Methods
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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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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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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...
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Card sorting: a definitive guide
by Donna Spencer and Todd Warfel | [45 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...
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Web Traffic Analytics and User Experience
by Fran Diamond | [16 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...
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Creating a Controlled Vocabulary
by Fred Leise and Karl Fast and Mike Steckel | [3 comments]
You have probably heard IAs discussing the benefits of their latest taxonomy project and how you should be implementing one. But how, you might wonder, can you get started? In the next installment about Controlled Vocabularies, our authors go into detail about one methodology. more...
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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...
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What Is A Controlled Vocabulary?
by Fred Leise and Karl Fast and Mike Steckel | [17 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...
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The Age of Findability
by Peter Morville | [56 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...
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Card-Based Classification Evaluation
by Donna Spencer | [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...
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Icon Analysis
by Matt Queen | [31 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...
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Communicating Complex Ideas
by Alex Kirtland | [7 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...
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UX Design-Planning Not One-man Show
by Holger Maassen | [20 comments]
Holger Maassen posits his ideas about the process of planning and designing for User Experience Design-Planning (UXD-P) as Expectation Design. more...
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Natural Selections: Colors Found in Nature and Interface Design
by Luke Wroblewski | [19 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...
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Information Architecture for Audio: Doing It Right
by Jens Jacobsen | [5 comments]
Audio content is becoming increasingly prevalent. How do you design it effectively? Jens Jacobsen combines information architecture, journalism, usability engineering, and interface design to resolve some of the issues that arise from introducing audio. more...
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What Is Your Mental Model?
by Chris Baum | [15 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...
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Experience Themes
by Cindy Chastain | [16 comments]
A screenwriter has a compass that can guide him through the writing process. Cindy Chastain chronicles how we can translate this approach to help us remember the quality and value of the experience. more...
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Photos for interaction
by Milan Guenther | [8 comments]
Visual design of software interfaces is becoming increasingly complex due to more possibilities and fewer platform standards. Milan Guenther introduces how to support interaction with the visible part of software, using photography as an example. more...
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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...
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So You Wanna Build a Library, Eh?
by Nathan Curtis | [11 comments]
[Book excerpt] Building a library isn’t trivial and may not be right for your organization. Nathan Curtis examines the questions you to ask before building a design library. more...