Usable Patterns

An economics podcast is an unusual place for a discussion of UI design, but this conversation with Eric Raymond (The Cathedral & the Bazaar) includes the usability of open source software.

Open source development works when, Read the rest of this entry »

Scott Berkun has put together a small article on how to innovate right now.
http://www.uie.com/articles/innovate_right_now/

He mentions that every innovator’s tool kit includes these three things:

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Since today is kicking off WWDC, Apple’s yearly developer conference, I figured posting a small bit of something Apple related might be appropriate.  For those that know me well, they know I am not an Apple fanboy – no matter your definition of the word.  I do appreciate some of the design elements they use, and they certainly take design in new directions but I am not sure that those directions are always good.

Salon.com has an interesting article around how they design many of their products.“iPhone pre-launch: Looking “Inside Steve’s Brain”".

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We tend to really like paper prototypes in our line of work.  We often find that by just doing three or four prototypes that we have significantly increased our knowledge of what the client needs up front.

Techniques and tools are discussed at introspectiveH.

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User Interface Engineering (UIE) has an interesting podcast discussing some of the problems when using wireframes for complex designs. They cover issues like preserving context, explaining why interface elements are there (or not), and setting priorities for what can be cut.  Keith Robinson call his solution the Page Description Diagrams which describe what the wireframe is trying to accomplish.

The UIE Podcast 

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Tech Nation interview with Bill Moggridge of IDEO.  The key to successful interaction design: make a prototype and try it with people.

 Full interview (30 minutes)

University of Toronto business-school dean Roger Martin on how Milton Glaser and Massimo Vignelli think about design and its relevance to business.

1. they don’t confuse what they presently see with reality, and therefore don’t see the present state of a thing as immutable.
2. they don’t fear the ambiguity that’s created by models or concepts that conflict with one another. Rather, they see the benefits of such conflict and ambiguity in spurring their creative juices.
3. they believe that there’s always a better design out there…
4. they’re confident that they can always find a design solution that meets their high standards.
5. they’re unconcerned about wading into the necessary complexities that one must grapple with before coming to an elegant design solution.
6. they refuse to rush to choose one side or the other of the conflict inherent in their task, or to race through the difficulties without giving themselves a chance to develop a new and better insight.

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