Re: [IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

Hello Maxim My hat is off to you for acknowledging the usefulness of distinct terms in URL file names separated by hyphens (underscore is ignored by the search engine). For your question, I would ask why your short URLs cannot be made more descriptive. Instead of about-us.aspx, why not about-mailt

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

I have heard from my UX friends in government that it can be difficult to connect to others to either share information or to learn from what they've done. A wiki with a champion (some sponsoring ministry or department) could work -- the trick is getting the word out. Dana :: :: :: :: ::

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

Finally. That is the question. All the research, design concepts and theories can be blown into oblivion in one instance. I could tell you what I think. I could tell you what I've experienced. I could tell you it doesn't depend. But, I'll tell you a story instead. When I first moved to LA I was

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

Whoa, Andrei... hard to know where to start with a response. I really wasn't trying to flame anyone, including the designers... while it's true I do get frustrated with lack of usability in products meant for democracy, especially in the voting system. (Part of my larger frustration w/ the gov't.)

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

So what are the criteria? That's what I'm after. (and don't say "it depends") :-) It's easy to say "everyone's opinion counts", "there's more than one good solution", "we should all work together", etc. And we do just that... But when it comes to deciding on a particular solution and moving for

Re: [IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

I like periods (about.us or our.team). But if you choose to use dashes, keep it consistent. -Jake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37663

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Microsoft Surface and Windows 7

Thank you to everyone for your input. I have really enjoyed reading feedback and link suggestions. I look forward to the evolution of this design process and I applaud those who are working towards defining best practices for all to learn from and add to. Regards, Jake . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

On Jan 26, 2009, at 2:47 PM, Russell Wilson wrote: Exactly my point. Given that there are 1+ equally viable design solutions, it may be impossible to prove that "yours" is better. That's not correct. It is very possible to prove any number of designs are BETTER than PREVIOUS DESIGNS as l

Re: [IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

> Do you have editorial guidelines for the page titles? No, we dont. We just recommend them to be short and descriptive. -- Maxim Soloviev Director of Product Development www.nakea.net Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (I

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

I agree with Jared's comment that we should not be demonizing developers and engaging in an us versus them battle. I spent a few years as a development manager and during my first week on the job when I reviewed my developers' performance goals, discovered that there was not a single goal about go

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Items appearing more than once in a navigation

I had the same problem. The gurus say there's no wrong or right doing in this case. It all depends on how much does it make sense for your users In my case, the "where am I?" question fails to have an answer. Users that land on that area from google organic pages will ask that question. I do not k

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Information through sound.

http://www.designingforinteraction.com/toc.html Page 51. On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 4:40 PM, Dan Saffer wrote: > Good article by Paul Robare and Jodi Forlizzi in the recent issue of > Interactions magazine: "Sound in Computing: A Short History" if you can > track it down. > > Dan > > > > __

Re: [IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

Some notes: - Eye-tracking research shows users spend nearly 25% of their time in search results looking at the URLs, so it's clearly part of their decision-making process, not just helpful for search engines. Jakob Nielsen posted this research in 2007; my guess is this number would n

Re: [IxDA Discuss] JOB: Lead Experience Architect - Design, Denver, CO, Full-time Employment

Hi, I just have a quick question as I'm somewhat puzzled by Effective Ui blog. The spacing between the text is so crowded and the font so small that even the blog posts say wonderful things, it's basically unreadable. Is it on purpose so that users subscribe to read the text? Or you rely on th

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Rapid Expert Design (R.E.D.)

Great comment James, thank you! I believe that in roughly 90% of our client work we practice similar approach (R.E.D) and often use the similar analogy (Navy Seals vs Regular Army troops) when discussing upcoming projects with clients A few footnotes: - Following above mentioned analog

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Information through sound.

Good article by Paul Robare and Jodi Forlizzi in the recent issue of Interactions magazine: "Sound in Computing: A Short History" if you can track it down. Dan Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to t

Re: [IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

Greg, I think underscore can cause problems when URL is highlighted. Because of usual text-decoration:underline applied someone might not notice underscores, just a thought. Rules I was initially thinking about: Dashes will replace spaces when creating default URL when one of conditions below met

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

I agree with Jared and Josh. There's no use arguing back and forth. Stop and take a deep breath and think about the other side. Rather than presenting a new idea as being better, ask the engineers about their ideas. What do they believe works best and why? Getting to their rationale might inspire a

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

Jared said: Ali, if you do what Patrick suggests, you'll not only fail, but you'll have a miserable time doing so. Your job isn't to *sell* your teammates on anything. It's about teamwork. Find out what the objectives and long-term vision of the team is. Work from there. I've got to agree with

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

On Jan 26, 2009, at 3:18 PM, Susan Stuart wrote: Anyway, I did a search in this discussion list for "government" and only found a couple of threads. I was hoping to stir up discussion around what work has been done from practitioners in our field on government because I'd be genuinely intereste

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

For an interaction designer it would be a matter of presenting the data vertical or horizontal by scrolling clicking (obviously horizontal scroll). For a visual designer it would be a matter of typography, color, and spacing (their is guidelines and best practices available). For a developer it w

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

On Jan 26, 2009, at 12:02 AM, Patrick wrote: Get used to it. ;) It's the real world. Your job is to sell them on it. Sounds tough, but it's true. On Jan 25, 2009, at 2:12 PM, Ali Amrohvi wrote: As a User Centered Design graduate I find it quite irritating to be working in an environment

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

On Jan 26, 2009, at 5:47 PM, Russell Wilson wrote: Exactly my point. Given that there are 1+ equally viable design solutions, it may be impossible to prove that "yours" is better. 1. Better can be both subjective and provable. 2. If you want to pursue multiple design solutions, then do so.

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

Progressively disclose the form fields based on the users input. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Gui

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

Digits get grouped differently in different countries, and the separators differ in different countries. You know this, which is why you're asking, of course. Is it likely that the audience for a number in Belgium is not the same as a number in RSA or Australia? If so, can you format the phone num

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

On Jan 26, 2009, at 2:47 PM, Russell Wilson wrote: And how do you objectively prove it's better? Short of testing alternatives you have a very subjective problem. Further, there is rarely if ever "one" perfect design solution, but many very good solutions possible; any and all of which w

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Information through sound.

Theatre has been doing it for centuries. On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 7:06 AM, Leonardo Parra Agudelo < lpa...@uniandes.edu.co> wrote: > > Hi All, > > > I just started working with sound as a source of information, among other > things, and my starting point was Gestalt, and basic design principles to

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

> And how do you objectively prove it's better? Short of testing >> alternatives you have a very subjective problem. >> > > Further, there is rarely if ever "one" perfect design solution, but many > very good solutions possible; any and all of which work well enough within > reason and to varying

[IxDA Discuss] Testing- Remote Focus Group

Hi, We are planning to conduct a remote focus group with a limited number of participants and I was wondering if anyone has done that before.  Did you use any specific tools or applications?  Are there ways to make it more efficient and get the most out of the remote focus groups? Thank you, S

[IxDA Discuss] JOB: Lead Experience Architect - Design, Denver, CO, Full-time Employment

Lead Experience Architect We are looking for a senior level Lead Experience Architect with strong interests and capabilities in the rapid development of Rich Internet Applications. The ideal candidate will thrive in a work environment that requires strong problem solving skills and independent

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

Looks great, Kai, thanks! Mike -Original Message- From: Yohan Creemers | Ylab [mailto:yo...@ylab.nl] On Behalf Of Kai Guse Sent: 26 January 2009 23:37 To: mike.padg...@fincaso.com Cc: disc...@ixda.org Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it? Hi Mike,

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

Hi Mike, there is a standard for formatting national/international phone numbers, as shortly described at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.123 Cheers, Kai Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to

Re: [IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

Hi Maxim, The URLs still play an important role in google algorithms, As nobody will google "about us" nor "aboutus" it's less important if you have the url one way or another The solution would be to have the company title there or the keywords they are using. For instance if it's a IT company y

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

On Jan 26, 2009, at 12:44 PM, Russell Wilson wrote: And how do you objectively prove it's better? Short of testing alternatives you have a very subjective problem. Not true. Often the real problem is everyone sees the problem differently, so you're never really having the same conversation.

[IxDA Discuss] Items appearing more than once in a navigation

How do people feel about this? I have sections of a site that could appear equally in several of my bigger sections. Where do they go? I can see two options: - But them in one location, and provide 'cross linking' in other areas to inform users where to find them - But them in both, in the naviga

[IxDA Discuss] JOB: UX Designer - contract opportunity in Seattle, WA, FILTER (recruiter)

UX Designer, a la mode. FILTER is looking for a strong UI designer to work on a next generation product impacting millions of users. For this long-term contract opportunity in Redmond, you'll create engaging, powerful User Experiences ranging from on the fly prototyping and wireframing to polished

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Best practice in SMS information services

Look into the google short code (466453). Its a free service that uses the Google search engine for weather, movie times, addresses, etc. It offers a simple error text when no results could be found and reiterates the provided search criteria. There is also 1800-555-8355, tellme, a voice directed

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Rapid Expert Design (R.E.D.)

> > I use instead the term, "Rapid Expert Design" or R.E.D. Despite all this, one important detail is unclear to me. You've described how R.E.D. can be learned, how it can be implemented, how it affects product development, how much better a term it is than Genius Design, and even what it is not

Re: [IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

Go for consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37663 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

Did you send the Web master an email explaining the issue? Jim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37630 Welcome to the Interaction De

[IxDA Discuss] Information through sound.

Hi All, I just started working with sound as a source of information, among other things, and my starting point was Gestalt, and basic design principles to study sound pieces, from sound artists to raw pop, it seems to me there's a need to put together some sort of document which talks

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Recommendations on UI for filtering content / switching user-roles.

Hi, Unfortunately I'm unable to give any more details. We're going to progress the drop-down list solution with a few variations and then get some user testing on it, perhaps some A/B split tests as well. Thanks, Nik -Original Message- From: USABILITY MEDIC [mailto:me...@usabilitymedic

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Recommendations on UI for filtering content /switching user-roles.

Thanks for your reply Ivy. Particularly like the justification for not using the "Go" button in the drop-down. I was coming at it from a more technical approach.. thinking about javascript etc. Thanks, Nik -Original Message- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:d

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

Get used to it. ;) It's the real world. Your job is to sell them on it. Sounds tough, but it's true. On Jan 25, 2009, at 2:12 PM, Ali Amrohvi wrote: As a User Centered Design graduate I find it quite irritating to be working in an environment where engineers run everything ... Few of them h

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

re; a) 32(0)21234567 format annoys me greatly as it leads to problems copying into Skype and other voip apps. 32 2123 4567 is the preferred format among the people I work with. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.o

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

On Jan 25, 2009, at 5:06 PM, s wrote: So I just went to write our new US administration my first e-mail from whitehouse.gov. Ready and eager for that much-touted new open line of communication into our government! I filled out all my info. on the contact form, wrote a title in the message

[IxDA Discuss] URL Guidelines

Hi guys, We work on CMS product and one of the discussions right now is about best way to use Page Title to compose it's default URL (users can change it though). Everyone agrees that using dashes in URLs to separate words is a good thing. So page with title "Help us fight breast cancer" will get

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

My overall general experience has been that the final result is frequently what has been allowed to be implemented based on many factors, where usability and good design aren't always at the top of the list. If you can improve a handful of things in such an environment, it is a good thing. The

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Best practice in SMS information services

Eight years ago I worked for a company that sold sms services – ringtones, icons, downloads of all kinds and chat. My suggestions might be out of date, but we made terrific amounts of money, so some of them might still hold. 1) Best practice in designing an SMS information service Yep, you've got

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

On Jan 26, 2009, at 10:44 AM, Russell Wilson wrote: And how do you objectively prove it's better? Short of testing alternatives you have a very subjective problem. It is possible to objectively test any design problem, as long as one remembers that the definition of the problem is largely

[IxDA Discuss] Masters Programs in Interaction Design (NYC - was Kansas)

Hey Ray - As far as I know, here are your choices. Interaction design program at SVA (new, fulltime (meaning no parttime enrollment allowed)) NYU ITP (fulltime) Parsons Design and Technology program (fulltime) NJIT offers some kind of HCI program - this was too far off the beaten path for

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

Hi, Jared - if there are people working on voting design issues, I'd like to help. Let me know whom to contact. My last post on this discussion didn't go through here.. is someone moderating this list (hence the delay?). Thanks, Susan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

I was in a box where I type text because, of course, that is where you want to do a paragraph return and not expect to submit the whole form. Accessibility is a good point though... are you sure this is to W3C guidelines, Todd? I would think there would be other ways to address the keystroke issue

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

And how do you objectively prove it's better? Short of testing alternatives you have a very subjective problem. Russ http://www.dexodesign.com Sent from my iPhone On Jan 26, 2009, at 12:20 PM, Andrei Herasimchuk > wrote: On Jan 25, 2009, at 2:12 PM, Ali Amrohvi wrote: They all believe t

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

On Jan 25, 2009, at 2:12 PM, Ali Amrohvi wrote: They all believe that designing for the end users only involve usability issues... Should I send them a copy of Allan Cooper's "The Inmates are running the asylum"? :) How about you send them a better design, prove it's better through whateve

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Would you test my designs?

> > "what I found odd was that you were asking for advice and asking people to > pre-qualify with the survey - not that you were asking for help, but that > you wanted to check people out prior to accepting their help." When I am conducting design research, one of the things I want is a profile o

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

Should be OK, Maria, I think I can figure it out! Thanks Mike -Original Message- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Maria Sent: 26 January 2009 05:49 To: disc...@ixda.org Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss]

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

I think it's time to let the engineers observe representative users with their product. When you've gotten to the point of frustration and feel like your opinion isn't respected, back it up with user data. Schedule a few informal usability tests and let the engineers watch users struggle. I've seen

[IxDA Discuss] Best practice in SMS information services

Good afternoon! I was wondering if anyone might have any pointers to resources detailing, or want to add to my brain-storming of the following: (1) Best practice in designing an SMS information service eg. "Send WEATHER + your town or city to 1234 to receive daily weather updates: example: WEATH

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

On Jan 25, 2009, at 5:06 PM, s wrote: It's always boggled my mind why the gov't doesn't put UX advocates (including designers, researchers, coders, QA) front and center in the design of citizen-technology interfaces. Actually, there are a lot of very talented designers and researchers wo

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Drawbacks of using Flex for data processing application?

My experience is still somewhat limited but I'll try to address what you listed, and ask more questions: On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 10:57 AM, Oleh Kovalchuke wrote: > It is for several different applications. One of them queries and sorts data > in hundreds of thousands of rows and a few dozens of c

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Drawbacks of using Flex for data processing application?

It is for several different applications. One of them queries and sorts data in hundreds of thousands of rows and a few dozens of columns. The constraint is usual: limited and disconnected development resources, hence we have to rely on canned components in Flex Builder 3. We initially decided to

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

Todd writes: > BTW, coded properly, when you're inside a Text area, hitting the Enter key >won't submit the form. Exactly. (That's where he was, unless I sorely misunderstood him.) Elizabeth -- Elizabeth Buie Luminanze Consulting, LLC tel +1.301.943.4168 (US) tel +39.347.394.7022 (Italia)

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

BTW, coded properly, when you're inside a Text area, hitting the Enter key won't submit the form. It's when the Enter key is selected from either text input fields, or no fields selected. The function is different for Text area, which allows for line returns. The original message stated tha

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

From an accessibility perspective, that's what it is suppose to do— supports keyboard navigation and strokes. On Jan 26, 2009, at 8:48 AM, Elizabeth Buie wrote: I think it's not as simple as what "a form" is supposed to do. Elizabeth Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel President, Design Researcher M

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Rapid Expert Design (R.E.D.)

Jim, Thanx for taking the time to clearly explain what you see to be the gist of the matter here. I very much appreciate the framework breakdown you did here. I do have to say that I now have more questions than ever. Even if R.E.D. can only be learned through direct experience (something I do n

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

just noticed that the plus ( ) simbol didn't come up in the previous post. Is it still readable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37637 __

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

Todd writes: >When coded properly, a form is suppose to be submitted when you hit >the return key. How else is someone supposed to get a line feed into a box, to format a message? Most people don't know about shift-return for new line. I'm not sure that works on all systems anyhow. I think

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

Hi MIke, I often had this kind of problem, either as user and as designer. In my experience, formats like those 32 2 123 4567 are not often legible, for 2 rasons: 1.International code: most people works locally with numbers starting with 0... having a number starting with is a nonsense, so fi

[IxDA Discuss] [EVENT] IxDA Dublin, Irelan d: January Meeting – Thurs, Jan 29th, 7pm.

Hi Folks, Please join us for our January '09 meeting ~ *When: * This Thursday, January 29th 2009. 7pm - 9pm * Where: */*Café En Seine* / 39 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. Ireland. URL: http://www.capitalbars.com/venue_detail/39 The venue is very near St.

[IxDA Discuss] Ergonomics for Interaction Designers

I just completed writing a three-part series of postings on the topic of ergonomics as it relates to interaction design - a topic of growing relevance, I believe. It's primarily an introduction, focusing on anthropometrics (fitting the design to the user). Recognizing that ergonomics is something

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

When coded properly, a form is suppose to be submitted when you hit the return key. Might have created an unexpected action on your end, but it's technically correct. Just goes to show you that technically correct isn't always predictable. On Jan 25, 2009, at 8:06 PM, s wrote: then hit th

[IxDA Discuss] Displaying telephone numbers: how do you do it?

Hi, all! International telephone numbers. We've all worked with them, we all love them! What do *you* do with yours? Here's an example. Let's say that, to call a client in Belgium from the UK, I physically dial this number: // 0-0-3-2-2-1-2-3-4-5-6-7 So if this number is to be found on the cl

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

> There is NO qualitative research and both hardware-/software engineers > think that their own opinion about the products matter. As a side note, on an "abstraction layer" for developers/engineers: . -- Jens Meiert http://meier

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Aren't we just a little important to democracy?

Hi S., I'm in Italy, and I hardly expect government to reply to any question of mine with something real and concrete. However, I heard about technical probs with the White House equipment and so on. It seems strange to me that Obama's team is not interested in you opinion, and in any case, I'd ma

Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

I totally agree... involved them early. And... not just the engineers... get one or two people from every stakeholder's department, and then some, involved as early as possible, in as many stages as possible. By the time you go to launch, everyone has had a hand in the product and feels some