The question of forum moderation is an interesting one. For commercial ventures, we probably can’t leave it open slather. Joel Spolsky has done some interesting work on this for this www.joelonsoftware.com forum. It’s very smart. Basically, the poster can always see his/her post, but if it is moderated and removed, no-one else can. The poster think it is always there from the moment they submit. They never know that it isn’t. They don’t get bummed that someone has censored them. But no-one ever sees their dubious posting.
Here are some links about great presentations and presentation styles that aren’t death by Powerpoint bullet point. Spare your audience. Present interesting. They’ll love you for it.
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Lawrence Lessig’s classic presentation that started it all.
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Dick Hardt’s Identity 2.0 presentation that borrows from Lessig, but is much funkier. I clapped spontaneously when I first saw it.
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And the sequel.
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The Presentation Zen blog, with some interesting posts from it: http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/10/thelessigmeth.html http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/11/itwasoneoft.html http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/11/thezenestheti.html http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/06/usingannotated.html http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2006/01/contrastsinpr.html http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2006/01/wherecanyouf.html
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Then there is Al Gore’s speech on global warming that everyone is raving about.
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And finally Beyond Bullets.
Enjoy! Blow their socks off. Be different.
One of the great things about design is how diverse the field is. Yes, in our online design world, we think directly about interaction design and visual design, with bits of information architecture thrown in at times, but our influences can be so varied. Things like industrial design, architecture, fashion, set and lighting design. The stimulating common thread is there is creativity and expertise being thrown at tricky problems to find deeply satisfying solutions.
So its exciting to see the intersection of various design professions that allow us fresh insights into how best to solve problems. Take the design for the JetBlue passenger terminal at JKF Airport in the US. In designing the “interior experience”, architect and set designer (David Rockwell) hired a choreographer (Jerry Mitchell) to arrive at new ways of understand the movement of people to ensure the design did in fact produce a satisfying experience.
What was also interesting was the way they analysed public spaces in New York to determine exactly what did and didn’t work. It’s something we can always be mindful of. Often people come to us and say “let’s build one of these exciting thingies, just like ”. Rather than taking that at face value, what we can bring to this is the abstracted analysis to draws out the elements that work, why they work in that context and the principles that could be applied to the design challenges we face.
Here’s the article and look for the “audio slide show” link, which gives you the story with pictures.
I’ve never been a big fan of the Print-Friendly version link or button. They clutter the page. You get another version in another window and guess what? You have to select your browser print function anyhow.
Better to cut out the middle step and just let users press the print button. Do the “hard” work for them. Have a print-specific style sheet for the page that does it all for them.
I’ve been printing from Basecamp recently (ToDo lists specifically) and that’s the approach taken there. Super simple. Great format.
Peta – the animal rights organisation – like to make the most of every opportunity on their website. Even their 404 “File not found” error page. It’s cheeky, it’s fun, it’s great writing to support the voice of the site.
Here’s an article that starts a thoughtful exploration of something I’ve been pondering over the last few months: that great design and particularly providing design solutions to Sensis cannot be done without participating in a full discussion about business factors (eg. revenue and business models) that will play a big part of a site’s (and the design’s) success.
There is a tension between what designers can affect and what we have no control over. Because we can’t always change the ultimate success or failure of a project, we often dismiss the success or failure as completely outside the work we’ve done. I think this is a short-sighted, dangerous way to approach design. If we consider our role as designers outside of the success of the project, then we’ve discounted the value that we could potentially bring to the table.
We can’t just offer up a beautiful design and think our job’s done. This article ponders such designer conundrums as:
Designers have a tough time dealing with ugly design that works well…They say things like “MySpace succeeds despite its design“. (same thing happens with Google). However, this doesn’t address the success of the project: nobody can argue that MySpace isn’t an all-out success. Same with Amazon. Same with Google. [BC: Not to mention eBay] These sites don’t even write valid HTML, for gosh sake. But they’re wildly successful…the most profitable and beloved sites on the Web. I added that “beloved” part because it is absolutely critical. You can’t talk about Google and Amazon (and probably MySpace) without people saying they love them. How can we then go on and say they’re not well-designed? I think being beloved might be the very definition of great design…at least that’s what I aspire to.
I liked this blow-by-blow about how to explain the different ways to enter a date and time in Backpack.
It may look like a long and laborious process. Expensive even. Sure, it is when you writing it out in full like this. But it doesn’t have to be if it is just part of how you think. If everything has some thought behind it and a reason for being, then it is just part of the design process. You notice when the words look too loud and noisy on the page. And as this example shows, so often there’s a real balance between clarity and brevity. Cracking it and judging it are the key.
And my theory is when all those elements are well thought-out and just right, the interface sings. Users glide through their task. You hit the illusive “intuitive”. It feel just right in your hand.
In an interview with Steve Job’s about the iPod’s approaching 5 year birthday:
What was the design lesson of the iPod?
Look at the design of a lot of consumer products—they’re really complicated surfaces. We tried make something much more holistic and simple. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can oftentimes arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don’t put in the time or energy to get there. We believe that customers are smart, and want objects which are well thought through.
Here’s an article about my favourite designer, Jonathan Ive, Snr VP of Industrial Design at Apple.
What I like most, besides the perfectionist streaks, is the glimpses into their design team process and culture:
The man who, after Jobs, is most responsible for Apple’s amazing ability to dazzle and delight with its famous products, chose instead to talk about process—what he called “the craft of design.” He spoke passionately about his small team and how they work together. He talked about focusing on only what is important and limiting the number of projects. He spoke about having a deep understanding of how a product is made: its materials, its tooling, its purpose. Mostly, he focused on the need to care deeply about the work.
“One of the hallmarks of the team I think is this sense of looking to be wrong,” said Ive at Radical Craft. “It’s the inquisitiveness, the sense of exploration. It’s about being excited to be wrong because then you’ve discovered something new.”
Here’s my vote for worst identity management (IdM) implementation: Medicare
I’ve recently moved house and have endeavoured to do as much of my change of address notification online as possible. Medicare offers some online services, but you have to register to do this. Registration isn’t too hard. You already have a unique username – your Medicare number, but to prove your identity they snail-mail you your temporary password to your registered address. Not great if the reason you are registering is to change your address, but I can live with that.
Problem #1: Change Your Password
A few weeks and a mail redirection later and I have my temporary password. I open up the Medicare site and see the following options (this post has lots of pictorial examples – if you are reading this from the email, you’ll have to click into the posting on the website):
I’m thinking “yep, change my password because I certainly don’t want to keep this gobbledygook one they sent me”. But before I know it, Change My Password initiates the whole send-me-a-temporary-password-to-my-previous-address loop and it’s another 2 weeks until I’m ready to do the “right” thing.
Problem #2: 5 Secret Questions
Secret question and answer solutions are pretty common these days, but Medicare has gone for both the excessive and the open-ended. As part of setting up your account, you have to provide 5, yes 5, secret question/answer combos. But wait, there’s more: you have to make up the secret questions as well as the answers. Exhibit A:
Problem #3: Ts&Cs Every Time You Log In
OK, I’ve got my login, and correctly reset my password. Now I get the standard 2 pages of terms and conditions. Only I get this every time I log in. Sigh.
Problem #4: Last Access Info Yet Another Click To My Goal
I scroll though the long Ts and Cs, click OK, only to get another page that tells me my last access dates and times and yet another click to get to the things I actually want to do.
Problem #5: Higher Access to do Basic Things
Finally I’ve logged in and am at the main menu. I want to change my address. But those options are not links. To do that I have to gain higher access. What the?
Clicking on Higher Access Level take you to another screen, where you have to answer 2 of your 5 secret questions:
Then finally you have to enter your current address as further authentication:
Wonder what their take-up is for online services??
