A View of the World
12 March 2007
Death of the Desktop
This presentation focused on the idea that interface design needs to consider the science of cognetics (the ergonomics of the mind) to more adequately create experiences that are beneficial to a user. Two scientific studies were noted: GOM modeling and Information efficiency. The presented gave this definition of an interface: the way you accomplish with a product - what you do and how it responds to you. To a user the interface is the product, so the experience is dependent upon how successful the user is in achieving a goal. (Observation: When an interface is simple, you don't notice it.)
The presenter gave this definition of What An Interface Does:
The presenter than presented Raskin's Rules of Interfaces: (with apologies to I. Asimov)
For more information, visit http://www.humanized.com/weblog/
The presenter gave this definition of What An Interface Does:
- Create Content
- Navigate Content
- Select Content
- Transform Content
The presenter than presented Raskin's Rules of Interfaces: (with apologies to I. Asimov)
- An interface shall not harm your content or through inaction to allow your content to come to harm
- An interface shall not waste your time or require you to do more work than necessary
- An interface shall not allow itself to get into a state when it cannot manipulate content
For more information, visit http://www.humanized.com/weblog/
Labels: design, humanized, interface, sxsw
¶ 11:00 PM 0 Comments
From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 – Getting Unstuck
This was a promising topic - so promising that it was booked in the largest room. Lots of people attended. But it turned out to be yet another panel discussion by designers to talk about their challenges in the development process. Once this was discovered by the attendees, the crowd started to thin, but since it was one of the first panels of the day, there were enough people who came in late to maintain a balance. I was one of the people who exited early, but not before hearing this quote by a Swedish creative director, quoting one of the Sex Pistols: "It’s better to be a flamboyant failure, than a mediocre success."
¶ 9:45 PM 0 Comments
Designing for a Global Audience
The focus on this panel was on understanding how creating sites for multiple cultures impact web design. The first topic was localization. Most people think of this as getting the text translated, but it is much more. The process should include thinking through the experience from a specific point of view, and then make the appropriate changes. An example of doing this correctly was Nokia cell phones, which have the interface for cell phones aligned to specific countries, both in language and in presentation.
For marketing, having standards are important, but may not meet or align with cultural expectations. The Honda Civic is a 'starter' car in the US, but is an upscale car in India - how do you market that across cultures in both countries? The question to be asked when starting a project is, what is the user expectation per culture we will be entering? Take a look at each separately, and then identify the common elements and determine the important differences and design appropriately.
When creating for a global audience, it is strongly recommended to have a design team that is local to the culture you are marketing to, including researches and writers. However, you need to establish a communication plan that all teams need to follow, addressing the global objectives . This is what all work will be reviewed against to keep each team in alignment with the project goal.
Finally, the question to answer when working across cultures is: Do you care about the audience/culture which you are designing for? The answer to this will be seen in the final product.
For marketing, having standards are important, but may not meet or align with cultural expectations. The Honda Civic is a 'starter' car in the US, but is an upscale car in India - how do you market that across cultures in both countries? The question to be asked when starting a project is, what is the user expectation per culture we will be entering? Take a look at each separately, and then identify the common elements and determine the important differences and design appropriately.
When creating for a global audience, it is strongly recommended to have a design team that is local to the culture you are marketing to, including researches and writers. However, you need to establish a communication plan that all teams need to follow, addressing the global objectives . This is what all work will be reviewed against to keep each team in alignment with the project goal.
Finally, the question to answer when working across cultures is: Do you care about the audience/culture which you are designing for? The answer to this will be seen in the final product.
Labels: context, design, global, sxsw, translation
¶ 9:00 PM 0 Comments
11 March 2007
Design Workflows at Work
This panel was advertised as "how great designers work their magic." What it really was is an excuse for 4 designers to talk about what they have in common. This was mainly the following:
Software mentioned by some of the panelists in running their design shops:
http://www.iggsoftware.com/ibiz/
http://www.basecamphq.com/
http://expressionengine.com/ ¶ 1:00 PM 0 Comments
- poor/short attention spans
- music used while doing different tasks
- billing/invoicing is a necessary chore
- having fun as a work distraction
- love/hate relationship with IM
Software mentioned by some of the panelists in running their design shops:
http://www.iggsoftware.com/ibiz/
http://www.basecamphq.com/
http://expressionengine.com/ ¶ 1:00 PM 0 Comments
