Re: [IxDA Discuss] Sketching before the Wireframes
To follow on Dave Malouf's point: As someone who's working with many different clients who in turn have many different perspectives on what's a valuable use of my time, I feel your pain. We're always looking for ways to preserve the integrity of our process while showing our clients concepts that they can get their heads around. We ask our clients upfront about their openness to reviewing and commenting on hand-drawn sketches; some are thrilled, some are nervous, some are just not buying it. And it's not always worth it to convert a client to wholehearted adoption of hand-drawn sketches if it makes them uncomfortable. So in those cases, we quickly transfer our sketches into low-fidelity thumbnails (6 or 8 to a page) in a Visio doc, which we describe as 'concept sketches' instead of 'wireframes'. So we still sketch by hand, the client still gets something that looks slightly more finished but is ultimately still disposable. And everybody's happy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=48924 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] Recruiting cold calling: pitfalls?
A client has asked us to cold-call some existing customers to do some fast research on purchasing decisions. This isn't an activity we normally engage in, so I'm treading carefully. The survey is fairly short (about 15 questions) and includes a $50 incentive. The call script looks tidy, with the incentive called out very quickly. We believe the questions are short and clear, and easy to answer via the phone (as opposed to a readable format like paper or web). Anybody have additional items we should double-check, or basic guidance from past experience using this technique? Thanks in advance 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] 2009 IA Salary and Benefits Survey is now open - Please participate
Question: will the raw data be released this year? I'd love to crunch-n-munch the 2008 data as well, to answer specific questions about my own team relative to the industry, but the file wasn't posted to the IAI site. Any way I could get my hands on 2008, 2009, or both? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46240 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] PaperThin/CommonSpot
We (ISITE Design) do development work on this platform and have for some time. Unfortunately, it's really hard to say whether any CMS is the right choice without knowing about things like: - The client's on-hand development staff skills - The required site features - The nature of the content (static? dynamic? context-driven?) - Localization requirements - Tolerance for lack of formal support w/ open source - Workflow requirements - Need for marketing support - Integration to other applications We write about all aspects of CMS on our CMS Myth blog; here's an article that may be of particular interest to you: http://www.cmsmyth.com/blogs/cms_myth/archive/2009/05/30/does-your-cms-fit.aspx Best, Melissa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44772 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] PaperThin/CommonSpot
As much as I'd love to give you one, there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Business and user needs drive the relative value of each aspect of the CMS. For example, localization may mean nothing to a small chain of shoe stores, but everything to a city library that needs to address both English- and Spanish-speaking Americans. As another example, large companies often have many content contributors. Other companies routinely publish high-risk content, like medical information. These companies would place a far higher value on sophisticated workflow and security. I hope that helps. Here's another recent article about CMS selection by J.Boye: http://www.jboye.com/blogpost/who-should-be-on-your-cms-shortlist/ Best, Melissa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44772 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] IxD and humanitarian work
Try the NetSquared community: http://www.netsquared.org/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43800 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 that remember you
Zipcar (www.zipcar.com) cookies you when you select a city from the Where can I drive? dropdown in the upper left. The site can then display maps, rate plans and vehicle locations for your location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=42540 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] UX Book Club - an update
Thanks for the rundown. I'm teaming up with someone to start the Portland, OR chapter as well, and this will come in handy. From: Steve Baty steveb...@gmail.com To: disc...@ixda.org Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 4:45:01 PM Subject: [IxDA Discuss] UX Book Club - an update Back around Thanksgiving I floated the idea (here and elsewhere) of forming a book club in Sydney to meet and discuss books about user experience (broadly speaking). The idea resonated with a lot of other people and very quickly UX Book Clubs were being formed around the world, thanks in no small part to the efforts of people like Andrew Boyd and Will Evans. Having just held our first meeting of the Sydney group, I thought I would take the opportunity to provide an update on the progress of the initiative, and report on some of the experiences people have had in the various meetings around the world. The UX Book Club site/wiki - uxbookclub.org - currently shows 39 groups in various states of formation, several with over 50 participants and some just with a single individual expressing an interest. Many groups continue to use the wiki as their primary means of coordination, but a growing number have set up Facebook or Google Groups, along with their own twitter accounts, booksharing and miscellaneous other forms of communication. As such, it is difficult to put an accurate figure on the total number of people interested in participating, but those registered through the wiki number over 500. The first meeting was held in Silicon Valley in mid-December (they held there second meeting earlier today), followed by meetings in New York and Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Canberra, Sydney Austin. Over the next few weeks there will be meeting held in Atlanta, Minnesota, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Brisbane, Toronto, London and Chicago. All of which is nice, but doesn't tell the full tale. The full tale includes a look at what the meetings are actually like, and what the attendees get out of them. The Sydney meeting this past Tuesday seems to have been fairly typical of the experiences across the board - with local variations in terms of weather, location, and numbers. But the stories seem to have a consistent theme: great discussion; lots of energy; a good time had by all. Our meeting in Sydney was held at the offices of the News Digital Media team (usit.com.au) in their New York Lounge. Their hospitality was greatly appreciated, and the space was perfect for the event. 24 people attended, which was a very good turnout, and we hope to see a similar (or better!) turnout at the next event in April. The event was structured along the same lines as that used by New York City (thanks to Cindy Chastain) and applied successfully in Los Angeles. We opened with a brief welcome and introduction (from me), and then a volunteer from the group gave a 5-minute overview of the book (in our case Bill Buxton's Sketching User Experiences). We then broke into two groups (10 13 with me floating) and headed to opposite ends of the Lounge to discuss the book in detail. Cindy's rationale for the smaller groups was that they give everyone a much better opportunity to contribute to the discussion - and this was borne out by the comments I received afterwards. After a good solid hour or so of group discussion we came back together, had a bit of a recap; thanked everyone for attending; thanked our hosts; and relocated to a nearby pub to carry on. The 'official' proceedings kicked off at 6pm and ended just after 8pm. The 'after-hours' discussions wound up a couple of hours after that. The entire event was terribly uncomplicated, and I highly recommend it. Better yet, the discussion highlighted areas of the book I hadn't really considered important on first reading, but has encouraged me to go back and re-read those parts, armed with some real-world anecdotes to help make it more concrete. I'm already looking forward to the next one. -- Steve 'Doc' Baty | Principal | Meld Consulting | P: +61 417 061 292 | E: stevebaty at meld.com.au | Twitter: docbaty | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stevebaty Blog: http://docholdsfourth.blogspot.com Contributor: UXMatters - www.uxmatters.com UX Australia: 26-28 August, http://uxaustralia.com.au UX Book Club: http://uxbookclub.org/ - Read, discuss, connect. Reply to this thread at ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38185 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 ...
Re: [IxDA Discuss] twitter and IxDA once again
Depends on how you define microblog: as a dedicated app or a component within a larger site? Facebook and MySpace have integrated current status into their apps. LiveJournal and other blog sites use the mood field to create the same sense of right here, right now. Twitter and Plurk are focused solely on this idea, and I'd argue that Twitter has first-mover advantage in the category, as people now have their networks established (what else could explain why people have stuck with the Fail Whale this often and this long?). I also think that Twitter nailed the brand... what the heck does plurk even mean? Here's why it works for me: - Their open API means lots of people get to build new ways to interact with it, and lots of people do... so I get to pick the experiences that work best for me on my laptop and my iPhone. - I love that I can follow someone without forcing them to follow me. It lets me glean info from Jared Spool, Kathy Sierra and Jeremiah Owyang that I'd never have access to if everything had to even-steven. - When I'm alone in the airport and my plane is delayed and I'm tearing my hair out, the constant, lightweight flow of tweets connects me to my home and my people. Twitter calms me down. - My tweetstream is made up of friends, colleagues and family; tweets aimed at certain segments of my followers are likely irrelevant (and possibly even annoying) to the rest. This raises interesting questions in my mind about the nature of networks and of communication and about the relative value of the info we release into the wild. Twitter, in its utter simplicity, feeds complicated internal dialogues that I find valuable. (Hi! I'm an Information Architect/User Experience Designer/Interaction Designer/Call It What You Will with a faboo interactive agency in Portland, OR called ISITE Design, and I've just joined IxDA.) - Original Message From: Eric Scheid [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: IxD [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 7:20:24 PM Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] twitter and IxDA once again On 20/8/08 11:48 AM, David Malouf [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So why does it work? What makes Twitter work? I'm not interested in what makes it fail. I'm interested in analyzing the positives. What makes twitter work where other micro-blogs fall short? 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
