[IxDA Discuss] Facility for usability test in NYC?
Looking for recommendations on a place anyone has used in Manhattan for doing usability tests. I saw this question in the archive, (http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=28337) but it had no replies. Thanks. 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] Documenting State Changes in Web Apps
Here is a technique I have been working on. This is a slideshare from the talk I gave at the conference this year. http://www.slideshare.net/niozzo/interactions-09-object-oriented-approach-to-designoad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=41022 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] The future of Wireframes (was: Joel Spolsky claims the Program Manager role does UI design... ????)
I think it is worth emphasizing what Todd said. Wireframes will be around until the sophistication of the buyer gets to the point where they are not needed. When doing consulting in large corporations or government, when you developing new tools for complex processes, wireframes allow you to focus the attention of the buyer onto the functionality within the screen. The norm in these situations is using the wireframes to flesh out the requirements. You could have done some great research, and inspired requirements documentation but odds are that most people in the room still do not get what you are trying to build. Wireframes allow you to quickly show them what it is and iterate it many more times then you ever could in a prototype or a fully design comp. Reason two has to do with detailed screen specifications. When you are designing an application to aid highly trained experts, the business rules within the system need to be documented and illustrated in a comprehensive manner. Prototypes will not cut it. Notes on comps will not cut it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=39897 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] Lightbox modal dialog boxes, your feeling about them?
As Amy said, they work well if you use them appropriately. The big problems I have seen with them in usability tests is when the lightbox taxes up too much of the screen. Then users still think they navigated. As a rule of thumb, at least 50% of the screen at your target resolution should be visible. The next issue is with the back button. Users still want to click them to 'close' the light box. Finally, lightboxes can not be taller then the core content on the window, so you need to keep the content able to fit in a single window... or work on a good scrolling implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=39865 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] Managing test script branching
How many participants in the study? I just go the old fashion way. I print out 1 copy per participant and then reorganize the pages to control for presentation bias. I dislike taking notes on a laptop when I do a utest... feels too clinical. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38932 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] Working Backwards
The talk I gave at Interactions 09 may be relevant to this topic. The subject was how to document complex business logic and rich interactions. This is one way to begin to extract the knowledge from the heads of your developers and maintain in a framework which you can manage, control, and use to create future work products. BAsed on the feedback I have received after the talk, I am now working on a more accessible version of this to share with the community and to do it in such a way where we can all build upon it and improve upon it. More to come, -Nick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38668 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] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
I have found it is generally better to open the day with a group meeting. No matter how much explaining you do ahead of time, you will still likely be scheduled to meet with the wrong folks. The group meeting will allow the managers to have their say and give them a forum to tell you many things. You can then use that to start asking specific task questions. Usually during the course of these questions, they will say Well, Sue does that. Great time to say, I'd love to spend some time with Sue later today then to see how she does it. I have found that during the course of this opening meeting, names of individuals get brought up as the person who does X. This is the best way for you to then select whom you want to meet with and learn more about task x. Of course, as the prior posted mentioned. Preparation is the most important thing to do. Know what you want to observe, know how many events you want to observe, have research questions you want answered. Prepare a study guide During the course of the day, you will be presented with more opportunities then you have time to follow-up on. You need to have spent time developing your study guide so you can make on-the-fly decisions on how to best use your time. Even if your research techniques are all about not interfering with the user and letting it naturally flow. If you have not made decisions about what you want to learn, then you will not learn anything. This is more practical then ideal. Ideally you would have lots of time to spend with everyone, so you will be able to learn all you can. Practically, you have a very limited amount of time to spend with a limited number of folks. So you have to plan on how to use it wisely. Get clearance before you even bring out any recording devices. Many companies do not like it. Good luck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38073 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] Methods for Documenting RIAs
I am giving a talk on just this topic at Interactions 09. I have worked on a technique over the past 4 years for doing just this. It has been in use and tweaked within an environment where development and QA is split between on-shore and off-shore. Many of the points raised in this thread are valid approaches. The best approach is the one that fits your project's team dynamics. If your team requires you to design interactions where explicit documentation is critical and if you want to design complex interactions that are beyond your skills to prototype, then the method I will be presenting will work for you. Come to Vancouver and attend the session. I would be happy to go into this technique in more detail with anyone over the course of the weekend. http://interaction09.crowdvine.com/talks/show/2638 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37032 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] Top U.S. design schools/colleges for user experience/ usability / IA
The institute of design at IIT. http://www.id.iit.edu/ I've worked with and interviewed enough students from that program to find it to be one of the best in the nation. If you have not heard of it, do not confuse it with ITT! They are not related. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35359 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Resiliency of IxDA Jobs in a Major Recession
The advise to learn complementary skills works well for folks who are on the junior side of things. But if you are 5-10 years into your career, that could end up being a step backwards. When times are very difficult, those are opportunities where our unique skills can help us stand out. If your company is being stressed, you might actually have better lines of communication with the executives of your company then you ever did before. Find a way to help solve their problems. Every situation is different, so no formula exists on how to do this. But if you begin to look for these chances and develop a reputation for someone who commits themselves to solving strategic problems, then you will become more valuable as things get worse. This is the harder path, but it is another path you can take. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34025 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Why Understanding Business Models is Important to Ix Designers
When I see my team falling into this trap, I reference the design of seats at fast food restaurants. They are designed to only be comfortable for a short time, they want to get you out as fast as possible, but not so bad that you will not come back. I have no problem calling it user-centered design if we are designing something to be uncomfortable after 15 minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=33433 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Disability Discrimination Act and AJAX
I have found I just think that way about the rich interactions I design now. It is just another factor to consider as you explore the design space of your project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=32646 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Disability Discrimination Act and AJAX
With most modern screen readers, JS is not the problem is is CSS. Accessible needs to consider not just JS off, but CSS off as well. You will have a better chance of ordering your content how the screen reader will read it if you view your page with CSS off. Better yet, try out your code with a screen reader! Finally, as with usability, no cook book checklist will help you 100%. Your best bet is to bring in folks with various disabilities and see how well they can use your application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=32646 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Disability Discrimination Act and AJAX
the two are not mutually exclusive. I have designed many rich interaction for clients that are still accessible. The goal is to think in terms of progressive enhancements instead of graceful degradation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_enhancement That will get you a strategy for your rich interactions. Then you take care designing the templates and stylesheets for much of the remaining work. Screen readers are making many strides to bridge the gap. But if you are communicating information via position and motion only, then it will be a challenge to translate that into a purely spoken mechanism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=32646 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Does eye-tracking carry any real meaning?
From Nancy Broden: One question I do have for the eye-tracking supporters out there: if the results culled from all the eye-tracking studies where implemented wouldn't all of our websites look the same or at least very, very similar? _ I do not consider myself an eye-tracking supporter anymore then I consider myself a supporter of Allen wrenches (it is just a tool). Also, as a consultant I have never encountered a situation in which I felt eye tracking was the correct tool for the job. If I was back in academia, I could imagine lots of times I would want to use it. Those caveats out of the way, lots of standards and best practices have evolved on where to place navigations and body content. But in no way do all sites look the same. These studies mean something in aggregate. You take the results from all of the studies and you use your training and judgment to apply it. If an eye tracking study just reports the results as a list of commandments with none of the data or methodology behind it... then we really can not use the results in our day-to-day job. _ From Nancy Broden: Eye-tracking feels like a desperate attempt to scientifically prove the value of Design (with a big D) . I don't have enough time to wade into that one... ___ I can see coming to that conclusion if we are just using it to study a small set of marketing sites or some e-commerce sites. But I recently read a great article (sorry can not find the link, but I hope someone on this list has it) where an eye tracking study was used to aid in the design of software for radiologists. What they found was that radiologists had higher dwell times on tumors that they missed. They where able to determine some of the misses the radiologists may have caught on their own if they where better able to go back to past images. Given that the fast bulk of what they look at are true negatives, their muscle memory kicks in and they mark an image as negative before they fully processed it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=22825 *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Tandemseven experience?
So I am torn. Which would be more unprofessional? Sending a message mentioning that I work for TandemSeven and helped define its user-centered design practice. Or to remain neutral and let the conversations take place and not interfere? It is tempting to say nothing, this would be a great chance to get some feedback in the wild from our customers but it feels unprofessional and a disservice to the list to say nothing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=22815 *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
