InfoDesign: Hand-picked since 1997

All posts from

July 2004

Bringing human information behaviour into information systems research: an application of systems modelling

Added on 30 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“In their influential paper, Dervin and Nilan compared and contrasted the ‘traditional’ and ‘alternative’ paradigms for human information behaviour research, highlighting the inadequacies of the former and promoting the importance of the latter. In this paper, we argue that the two paradigms are not irreconcilable. We offer a research framework that allows qualitative and quantitative views of the same problem to be combined using systems models. We demonstrate how this approach can be used to reconcile the six key differences between the two paradigms as argued by Dervin and Nilan.” (David Johnstone et al. – Information Research July 2004) – courtesy of chris mcevoy

Information design

Yet More Thoughts on Global Information Architecture

Added on 30 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“(…) the 80/20 Rule: we pick a small set of locales that require minimal translation, are reasonably easy to design, are owned by people who want to cooperate with our efforts, and provide the business with most bang for its buck.” (Louis Rosenfeld)

Information architecture

Plain Language and Information Design

Added on 29 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Nine-tenths of meaning can be gained from scanning a page that has other representational elements besides text – provided they are of course relevant to what’s being said. In other words, information design needs to be intelligent and thoughtful.” (The Plain Language Association International)

Writing

These web sites are identical – or are they?

Added on 28 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“This survey compares 10 web sites through elements of their layout: styles, page construction and elements. The survey seeks similarities and differences between those well known web sites, built by famous, talented designers. What can be observed is that those web sites agree on implicit, internalized layout and design norms (Consensus rate), and that deviance from these rules (Dissidence rate) is uncommon.” (François Briatte) – courtesy of douglas bowman

Information design

How to run a brainstorming meeting

Added on 28 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“The most important thing about a brainstorming session is what happens after it ends.” (Scott Berkun) – courtesy of column two

Writing effective link text

Added on 28 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Follow these six guidelines for how to write effective link text and your site visitors will be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and efficiently.” (Trenton Moss – evolt.org)

Writing

Forms: The importance of getting it right

Added on 27 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Problems start when forms are forgotten or not given the attention they require. Forms are not seen as exciting or prestigious when compared to a glossy brochure, so they are often left with no owner or person responsible for them, which leads to inconsistency and confusion.” (Lift)

Information design

An Interview with Dick Berry, Distinguished Engineer, IBM Ease of Use

Added on 27 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“User Engineering is a major advancement because it delivers value, not simply Ease of Use. We all salute the flag called Ease of Use, but when it comes time to pay for it, people are reluctant if they can’t see the tangible value of a product. So if you try to identify that value up front, it makes investing in the product more concrete for the buyer.” (IBM Ease of Use)

Interviews

Political Web sites not pulling in voters

Added on 27 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“The sites often made it hard for users to find policies on particular topics due to poor information design, such as structure and labelling, and poor interaction and visual design, where it was unclear where links were taking the user.” (ZDNet Australia)

Information design

3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice

Added on 27 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“(…) addresses the critical area of 3D user interface design – a field that seeks to answer detailed questions that make the difference between a 3D system that is usable and efficient and one that causes user frustration, errors, and even physical discomfort. The authors present practical information for developers, the latest research results, easy-to-follow guidelines for the UI designer, and relevant application examples. While there are quite a few books devoted to user interfaces in general and to 2D user interface design in particular, 3D user interfaces have received significantly less attention.” (Doug A. Bowman et al.) – courtesy of nooface

Fabio Sergio: The InfoDesign profile

Added on 26 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Gathering great people with great ideas under one roof does not necessarily create an economically sustainable company.” (Peter J. Bogaards – InfoDesign: Understanding by Design)

Special

Support is where brands are won and lost

Added on 26 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“If brand loyalty is best measured by gut feeling then there are few better ways to test its strength than when a customer requires support, because that’s when feelings are high. Today, most organizations pretty much wash their hands of the customer after they’ve sold them the product. This is a shot-sighted strategy.” (Gerry McGovern)

Information design

A Definition of Interaction Design

Added on 22 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Interaction design is the art of facilitating or instigating interactions between humans (or their agents), mediated by products.” (Dan Saffer) – courtesy of elearningpost

Interaction design

Ambient Findability

Added on 22 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Intelligence is moving to the edges, flowing through networked computers, wireless devices, empowered users and distributed teams. Ideas spread like wildfire. Innovations emerge from uncharted borderlands. Information is in the air, literally. We’re exploring a new world called cyberspace, and we’re navigating without a map.” (Peter Morville – Digital Web Magazine)

Information architecture

Well-designed products

Added on 22 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Interaction designers are famous for complaining about products that are poorly designed, and wishing they had the opportunity to redesign them. In this article, Dave Cronin reminds us that there are many well-designed products out there, too. He offers a selection of products you can use today that do a good job of meeting Dave’s criteria for ‘good’ design.” (Dave Cronin – Cooper)

Interaction design

Nigel Holmes… Simplifying the Complex

Added on 21 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“What I try to do is to explain things to people, and for people, and sometimes to companies about themselves. Taking some complex procedure, or event, or set of numbers, and making it understandable for people that haven’t got a clue about it in the first place.” (Mike Buchheit – Creative Refuge)

Interviews

ROI Is Not a Silver Bullet: Five Actionable Steps for Valuing User Experience Design

Added on 21 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“For years now, the ‘ROI of User Experience’ has been sought as a means to justify larger corporate investments in web design. Although ROI methodology can be a useful tool for prioritizing possible web development projects, by itself ROI is not the answer to building a stronger user experience design competency.” (Scott Hirsch – Adaptive Path)

User experience

Crafting a Revolution

Added on 21 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“Aza Raskin talks about The Humane Environment, his father (inventor of the Macintosh), and challenging the status quo. This apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” (ACM Ubiquity)

Interviews

First Things First: IA and CSS

Added on 21 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“With apologies for the delay, here are links to the presentation Christina Wodtke and I delivered at the webvisions 2004 conference this past Friday in Portland, Oregon.” (Nate Koechley – natek)

Information architecture

A Cosmology for a Different Computer Universe: Data Model, Mechanisms, Virtual Machine and Visualization Infrastructure

Added on 21 July 2004 Peter Bogaards

“The computing world is based on one principal system of conventions — the simulation of hierarchy and the simulation of paper. The article introduces an entirely different system of conventions for data and computing. zzstructure is a generalized representation for all data and a new set of mechanisms for all computing. The article provides a reference description of zzstructure and what we hope to build on it. (…) Simplicity is not cheap, and simple design is very difficult.” (Theodor Holm Nelson – Journal of Digital Information: 5.1)

Hypertext