Big Ideas
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Enhancing Dashboard Value and User Experience
by Joe Lamantia | [7 comments]
In this article, part five of a series, the author describes ways to enhance the long-term value and user experience quality of portals by encouraging portability and natural patterns of dialog and interaction around aggregated content. more...
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Personas and the Role of Design Documentation
by Andrew Hinton | [23 comments]
Andrew Hinton digs into the origins of the persona and reflects on how business uses (or misuses) design documentation. more...
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Search Behavior Patterns
by John Ferrara | [6 comments]
People search for information online is often in idiosyncratic ways. It's rarely as straightforward as designers of search systems assume. John Ferrara gives us hope as he helps us think about a broader search ecology and identifies patterns in behavior that serve as the basis for good search design. more...
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Foundations of Interaction Design
by Jeff Parks | [4 comments]
Jeff Parks speaks with David Malouf on his article, Foundations of Interaction Design. They discuss several foundations of Interaction design explore in greater detail issues posted in the story's comments. more...
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Connectors for Dashboards and Portals
by Joe Lamantia | [4 comments]
This article is the fourth in a series sharing a design framework for dashboards and portals. In this installment, Joe Lamantia demonstrates how to connect content containers to ease navigation at all levels of the architecture. more...
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The Limitations of Server Log Files for Usability Analysis
by Karl Groves | [17 comments]
In the quest to gather more data on user behavior, some researchers and designers look to server log files for usability analysis. While the logs do provide a great deal of information, Karl Groves demonstrates why they are are inappropriate for gathering usability data. more...
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Building Block Definitions (Containers)
by Joe Lamantia | [4 comments]
Joe Lamantia dives deep into the components of the building block system. Each has a place in his design framework for dashboards and portals. See how you too can use these same elements in your work. (Part 3 in a series) more...
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Foundations of Interaction Design
by David Malouf | [11 comments]
Interaction Design focuses on the behavior of interfaces, rather than their form or structure. David Malouf proposes four foundations that underpin that practice. They help orchestrate a holistic narrative and give us all things to seriously consider when we look at our creations. more...
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Introduction to the Building Blocks
by Joe Lamantia | [14 comments]
Joe Lamantia covers the design principles underlying a building block system and the simple guidelines for combining blocks together to create any type of tile-based environment. (Part 2 in a series) more...
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It Seemed Like The Thing To Do At The Time
by Joe Lamantia | [17 comments]
Joe Lamantia shares three stories of failure and how changing your self-definition can open the way to continued success. (Part 1 in the Lessons From Failure series.) more...
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Being Shallow
by Grant Campbell | [11 comments]
Information Architects are often put on the defensive by spears flung by brethren in related disciplines.
In taking the accusations seriously and accepting truthswithin them,
Grant Campbell reveals greatest
strengths in shallowness, insularity, and being "relegated" to history. more... -
What Does Rich Mean?
by Uday Gajendar | [14 comments]
Amid the hype of Web 2.0, "rich" has become a prime buzzword. Using the concepts of Classical rhetoric as a framework, Uday Gajendar looks to transcend the hype and dig into the value of richness for digital products. more...
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Transitioning from User Experience to Product Management
by Jeff Parks | [0 comments]
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Content Strategy: The Philosophy of Data
by Rachel Lovinger | [27 comments]
As interactions proliferate, so does the content that supports them. Why should software professionals take a step back and examine their content from a philosophical perch? Rachel Lovinger takes a look at content strategy and the benefits of its perspectives. more...
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Better Content Management through Information Architecture
by Masood Nasser | [15 comments]
Part 1 Content Management Systems promise so much: content is easier to publish, easier to update, and easier to find and use. Lots of promises, but do CMSs really deliver? Masood Nasser examines why Content Management Systems often fail and shows how Information Architecture can come to the rescue. more...
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Transitioning from User Experience to Product Management
by Jeff Lash and Chris Baum | [7 comments]
Part 2 What will you need to leave behind to enter the wine-and-roses world of Product Management? In Part 2 of this series, Jeff Lash and Chris Baum give us a preview of what's in store for your new role and give us tips on how to prepare. more...
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Transitioning from User Experience to Product Management
by Jeff Lash and Chris Baum | [26 comments]
Part 1 Is there a smart and graceful way to transition into a product manager role? Chris Baum and Jeff Lash talk about the differences between product management and design and increasing your influence. more...
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Simplicity: The Distribution of Complexity
by Rob Tannen | [11 comments]
Achieving simplicity is not that simple when you are dealing with complex modern device design. Rob Tannen mused on lazy shortcuts, artificial constraints and Maeda's crusade on the complex. more...
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Are We There Yet?
by Christina Wodtke | [18 comments]
It's true: even simple projects get messy. Christina Wodtke comes clean on Swiss Army knives, the writing on the wall, and the untidy glory of the Boxes and Arrows redesign contest. more...
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Ambient Signifiers
by Ross Howard | [16 comments]
When navigating a complex system—be it a website or a large transport network—it's easy to get lost. Ross Howard points out how subtle signifiers can make a big difference. more...