Graphs and charts
Please see Shweta’s post on new ways of presenting data – besides the old fashioned graphs and charts.
CGT 512
Human Factors of Computer Interface Design
Archive for the ‘ Interesting links ’ Category
Interesting links
I’ve just caught up with my RSS feed reading and here are some interesting blog posts I would like to share with you:
- When flat design falls flat – not very different from my own posts on this blog on flat design, but really nicely done and illustrated
- Severe problem discovery in early usability tests – very timely for you
- A website with collections of design principles
- 5 tips for conducting scientific research in the UX world
- How companies can prevent user backlash after a redesign (hint: follow the UCD process!)
- Typography-focused website design – beautiful!
This selection of links also gives you an idea about the UX blogs I follow. What UX blogs do you follow on a regular basis?
Cross-channel user experiences
I mentioned in class the book Pervasive Information Architecture. See also today’s Alertbox from Jakob Nielsen’s company about The Importance of Consistent Cross-Channel User Experiences.
As most entities communicate with users across different channels – e.g. website, app, kiosks, offline, etc. it is important to design for a consistent and user experience on all channels – same look and feel, and of course, good usability and pleasant user experience across!
Please click through and read the Nielsen column. And if you haven’t subscribed to the Alertbox yet, please do so now, if UX is something you are seriously interested in.
Happy Monday!
User research in 5 (easy?) steps
Conveniently, Smashing Magazine (are you subscribing to their RSS feed?) just published a guide (with pictures!) on a five-step process for conducting user research. Please use it to help you with your upcoming assignment.
See also their article on data-driven design. It explains how you can ground (re)design decisions in data and shows a case study.
On a related note, lest you think design is easy, consider this: in a recent usability study, half of the participants were UNABLE to find a product on shopping websites and add them to their cart.
Good design is not easy. It takes a lot of iterations and user research. Perfect design is impossible. There will always be a group of users whom the design doesn’t serve well. There will always be errors, trade-offs, and frustrations. This is why it is important to learn a reliable process that’s more likely to take us closer to good design.
Interesting link: The Internet of things
If you are not familiar with the concept, you should try to understand it. This UX Mag article, The Internet of Things and the Mythical Smart Fridge, can help you.
What opportunities and possibilities do you see for the Internet of things?
Also, do you subscribe to UX Mag? (you should…)
Breakthrough idea: brain-computer interfaces
Brain-computer interfaces are not entirely a new idea… but not mainstream either.
Here is a new prototype of a brain-powered (and controlled) toy helicopter.
Definitely beyond the GUI… and what do we (Computer Graphics department) do when computer interfaces are not graphical anymore?
Jakob Nielsen reviews Windows 8
Want to see how J. Nielsen writes on of these Good/Bad design critiques? Very similar to your blog posts – except longer. Note how he explains why a certain feature does or does not work. Please read Nielsen’s review of Windows 8.
Game usability: Assassin Creed III
As an expert in the fast-growing field of feline-computer interaction, I can attest that in spite of some initial usability issues, this game succeeds at entertaining humans and felines alike:
Why – What – How (or Strategic Thinking 101)
The WHY – WHAT – HOW of everything you do, but especially work should always be in this order.
Here is a nice slide deck from information architect Abby Covert that explains WHY, WHAT and HOW and their relationships (see slides 22-57):
Strategic thinking means that everything you do is goal-directed. Feel free to make the connection to Cooper’s goal-directed design. Whose goals is Cooper talking about? Whose goals am I talking about here?
What do you get out of this presentation? Does it change anything for you? What sense do you make out of it? Please let me know in the comments.
TAG LIST
- Gestalt principles
- information foraging theory
- Quotes
- research
- conceptual design
- visual attention
- heuristic evaluation
- wireframing
- prototyping
- persona
- affordance
- goal-directed design
- visual perception
- reading guidance
- Announcement
- Further reading
- Blog ideas
- Readings
- blog
- Resources
- usability testing
- user research
- UX
- user-centered design
- Examples
- helpful tips
- Week's Best
- Interesting links
- Assignment
- Class notes
Tags
academic journal affordance Announcement Assignment blog Blog ideas books Breakthrough ideas change blindness Class notes cognition conceptual design conference critical design design design principles design process emotional design error messages Examples facebook feminism flow Further reading Gestalt principles goal-directed design GUI HCI helpful tips heuristic evaluation heuristics history humor information architecture information foraging theory information scent innovation Interacting with Computers Interesting links interesting reads IxD metaphor nanoHUB navigation opinion persona presentations prototyping Quotes RAA reading guidance Readings research Research Article Analysis Resources storyboarding strategy thoughts and opinions To Do tools Twitter typography UI usability inspection usability metrics usability principles usability testing user-centered design user-centeredness user research UX visual attention visual perception Week's Best wireframingCategories
- Announcements (9)
- Assignments (26)
- Blog Ideas (9)
- Breakthrough ideas (2)
- Class notes (36)
- Conscious computing (1)
- Examples (11)
- Further reading (15)
- Helpful tips (12)
- Interesting links (14)
- Journals & Conferences (1)
- Quotes (2)
- Readings (6)
- Resources (9)
- Thoughts & Opinions (7)
- Uncategorized (4)
- Week's Best (11)
CGT 512 