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Thursday, 19 June 2008 | DESIGN PATTERNS
For those designers who are out there designing some complex and not so complex websites and web-appliations, here are some useful design patterns to make your life just that little bit easier.-
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Monday, 24 March 2008 | ZuneJourney
Zube Journey features a unique illustration style and a nice concept for the navigation. 
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Monday, 25 February 2008 | VIDEO INTERFACE
It's good to see that newspapers such as The New York Times are pushing the boundaries of presenting info and news online. This video interview features not just the interview but also the transcript, a quick click to sections of interview and a transcript analyser which I thought was also very cool!
Maybe the magazine industry can gain some inspiration and start pushing the boundaries a little. 
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Wednesday, 30 January 2008 | WHATS MY BROWSER
Whats.My.Browser.com is a useful tool for finding out what you or your clients are using in regards to plug ins and also browser size. The AnyBrowser site is also useful for seeing a site within different browser window sizes.
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Thursday, 10 January 2008 | PRPS
nice interactive interface and i also love the hand drawings and text for prps
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Monday, 18 June 2007 | MICROSOFT SURFACE
Microsoft has come up with a ultra cool interface called 'Surface' which surprise surprise is not as innovative as you would think.About a year ago I posted this link which shows a very similar concept in an earlier stage of development.
Pardon my sarcasm I really don't have anything against Microsoft, I actually quite admire the way that Gates has managed to dominate the personal computer market, however I do wish that just once they would come up with a unique and original concept that hasn't been inspired or borrowed or purchased from the brain-gems of other companies. 
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Sunday, 13 May 2007 | MORE WAYS TO USE YOUR MOBILE PHONE
nytimes.com April 1, 2007 New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Cellphone By LOUISE STORY
It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign.
With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house.
Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction.
New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet. Read article
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Monday, 25 September 2006 | REAL WIREFRAMES FOR REAL USERS
Hooray! At last it seems that information architects are finally waking up to the fact that real users don't understand wire frames.
I've always created wire frames that are a combination of traditional 'skeletal' wire frames with some graphical elements. At the very least I have always included colour in my wire frames, because I believe it's crucial in highlighting click-able areas on a screen.
During my career as a multimedia designer I've worked in a few companies were the information architecture of the website or web application is the sole responsibility of the IA and the designer is not allowed to have any input what so ever in the architecture of the interface.
In just about every one of those projects I've always had to give the client a little lesson on how to interpret the wire frames. Strange but true.
You would think that the IA would have done this during their presentation to the client; perhaps they did but it just wasn't clear to the client until they see the visual result. The strange fact is that time and time again it falls upon the designer to explain to the client that the wire frame is simply just a skeleton much like an architectural plan.
I believe that most of the time clients are too afraid to admit; for fear of looking stupid that they don't really understand what these abstract page layouts actually represent.
I would also like to emphasise that I have worked with some very good IA's who have simplified some wonderfully complex interfaces, it's not a matter of talent or expertise I think it has something to do with the 'purist' nature of IA's deliverables.
Many IA's believe that graphic design hinders the interface, all you have to do is hang out Jakob Nielsen's website for a couple of minutes and you get the impression that designers are just here to visually pollute the web.
I agree that there are many designers who to put it nicely screw up a perfectly good interface but the majority of designers understand the importance of what it takes to design a good interface. I started creating websites before the role for information architects was even in existence, and whilst I believe that their role is valuable I think that they need to work closer with the designers when creating interfaces. The dividing line is too extreme and we need to give users a realistic model of what they will be using not an abstract schematic that is difficult to decipher and makes users feel stupid, it's especially ironic because IA's are supposedly meant to create more usable interfaces, unfortunately that's not always the case.
It's great to finally read an article that highlights the benefits of combing IA with design elements.
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Thursday, 07 September 2006 | NEWSMAP
Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Googgle news aggregator. Apparently it uses what is known as a "treemap visualization algorith" ...way too technical for my left sided brain but it sounds good to me! I really like the way that it has redefined the way in which we read news, I particularly like the way in which you can select news categories by colour allowing you to view only your personal interests.
Kind of reminds me a little of Negropontes prediction concerning the customisation of information for the individual. Not that I totally agree with the complete customisation of information for individuals. I believe that a customised view of the world might be restricting and create a narrow minded approach to life, not to mention the wonderful things that they might miss out on if you only get exposed to what you like and know. Where would the element of surprise be? Anyway enough ranting nJoy! news map.
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Monday, 10 July 2006 | THE GOOGLE POLICE
Apparently Google is now going to start charging more for poor quality landing pages. so that they can create a 'great user experience'.
I'm all for providing users with a great online experience which is informative and aesthetically appropriate, however I do think that Google are going a little too far on this matter. Who are they to monitor and stipulate what is 'poor quality' and what isn't. If you ask me I think Google needs a bit of healthy competition otherwise we are going to be manipulated by a Big Online Brother, who by the way is already collecting or should I say archiving emails from users all over the world.
Google have in the past banned some businesses who abused the meta word policy from appearing in their search results , as a result they have transformed the way in which most of us create our content so that we can ensure that we gain higher rankings and appear at the top of the search results page. In doing so they have also created certain rules in a virtual environment which is otherwise rule-less. Hmmm interesting...
For more info see Googles pricing policy.
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Tuesday, 27 June 2006 | MOBILE PHONES BOOST TV RATINGS
Who would have thought that the telephone would evolve into a vehicle that had the power to increase TV ratings, I'm sure that Alexander Graham Bell's vision never extended that far. McKinsey has an interesting article on "Using mobile phones to boost TV ratings" worth reading if you are as fascinated by the evolution of mobile phones as I am.
I should also mention that I think McKinsey do a great job in creating a website that displays articles in a very readable way, I would have to say that they are the most succesful in doing this so far.
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Monday, 18 July 2005 | DESIGNING FOR THE ONLINE READER
Usability News has just released the results of an online usability study which investigated the preferences of reading multiple-column or single column text for readers as well as the preferred line length when reading long articles.
Line length is an issue which I come up against constantly, more so now with the acceptance of larger screen sizes of 1024.
Now that we have more real estate to play with, some layouts seem a little over spacious. Specially if you are designing a fluid layout that displays a single column of text that is fixed at an ideal reading length.
According to one of the studies mentioned above, the preferred line length seems to be 35 cpl (characters per line) and 95 cpl.
I'm really surprised by the 95cpl, I would have thought the ideal would be 75cpl, because that is my ideal width.
I find that when I read lines of text that are 95cpl I have trouble following the next line of text, particular in long paragraphs of text.
Presenting articles in two columns seems to be the preference amongst fast readers, whereas slow readers prefer one column.
As a graphic designer who specializes in web and multimedia interface design, articles and studies such as this one are invaluable.
However you need to take into account the kind of users that participated in the study and compare that to who your actual users are.
It really does come down to knowing your audience and presenting them with the most appropriate design that caters for their needs and requirements.
Next time you're designing a site that features large areas of text, it may be worth creating multiple layouts and testing them on your target market to see which they prefer.
It's the most efficient way of finding out if your design is communicating effectively and providing the best experience possible for your audience.
Read the results of the usability studies.
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Monday, 18 July 2005 | NAVIGATING WITHOUT A CLICK
Ever wondered what it would be like to navigate a site without clicking your mouse? Me neither. To be honest with you, it never even entered my mind until I stumbled across this site.
It's refreshing to come across a site like Don't Click. It pushes the boundaries of how we see the world or in this case how we use the web.
It just goes to show how complacent humans are.We become accustomed to doing things in a certain way and never really question why. The more complacent we are, the harder it is to convince us to do things in a different way.
Is it sheer laziness? or our 'can't be bothered' attitude? Who knows.
Anyway, I really liked the different approach that 'Don't click' have taken to replacing a click with a gesture on buttons. I particularly like the timed approach, that displays an animation similar to that of a loading graphic appear on the button upon roll over.
Some how I really don't think that the 'Don't Click' approach will ever become mainstream. However I have a feeling that it has its place in some user interface design. Perhaps in the design of kids interfaces. I often watch my three year old navigate his way through sites like Sesame Street on my one click mac mouse.
The other day I happened to plug in a Microsoft mouse complete with 2 click-able buttons and scroll wheel option. The result was quite interesting; he found it extremely difficult to play the online games that he had been mastering over the last 6 months. I'd forgotten how difficult a simple looking mouse can be to use for the novice user, and once again Apple have proved that their products are far more user focused, even for the youngest users.
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Monday, 30 May 2005 | FLASH NOT 99% USABILITY DISEASE
Back in 2000 Jakob Nielsen stated that "About 99% of the time, the presence of flash on a website constitutes a usability disease." Harsh words that have managed to tarnish Flash's reputation even today.
Luckily those who know better realised a while ago, that flash is a powerful tool whose purpose extends way beyond animated splash pages. Macromedia's latest Newsletter features a great case study on how IKEA have used flash to drive their sales, by creating an interactive kiosk for their stores.
Another website that utilizes flash in an inspiring way is TAZO Tea. The site is visually gorgeous and interesting to browse through, even for non tea drinkers like myself.
The one thing that I often mention to clients is that using flash doesn't mean that the entire site has to be built using flash. Flash should be an invisible technology used to enhance the user's experience. The Westin Hotel uses flash to create lovely emotive promotions on the home page, tt's subtle yet effective.
Another great example is the Mini website, it allows users to create their ideal mini instantly. Actually many auto related websites are using flash in very clever ways to show case their products.
My all time favourite is Nike every new website that they release is beautifully designed. With the use of imagery and animation they capture the essence of Nike even before they display one of their products. There are thousands of examples out there, I think its time for people to put their negative opinions of flash behind them and see it for what it is.
I guess it all comes down to one thing; use it wisely and it will enhance the users experience. Oh and don't believe everything you read Jakob Nielsen may have done a lot of good for usability online but he has also influenced many people to follow unnecessary constraints.
Other articles of interest :
 Macromedia’s Top 10 usability tips for flash web sites
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