Sharism: A Mind Revolution

Added on 17 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“Sharism is the Spirit of the Age of Web 2.0. (…) With the People of the World Wide Web communicating more fully and freely in Social Media while rallying a Web 2.0 content boom, the inner dynamics of such a creative explosion must be studied more closely. What motivates those who join this movement and what future will they create? A key fact is that a superabundance of community respect and social capital are being accumulated by those who share. The key motivator of Social Media and the core spirit of Web 2.0 is a mind switch called Sharism. Sharism suggests a re-orientation of personal values. We see it in User Generated Content. It is the pledge of Creative Commons. It is in the plans of future-oriented cultural initiatives. Sharism is also a mental practice that anyone can try, a social-psychological attitude to transform a wide and isolated world into a super-smart Social Brain.” (Isaac Mao – FreeSouls.cc)

The Discipline of Content Strategy

Added on 16 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“We, the people who make websites, have been talking for fifteen years about user experience, information architecture, content management systems, coding, metadata, visual design, user research, and all the other disciplines that facilitate our users’ abilities to find and consume content. Weirdly, though, we haven’t been talking about the meat of the matter. We haven’t been talking about the content itself.” (Kristina Halvorson – A List Apart)

Economizer: A Cooper service concept

Added on 16 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“People are looking for ways to economize in these uncertain times. We can all see the evidence of environmental crisis brewing alongside the economic downturn, and it’s easy to feel powerless in the face of such global forces. With politicians and businesses seeking avenues to a sustainable future, Cooper wondered how design might help individuals cut costs while also encouraging behavior that was environmentally responsible.” (Cooper Journal of Design)

The Information Search Process Revisited: Is the model still useful?

Added on 15 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“Kuhlthau’s model of the Information Search Process was developed in the 1980s and refined in the 1990s. Since its conceptualization and development, the model has been used as a framework and diagnostic tool for understanding the information search experience of people in a variety of library and information settings. These information environments and services have not remained static, particularly with rapid advances in and impacts of information technology. Therefore, questions arise regarding the current usefulness of the model in light of the developments in the information environment to date. This paper seeks to explore whether the model still is a useful, insightful explanation of information seeking behaviour. This question is examined through a literature review of recent work applying the model and presents findings from a research study that explored the model within a school context.” (Carol C. Kuhlthau et al. – ISIC08 via Information Research 13.4)

The User Experience of Enterprise Software Matters

Added on 15 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“Over the past twenty years, the field of user experience has been fortunate. Software and hardware product organizations increasingly have adopted user-centered design methods such as contextual user research, usability testing, and iterative interaction design. In large part, this has occurred because the market has demanded it. More than ever, good interaction design and high usability are part of the price of entry to markets.” (Paul J. Sherman – UXmatters)

Communicating Customer and Business Value with a Value Matrix

Added on 15 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“So, you’ve wrapped up your customer research, completed your personas, and have even written a few scenarios that show how users would want to interact with your brand new product. What’s next? What happens to the personas and scenarios once you’re ready to start requirements definition and design. Are you sure you’ve adequately communicated the type of system your users need to the Business Analyst and Interaction Designer on your team?” (Richard F. Cecil – UXmatters)

Information architecture for digital libraries

Added on 15 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“This paper surveys information architecture in the context of digital libraries. Key concepts are defined as well as common attributes of information architectures in general. Communications standards (…) are explored, as well as the history of information architecture and related models. A number of digital library projects are analyzed with a focus on their distinct architectures. The key role of information architecture in the design and development of the twenty–first century digital library is detailed throughout.” (Scott J. Simon – FirstMonday 13.12)

User Experience Design Is About Creating Good Theatre

Added on 15 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“Creating exceptional experiences online, and developing efficient interactive marketing, is much about storytelling. We develop stories that excite and motivate people, and platforms where people can come create and edit their own stories. Interactive storytelling is in many ways more complex than traditional movies or theatre, but IAs can still learn a lot from scriptwriting techniques.” (Karri Ojanen – Threeminds)

Figuring out Service Design

Added on 11 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“I’m sensing that designing for services is the Next Big Thing for UI designers. (…) Service design is principally about the choreography of situated moments of customer & business activity as a structured sequence (process) across multiple physical and digital ‘touchpoints’ (ex: signage, logo, store rep, phone call experience, customer service, packaging, instruction manual, website, etc.) which constitute a ‘service string’ or ‘customer journey’. The key term here is ‘choreography’ which implies a dramatic or theatrical quality of enactments of people over time.” (Uday Gajendar – Ghost in the Pixel)

Conclusion of Boost Chats

Added on 10 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“The problem lies partly in how individuals define their role: if they insist on their right to behave individualistic, there is a problem because this means they see merely to their own wellbeing. If they on the contrary perform their individualism, they contribute with their individuality (competence, inclination, ability etc.) to a general wellbeing where nature is included. Individualistic behaviour leaves little room for empathy and lacks realisation that the resulting choices affect wellbeing negatively as this always is part of a greater whole: contextual.” (Designboost: Sharing Design Knowledge)

Nine Information Design Tips to Make You a Better Web Designer

Added on 8 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“It’s probably the least glamourous part of web design, but information design is by no means the least important. Locating and consuming information is the quintessential web task, far surpassing buying, playing and communicating, all of which include a good portion of information design themselves. How users find and then avail themselves of all that information is affected by how it is structured and presented. Thus every web designer should be equipped to make qualified and informed decisions on just how to do this.” (Collis – PSDTUTS) – courtesy of janjursa

The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them

Added on 3 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts. Words on the line, referred to as linking words or linking phrases, specify the relationship between the two concepts. We define concept as a perceived regularity in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label. The label for most concepts is a word, although sometimes we use symbols such as + or %, and sometimes more than one word is used. Propositions are statements about some object or event in the universe, either naturally occurring or constructed. Propositions contain two or more concepts connected using linking words or phrases to form a meaningful statement. Sometimes these are called semantic units, or units of meaning. Figure 1 shows an example of a concept map that describes the structure of concept maps and illustrates the above characteristics.” (Cmap Tools – Publications)

Flexible Fuel: Educating the Client on IA

Added on 2 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“Information architecture (IA) means so much to our projects, from setting requirements to establishing the baseline layout for our design and development teams. But what does it mean to your clients? Do they see the value in IA? What happens when they change their minds? Can IA help manage the change control process? More than ever, we must ensure that our clients find value in and embrace IA—and it’s is our job to educate them. If we want our customers to embrace IA, we must help them understand why we need it. IA is about selling ideas effectively, designing with accuracy, and working with complex interactivity to guide different personas (potential customers) through website experiences.” (Keith LaFerriere – A List Apart)

Service Design: What’s Next?

Added on 2 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“I had several conversations about what service design is and how it might be different from other forms of design. This is a question I and others have had before. As a trained interaction designer, it was not difficult to transition to service design. In fact, there were only subtle differences that might be identified as different from interaction design. No one I talked to offered a clear definition, or a true distinction.” (Jamin Hegeman)

The UX Designer’s Place in the Ensemble: Directing the Vision

Added on 1 December 2008 Peter Bogaards
“I’m sitting in a conference room with a coworker and two clients. It’s chaotic, hot, and a challenge just to walk around without tripping on the mess surrounding us. We are in the midst of designing and are buried in paper and sharpies and flipcharts. The walls around us are covered with consolidated data from requirements gathering and flipchart pages we’ve filled with our thought processes. Every few minutes, we need to retape some piece of paper that’s in danger of falling into a crumpled heap on the floor. Then, suddenly, I’m gripped with the feeling of déjà vu. It seems like I’m working on the same design I’ve worked on a thousand times before—and I’m getting bogged down in the details to boot! It’s at once disheartening and terrifying. But I’m the lead on this project, so I need to drive the team forward—which presents a challenge at this particular moment.” (Traci Lepore – UXmatters)