User Experience Consultant http://www.90percentofeverything.com + 44 (0)7920 474784 Welcome to the
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Best practise for adding items to comparison tool
Speaking as a shopper...my 2 cents... I hate anything that limits my ability to see the full field of options, particularly when I am evaluating items with which I don't have much familiarity. It's also highly inefficient to re-initiate comparisons as a means of evaluating more items. (i.e Did I have the XJR70 model in the last comparison and is that one of the ones I wanted to keep looking at?) Thus, I am not happy when I am limited to a fixed number of items to compare at the onset. Enable me to compare as many items as I desire and give me the ability to remove items as I find that they don't meet my needs. As for the scrolling, what I find best is to have the items list be a horizontal scroll. Yes, horiz scroll has been widely frowned up and in its early use was one if my biggest pet peeves. But traditional horiz scroll interfered with reading. This horiz scroll actually facilitates evaluation. Since feature sets are usually larger than the number of items being evaluated, keeping a few items visible horizontally enables efficient review because you only need to scroll vertically through the feature set to compare them. Then you simply remove the items you deem as not meeting your needs and move the next batch into view with the horiz scroll. No need to re-initiate the comparison. And so on. At the end you have a manageable list of items to decide from, all of which have the criteria for which you are looking. Sent from my iPhone On Sep 8, 2009, at 10:32 AM, alison austin amausti...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: What's the general view: is it best to limit the number of items you can add using compare functionality or better to allow an unlimited number? And, if allowing large numbers of items to be added, is pagination or horizontal scolling preferable? 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] [PLUG] EightShapes September Workshop: Creating Using Flow Charts
I'll be teaching a half-day workshop in DC on Sept 25 on *flow charts* and their cousins storyboards and wireflows. Details here: http://eightshapes.com/2009/08/25/creating-flow-charts-september-2009-workshop/ *TODAY is the last day for early bird pricing, so sign up today to save 20%! * Hope to see you there! -- Dan -- Dan Brown, Principal • (301) 801-4850 EightShapes, LLC • eightshapes.com Also at: communicatingdesign.com • greenonions.com -- Dan Brown, Principal • (301) 801-4850 EightShapes, LLC • eightshapes.com Also at: communicatingdesign.com • greenonions.com -- Dan Brown, Principal • (301) 801-4850 EightShapes, LLC • eightshapes.com Also at: communicatingdesign.com • greenonions.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] Why isn\'t the OS a browser?
On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:16 PM, Kim Bieler kimbie...@gmail.com wrote: I hope this isn't a dumb question, but I've been thinking about how much duplication there is between the OS and the browser -- each has its own navigation, its own file structure, its own applications and plug-ins, and all that real-estate-hogging chrome! Andrei made most of the important technical distinctions--you still need an OS to operate the hardware that the browser runs on. It's not terribly important, but it might be helpful to keep in mind that what I think most people think of as OS sort of includes three main things: *execution environment* for *applications* and their *data*. And actually, I'd guess most don't even think about the execution environment per se beyond the thing that I use to access my apps/data. For a personal computer, these three live on the local hardware more or less permanently. For what folks think of as browser, only the execution environment is permanently on the local hardware (on top of the OS); the applications and data live in the cloud. They might cache apps/data locally temporarily, but it's not as permanent as local apps. Here's another twist. I would suggest that Flash and Silverlight are actually browsers themselves. That they plug in to existing browsers is more of a delivery mechanism than anything else. They provide their own, richer and more reliable execution environment, and Silverlight also has it's own, richer local app and data storage/cache (don't know the details of Flash myself). AIR and Silverlight out of browser highlight this fact even more. So it's not so much browser per se that matters as having a lightweight execution environment that can provide you access to rich, Web-based apps. Netbooks and other devices basically eschew local app and data storage and constrain the execution environment to browser-based stuff. Browsers also provide another important aspect--security. They typically provide what we call a sandbox for these Web-based apps to play in, keeping them from mucking up your local device/OS (at least that's the idea). The practical implications of this are that it is not just performance that means you sometimes need to go local but also for access to other OS services (usually connections to devices like cameras, scanners, printers, etc.) that are not available in the sandbox. Anyways, I'm sure that's more than you wanted to know. I'll shut up now. -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] Why isn\'t the OS a browser?
Okay, I hope it's clear that no one is talking about a Browser BEING an Operating System. Yes, an OS handles all kinds of under-the-hood things that the Browser never even thought of. Which is why a Browser runs on top of an OS-- so it doesn't have to think about pesky things like device drivers and interrupt handling. So on the technical side, I don't think it's going to be useful to talk about how a browser IS an OS. Andrei wrote: You've gone from talking about OS versus Browser App to talking about the difference between Browser App versus Native App. But we can talk about what it might mean if there was an OS whose sole function was to run a browser, a la Chrome OS. Kim, tell me if I'm off here, but I think with your post you wanted to say that Browser apps and Native apps are becoming one in the same: Once you've got a web-only terminal with a well-equipped browser, most people have everything they would need to do with a computer. For anything that's missing, we have umpteen different platforms to fill them out with. Eventually, petty things like who runs what OS will become even more petty. - Nasir 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] Why isn\'t the OS a browser?
Ambrose wrote: They might cache apps/data locally temporarily, but it's not as permanent as local apps. Google Gears took this distinction away from local apps long ago, no? - N 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] Why isn\'t the OS a browser?
On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 11:08 AM, Nasir Barday nbarday+i...@gmail.comnbarday%2bi...@gmail.com wrote: Ambrose wrote: They might cache apps/data locally temporarily, but it's not as permanent as local apps. Google Gears took this distinction away from local apps long ago, no? --- Depends on how you look at it; it's definitely not black and white. There were solutions before Gears that worked around the limitations of browsers in these areas, and there are some since. Gears is a browser extension. You might note I mentioned SL has richer local data storage, too, but SL also has its own execution and rendering environment, so I say it qualifies more as a browser in the sense of an OS replacement (from a user perspective). When I think of OS apps and data, I think of the apps (as installed into their respective local app dirs) and, more often than not, the files that the apps consume/produce, which are often known to the user and usually are the home/record of reference for these things. There are exceptions, of course, like installed mail clients that are a hybrid that uses permanent local app storage but can have temporary/cache for data. But both Gears and SL have more like a cache than a (more or less) permanent OS file system (FS). Gears, AIUI, is not even really a virtual file system but just a database (file). SL has a virtual FS (called Isolated Storage). They both store their stuff (currently anyways) in a hidden place on the OS FS that is not intended to be known or accessed directly by people. Both are intended not as the home of the data they keep but rather as a cache to either speed access to application data (and ergo better app performance) or have a local cache of server data for use when the server is not available. Or both. But you don't build an app on these things relying on the local data to be the permanent home. Basically, the same applies to the application itself, especially for gears, which doesn't (necessarily) provide full application capabilities. It really depends on the server to fully function and again, the apps are cached--their home is in the cloud. So that's what I mean by saying not as permanent as local apps. It may have been more precise to say something like not as the permanent home of these, like local apps. HTH. -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] Why isn't the OS a browser?
I'd like to get back into this thread, but I'm only able to see the first response. Not sure if it's me, or the server... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=.1802 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] web video content
Working on a project which has a video explaining a new product. The video, as it stands now, is about 5 minutes and has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is a (rather boring and technical) introduction: Hi, I'm so-and-so, I invented this product and this is why. Then it gets into how to use the product. The video editor (who comes from a television background) feels strongly that we need the introduction first, for the flow/narrative. I feel strongly that the intro will lose viewers' interest and we should jump right into how to use the product, with only a title card as introduction, and use the intro later in the piece. My thinking is that web video is not like a TV show: if you don't have your viewer's interest in the first 30 (??) seconds, they aren't going to watch. But I can't find any research to back up my position. Does anyone know of any research or have any thoughts on this? By the way, for budget reasons, we cannot do any reshooting or voice work, we can only edit what we have. Thanks, Sheri 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] web video content
Few TV shows start with the title and credits. They start with a touch of action or a joke, and then do the opening titles. But for some shows, that would disrupt the narrative or otherwise not work with the style of the show. The style you want to project should dictate the format. -- Jim Via my iPhone On Sep 11, 2009, at 1:03 PM, Sheri Hyman sher...@verizon.net wrote: Working on a project which has a video explaining a new product. The video, as it stands now, is about 5 minutes and has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is a (rather boring and technical) introduction: Hi, I'm so-and-so, I invented this product and this is why. Then it gets into how to use the product. The video editor (who comes from a television background) feels strongly that we need the introduction first, for the flow/narrative. I feel strongly that the intro will lose viewers' interest and we should jump right into how to use the product, with only a title card as introduction, and use the intro later in the piece. My thinking is that web video is not like a TV show: if you don't have your viewer's interest in the first 30 (??) seconds, they aren't going to watch. But I can't find any research to back up my position. Does anyone know of any research or have any thoughts on this? By the way, for budget reasons, we cannot do any reshooting or voice work, we can only edit what we have. Thanks, Sheri 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] web video content
I agree with you, if there is a narrator at the beginning of the clip, viewers will leave. You could include the information about the inventor and the technical back story in text on the web page. (It should not be written in a boring and technical manner, otherwise few people would read it.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45516 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] How trendy is UCD? Are we critical enough about it?
I think there are a couple of issues here that need to be separated. First, I don't think we can really evaluate user centered design as a thing unto itself. There are so many different processes, methodologies, principles, beliefs, and good intentions that fall under the rather large umbrella of UCD. To really evaluate, we need to be evaluating a specific process, methodology, etc. So, if we aren't looking critically at all those things, then no, we aren't being critical enough of UCD. Second, while I believe in the basic principle of considering users, I think the term user centered design is sometimes misleading. It should never mean%u2014do what the users want. It should mean, understand what the user needs and design something that will allow them to accomplish their goals. Even then, you still shouldn't focus entirely on the user. I believe that you must always balance 3 things: the user, the business, and the technology. And sometimes the balance has to lean more towards business or technology, depending on the constraints of the project. Finally, I think that Dave Malouf's request to show me a major success (Apple-like success) that was based on UCD, isn't the right way to measure UCD (or more specifically, a UCD process). Apple is a major success in a very large, mainstream consumer marketspace. This presupposes that to be successful, one must have the impact and sales of a company like Apple. But there are many many designs in the world that could be considered successful if we use more realistic criteria. What about an internal software application that measurably improves employee performance, but is never sold? What about a company that wins awards for the business software it sells into a smaller market? What about an e-commerce website that increases customer satisfaction and sales? For some examples, you can look at case studies of successful projects at my company, which have used the Contextual Design process: http://incontextdesign.com/case-studies/sage-saleslogix-case-study/ http://incontextdesign.com/case-studies/analog-redesign-case-study/ If we want to be more critical about UCD (and I think we should), we need to be clear about *what* we are evaluating and agree on what constitutes a *success*. -dave David B. Rondeau Design Chair InContext Design ( http://www.incontextdesign.com ) http://twitter.com/dbrondeau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45486 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
