Big Ideas
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Four Modes of Seeking Information and How to Design for Them
by Donna Maurer | [28 comments]
Information-seeking behavior varies from situation to situation. Donna Maurer explores different ways in which users look for information and offers tactics for accommodating them. more...
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Mission Statements: Why You Might Want One
by Erin Malone | [32 comments]
I recently started a new job. The group I manage is new and all the people on my team have recently been transferred into this group. Additionally, each person has spent a lot of time in the recent past working on individual, solitary projects, and has not regularly been part of a collaborative team. more...
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A Web 2.0 Tour for the Enterprise
by Shiv Singh | [28 comments]
While Web 2.0 sweeps the internet buzz machine, businesses are a bit slower to pick up the new paradigm. Shiv Singh shows how taking the leap and embracing the collaborative nature of Web 2.0 can provide great rewards. more...
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Managing the Complexity of Content Management
by Victor Lombardi | [9 comments]
Content management systems suck. Or so you would think from the strife heard from analysts and practitioners alike. And yet, many websites regularly publish vast amounts of information with superior control and ease compared to manually editing pages. 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...
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Check It Twice: The B&A Staff Reveals the Way They Make Lists
by B&A Staff | [10 comments]
Holiday lists, to-do lists, grocery lists. With the end of the year come the holidays, and holidays are usually a time for ... that's right ... making lists. Take a look into the process (and obsessions) of list-making from our staff. 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 | [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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Use of Narrative in Interactive Design
by Nancy Broden and Marisa Gallagher and Jonathan Woytek | [10 comments]
There will, and should always be, a tension between order and chaos, between standardization and creativity. So how do we invest creativity in our process? How do we reinvest ourselves into our work without starting from scratch every time? more...
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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...
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Learning to Love the Pixel: Exploring the Craft of Icon Design
by Uday Gajendar | [5 comments]
Designing web-based enterprise software involves creating complex artifacts like architecture wireframes, object models, screen flows, and clickable prototypes in order to articulate aspects of the online experience for product stakeholders. But what does “craft” mean for interaction designers? 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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An introduction to user journeys
by Jason Hobbs | [3 comments]
User journeys are a method for conceptualising and structuring a website's content and functionality. These journeys allow us to shift away from thinking about structure in terms of hierarchies or a technical build; instead you create a narrative around your user's needs. more...
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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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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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We Are All Connected: The Path from Architecture to Information Architecture
by Fu-Tien Chiou | [6 comments]
We've all seen blueprints--formally known as contract documents--which architects produce and builders use to construct. No one person knows all the details of the design; the end result is entirely a product of teamwork. But there is one axiom: architects do not build. 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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All watched over by machines of loving grace: Some ethical guidelines for user experience in ubiquitous-computing settings [1]
by Adam Greenfield | [10 comments]
Guest essay by Adam Greenfield on the threat and promise of ubicomp: It should be clear that ubicomp represents a substantial raising of stakes; that its field of operation is by definition total; and that its potential for harm is such that the user experience is too important to leave to chance. more...
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Personas and the Role of Design Documentation
by Andrew Hinton | [24 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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Expanding the Approaches to User Experience
by George Olsen | [22 comments]
Jesse James Garrett’s “The Elements of User Experience” diagram has become rightly famous as a clear and simple model for the sorts of things that user experience professionals do. But as a model of user experience it presents an incomplete picture with some serious omissions—omissions I’ll try address with a more holistic model. more...