I can't believe this didn't occur to me before.
Current Flash sites could never be made work well on any touchscreen device, and this cannot be solved by Apple, Adobe, or magical new hardware.
That’s not because of slow mobile performance, battery drain or crashes. It’s because of the hover or mouseover problem.
The author explores the potential solutions and why none of these will work.
(via Drew)
How to Recover From Project Failures
Good ideas for recognizing, discussing, and resolving issues during a project.
Getting up earlier, scheduled breaks, strict interruption management, take advantage of spare moments. (via Freelance Switch)
Mommy, where do ideas come from?
http://www.cooper.com/journal/2009/08/mommy_where_do_ideas_come_from.html
Exploring ways in which ideas come to be.
Interesting and insightful articles from this week... while most are the usual user experience related topics, there are some around freelancing as I begin my adventure in independent consulting.
20 Tools For The Freelance Designer On A Shoestring Budget
Links to free or cheap tools for image editors, feedback and usability testing, cross-browser testing, programming, and billing, invoicing and timetracking. (via FreelanceSwitch.com)
Convert Design Evolution
Fun video showing the design evolution of an iPhone app. (via Sporter)
Managing UI Complexity
Techniques for managing complexity in an interface. (via @Konigi)
Behind the Typedia Logo Design
Really great overview of designing the new logo for Typedia, which is a shared encyclopedia of typography. (via Twitter)
Your Future in 5 Easy Steps: Wired Guide to Personal Scenario Planning
Scenario planning is a great tool to work through an uncertain future. (via @MarkFrisk)
Design guidelines for e-commerce product pages with eyetracking data
10 guidelines for designing product pages such as clear calls to action, prioritizing important content, simple layout, quality images and helpful descriptions using bullet points. (via Core77)
Information Interplay: Visual Design, Information Architecture, and Content
Good designs and good design teams are strong in all three areas. (Via UIEtips)
Renting an Idiomatic Experience
Learning keyless ignition idiom. (via Alok Jain, IxDA list)
Are You a Visual Thinker?
Capturing key ideas in visual form engages people and they're most likely to read them. (via XPRESS)
In the past week I've come across 3 articles on designing for delight as well as usability. Evidence of this, according to Fred Beecher, is in the undeniable success of the iPhone despite its many usability flaws, which he describes in detail (good tips on what not to do). I love this line:
While it’s still my responsibility to prevent things from sucking, now it’s also my responsibility to add a little playfulness.
Chris Fahey aims to put "three delightful details" in his designs:
...a humorous error message, a helpful hint at a difficult juncture, a way to skip a step in a process, etc.
And Dana Chisnell describes the 3 levels of happiness in a design: Mindfulness, Flow and Meaning.
Absolutely we should strive to delight in our designs. We should also have this goal for the design process. This is easily accomplished by making the design process visible and involving everyone in it - whiteboard sketches and walking through paper wireframes or prototypes. Especially when it includes markers. Seriously, who doesn't like to play with markers?
It also helps to introduce humor when there is a conflict over how to address a specific function. Suggesting something crazy like having a little head pop-up, usually of some colorful executive, a la "Clippy" style.
I've found when everyone can share in the designs and share in some laughs, it is much easier to arrive at a shared vision.Robert Hoekman, Jr. says better solutions come from designing in groups. I absolutely agree.
Design is a group activity. The small team beats the lone genius every time. No one individual will have all the best answers. The best answers come from groups. The best ideas are the result of collaboration.
All of my designs have been improved after reviewing and collaborating with developers, business stakeholders, testers, etc. Software is complex and requires insight from all sides - business, technical, design, users.
Although, collaboration almost sounds too nice of a word, as if we're all holding hands and singing while marking up a wireframe. Maybe negotiation is more accurate? The best solutions I've been a part of have always come out of heated discussions, wrestling against multiple constraints.
