Methods
-
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...
-
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...
-
Straight From the Horse's Mouth with Tom Wailes
by Christina Wodtke and Bill Wetherell | [2 comments]
Bill Wetherell talks with Tom Wailes about how one team at Yahoo! turned the normal design process on its head. Their thoughtful approach was successful, Wails posits, because they worked small and crafty while being inclusive in most useful ways. (Part 3 in a series) more...
-
Card sorting: a definitive guide
by Donna Maurer and Todd Warfel | [36 comments]
Card sorting is a simple user-centered technique for obtaining insight into the structure of a site. But is it really so simple? This definitive guide to card sorting includes detailed instructions on how to execute and analyze a sort, plus helpful hints to improve your sorts. It is the first in a series of articles about card sorting. more...
-
Web Traffic Analytics and User Experience
by Fran Diamond | [15 comments]
As a specialist in the user, you gain knowledge through observation and direct questioning of individual users. Now, you can add to that insights gained from data pulled during their actions on the site. By looking at this information, you will get a fuller picture of user behavior, not in a lab, but in the true user environment. more...
-
Visible Narratives: Understanding Visual Organization
by Luke Wroblewski | [13 comments]
Visual designers working on the web need an understanding of the medium in which they work, so many have taken to code. Many have entered the usability lab. But what about the other side? Are developers and human factors professionals immersed in literature on gestalt and color theory? more...
-
What Is A Controlled Vocabulary?
by Fred Leise and Karl Fast and Mike Steckel | [14 comments]
Finding the right words to communicate the message of your website can be one of the most difficult parts of developing it. Our authors guide you through the concepts behind a well-designed controlled vocabulary and discuss the pros and cons of its development. more...
-
The Age of Findability
by Peter Morville | [62 comments]
It doesn’t replace information architecture. And it’s really not a school or brand of information architecture. Findability is about recognizing that we live in a multi-dimensional world, and deciding to explore new facets that cut across traditional boundaries. more...
-
Icon Analysis
by Matt Queen | [34 comments]
Icons that are difficult to tell apart can lead to disastrous consequences. Queen shows us how studying the way the human visual system encodes information can lead to more effective icon design. more...
-
Card-Based Classification Evaluation
by Donna Maurer | [15 comments]
We hear and talk a lot about card sorting in various forms, and how it can be used as input on a hierarchy or classification system (or a taxonomy, if you like more technical words). We hear that we should test our hierarchies, but we don’t talk about how. more...
-
Communicating Complex Ideas
by Alex Kirtland | [8 comments]
Can prediction markets be used successfully in a corporate environment? Kirtland forecasts that making them easier to use just might be the key. Through simple guidelines, he shares strategies for benefiting the wise crowds. more...
-
Natural Selections: Colors Found in Nature and Interface Design
by Luke Wroblewski | [20 comments]
The web is awash with sterile design solutions. IBM, Dell, Microsoft, and countless others are virtually indistinguishable from each other. Though one might say this makes browsing easier by virtue of a standardized interface, in reality such sites create mundane experiences for their users and fail to make a positive connection with their audience. more...
-
What Is Your Mental Model?
by Chris Baum | [12 comments]
Indi Young talks about the power of the mental model and how it can grow over time and help your organization avoid strategic blindspots. The story includes an excerpt of her new book, and B&A readers are elegible for a discount. more...
-
Comics: Not just for laughs!
by Rebekah Sedaca | [22 comments]
Using comics is a novel means of communicating complex design concepts. There is has been a lot of talk about it recently, but it this medium only reserved for artists? Rebekah Sedaca decided to give it a try. It worked and she's outlined her process and tools that you may be able to use. more...
-
Analyzing Card Sort Results with a Spreadsheet Template
by Joe Lamantia and Joe Lamantia | [20 comments]
This article explains how to quickly derive easily-read, quantitative results from a card-sort activity by entering data into a spreadsheet template that is adaptable to any set of cards and categories. more...
-
Practical Strategies for Creating a Successful Intranet
by Shiv Singh | [1 comment]
Designing, developing, and deploying an intranet can be expensive, time-consuming and organizationally tricky. But certain strategies, when carefully executed, can simplify designing and managing your intranet. more...
-
Interactive Prototypes with PowerPoint
by Maureen Kelly | [20 comments]
Many designers use MS PowerPoint to conceptualize wireframes and get buy-in on project direction. Maureen Kelly shows us how to bring those same artifacts to life as an interactive prototype that allows you to validate the design at many levels. more...
-
The Lazy IA's Guide to Making Sitemaps
by Stephen Turbek | [64 comments]
The more automated our lives become, the less time we seem to have. And as an information architect, a lot of time is spent making sitemaps ... by hand. How valuable are sitemaps to a project team and to clients? Would your time be better spent doing other tasks than hand building sitemaps? What if we told you, "now you can." Find out how. more...
-
Personas and the Role of Design Documentation
by Andrew Hinton | [25 comments]
Andrew Hinton digs into the origins of the persona and reflects on how business uses (or misuses) design documentation. more...
-
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...