October 20, 2010 at 10:12Review of fresh materials, September 2010
This material continues a series of monthly reviews of fresh articles on the topic of interfaces, new tools and collections of patterns, interesting cases and historical stories. From the tapes of several hundred thematic subscriptions, approximately 5% of the publications worth publishing are selected, which are interesting to share. Previous materials: April , May-June , July , August .
Dancing with the Cards - Quick-and-Dirty Analysis of Card-Sorting Data
Shanshan Ma talks about an interesting technique when using card sorting - using a convenient and intuitive matrix, it allows you to sort and group options that are close to each other. In addition to being a useful tool in the work, the final result is also great for presenting to clients.
The Power of PET Design in Action
A simple but very effective demo in which Spencer Gerrol step by step shows how to improve the presentation of information on the website of a travel company. These steps allow you to turn a simple information block into a marketing and luring customers.
Three Reasons Why Persuasive Design Isn't Enough to Influence Change
Collen Jones article on the limitations of "persuasive design" - a practice that has become particularly relevant in the last few years. She gives three reasons why this approach is not yet fully matured and requires a deeper study.
Recruiting Participants for Unmoderated, Remote User Research
Jim Ross of Electronic Ink Philadelphia provides a series of tips on how to select respondents for remote unmoderated usability testing. He talks about the process itself, its basic techniques and tools that will help find the subjects.
What's the real value behind UNMODERATED remote user testing?
Specialists at Userzoom, an online tool for non-moderated usability testing, debunk myths about this technique. They give examples from practice, refer to the experience of their own product and answer a dozen questions on the topic.
Recommendations for Usability in Practice
Jasper van Kuijk has compiled a collection of practical recommendations for improving usability, which formed the basis of his doctoral dissertation. Although much of this has been heard more than once and quite obvious, the selection itself is quite useful.
Review App - Drag, Drop, Review
An application for the iPhone that allows you to quickly test the design of mobile applications on the phone screen. It takes into account both old screens and the new retina display. The program performs similar tasks with the previously released LiveView .
Testing Accordion Forms
One of the main experts on online forms, Luc Wroblewski, describes the results of the experiment with the presentation of forms in the form of an “accordion”. The results of a series of usability tests are encouraging - the user sees less unnecessary "here and now" information, does not wait for new pages to load, does not lose focus.
So You Wanna Build a Library, Eh? The Big Questions to Ask Before Building a Pattern or Component Library
Many articles have been written about building a pattern library in recent years, but this is one of the best. EightShapes' Nathan Curtis describes important process steps that will allow you to not only create, but also effectively use such a library in practice.
8 Must-see UX Diagrams
Andrew Maier has put together some of the most well-known diagrams of the interface design process - from the classic "honeycombs" of Peter Morville and the "elements" of Jesse James Garrett to relatively fresh posters.
Facilitation of processes
An article based on the presentation of Dmitry Satin, in which he talks about the work of the facilitator in project teams. It describes the tasks of a specialist and the features of his work to help teams find the right solutions.
iPhone App Designs Reviewed - Critique Board and Lessons Learned
Alexander Komarov has published a series of peer reviews of the iPhone app interface. He parses the design of three products and gives tips for improving them.
Playing Hard to Get - Using scarcity to influence behavior
Stephen P. Anderson talks about how to use scarcity to engage users in a product. He talks about the reasons why this trick works, and gives some examples from practice.
ROIs on PhDs - How much are trailing letters worth to you?
Kath Straub is trying to figure out whether the effort spent on getting a Ph.D. for usability professionals is worth it. She explores two main reasons - increasing credibility in the professional community and a large salary.
Improve Site Usability by Studying Museums
Alexander Dawson has put together an excellent collection of examples from museum practice that are well applicable in building interfaces. They describe navigation, feeds, help systems, and other similar points.
Children's Websites - Usability Issues in Designing for Kids
Jakob Nielsen talks about the results of his company's study of the behavior of children 3-12 years old on the Internet. The article talks about the features of their work with sites, compares the behavior of children and adults, draws conclusions about changes compared to the previous study.
The space of design
Hugh Dubberly describes several models of the design process and design, dwelling separately on the Jay Doblin design matrix. It allows you to simulate the performance and aesthetics of products, unitary systems and complex systems.
Juicy Stories Sell Ideas
An article by Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks about using stories to design interfaces and how they help sell products, services, and ideas. They describe the process as a whole and provide several examples from practice.
Essential Interaction Design Essays and Articles
Dan Saffer has published a selection of key articles and publications over the past half century that have been pivotal and crucial to the interface design discipline. The list includes dozens of articles from the classics of Vannevar Bush and Paul Fitts to contemporary publications.
A Brief History of the Magic Number 5 in Usability Testing
Jeff Sauro is trying to trace the origins of the usability testing rule “enough 5 users”. The article cites a chain of events dating back to 1981 that influenced the rule.
SCVNGR's Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck
Erick Schonfeld describes the principles of the game mechanics of the SCVNGR mobile social app. This is a deck of 50 cards, each of which denotes a certain technique of involvement and allows you to make the product more interesting. By the way, its Russian translation is available.
EuroIA 10
Reports, presentations, summaries and video from the EuroIA 2010 conference, held on September 23-25 in Paris.
mobileHCI 2010
Reports, presentations, abstracts and videos from the mobileHCI 2010 conference, which took place on September 7-10 in Lisbon.
UX Australia 2010
Reports, presentations, abstracts and videos from the UX Australia 2010 conference, which was held August 25-27 in Melbourne.
Series of webinars UX-Marathon 2010 (October 25 - November 2)
A series of webinars with the participation of leading Western experts "UX-Marathon" will be held from October 25 to November 2.
Usability Ukraine '10 in Kiev (November 5)
In Kiev, World Usability Day will be held on November 5 in the conference room of the President Hotel.
World Usability Day in Kiev (November 11)
In Kiev, World Usability Day will be held on November 11 at the Varenichnaya Victory cafe.
World Usability Day in Moscow (November 13)
In Moscow, World Usability Day will be held on November 13 in the conference room of 1C.
World Usability Day in Minsk (November 20)
In Minsk, World Usability Day will be held on November 20 in the conference hall of the Belarus Hotel.
Recent links can also be tracked in the Friendfeed feed of User Experience .
Methods and Practices
Dancing with the Cards - Quick-and-Dirty Analysis of Card-Sorting Data
Shanshan Ma talks about an interesting technique when using card sorting - using a convenient and intuitive matrix, it allows you to sort and group options that are close to each other. In addition to being a useful tool in the work, the final result is also great for presenting to clients.
The Power of PET Design in Action
A simple but very effective demo in which Spencer Gerrol step by step shows how to improve the presentation of information on the website of a travel company. These steps allow you to turn a simple information block into a marketing and luring customers.
Three Reasons Why Persuasive Design Isn't Enough to Influence Change
Collen Jones article on the limitations of "persuasive design" - a practice that has become particularly relevant in the last few years. She gives three reasons why this approach is not yet fully matured and requires a deeper study.
Recruiting Participants for Unmoderated, Remote User Research
Jim Ross of Electronic Ink Philadelphia provides a series of tips on how to select respondents for remote unmoderated usability testing. He talks about the process itself, its basic techniques and tools that will help find the subjects.
What's the real value behind UNMODERATED remote user testing?
Specialists at Userzoom, an online tool for non-moderated usability testing, debunk myths about this technique. They give examples from practice, refer to the experience of their own product and answer a dozen questions on the topic.
Recommendations for Usability in Practice
Jasper van Kuijk has compiled a collection of practical recommendations for improving usability, which formed the basis of his doctoral dissertation. Although much of this has been heard more than once and quite obvious, the selection itself is quite useful.
Instruments
Review App - Drag, Drop, Review
An application for the iPhone that allows you to quickly test the design of mobile applications on the phone screen. It takes into account both old screens and the new retina display. The program performs similar tasks with the previously released LiveView .
Patterns
Testing Accordion Forms
One of the main experts on online forms, Luc Wroblewski, describes the results of the experiment with the presentation of forms in the form of an “accordion”. The results of a series of usability tests are encouraging - the user sees less unnecessary "here and now" information, does not wait for new pages to load, does not lose focus.
So You Wanna Build a Library, Eh? The Big Questions to Ask Before Building a Pattern or Component Library
Many articles have been written about building a pattern library in recent years, but this is one of the best. EightShapes' Nathan Curtis describes important process steps that will allow you to not only create, but also effectively use such a library in practice.
Process
8 Must-see UX Diagrams
Andrew Maier has put together some of the most well-known diagrams of the interface design process - from the classic "honeycombs" of Peter Morville and the "elements" of Jesse James Garrett to relatively fresh posters.
Facilitation of processes
An article based on the presentation of Dmitry Satin, in which he talks about the work of the facilitator in project teams. It describes the tasks of a specialist and the features of his work to help teams find the right solutions.
Cases
iPhone App Designs Reviewed - Critique Board and Lessons Learned
Alexander Komarov has published a series of peer reviews of the iPhone app interface. He parses the design of three products and gives tips for improving them.
Theory
Playing Hard to Get - Using scarcity to influence behavior
Stephen P. Anderson talks about how to use scarcity to engage users in a product. He talks about the reasons why this trick works, and gives some examples from practice.
ROIs on PhDs - How much are trailing letters worth to you?
Kath Straub is trying to figure out whether the effort spent on getting a Ph.D. for usability professionals is worth it. She explores two main reasons - increasing credibility in the professional community and a large salary.
Improve Site Usability by Studying Museums
Alexander Dawson has put together an excellent collection of examples from museum practice that are well applicable in building interfaces. They describe navigation, feeds, help systems, and other similar points.
Children's Websites - Usability Issues in Designing for Kids
Jakob Nielsen talks about the results of his company's study of the behavior of children 3-12 years old on the Internet. The article talks about the features of their work with sites, compares the behavior of children and adults, draws conclusions about changes compared to the previous study.
The space of design
Hugh Dubberly describes several models of the design process and design, dwelling separately on the Jay Doblin design matrix. It allows you to simulate the performance and aesthetics of products, unitary systems and complex systems.
Juicy Stories Sell Ideas
An article by Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks about using stories to design interfaces and how they help sell products, services, and ideas. They describe the process as a whole and provide several examples from practice.
History
Essential Interaction Design Essays and Articles
Dan Saffer has published a selection of key articles and publications over the past half century that have been pivotal and crucial to the interface design discipline. The list includes dozens of articles from the classics of Vannevar Bush and Paul Fitts to contemporary publications.
A Brief History of the Magic Number 5 in Usability Testing
Jeff Sauro is trying to trace the origins of the usability testing rule “enough 5 users”. The article cites a chain of events dating back to 1981 that influenced the rule.
Trends
SCVNGR's Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck
Erick Schonfeld describes the principles of the game mechanics of the SCVNGR mobile social app. This is a deck of 50 cards, each of which denotes a certain technique of involvement and allows you to make the product more interesting. By the way, its Russian translation is available.
Conference proceedings
EuroIA 10
Reports, presentations, summaries and video from the EuroIA 2010 conference, held on September 23-25 in Paris.
mobileHCI 2010
Reports, presentations, abstracts and videos from the mobileHCI 2010 conference, which took place on September 7-10 in Lisbon.
UX Australia 2010
Reports, presentations, abstracts and videos from the UX Australia 2010 conference, which was held August 25-27 in Melbourne.
Conference Announcements
Series of webinars UX-Marathon 2010 (October 25 - November 2)
A series of webinars with the participation of leading Western experts "UX-Marathon" will be held from October 25 to November 2.
Usability Ukraine '10 in Kiev (November 5)
In Kiev, World Usability Day will be held on November 5 in the conference room of the President Hotel.
World Usability Day in Kiev (November 11)
In Kiev, World Usability Day will be held on November 11 at the Varenichnaya Victory cafe.
World Usability Day in Moscow (November 13)
In Moscow, World Usability Day will be held on November 13 in the conference room of 1C.
World Usability Day in Minsk (November 20)
In Minsk, World Usability Day will be held on November 20 in the conference hall of the Belarus Hotel.
Recent links can also be tracked in the Friendfeed feed of User Experience .