i like icons in the navigation. i just do.
this is from Smile & Move.
you should watch the video. pretty neat and refreshing (thanks John)
- Interaction Design
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April16th
2 CommentsNagivation: Icons
Posted in: Interaction Design
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April14th
No CommentsRomantic Pagination
Posted in: Creativity, Interaction Design
Is this not the most extremely romantic passage? It’s Perfect. I came across this yesterday while browsing Scandal!in Bohemia. It’s from a story published in the New Yorker and while I was there I of course forgot all about the romance and zeroed in on the pagination:)
It’s really no frills in terms of visual design, you can’t tell what is a link and it doesn’t have a way to quickly jump to the first page, but what I do like is, “View as a Single Page”. I like this for two reasons.
1. I would prefer to scroll, so it is lovely to have the option of doing that. It also feel particularly appropriate for this content, reading the New Yorker shares more in common with reading traditional print than say browsing camera reviews.2. The word “Single”. What a beautiful, simple, conversational, content appropriate way to to say “One Page”. Just think about it. It feels romantic to me….
“The entire story fit on a single sheet of crisp white paper, which allowed me to fold it neatly and fit it squarely into the small pocket of my jeans, giving me a secret to carry around and produce throughout the day when every I needed a jolt.”
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April9th
1 CommentNatural mapping – Noah Iliinsky
Posted in: Design, Interaction Design
I’d like to start sharing interesting articles and blog posts, but I don’t necessarily need to comment on them except to say, “Nice thinking” So this is my new format. Click the image to read the full text.
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April7th
3 CommentsHey, nice form
Posted in: Interaction Design, Usability, User Experience
Filling out forms has been part of life since……since.. maybe forever. Remember all the job applications you filled out trying to find your first job? That was lame.So you can’t really complain about online forms, for the most part they are basic, get the job done and aren’t too frustrating (accept for incorrect tabbing order, choosing your country/state and hitting the cancel button instead of submit because it’s located in the wrong place, or having to deal with endless error messages because required fields aren’t indicated….ok. it’s a little frustrating) but there are some gems out there.
Yesterday I filled out a form that was just peachy so I thought I would grab a couple screen shots and give some props.
Exhibit A:
big fat fields with big fat fonts.i can’t get enough. when you get a form like this where the words dance across your screen happily with each entered letter you cam’t help but feel like we have moved into the new generation of form filling. Aside from feeling good, being easy and looking nice, this type of form is great for grandpa and grandma.
-2 points: for cancel button being the same size as submit and so close to the next button.
Exhibit B:
You’re doing good honey. Keep going. You’re almost there.
Reinforcing good user behavior and confirming that things are moving along well is awesome. The motion of the check mark appearing on screen is like a big scratch and sniff sticker on your math homework.Exhibit C:
There’s no mistaking it….an Error has occurred.
I like this on two levels.As a User it’s clear, you can see that something happened and you don’t have to find it amongst the graphic design. Yes, I know that you have to select OK and that this is another step, but you know, it’s a trade off and I’m fine with it.
As a Designer, WHY don’t I do this. Using system messages is easier and takes less design time. This will eliminate like 5 comps, because you always have to comp up the error message states.
So good job TheMoment. I’m looking forward to checking out your product…if you can get me to enjoy filling out your forms, I have high hopes:)
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March27th
No Commentstactile visuals
Posted in: Design, Interaction Design
I’ve been collecting little scraps from the web this past week. I love this style of calling attention to specific content or CTA’s by using more tactile visuals. Little bits of the page that break the grid do a nice job garnering attention.
I’m a crafter and sewer and I am thinking a lot about how I can bring some of my skills in these areas to my work.I’m also loving these from a wonderful collection at Naldz Graphics.
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March26th
No CommentsPagination #2
Posted in: Information Architecture, Interaction Design
Judging by the number of people reading the first Pagination entry, it seems to be a topic of interest for people, which is wonderful. So here are a couple more.
Today’s competition is between Amazon and Anthropologie
Let’s see what the largest online retailer’s contribution to the conversation is:
At the top of the page it gives you a count of total results and how many are showing on current page. This is good. But there is no pagination here so you can’t begin to move through the results.
The “pagi” as I will fondly refer to it from this point on, is all the way at the bottom.
We need to see the total number of results and the total number of pages. I don’t want to just keep clicking next for who know’s how long.You can’t jump to the last page, which would be a problem if you were browsing a alph sort list.
As you move along continually hitting next, scrolling to the bottom of the list and hitting next again, the pagi displays like this.
Once you hit the 5th page it shifts a bit alowing you to get back to the first page. Ok, that’s good
but once you get in a few more pages you realize that the only way to get back to say page 9 is to hit Previous, scroll to the bottom (repeat 4 times) or Go back to the first page and do pretty much the same thing. Leaving you to wonder which is the fastest, a calculation I’m not sure anyone wants to do.
Positives are the clean lines and easy to select Next and PreviousNow for the store that makes you want dress in lacey pjs, sip cappacinos out of mugs the size of a baby head and slip beneth pathwork quilts until spring arrives.
Here’s what I like.You get to select how many items to show on the page. I always want as many as I can get to reduce using the pagi. It would be really great if it detected your connection speed and defaulted to a larger set if your connection was fast enough.
You get next, previous and a total of pages.
I like clicking the green box highlighting next. I don’t know why, I just do.
What isn’t good is the same issue we saw with Amazon. Once you get in a few pages it is difficult to get back to the earlier pages. Although, the number of possible pages on this site is much less than Amazon so, it isn’t as bad.
aaaaaaannnnnd……
Our winner today is Anthropologie. Yeah!
I’m now on the hunt for a site that doesn’t do what both of these two failed at today. If you have an example please send me a link!
(the 3 items at the top of the page are on my wishlist)
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March23rd
No CommentsUX and the major considerations of web strategy/design
Posted in: Content, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Strategy, Usability, User Experience
I’m working on a diagram that illustrates how the major consideration of web strategy/design (also a working concept) should be addressed by the tools of a User Experience Architect. This is the first piece of a presentation I am developing on the topic of “Appropriate use of the User Experience Architect” or “How to plug UX into a project or agency and get value, make life easier for everyone and end up with better products.”If you have a moment I would love your feedback.
Couple things before you start.
1. This is a draft
2. It isn’t meant to consider every little detail but stay at a certain big picture distance
3. I’m not stupid, but it is possible this isn’t totally right. That’s ok, I’m practicing shameless collaboration and artistic expression by not editing myself too much and assuming you folks can fill in the blanks without me over explaining.click to make bigger.
The Five Considerations:
Brand Needs: Content, features and design choices that support the goals of the brand, reinforcing the correct perceptions and enriching the user’s experience.Business Desires: What the business wants in order to grow, increase profit and realize company goals (not necessarily digital/web goals).
Technology Needs: That the new solution utilize available tools and/or implement “appropriate” new tools within a specific budget.
User Desires: What the users think they want. Stuff that gives them an emotional reaction and satisfies their expectations.
User Needs: The essential tasks the user is trying to accomplish, which must be completed with ease and clarity.
Industry Ecosystem: What’s going on in the larger ecosystem of the business and the users. How and where this digital presence will fit in and contribute.
Tools & Methods
Business Strategy Definition:
Stakeholder Interviews, Goals and Tactics Definition, Multi-year road-map development, Competitive Research.User Research: Quantitative and Qualitative methods. Interviews, surveys, usability testing, focus groups, card sorts. Audience segmentation, Tasks analysis, Flows.
Information Architecture: Site structure, content organization, taxonomy, utilize analytic data, collaboration with back-end developers.
Interaction Design: User centered design, industry standards, best practices, collaboration with graphic designers and front end developers
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March20th
No Commentssuper cute
Posted in: Design, Interaction Design
Loving this cute and smart display of video controls. I’m inspired to get a bit more creative with these controls next time.
It is sad that there is no status bar and the fast forward button (or is it reverse) doesn’t work. But I like this concept.
While we’re talking about videos, I’d like to raise a question. When is it video a good way to express an idea? Using video is becoming more and more popular and clients are asking for it left and right. I’m working on formulating a perspective on it’s use. I have some ideas…. what are yours?
(i don’t really have readers yet…i do know that…but it’s still fun to ask question, then go lay my head on a pillow and think about them)
