Are you having a tough time trying to figure out what a wireframe is and isn’t? After 9 months in the business I think I finally get it. For those of you that don’t I found this presentation from Nick Finck titled Wireframes for the Wicked slides that is a big help.
Presentation – Wireframes for the Wicked
Comments Off on Presentation – Wireframes for the Wicked
Filed under wireframes
Microsoft’s View of Human Computer Interaction in 2019
Comments Off on Microsoft’s View of Human Computer Interaction in 2019
Filed under Design Patterns
Let’s see if they are right…
This is what AT&T predicted in 1993. They were pretty on point.
The below predictions were made back in 1967. The language that is used to describe e-mail and online banking is funny, but very accurate to a degree…
Interaction Design Book: Communicating Design by Daniel M. Brown
Comments Off on Interaction Design Book: Communicating Design by Daniel M. Brown
Filed under Books
When I told my boss that I’m reading books to get better at my job, he said, “Why are you wasting you time and money on books?… You’d be better off reading books on interesting topics.” Then he suggested I read Guns, Germs and Steel*. That wasn’t the reaction I thought I’d get but then he added, “…Job experience is much more valuable than any ID book I could pick up”, which is understandable. My reason for getting and reading the books anyway was so that I wouldn’t make any more avoidable rookie mistakes.
The first book I picked up was Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning
*I started to read the book, Guns, Germs and Steel and it was kind of interesting but a lot of boring. Not my cup of tea. I know it won an award or two, but that’s just my opinion.
Rookie Mistake: “Wireframes Do Not Have to Look Pretty”
Comments Off on Rookie Mistake: “Wireframes Do Not Have to Look Pretty”
Filed under Rookie Mistakes
When I first started as an Interaction Designer 9 months ago (June 08), I thought of wireframes as line drawings on a white background. I knew that they are used to express layout and functional behaviors but I didn’t think that it needed to be aesthetically appealing. I was completely wrong.
For the last couple of months I worked alongside a Senior ID on a project and her wires were beautiful. They weren’t “designy”, meaning it wasn’t in color and didn’t have bevels or anything like that, but she used shades of gray that I didn’t know exited.
Although my wires were complete, they didn’t contain the design quality of the Senior ID, which made them inferior. Towards the end of my term in the project I started to experiment with shades of gray, curved boxes, and whitespace to give my wires the same aesthetic quality. In doing this, the feedback on my work changed from okay or complete, to “wow, great work”.
So let that be a lesson t you youngsters out there. Don’t make the same rookie mistake that I’ve made.
Persuasive Architecture
Comments Off on Persuasive Architecture
Filed under Information Architecture
This may be an old topic, but I want to talk about it. Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now talks about Persuasive Architecture design in sites which are alive to drive its users to a call to action.
Read More »
Visio Shortcuts, Tips & Tricks: Quick Copy & Paste
Comments Off on Visio Shortcuts, Tips & Tricks: Quick Copy & Paste
Filed under visio
A coworker of mine handed down a variety of Microsoft Visio tips and tricks. I thought it would be a good idea to share them for all IDs to use and enjoy.
Quick Copy & Paste:
Read More »
Top 5 Interaction Design Job Search Sites
Filed under Jobs
When I was approaching graduation from my HCI program, I began to look for a job in Interaction and Experience Design. It was tough because many of the popular job search sites did not have “Interaction Design” as option. So I had to find less commonly known sites that specialized in this area. Below is a list of sites and job boards that post many opportunities for Interaction/Experience Designers.
Read More »
Design Pattern: Sign-In Continuity
Filed under Design Patterns
Yahoo! adds Sign-in Continuity to there Design Pattern Library. Here is a quick summary.
Problem Summary
A user with an account but who is not currently signed in wants to participate by contributing something
…
Solution
When the user attempts to comment (or take similar action) remind them of the need to sign in first and deliver them to the sign in flow.When the user has successfully signed in, return them to the context they were in when they were about to comment or take similar action.
When handling the submission of information, preserve any data that has been enteredprior to the login procedure.
Universities with a Human-Computer Interaction Program
Filed under Education
For those of you who aspire to be a professional Interaction Designer, here is a list of schools with programs in Human-Computer Interaction, retrieved from http://www.hcibib.org/education/.
- University of Queensland
Australia, Queensland, BrisbaneARC Key Centre for Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology
Penelope Sanderson
psanderson@humanfactors.uq.edu.auResearch degrees in human factors, HCI, and cognitive engineering; postgraduate degrees in human
factors - Melbourne, University of
Australia, VictoriaPhD Human Computer Interaction
Steve Howard
s.howard@dis.unimelb.edu.au - Swinburne University of Technology
Australia, Victoria
Swinburne University of Technology – HCI Masters and PhD)Master of Information Technology and
PhD in Cognitive Engineering - Graz University of Technology
Austria, Graz
Human-Computer Interaction
Keith Andrews
kandrews@iicm.edu - Calgary, University of
Canada, Alberta, Calgary
Computer Science (Human Computer Interaction)
Saul Greenberg
saul@cpsc.ucalgary.ca