Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Bo Lora

Bo Lora — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:40:11 GMT

I’ve been running to this problem forever. Wireframes are a quick way to get a visual. I found the best use of wireframes in it’s crudest for is standing by a whiteboard doing sketches. However, I found that the best use of time on the computer is to do HTML.

I’ll say that with one condition… I’ve experimented with lots of uses of PowerPoint, PhotoShop, Visio etc. In the end, a hybrid CSS/JS does the best trick. If you can keep the HTML at is simplest form but be able to show a near production quality version and flip it to black and white it helps in doing both testing it in usability and talking to business partners without having to discuss colors/look and feel.

The trick is the CSS/XHTML. Removing table layouts etc.

That’s my two cents…

Bo Lora — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 06:42:47 GMT

I would love to see this story too. It drives me crazy specialy when you are talking about a transactional application. This one is right up there with “stickyness”.

Bo Lora — Thu, 17 May 2007 03:38:00 GMT

I was actually thinking of having with examples… The article itself should have a “feel” too! ;-)

Bo Lora — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:49:42 GMT

I messed with PowerPoint for a couple of years. I believe that if you do different unrelated projects then powerpoint can be a great tool as described in this article. However, if you are tasked in a project that has a great degree of transactional/interactive design, like a customer service portal, then PowerPoint becomes extremely tedious.

I have found it much easier to invest the time in creating html templates in Dreamweaver and create prototypes on the fly. Having said that, it does take a certain level of skillset. Many IAs are not as comfortable operating in HTML and javascript to create rapid prototypes or have readily available resources to help them do so.

Bo Lora — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:02:58 GMT

Oh yeah, another comment….

Maureen, I think your use of screenshots and step by step instructions is very thorough and makes the article a great resource for people wanting to explore more with PP.

Great job.

Bo Lora — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:12:58 GMT

Henrick,

I TOTALLY agree with you. Yes you can prototype using various tools but why would I want to use pliers to open a bottle? Great point!

I found that in Visio or powerpoint or anything else like that you can get so wrapped around the axle with tediousness. It gets really bad if you have a transactional flow layed out and then after presenting it to your client a descision is made to split one page in two or insert a new alternate flow. It can be a nightmare to change gears like that. To me, HTML is much easier. If it wasn’t then the web would have been done in PowerPoint!

Bo Lora — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:40:07 GMT

I agree with Richard that the “form” metaphor needs to be broken in a way.

I was once tasked to take a 22 page financial planning “form” and put it online. The result was an application far different than “putting the form online”.

“Forms” (in a paper sense) don’t have any intuity. Unfortunately, we we take these forms on the web and we sometimes don’t realize the opportunity to be intuitive. For example: in a form that you have to input a billing and shipping address. If you have a check box that says “Same as billing address” why does the user have to see the shipping address fields? Often these are shown and prefilled with the billing address. In paper form this is inevitable but on the web, you can hide them unless the user unchecks the box.

Bo Lora — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:23:33 GMT

I totally agree that building is the way to go. In your diagram you have “Wireframe” as one of the steps in the critical path.

I could not disagree more.

I believe that wireframes are an informal tool of communication when brainstorming ideas. I’ve watched people waste COUNTLESS hours tinkering with wireframes. I’m always of the mind that “wireframing” could be on a white board, napkin or whatever it takes to communicate and collaborate with a designer to develop comps. At the end of the day, the business owners are never going to appreciate wireframes they do comps and in the final specification documents of the component library, it is far better to have images from comps not wireframes.

Bo Lora — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:02:37 GMT

As a UX professional I consider myself a SMART user. But I really like the way this article points out that even with my intelligence, I can be S.T.U.P.I.D. as well! This article provokes a thought that is often forgotten, we should engage people’s intelligence, not their lack of.

Users come in all kinds of degrees of intelligence but we always tend to think they are either smart enough to apply common sense or too stupid to do so. Unfortunately, we always tend to design for the latter and as a result, all kinds of distractors are interjected into the experience. Combine S.T.U.P.I.D. and attention deficit (like most users have) and you have a recipe for disaster!

Bo Lora — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:47:36 GMT

I think the biggest problem I see when people talk about how UX and “agile” can work together is the assumption that it is all one process that divides work into small fast chunks where the team figures it all out as they go.

A lot modern buildings that are built on super fast schedules such as the CityCenter collection of buildings in Las Vegas are in fact built in an Agile format where the engineering for a particular floor is being designed as the concrete for the floors below are being poured. The one thing that is required for this to happen is a general design of the entire structure before construction begins.

So likewise, if you say you are going to rebuild a website and use Agile, the overall design of the new website, with colors, elements, components, etc. cannot be done piecemeal, one iteration at a time. The overall vision and design has to be in place (via waterfall or whatever) so that when the agile process of building the site begins, there is a clear end goal in mind. The specifics of the construction of the pages is what gets figured out as the team go and fits the profile of an agile process and environment.

Bo Lora — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:34:38 GMT

I’ve always had an extreme aversion to screens that double as display and edit fields. It is very difficult to review and scan records that are displayed in forms. I always opt for the edit button that converts all editable page the elements to a form. An alternative is to have clickable fields that do not look like form elements. Once the user clicks on them a save and cancel button appears in near proximity. Flikr.com does this with photo captions in your albums.

Bo Lora — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:41:53 GMT

I love New Your City but:

- Federal taxes
- State Taxes
- City Taxes
- Premium on living expenses

Can you blame people for not being to excited?