All posts from
February 2005

International Differences: Language

Added on 15 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“Labels can also be quite problematic as translation processes often lack the context behind content selections and thereby result in non-standard or confusing terminology for users. As anyone that has sat through a usability test or two can testify, confusing or non-descriptive terms on category labels and calls to action are some of the most common usability problems. (…) The right solution to translation, of course, is cultural experts that can inform correct action and category labels.” (Luke Wroblewski – Functioning Form)

It’s All Happening in China: A Report from User Friendly 2004

Added on 15 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“The community includes people working on mobile telephony, web design and in many other industries as usability engineers, user researchers and interaction designers. Take a look at your phone. There’s a good chance that people from UPA China worked on the user interface. (…) There are all these bright, young, clever, motivated people here who are interested in usability.” (Whitney Quesenbery – The UPA Voice) – courtesy of usabilityviews

Software Toolkits for Infovis

Added on 15 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“After some years of a certain dispersion of resources we now have some advanced toolkits that contain diverse components within architectures that allow you to reuse components and the creation of sophisticated applications without having to reinvent the most advanced techniques, like Treemaps or semantic zooming user interfaces. Although it can appear to be very bound to the academic world, these toolkits offer to many software developing companies the possibility to include sophisticated visualisations in their product portfolio thus beginning to use ‘visual thinking’ in the same, with a reduced cost of approximation to those technologies, since you don’t need to program algorithms, you just use them in your product.” (Juan C. Dürsteler – InfoVis)

Blogs vs. Mags

Added on 14 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“(…) lead times, especially for the bi-monthly and monthly design magazines, can actually be as long as four to six months before a story sees print, and by then it is likely an original idea will have turned stale. Conversely, blogs are instant transmitters of thought and, more importantly, forums for instantaneous response.” (Steven Heller – AIGA Voice) – courtesy of xblog

Developing with Web Standards: Recommendations and Best Practices

Added on 13 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“This document explains how and why using web standards will let you build websites in a way that saves time and money for the developer and provides a better experience for the visitor. Also discussed are other methods, guidelines and best practices that will help produce high-quality websites that are accessible to as many as possible.” (Roger Johansson – 456 Berea Street)

Artefacts for Understanding

Added on 11 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“Artefact derives from latin arte factum, which means artificial. In general, that implies an object made by the human hand, an artificial object. Artefacts are manmade for a specific purpose with an intention of fulfilling that purpose. Sometimes they also fulfill unspoken purposes. This paper addresses some aspects of the intentionally made artefacts and their way through the cooperative design process and how they will be attached to new meanings on the way.” (Sinna Lindquist and Bosse Westerlund – Working Papers in Art and Design)

The Dollars and Sense of Building to Standards

Added on 10 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“Ultimately, the push for standards-compliant code should come from the coding ranks. We need to enlighten all levels of management to the savings they can achieve by embracing Web standards. If the people on the front lines don’t take on the job of promoting standards to management and management learns of these savings first, you’ll be faced with a tougher challenge-why didn’t you know to use and push for standards-compliant code?” (Alan K’necht – Digital Web Magazine)

Creating the Ultimate Online Shopping Experience: User Behavior and Purchase Decisions in E-Commerce

Added on 8 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
Presentation slides included – “Companies are slowly beginning to understand that ‘it’s all about the experience’. But too many companies stumble by trying to replicate the retail experience online, rather than focus on ways to deliver a better online experience.” (Kevin Kearney – New York City Chapter Usability Professionals’ Association) – courtesy of noisebetweenstations

Points of View

Added on 8 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“In our Points of View papers, we offer our insights on topics related to our solutions and client projects. We examine current technologies or marketing approaches, share best practices and explore emerging trends. Our Points of View are based on analyst and industry research, as well as on-the-ground experience with our clients.” (Avenue A | Razorfish)

Emotional Design: People and Things

Added on 7 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“(…) I proposed a framework for analyzing products in a holistic way to include their attractiveness, their behavior, and the image they present to the user — and of the owner. In this work on design, these different aspects of a product were identified with different levels of processing by people: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. These three levels translate into three different kinds of design. Visceral design refers primarily to that initial impact, to its appearance. Behavioral design is about look and feel — the total experience of using a product. And reflection is about ones thoughts afterwards, how it makes one feel, the image it portrays, the message it tells others about the owner’s taste.” (Donald Norman)

Mind/Brain Learning Principles

Added on 7 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“(1) The brain is a complex adaptive system. (2) The brain is a social brain. (3) The search for meaning is innate. (4) The search for meaning occurs through ‘patterning’. (5) Emotions are critical to patterning. (6) Every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes. (7) Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception. (8) Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes. (9) We have at least two ways of organizing memory. (10) Learning is developmental. (11) Complex learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat. (12) Every brain is uniquely organized.” (Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine – New Horizons for Learning) – courtesy of elearningpost

UXCentric

Added on 6 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“UX for user experience. Centric for at the center. UXCentric is for those passionate about – and consumed by – improving people’s experiences on the Web.” (Dave Rogers)

Pace, Timing and Rhythm in Information Architecture

Added on 4 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“Scaling up the numerous devices and information architectures competing for my diminishing attentional resources makes me wish there were some way for us to talk at a more macro level when discussing information. But this is not just a matter of ubiquity or usability, this is really about the human rhythm of information use, the coupling of person and process.” (Andrew Dillon – ASIS&T Bulletin Dec. 2004/Jan. 2005)

GK. VanPatter: The InfoDesign interview

Added on 4 February 2005 Peter Bogaards
“Regularly, InfoDesign interviews a thought leader in the design industry, focusing on people who are identified with or show strong sensibilities to the design of information and experiences. This time, Peter J. Bogaards has a conversation with GK. VanPatter on Next Design(ers), business innovation, cross-disciplinary work, design education and the growing complexity load.” (Peter J. Bogaards – InfoDesign: Understanding by Design)