Re: [IxDA Discuss] Clock Burn-In
Thanks for the few direct and the many consultant/zen-like responses (don't use a clock, etc). Yes we are providing the option to turn off the clock display and it will also become dimmer after a period of inactivity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35445 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
Hey Jack, 2008/11/13 Jack Moffett [EMAIL PROTECTED]: On Nov 13, 2008, at 8:51 AM, Danny Hope wrote: Arguably, best practice says: don't initiate layers on rollover, but rather to require a click. Danny, I can't agree with you here. Displaying new information on rollover has been a widely used and accepted practice for over 16 years. I suppose tool tips are an example, can you reference other examples please? You could certainly point out situations where it is inappropriate, Here are 3: - where the new layer obscures information or other controls - on devices which do not have a hover state, e.g. touchscreens - where the interface is to be used by someone with visual or motor disabilities but I don't see how you can argue that best practice is to not use this technique. I've only found one source to back up my position (anyone know any others?): http://www.nngroup.com/reports/accessibility/ (p57-64) I'm not saying that Displaying new information on rollover is bad practice. For example, I think that having the browser display the URL of links in it's status bar is good. I am saying that: - rollovers should not be counted as a declaration - the system should not obscure content or interface elements that the user may be trying to see. -- Regards, Danny Hope http://linkedin.com/in/dannyhope 07595 226 792 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
We do a very similar thing, except instead of hiding the buttons completely we dim them. We also use hover to show contextual content for an item in a popup box, and it works very well. You can see these techniques in action at http://opl.bibliocommons.com/collection/show/4922901_emenel/library On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 10:18 AM, Todd Zaki Warfel [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Nov 13, 2008, at 9:12 AM, Jack Moffett wrote: You could certainly point out situations where it is inappropriate, but I don't see how you can argue that best practice is to not use this technique. Exactly. We use the hover technique to reveal additional options like Edit and Delete in most of our webapps. Imagine a list of 30 items on a page. If we had Edit and Delete next to every single one of them, that's a lot of visual noise on the screen. Instead, we only reveal these additional actions on hover — it's conditional and contextual. And besides, you're going to have to target that item w/a mouse anyway to perform the action. So, it works pretty well. Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel President, Design Researcher Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. -- Contact Info Voice: (215) 825-7423 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AIM:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help -- Matt Nish-Lapidus -- personal: [EMAIL PROTECTED] twitter: emenel 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
On Nov 13, 2008, at 9:12 AM, Jack Moffett wrote: You could certainly point out situations where it is inappropriate, but I don't see how you can argue that best practice is to not use this technique. Exactly. We use the hover technique to reveal additional options like Edit and Delete in most of our webapps. Imagine a list of 30 items on a page. If we had Edit and Delete next to every single one of them, that's a lot of visual noise on the screen. Instead, we only reveal these additional actions on hover — it's conditional and contextual. And besides, you're going to have to target that item w/a mouse anyway to perform the action. So, it works pretty well. Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel President, Design Researcher Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. -- Contact Info Voice: (215) 825-7423 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AIM:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 ... [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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
Danny, Clicking is a declaration, hovering is not. I think there are some cases where we *can* treat hovering as a declaration. In particular, I'm thinking of uses such as Netflix's movie info boxes. When a user places a mouse over an active object, and then pauses without a click, I think it's a reasonable inference that the user is lacking information to move forward. In this circumstance, I think that showing an information box can be appropriate. Jackson Fox UX Designer @ Viget Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35525 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] Where that ACD thing fits
James, This thread has brought me close to the conclusion that Activity Theory (AT) and Activity Centered Design (ACD) have nothing to do with each other except for a vocabulary overlap. AT is user-centered in that activities cannot be understood outside of the social context in which they occur. Jared's definition of ACD (which many seem to agree with) states that ACD does the opposite -- focuses on activity outside of social context. In order to reconcile the two ideas, we need to amend Jared's definition: The design that results from teams that only research the activities. To something like: The design that results from teams that research activities, the tools that are used in those activities, and the context in which they occur. Jackson Fox UX Designer @ Viget Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35466 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
2008/11/13 Jackson Fox [EMAIL PROTECTED]: …Netflix's movie info boxes. Can you give me a URL please? -- Regards, Danny Hope http://linkedin.com/in/dannyhope 07595 226 792 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] Where that ACD thing fits
I suspect that ACD could be considered a modular component of UCD, a component that could be exercised on its own, but which really should be incorporated into a larger UCD process. ACD should be a part of the design process, closely related to functional design, one that -might- be sufficient on its own if a designer is pressed for time or if a project has a very limited set of functionalities. In a way, ACD jumps from Requirements to Functions without focusing on the intermediary step of thinking about how and why users would wish to fulfill the goals that require said functions. Jared, I like your scale metaphor. It's a continuum of design, which is precisely how the real world functions. In the company I work for, we often have to decide up front how much design time and research time we can allocate. Although we don't have a formal scale the likes of which you have proposed, I see in this scale a very strong parallel to our projected design-depth results. Short term projects tend to fall back on self and genius design, longer term projects include ACD and UCD. The very best, robust projects, almost always extend deeply into UCD (but include initial ACD steps). I think the scale metaphor is very valuable. ACD also seems to be closely related to Requirements Gathering and Functional Specifications Implementation, so I think that it is precisely correct to put it as the step before (or beneath) UCD on a scale. Many designs end a functional implementations when really they could seriously benefit from a deeper UCD approach. Kudos, Damon Slinging my UX in Providence 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
On Nov 13, 2008, at 10:36 AM, Danny Hope wrote: I suppose tool tips are an example, can you reference other examples please? I can't spout off URLs and I don't have the time to look any up, but I've seen sites that provide a preview of the page that an external link goes to in a roll-over pop-up. I've used this technique to reveal buttons in a list like Todd suggested. I've seen it used to provide information about an image thumbnail. There are menus that open on hover. Technical illustrations can show labels for individual parts. I've implemented a multi-link in this way, where one link in the content has multiple destinations, so the pop-up is a list of links. The Mac OS used to have bubble help. It's also a good way of providing access to status information. I've used it to provide an explanation as to why a particular button is disabled. (Okay, there are probably several examples here that could be classified as tool tips in a broad sense.) This list could go on... You could certainly point out situations where it is inappropriate, Here are 3: - where the new layer obscures information or other controls I wouldn't consider this to be an inappropriate situation as I meant it, just something that you should avoid. - on devices which do not have a hover state, e.g. touchscreens Agreed. - where the interface is to be used by someone with visual or motor disabilities Also agreed. but I don't see how you can argue that best practice is to not use this technique. I've only found one source to back up my position (anyone know any others?): http://www.nngroup.com/reports/accessibility/ (p57-64) Which is in regards to situations in which accessibility is an issue. This doesn't mean that the technique should never be used. I'm not saying that Displaying new information on rollover is bad practice. For example, I think that having the browser display the URL of links in it's status bar is good. I am saying that: - rollovers should not be counted as a declaration If the user pauses, that can be taken as a declaration. And sometimes, you intentionally want to interfere before the user makes a declaration. - the system should not obscure content or interface elements that the user may be trying to see. Absolutely. Best, Jack Jack L. Moffett Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com My goal is to build elegant products. The products that don't make people think when they should be doing, make people think when they should be learning, compel them by relating to them, and simply work. - Josh Viney 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
[IxDA Discuss] Theory Re: Where that ACD thing fits
This discussion on UCD/ACD has been both frustrating and enlightening. The single biggest thing it demonstrates to me is just how thin our understanding of theory is, and the impact that theory has on how we work. What do I mean by theory? Theory is a robust conceptual framework that undergirds a practice. In the discussion of ACD, I was surprised how long it took for someone to mention Activity Theory, because talking about ACD without talking about Activity Theory is like talking about biology but neglecting evolution. Now, Activity Theory is an extremely robust conceptual framework for considering how people work, and their relationships to elements in their environment. Activity Theory is not about looking at activities and designing for them. User-Centered Design is predicated on a cobbled together set of theories, most of them coming out of the HCI community, which has been heavily influenced by cognitive psychology. So you have things like distributed cognition, perception, information processing, etc. Since the dawn of the Web, there's also been significant inroads by the Library and Information Science community (Information retrieval, metadata, etc.). I think it's problematic that so many people are working in the context of these theories and don't even realize it, because folks then don't know how these assumptions are coloring their approaches. I don't know if the answer is that everyone gets grounded in theory -- that can be stultifying. But there's no way to get anywhere with these methodological discussions without appreciating the theory underlying them. --peter On Nov 13, 2008, at 3:13 AM, Jared Spool wrote: On Nov 12, 2008, at 5:56 PM, David Malouf wrote: If I were designing it from a UCD perspective, I do care, or that the person is elderly and needs large print, or any other demographic type information. Just for the record, properly done UCD wouldn't care about demographics. It would care about behaviors. It doesn't matter what age someone is. If they need large print to complete their objective, they need large print, independent of age (or income group, geographic location political persuasion, gender preference, dental history, dislike of sushi, . . .) Jared Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
On 13 Nov 2008, at 09:09, Jackson Fox wrote: [snip] I think there are some cases where we *can* treat hovering as a declaration. In particular, I'm thinking of uses such as Netflix's movie info boxes. When a user places a mouse over an active object, and then pauses without a click, I think it's a reasonable inference that the user is lacking information to move forward. [snip] As ever - it depends :-) If the page has enough content that the user needs to pause to comprehend it, and enough area of the page containing active links, then the chance of accidentally firing off with a hover affect can be quite high. I saw exactly this behaviour this a while back when I did some testing on a site where the content area and side bar contained a number of links that gave a preview of the following page. The user paused to read content - with the pointer over a preview area purely by chance. A couple of seconds later preview-layer appeared. User gets distracted - moves cursor enough to get the preview layer to vanish. User resumes reading - accidentally leaving cursor over _another_ preview link... This sometimes happened two or three times in a row until the user threw the cursor to a screen edge. Fun :-) Adrian 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
[IxDA Discuss] [JOB] Recruiter: Head of User Experience @ Social Media Start-up in SF (full-time)
UxStation is recruiting for a Head of User Experience to help set the direction, tone, and strategy for our client's products. We are seeking someone who will contribute directly in their particular areas of expertise (web design, quantitative usability research, UI design, etc.) — but also someone who can help guide product development at all levels, not just at the level of interaction design or graphic design for the interface. This is a premier bay area startup with a rockstar management team that includes experienced entrepreneurs, ex-Google engineers, and a philosophy professor working together in downtown San Francisco. They build products that enable users to tap into the wisdom of their real-world social network. Their first offering takes on the problem of subjective search — finding information that is customized and relevant to your personal tastes, needs, and context. RESPONSIBILITIES Design interactive mockups for a variety of media (web, IM, etc.) Interact directly with users via interviews or usability tests Assist in the development of effective and understandable messaging Analyze user behavior data Think creatively about product features and evolution QUALIFICATIONS Proven experience designing new user interfaces, shipping consumer products we would recognize, and leading teams (in order of importance) Formal background in HCI or closely related field Broad exposure to usability and user experience design in general Both academic and industry experience preferred Affinity for rapid prototyping Flexibility when faced with complex challenges Experience with Social Media and/or Social Networking preferred Contact: Theresa Djirbandee UxStation, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linkedin.com/in/userexperiencetalent http://www.uxstation.com/index.php/job-seekers/ 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] Where that ACD thing fits
Guys, I created this simple diagram to illustrate my understanding of the differences between ACD vs UCD. http://flickr.com/photos/neuno/3027380216/sizes/o/ Please feel free to take it apart. Regards ShahW 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
[IxDA Discuss] JOB-Interaction Designer, FOX Interactive Media, Santa Monica, CA - Full Time
Job Description: The Interaction Designer will design, develop and refine all aspects of the user interface including work flows, wireframes, site map, and interactive behavior on B2B and B2C websites. The Candidate is expected to be familiar with interaction design, usability studies, and prototypic and graphic techniques. Reporting to the User Experience Lead, the Interaction Designer will: Responsibilities: -Design and create mockups, low and high fidelity prototypes, page schematics, site map, function specifications and flow documentation to translate business goals to visual designs -Develop narrative storytelling or clickable prototypes as proof of concept delivery -Analyze and optimize flows, user interface and page functionality and develop best practices, rules, and UI guidelines in a product portal framework -Identify end-users and assess site traffic, market trends and best practices to build a better user experience -Work across different product teams and be active in the entire interface development process, from ideation to implementation -Work collaboratively with front-end developers and other production teams to support a creative environment and foster innovative designs -Ability to work both independently and as part of a team. -Ability to work in a fast-paced development environment under tight resources and schedules -Must be able to perform a variety of tasks, which often includes working on multiple projects simultaneously Experience Skills -5 years Interaction Design work experience -Experience in the design of User Interfaces for web-delivered applications -An understanding of design patterns and best practices -Strong written and oral communication skills. -Strong analytical ability to evaluate and prioritize opportunities -Demonstrated critical-thinking, problem-solving, and goal-setting skills -Fluent in Photoshop, Fireworks and Visio, knowledge of HTML/CSS and familiar with Flash, JavaScript and Ajax technologies -Understanding of Web 2.0 and social network -Background in Graphic or Industrial Design, Computer Science, HI, Fine Arts, or equivalent Personality traits: -Straightforward approach, with meticulous attention to detail -Willingness to roll up the sleeves and tackle what needs to be done, with an entrepreneurial spirit -Excellent interpersonal skills, a sense of humor and humility -Passionate in learning online emerging technologies -An honest, creative, out-of-the-box thinker and problem-solver, with a test-and-learn mentality About FAN The Fox Audience Network (FAN) provides customized solutions to complex challenges in support of major advertising technology initiatives. FAN is an independent business unit of Fox Interactive Media (FIM), which is a division of News Corporation. Current products include: -Ad serving and optimization -Ad workflow management and operations -User segmentation and ad targeting -Enterprise-class data warehouse -Global user segmentation system -Ad inventory forecasting -Social networking/community building tools (blogs, comments, ratings, user-generated video) -Internal integration of tools such as bug tracking, enterprise wiki, code review, build management, and document repository -Exploration of future monetization technologies If you feel that you are qualified for this position, please go to www.fimcareers.com/careers.php and apply to job requisition FIM14351 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] IxDA and QA
The current project I am working on, i did the visual design and then volunteered to be a part of the QA team, I realized that there were so many things which the QA guys were giving a miss and doing a QA from a designer's perspective has really been beneficial for the project. Also I am not leading the QA team but just a team member, doing QA from a different perspective so in that regard I agree with Jim that a designer should not be in charge of the QA process, as they are not trained for it. I think that's why its working in my current project . Sonica Visual Designer New Delhi India On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 12:14 PM, Jim Drew [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In this thinking, turn things around: while you might have a QA engineer or two who provide great input on design ideas, would you put QA in charge of the design process? Probably not: their expertise may sometimes approach or overlap those needed for design, but there will be holes, gaps, and so forth. Unless you are truly cross-training, you're going to end up with ultimately inferior results. Which isn't to say that having QA involved in the design process, or Design in the QA process, isn't a great idea. It most certainly is. Watch out as well for asking designers to do QA work on the items they designed. They can easily be way too picky and/or unable to look at the pieces they designed with a fresh eye, to see interactions and different angles. Better to use their designer eye to look at other aspects of the product. -- Jim Drew Seattle, WA Software QA for 18 years On Oct 27, 2008, at 7:36 AM, Damon Dimmick wrote: The company I work for is a very lean, fast moving company, and we're constantly looking for ways to tighten our product life cycle timelines. One thing we've noticed in the last few months is that IxDA (and general design practitioners) have been extremely valuable not just during the design phase of a product, but also during the ongoing Quality Assurance / Quality Control phases as well as the final Quality Acceptance phases of the product lifecycle. This being the case, we're experimenting with the idea of putting IxDA people in charge (or in review positions within) the QA process. I've been playing around with this model myself on a couple of projects with very strong results. The net benefit seems to derive from the fact that there is really no one better to certify that a product meets QA requirements than the very people that identified the necessary interactions, UI results, and full design elements to begin with. So far, this also seems to fit in nicely with the fact that our design team tends to be very busy at the start of the project (front loading interaction design and then visual design) and then gets much less busy as the development cycle begins and ends. It seems a really good use of our time to swoop back in after the design phase and act as part of the QA process, making sure that developers are conforming to our specifications via a formal testing structure. I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this kind of structure, and if so, what challenges, results, and tips can you share? We're sort of excited about the idea on our end, as our initial forays into this model have really helped projects move along faster and with better results. Being a small/midsized team, we don't have a large QA department, so this allocation of resources seems to fill a lot of gaps. Any thoughts out there among my colleagues? Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! 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
[IxDA Discuss] Getting access to users?
Question for you. Historically, I've had other folks on my team in charge of finding users. Those folks often hired a firm to recruit users, to which I was often disappointed with the results. I'm now in a position where I need to get access to users to be able to do some contextual research. To be more specific, i need to find users that fit the criteria below. What's the best way to go about finding these users? - Business minded folks looking to build a social publishing site or content management application. These could be designers, engineers, ceo's etc. - Developers or designers that have involvement in a CMS other than Drupal. 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
Hi Jacqueline, Did you mean something like this page: http://meyerweb.com/eric/css/edge/popups/demo.html . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35525 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
Flash ads using the hover event to expand the ad are making hovering a declaration as well. I find myself mousing around ads to avoid expanding the ad and thus obscuring content I want to see as Danny put it. Example: hover over the Nature Valley banner at the top of this page: http://skiing.about.com/od/skigear/u/skiequipment.htm Joel Tachau Director of User Experience MFG.com -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Danny Hope Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 10:37 AM To: Jack Moffett Cc: IxDA Discuss Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers Hey Jack, 2008/11/13 Jack Moffett [EMAIL PROTECTED]: On Nov 13, 2008, at 8:51 AM, Danny Hope wrote: Arguably, best practice says: don't initiate layers on rollover, but rather to require a click. Danny, I can't agree with you here. Displaying new information on rollover has been a widely used and accepted practice for over 16 years. I suppose tool tips are an example, can you reference other examples please? You could certainly point out situations where it is inappropriate, Here are 3: - where the new layer obscures information or other controls - on devices which do not have a hover state, e.g. touchscreens - where the interface is to be used by someone with visual or motor disabilities but I don't see how you can argue that best practice is to not use this technique. I've only found one source to back up my position (anyone know any others?): http://www.nngroup.com/reports/accessibility/ (p57-64) I'm not saying that Displaying new information on rollover is bad practice. For example, I think that having the browser display the URL of links in it's status bar is good. I am saying that: - rollovers should not be counted as a declaration - the system should not obscure content or interface elements that the user may be trying to see. -- Regards, Danny Hope http://linkedin.com/in/dannyhope 07595 226 792 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
http://www.netflix.com/BrowseSelection On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 9:36 AM, Danny Hope [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 2008/11/13 Jackson Fox [EMAIL PROTECTED]: …Netflix's movie info boxes. Can you give me a URL please? -- Regards, Danny Hope http://linkedin.com/in/dannyhope 07595 226 792 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 -- -- I'm doing a century ride for the Leukemia Lymphoma society! Help me cure Leukemia Lymphoma By donating directly: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/tdps09/cedgeton By buying shirts: http://www.zazzle.com/cedgeton 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
Danny, Visit http://www.netflix.com/ You may actually need to be logged in with a user account to see the flyouts to which Jackson refers. However, at that point, you should receive a number of suggested offerings (for instance). These are thumbnails of the movie box/CD cover, etc...commonly associated with a film. Below that is a red hyperlinked button that reads (Add)-this is for adding selections to you queue. If you scroll over the aforementioned thumbnail and stop, you will see a prominent flyout appear. This box contains general summary information about the film, thus allowing you to scroll a number of recommendations without having to leave this page to navigate to another to obtain basic information about a film. Here, the user is provided with the type of information that original web paradigms would have required a declaration on the part of the user in the form of a click with the mouse to deduce a request for additional information. In this newish paradigm, simply hovering over an object for a short amount of time is inferred as a request (or declaration) for additional information. I think tool tips (which are more omnipresent) serve as similar examples. I hope this helps. John W. Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35525 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
[IxDA Discuss] JOB: Web UX Designer, Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA
Posting on behalf of the hiring manager (cc-ed). Please reply to Lisa Lane [EMAIL PROTECTED] directly. UX DESIGNER | Do you want to be a key contributor to what our 2007 Annual Report called out as the single biggest opportunity across every one of our businesses? If so, this is the job for you! TEAM DESCRIPTION Microsoft Online Services is the recently-announced brand that will initially offer email, doc/portal, IM and conferencing then expand to other services including CRM, ERP and hosted telephony. Our vision is an online suite of the most important Microsofts business applications run by Microsoft and offered on a subscription basis to mid-size and enterprise level businesses. Were the team that is making this vision a reality! RESPONSIBILITIES As a UX Designer for the Microsoft Online Services team, your primary responsibilities will include working proactively with your User Experience Manager, other designers, usability engineers, program managers and developers on multiple interrelated projects to collaboratively prioritize, create, implement, and document web-based user interface designs that will define how users manage, find, and share information, and communicate over the Internet. You will work through all stages of the design process from concept to final design, including sketches, flows, wire-frames, final production-quality mockups, and asset creation to deliver key user experiences that deliver on the promise of software as a service. Additionally, you will conduct competitive analysis to ensure we maintain industry leadership and deliver innovative, exciting and emotionally engaging products. You must be able to assess data from multiple sources, synthesize it, and incorporate this information into your design solutions. You should have a proven record of creating web-based interactive experiences (*using the qualifications below) that meet business needs, user scenarios, and partner requirements. Youll bring strong creative, conceptual, and problem-solving skills, plus the strong communication and presentation skills necessary to effectively present, explain, negotiate, and implement your design solutions. You should have a passion for interaction design, visual design, and an understanding of contemporary trends, process improvement methods as well as a drive to innovate. QUALIFICATIONS - Bachelors degree in a design related field such as Human-Computer Interaction design, Industrial Design, or Visual Design - 5 + years industry experience designing consumer, e-commerce, social or educational websites (Please note: You will be required to provide us with access to an online portfolio prior to interviewing and if you are chosen to formally interview, you will be asked to conduct a 1-hour portfolio review) -*Strong working knowledge of the following: Adobe CS3 (Photoshop, Fireworks, Flash, Dreamweaver, etc.) HTML/XHTML CSS JavaScript Visual Basic Script ASP Web Server Administration Expressions Suite Office Suite Windows 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] Getting access to users?
If you know of LinkedIn groups that these users might have joined posting your invitation there can get you some response. And if you have identified target companies faxing screener info to the company fax number works when recruiting some user types. Success with faxes usually depends on compensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35579 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] Where that ACD thing fits
Yes, you are right demographics by themselves is not important, but rather the generalizations which are real around those demographics that we use. BUT the demographics are necessary for gaining insights (and often even creating) those generalizations. I'm not saying that you are saying this Jared, but I just want to add that Market Research IS an important data contributor for design research. They've been doing this longer and with some pretty descent results, so there is definitely a lot of cross-pollination that can go on between market and user research. Demographic studies is a great tool for user researchers to tie their own data studies into. Regardless, I think my main and more important point is that activity centered design feels soul-less to me. It's motivation as I've heard people describe it here and other places is discount UCD (getting to the point quickly). And like all things discount, you get what you pay for. That being said, sometimes ya got no choice b/c you can only afford the discount version of things and something is always better than nothing. But I think that's why for me ACD is a part of a greater whole of UCD that you can pick and choose from depending on the total context of the design environment. --dave On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 6:13 AM, Jared Spool [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Nov 12, 2008, at 5:56 PM, David Malouf wrote: If I were designing it from a UCD perspective, I do care, or that the person is elderly and needs large print, or any other demographic type information. Just for the record, properly done UCD wouldn't care about demographics. It would care about behaviors. It doesn't matter what age someone is. If they need large print to complete their objective, they need large print, independent of age (or income group, geographic location political persuasion, gender preference, dental history, dislike of sushi, . . .) Jared -- David Malouf http://synapticburn.com/ http://ixda.org/ http://motorola.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where that ACD thing fits
Regardless, I think my main and more important point is that activity centered design feels soul-less to me. It's motivation as I've heard people describe it here and other places is discount UCD (getting to the point quickly). I would argue that UCD, as typically practiced, is soulless, too, as it focuses on tasks and goals, and thus has a reductive understanding of humans. UCD tends to treat people as robots whose goal is to maximize productivity, to relentlessly accomplish a goal. One thing that reassures me is the increasing embrace of anthropological and sociological methods, which takes us beyond tasks and goals, and towards behavior, motivation, context and culture. This more holistic appreciation of people ought to provide insights that allow for superior products and services. --peter 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] Best Practices for Mouseover Layers
Ciao guys, I think that the hover state should ne tested every time you can. It's such a complex interaction and, even though it seems ho ne mode standard recently, the context IW always extremely influent ok it. Do you have any info about your users? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from ixda.org (via iPhone) http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35525 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] Looking for design template samples forimagine/discovery phase
Melissa, Very interested in cool formats for presenting distilled design innovation concepts to key stakeholders. Victor Lombardi's Concept Design Tools article (http://www.digital-web.com/articles/concept_design_tools/) may be of use to you. Peter -- Peter Boersma | Senior Interaction Designer | Info.nl http://www.peterboersma.com/blog | http://www.info.nl 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] Where that ACD thing fits
Ptthh. (Is there a better online way to represent a raspberry?) Pfffttt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35466 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] Where that ACD thing fits
Some good points have been made, and they compeeled me to do some retrospective analysis of my own design career to gain clarity on the issue. I can't pretend that I've ever consciously done ACD; like a recent commenter said, to me this is little more than basic SDLC design driven by functional requirements. And for this reason I can easily recall hundreds of times I've done ACD, whether through ignorance or compromise. In deference to those who see value in ACD, I can also recall some times that I have done ACD where I don't think UCD would have added enough value to be worth the incremental effort. Some examples: Adding a sort utility to a query result. It wasn't really worthwhile to get into the mind of the user...it seemed like a good idea because the activity itself had apparent value (is this really an example of genius design?), and the cost of implementation was relatively low. Designing a customization/monogramming process for a clothing retailer. The client said that their customers wanted to monogram, and I went along with an designed a system that attempted to meet the needs of the user without ever knowing, or particularly caring, who that was. As long as it seemed like the user could complete the task without confusion or rage, I considered the design a success. Now both examples could potentially havee benefitted from UCD...the first example to validate the need for a sort, and to uncover any other related unmet needs, and the second to improve the engagement of the utility to promote upsell and loyalty. But not for free...good UCD, the only kind worth practicing, takes time and money. I also tried to think of a time I did UCD that didn't include some measure of ACD, and all I came up with was one real and one hypothetical example. The hypothetical first: Designing the music that plays in on of those hip clothing boutiques that caters to people half my age. I know that it's there to supercede activity and create mood and atmosphere...one that is likely to drive a grumpy old man like me across the aisle to Brooks Brothers, where it's nice and quiet. One that makes it impossible for hand-holding post-adolescents to talk to each other, so the only remaining form of social communication is to shop (or text...could ubicomp beat the blaring soundtracks?). The idea is to make the store like a nightclub...enabling and driving to specific activities, but the design of the environment is activity-independent. And a real case: Ages ago my colleagues and I designed a pitch book similar in execution to the Google Chrome comic. The primary driving force behind the design of our book was to create an impressions and to entertain while informing, but we weren't looking for any specific activity in the context of our artifact. I'm sure that many designers here have worked on projects where the engagement was the goal, and a good knowledge of the audience, in my case marketing managers and brand managers. But most of the time I agree that ACD is either a subset of UCD, or a stepping stone in a larger methodology. And if you're still reading, I wonder what YOU think. Dante 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] Getting access to users?
Another option, if you are able to deploy content on a site that attracts these kind of folks, is to use Ethnio. They let you deploy a screener on your site to recruit for research in real time. www.ethnio.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
