Discussion Archive: November 2004

19 Nov 2004 - 1:08pm
0
Dave Malouf
2005

What is Usability, anyway? (was 'User'Business Analyst - apparently)

No reason to duck, Julez.

So, I agree w/ you that this is not an "interaction design" problem, but it
is still a design problem. System design is an important part of our world.
Most mistakes in design are caused b/c we are not allowed access to the
entire design problem set.

While the knowledge that a system architect brings to the picture is
invaluable, finding the total solution is best led and facilitated by a
design process and thus a designer.

-- dave

19 Nov 2004 - 11:49am
0
8 years ago
1 reply
Greg Petroff
2004

IxD NYC Face2Face report

Just a report to the list that we had a really
excellant meeting last night in New York. Josh Seiden
of 37 Partners gave a nice talk on looking at cliches
as a point to test the logic and design of ui. We
taped the talk and will try to put it on the ixdg site
sometime next week. There were about 35+ people there.

Also thanks to the Parsons Design Lab for hosting the
event.

greg

=====
Gregory Petroff

gpetroff at vizrt.com
+1 212 560 0708 tel
+1 212 560 0709 fax
+1 646 387 2841 mobile

18 Nov 2004 - 9:20pm
0
8 years ago
26 replies
Pradyot Rai
2004

What is Usability, anyway? (was 'User' Business Analyst - apparently)

> Julian_Orr at peoplesoft.com:
> > In my experience you can "engineer" users its more often called "training"
> > and usually costs 3k/week.

> > Then no matter how crap or complex your system is you can alway "engineer"
> > someone to use it. An averagely crap system requires 1-2 weeks training
> > for end users and 3x that for Admins.

18 Nov 2004 - 4:38pm
0
Greg Petroff
2004

ixd / id

Nice comments from Jim Leftwich

One of the best designed ui's I have ever seen from an information
architecture standpoint is from the late 70's and still in use today: the
management console for IBM mainframes. Text only screen with extremely
well thought out organization of information and task. Has not been
changed for 20 + years. I am sure it could be better but its suitable for
the community it serves.

18 Nov 2004 - 7:04am
0
H Taylor
2004

Blueprints vs Models (and design processes)

Andrei wrote:

> Why avoid them? Would you tell an architect to avoid making blueprints
> and just skip to the model building stage? And how are wireframes
> contributing to design by committee any more than anything else
> designers do?
>
> Wireframes are fine as part of the design process if used for what they
> are good for: deciding on structural and architectural pieces of a
> design without having to build a full on prototype.

17 Nov 2004 - 10:41pm
0
Bennett, Louise
2005

Mnemonics

Hi everyone,

I have a question re mnemonics. We have a system where we use buttons
labeled "Browse" for the user to click when they need to retrieve a file.
Typically, this button would have the mnemonic on the B. What I'm
wondering, however, is what we should do if we have multiple instances of
the Browse button on the one panel.

17 Nov 2004 - 2:08pm
0
8 years ago
5 replies
Listera
2004

Magnifier interface

For screenshots, everyone uses a smaller image that clicks open to a
magnified/full view. Here's an interface approach I'd never seen before:

<http://www.flip4mac.com/wmv_mac.htm>

Ziya
Nullius in Verba

17 Nov 2004 - 1:09pm
0
8 years ago
1 reply
Dave Malouf
2005

TOMORROW: IxDG NYC Event - "Violate Standards" with Josh Seiden

[New news: We are working on video taping this event and making it available
on our website afterwards for thos not in the NYC area or who just can't
make it. Will announce when it is available. Thanx to Kevin in the UK for
pushing us to do this. -- dave ]

Violate Standards!
Nine rules you should always try
to break when designing
user interfaces

Speaker: Josh Seiden, President 36 Partners (bio below)
Date: Thursday, November 18, 2004
Time: 7:00p - 9:00p
Place: Parsons School of Design, 55 W. 13th St., 9th Floor, Parsons Design
Lab
( Bet.

17 Nov 2004 - 12:32pm
0
8 years ago
1 reply
Pradyot Rai
2004

Examples of good financial applications!

I am trying to benchmark some expectations for our cross functional
team for a major redesign of a financial application/suite. I am
trying to grab some good examples of financial applications to put
forth definition of "good". I am wondering if I can get help here with
examples.

There are two buckets that I need to fill with examples --

1. Purely enterprise level applications -- call center apps., LOS, POS, etc.
2. User Centered -- Online banking, mortgage applications, tax-application, etc.

Tell me what's your favorites are.

17 Nov 2004 - 9:46am
0
Dave Malouf
2005

JOB: User Experience Designer - IntraLinks - New York, NY (fulltime, permanent)

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT:
Position: User Experience Designer
Location: Midtown, New York, NY

We are looking for someone to join our growing Product Design group as a
user experience designer. Responsibilities include producing innovative,
visually appealing human interface designs; creating design prototypes;
planning and conducting usability testing; working with developers to make
designs a reality. We need someone who can work independently, engage team
members, communicate ideas, and finally work with team members throughout
the release cycle of the product.