All posts from
July 2006

The Library 2.0 Folksonomy Gang

“Listen to conversations with thought-leaders at the interface between Web 2.0, Libraries, and the Semantic Web (…) In this Library 2.0 Gang discussion, members talk about folksonomies and the role of user-generated tagging alongside more formal methods of classification such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings and Dewey.” (Talking with Talis)

Findability with tags: Facets, clusters, and pivot browsing

“For a while I have been thinking of different ways of supporting finding information with tags that go beyond tag-clouds. There are three trends that are worth pointing out. The first is faceted browse interfaces, the second is algorithm driven approaches like clustering and recommendations (often driven by collaborative filtering), and the third possibility is one that is native to tag based systems – and can be termed ‘pivot browsing’.” (Rashmi Sinha)

Brand Experience in User Experience Design

“Much has been written in the past decade about the importance of usability and the user experience to customers’ perception of an organization’s brand. Jared Spool’s 1996 article ‘Branding and Usability’ correctly identifies the importance of Web site usability to brand experience and provides evidence that a positive user experience has a direct correlation to positive brand perception. More recently, authors such as Dirk Knemeyer have expanded on this theme.” (Steve BatyUXmatters)

International Usability Evaluation: Issues and Strategies

“Like many UX practitioners, I’m often involved in designing products that will be sold across the globe. Half of the challenge is acknowledging there is no one-size-fits-all set of design criteria. The other half is knowing the tradeoffs when choosing between usability methods for requirements gathering and evaluation. What many may find surprising is that our tried-and-true methods themselves can have limitations, depending on the context in which we apply them.” (Michele Marut – UXmatters)

The Transformation of the Web: How Emerging Communities Shape the Information we Consume

“To date, one of the main aims of the World Wide Web has been to provide users with information. In addition to private homepages, large professional information providers, including news services, companies, and other organisations have set up web-sites. With the development and advance of recent technologies such as wikis, blogs, podcasting and file sharing this model is challenged and community-driven services are gaining influence rapidly. These new paradigms obliterate the clear distinction between information providers and consumers.” (Josef Kolbitsch and Hermann Maurer – Journal of Universal Computer Science 12.2)

How and Why Wikipedia Works

“This article presents an interview with Angela Beesley, Elisabeth Bauer, and Kizu Naoko. All three are leading Wikipedia practitioners in the English, German, and Japanese Wikipedias and related projects. The interview focuses on how Wikipedia works and why these three practitioners believe it will keep working.” (Dirk Riehle)

A re-examination of information seeking behaviour in the context of activity theory

“Activity theory is not a predictive theory but a conceptual framework within which different theoretical perspectives may be employed. Typically, it is suggested that several methods of data collection should be employed and that the time frame for investigation should be long enough for the full range of contextual issues to emerge. Activity theory offers not only a useful conceptual framework, but also a coherent terminology to be shared by researchers, and a rapidly developing body of literature in associated disciplines.” (T.D. Wilson – Information Research 11.4)

Graffletopia

“As a web designer, I’ve been using OmniGraffle for years. It’s fantastic for designing interfaces — miles better than Adobe Illustrator for most tasks. Stencils are a big part of why Graffle is great. So, hopefully, this website will make it easier to find cool stencils. Let the sharing begin!” (About Graffletopia)