Only four websites are investigated, but this was a helpful review of four portfolio websites. The matrix was especially useful.
This too, especially as it relates to Carbonmade.
Actually, that entire Design Droplets website is pretty cool. I just spent about an hour in a rabbit hole of design articles.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Do I HAVE to blog?
Don't get me wrong. I love blogs and blogging. I started a terrible MSN Communities site in 1999 because I thought people should hear what I had to say (which wasn't much). Later I moved to diary-x and posted faithfully for about 2-3 years, but I'd rather not talk much about the horror. Well, I guess it's pretty simple: I lost most of my posts to an irrevocably damaged website hard drive and corrupt back-up zip file. I moved to Blogger then Tumblr for a while but eventually the combination of Facebook and Twitter provided everything I needed and only required a sentence or two and a minute of my time. Pretty awesome.
I find myself looking longingly at my old Blogger site but tell myself that I just don't have the time. In the diary-x and Blogger days, I was a bored student working part-time with few hobbies. Now I'm working, in graduate school, married, a new puppy owner and finding a spare moment can be challenging. Microblogging is a better fit for my lifestyle. I'd rather participate in social media networks that don't require so much time and effort.
However, perhaps I'm ignoring an uncomfortable fact. Maybe I just don't have much to say anymore. This is particularly painful when I reflect on my enrollment in the New Media Studies program. I don't have anything to say about NMS? Really? Nothing has piqued my interest and inspired me to start generating and sharing content? The best I can do is a Facebook post about my puppy eating an eye shadow applicator?
I came across this post not long ago, which highlights 19 reasons why we should blog and not just tweet. I read #1 (Blogging demonstrates true commitment and passion to your industry that you really can’t fake long-term) and let out a huge sigh. Oh, I could have been one of those people with that long-term commitment to blogging. I had been doing it for over 10 years. So personally, this article was kind of a bummer.
Number five was equally interesting, but also from a professional standpoint. Most of Twitter is just linking to blogs and content on the open web...(be) the end product people are actually interested in. I couldn't agree more. In the workplace, we talk a lot about Twitter but measuring its results and translating it into business value is the highest priority. Who cares if we have 500 followers if they aren't doing anything with our content? Without a website or blog with interesting content to link to, tweets are mostly just noise. And with a website or blog, you can review visitor data to see how your campaigns on social media are increasing visitors or generating donations.
So I'm trying to get back in the saddle and I think this blog will be a good starting point. I hope to share some interesting stories from the workplace and the classroom, as well as links and news from other new media sources. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I have more to say than I thought.
(I've decided to pick up where I left off with an NMS blog I started last year. There is some interesting content here that I think can help springboard my current blogging endeavors.)
(I've decided to pick up where I left off with an NMS blog I started last year. There is some interesting content here that I think can help springboard my current blogging endeavors.)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Why a blog?
A blog is an appropriate technology for this project for many reasons. Visitors will return if they continue to see fresh content. Items you want to share don't always fit into 140 characters. It is important to have an informal place to share information, news and personal thoughts.
However, I think one particular aspect of a blog makes it a perfect fit for an online portfolio. A blog provides visitors an opportunity to connect with me on a personal level. My individual voice comes through much better in a less formal blog post than in the collection of professional and class projects I will list. There are likely hundreds of portfolio sites out there that list projects, resumes and ways to connect over email, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. However, what can really sell me to a potential employer is my unique voice and style that isn't necessarily translated by the banner ad I developed or email copy I produced. I think this voice too often gets watered down or even completely lost in the cacophony of projects and career summaries and bulleted lists of accomplishments. With a blog, I'm able to transmit my voice from the internet rooftops.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Don't Make Me Think -- Steve Krug
Krug's book focuses on lessons supporting one major tenet of web usability and human-computer interaction: a good website (program, application, etc.) should enable users to accomplish their tasks as easily and directly as possible.
Getting sidetracked for a moment: this reminds me of a discussion of "good technical instructions" in my technical writing class. However we approached what makes instructions "good" we kept arriving at the same point -- users don't really think about them when they're good. When they're good, users don't have to think at all, which is perfectly in line with what Krug presents.
Major Points
1. Don't make the web user think: little questions on a website add up and every time a user has to think even a little bit about where he should click, there is a greater likelihood that he'll quit. Designers should aim for providing a self-evident experience on a website. However, if that is unachievable, the goal should be self-explanatory.
2. Satisficing: most people don't read an entire web page. They'll scan until they find what they think they need and click. They satisfice, or attempt to meet criteria for adequacy, rather than to identify an optimal solution. They "make the best with what they have" instead of poring over an entire website and determine the best path to the best information.
Accordingly, pages must be designed for scanning, not reading. Krug suggestions several design choices:
-creating a clear visual hierarchy
-nesting text to show connections between text, pictures, etc.
-sticking to conventions
-defining portions of the page into clear sections
-making clickable items clear
-avoiding "noise" in the design
3. Writing for the web: because users won't read everything, it serves designers well to:
-keep it brief
-get rid of half the words...then get rid of half of what's left
-instructions are often useless -- users won't read them -- make all actions self-evident or users won't stick around anyway
4. Navigation: design for browsers (clickers) and searchers (those who go for the search box immediately). Make sure navigation is persistent so users will feel comfortable knowing where they are on a website, which will increase their confidence in the website. A few components of persistent navigation:
-site ID (logo plus tagline, usually on top left of web pages)
-sections (different areas of the website, such as product lines, services, etc.)
-home link (so users can always "start over" if they feel lost)
-search option
-utilities (explain different components of a website -- how to make a purchase, contact a sales rep, etc., but aren't part of the hierarchy)
Home page will usually be an exception since the mission of the home page is different than that of the second-level, third-level, etc., pages.
5. Home page is usually more complicated since many parties will be vying for the prime real estate. In addition to the tagline and a welcome blurb (description of what the site is about, which is different from a mission statement), it must contain the following items:
-site mission
-hierarchy -- showing what the site contains
-search option
-content "teasers" and promotional offers
-shortcuts to the company's "best stuff"
-registration/log-in area, if necessary
Most importantly, the home page needs to show a user HOW to get started. Do they need to register first? Should they jump to products?
6. Page names: it's important that a user can identify where they are on the website. Clear page and section names and matching link names can help. Tabs work extremely well here because they are hard to miss and are visually appealing. A good way to test this is what Krug calls the "trunk test" -- pretending that you’ve been blindfolded and locked in a car trunk, you should be able to answer these questions about a site immediately when your blindfold is removed:
-What site is it?
-What page am I on?
-What major sections does this site have?
-Where can I go from here?
-Where am I in relation to the rest of the site?
-Where can I go to search?
7. Simple, cheap usability testing: few companies can afford a large-scale usability test, but Krug suggests that even a little bit of testing is better than no testing. He suggests that only 3-4 general web users, a private room and a computer are necessary. Show users the website and ask if they can identify what it's about, why it's valuable, how it works, and have them perform a few tasks. Designers should review the results immediately and focus on the big problems -- those are usually pretty evident right away. Take care to not break something else while "fixing" one component.
8. General usability "common courtesy" points:
-don't make users provide more info than necessary (phone, address, email -- are all of these really needed?)
-don't let fancy features get in the way of usability
-make it easy for a user to back up and try again if he navigated to the wrong place
In just a few short months, my company will launch a new website, so this was a timely read for me. So many of Krug's points made me chuckle because I can imagine running into a lot of these problems, specifically the web design arguments is lists. Everyone is a user, so everyone knows what they like and have developed hard opinions about it (I hate pulldowns vs. I love pulldowns). Rather than debating what "most people like" (because there really is no average users) we must look at what works for our site. Does this hierarchy make sense for this information presented on this page? Is this the best way to present our story? If the presentation is the best it can be, then the users will take it and run with it, even if they feel strongly one way or the other about certain components on a website.
There were several points in this book where I stopped and thought, "Well, yeah. Of COURSE you do that." Of course you test early and often. Of course you can't muddle the home page with ten competing messages. Of course you keep navigation consistent throughout. But as I prepare for the website redesign, I find that I will absolutely hit some obstacles on the way. There are several parties in my company that will want their message front and center on the home page. I'll be in the unenviable position of managing that process, but I feel better equipped after reading Krug.
I've been through web redesigns before and I've become so lost in the process that it gets difficult to step away and see it with fresh eyes. Krug's suggestion for just a few random people to test it out ahead of time seems so simple, but there are always reasons for not doing it. We're too late in the game and we don't have time. They aren't the users we're speaking to, so they won't be of any use. Additionally, pride often gets in the way. When you spend months developing a website and open yourself up to average users poking around and finding faults, your ego can get a little bruised.
I'm really looking forward to soliciting help early on this project. I'll feel much more confident with my highlighted and dog-eared copy of "Don't Make Me Think" by my side!
Getting sidetracked for a moment: this reminds me of a discussion of "good technical instructions" in my technical writing class. However we approached what makes instructions "good" we kept arriving at the same point -- users don't really think about them when they're good. When they're good, users don't have to think at all, which is perfectly in line with what Krug presents.
Major Points
1. Don't make the web user think: little questions on a website add up and every time a user has to think even a little bit about where he should click, there is a greater likelihood that he'll quit. Designers should aim for providing a self-evident experience on a website. However, if that is unachievable, the goal should be self-explanatory.
2. Satisficing: most people don't read an entire web page. They'll scan until they find what they think they need and click. They satisfice, or attempt to meet criteria for adequacy, rather than to identify an optimal solution. They "make the best with what they have" instead of poring over an entire website and determine the best path to the best information.
Accordingly, pages must be designed for scanning, not reading. Krug suggestions several design choices:
-creating a clear visual hierarchy
-nesting text to show connections between text, pictures, etc.
-sticking to conventions
-defining portions of the page into clear sections
-making clickable items clear
-avoiding "noise" in the design
3. Writing for the web: because users won't read everything, it serves designers well to:
-keep it brief
-get rid of half the words...then get rid of half of what's left
-instructions are often useless -- users won't read them -- make all actions self-evident or users won't stick around anyway
4. Navigation: design for browsers (clickers) and searchers (those who go for the search box immediately). Make sure navigation is persistent so users will feel comfortable knowing where they are on a website, which will increase their confidence in the website. A few components of persistent navigation:
-site ID (logo plus tagline, usually on top left of web pages)
-sections (different areas of the website, such as product lines, services, etc.)
-home link (so users can always "start over" if they feel lost)
-search option
-utilities (explain different components of a website -- how to make a purchase, contact a sales rep, etc., but aren't part of the hierarchy)
Home page will usually be an exception since the mission of the home page is different than that of the second-level, third-level, etc., pages.
5. Home page is usually more complicated since many parties will be vying for the prime real estate. In addition to the tagline and a welcome blurb (description of what the site is about, which is different from a mission statement), it must contain the following items:
-site mission
-hierarchy -- showing what the site contains
-search option
-content "teasers" and promotional offers
-shortcuts to the company's "best stuff"
-registration/log-in area, if necessary
Most importantly, the home page needs to show a user HOW to get started. Do they need to register first? Should they jump to products?
6. Page names: it's important that a user can identify where they are on the website. Clear page and section names and matching link names can help. Tabs work extremely well here because they are hard to miss and are visually appealing. A good way to test this is what Krug calls the "trunk test" -- pretending that you’ve been blindfolded and locked in a car trunk, you should be able to answer these questions about a site immediately when your blindfold is removed:
-What site is it?
-What page am I on?
-What major sections does this site have?
-Where can I go from here?
-Where am I in relation to the rest of the site?
-Where can I go to search?
7. Simple, cheap usability testing: few companies can afford a large-scale usability test, but Krug suggests that even a little bit of testing is better than no testing. He suggests that only 3-4 general web users, a private room and a computer are necessary. Show users the website and ask if they can identify what it's about, why it's valuable, how it works, and have them perform a few tasks. Designers should review the results immediately and focus on the big problems -- those are usually pretty evident right away. Take care to not break something else while "fixing" one component.
8. General usability "common courtesy" points:
-don't make users provide more info than necessary (phone, address, email -- are all of these really needed?)
-don't let fancy features get in the way of usability
-make it easy for a user to back up and try again if he navigated to the wrong place
In just a few short months, my company will launch a new website, so this was a timely read for me. So many of Krug's points made me chuckle because I can imagine running into a lot of these problems, specifically the web design arguments is lists. Everyone is a user, so everyone knows what they like and have developed hard opinions about it (I hate pulldowns vs. I love pulldowns). Rather than debating what "most people like" (because there really is no average users) we must look at what works for our site. Does this hierarchy make sense for this information presented on this page? Is this the best way to present our story? If the presentation is the best it can be, then the users will take it and run with it, even if they feel strongly one way or the other about certain components on a website.
There were several points in this book where I stopped and thought, "Well, yeah. Of COURSE you do that." Of course you test early and often. Of course you can't muddle the home page with ten competing messages. Of course you keep navigation consistent throughout. But as I prepare for the website redesign, I find that I will absolutely hit some obstacles on the way. There are several parties in my company that will want their message front and center on the home page. I'll be in the unenviable position of managing that process, but I feel better equipped after reading Krug.
I've been through web redesigns before and I've become so lost in the process that it gets difficult to step away and see it with fresh eyes. Krug's suggestion for just a few random people to test it out ahead of time seems so simple, but there are always reasons for not doing it. We're too late in the game and we don't have time. They aren't the users we're speaking to, so they won't be of any use. Additionally, pride often gets in the way. When you spend months developing a website and open yourself up to average users poking around and finding faults, your ego can get a little bruised.
I'm really looking forward to soliciting help early on this project. I'll feel much more confident with my highlighted and dog-eared copy of "Don't Make Me Think" by my side!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Design of Everyday Things -- Norman (Preface and Chapter 1)
Article here.
by Donald A. Norman is a cognitive scientist whose studies focused on how items are designed. Specifically, he investigated how many "human errors" were actually caused by poor design choices made when items were created, such as doors, water faucets, or nuclear plant control rooms.
His "Design of Everyday Things" covers three main topics:
1. It's not your fault -- when people have trouble with something, it's a design fault, not theirs
2. Design principles -- people need conceptual models of how things work, feedback, constraints, and affordances (appropriate actions perceptible, inappropriate are invisible)
3. Power of observation -- people must observe, learn, critique designs
Norman notes that all human-centered design requires all considerations be addressed from the very beginning, which suggests that users must be included in the design process from start to finish. This is where the problems typically begin. Most see it as expensive and cumbersome to include users so early in the development process. Moreover, it probably doesn't make much sense to companies from a cost-benefit perspective.
For example, the Huatong Sun article "The triumph of users: Achieving cultural usability goals with user localization" notes that MMS blew up despite hard-to-use and poorly designed cell phone technology. In this case, what is the incentive for cell phone companies to include users throughout the development process if users are going to use it regardless of poor design?
Moving on...
I'm decent at Photoshop -- good enough that I can "make pretty" most design items on my company's website by myself. However, we recently launched a Christmas card online ordering system and needed a splash page for the online store. Sure, I could probably take the cards and making something pretty. But there are a few different types of cards...with a few different options...and different prices on each...and we need to let users know which items they can click to get where they need to go...all on 800x600.
But this wasn't a matter of space. It was a matter of organization and ensuring visitors can go where they need to go without even thinking about it. This wasn't designing for aesthetics (which a lot of people can do...if I can do it) but designing for effectiveness. This was real design.
Norman might pat me on the back, but not before he yelled at me to hand the splash page off to a real designer.
I got a little tripped up on affordances and constraints. Norman says that affordances aren’t only positive, nor are constraints only negative. Instead Norman says that affordances only benefit if they’re taken advantage of, which means that “the user knows what to do just by looking: no picture, label, or instruction is required.” Constraints, on the other hand, aren’t always negative; just because an object can’t do something doesn’t mean it should.
I also wondered how Norman would view shortcut keys through the lens of his "mapping" concept. If with "no visible relationship between the buttons and the possible actions,” there is “no discernible relationship between the actions and the end result” what does that say for technology a little more advanced than coffee cups and doors?
by Donald A. Norman is a cognitive scientist whose studies focused on how items are designed. Specifically, he investigated how many "human errors" were actually caused by poor design choices made when items were created, such as doors, water faucets, or nuclear plant control rooms.
His "Design of Everyday Things" covers three main topics:
1. It's not your fault -- when people have trouble with something, it's a design fault, not theirs
2. Design principles -- people need conceptual models of how things work, feedback, constraints, and affordances (appropriate actions perceptible, inappropriate are invisible)
3. Power of observation -- people must observe, learn, critique designs
Norman notes that all human-centered design requires all considerations be addressed from the very beginning, which suggests that users must be included in the design process from start to finish. This is where the problems typically begin. Most see it as expensive and cumbersome to include users so early in the development process. Moreover, it probably doesn't make much sense to companies from a cost-benefit perspective.
For example, the Huatong Sun article "The triumph of users: Achieving cultural usability goals with user localization" notes that MMS blew up despite hard-to-use and poorly designed cell phone technology. In this case, what is the incentive for cell phone companies to include users throughout the development process if users are going to use it regardless of poor design?
Moving on...
I'm decent at Photoshop -- good enough that I can "make pretty" most design items on my company's website by myself. However, we recently launched a Christmas card online ordering system and needed a splash page for the online store. Sure, I could probably take the cards and making something pretty. But there are a few different types of cards...with a few different options...and different prices on each...and we need to let users know which items they can click to get where they need to go...all on 800x600.
But this wasn't a matter of space. It was a matter of organization and ensuring visitors can go where they need to go without even thinking about it. This wasn't designing for aesthetics (which a lot of people can do...if I can do it) but designing for effectiveness. This was real design.
Norman might pat me on the back, but not before he yelled at me to hand the splash page off to a real designer.
I got a little tripped up on affordances and constraints. Norman says that affordances aren’t only positive, nor are constraints only negative. Instead Norman says that affordances only benefit if they’re taken advantage of, which means that “the user knows what to do just by looking: no picture, label, or instruction is required.” Constraints, on the other hand, aren’t always negative; just because an object can’t do something doesn’t mean it should.
I also wondered how Norman would view shortcut keys through the lens of his "mapping" concept. If with "no visible relationship between the buttons and the possible actions,” there is “no discernible relationship between the actions and the end result” what does that say for technology a little more advanced than coffee cups and doors?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Professional Investigation
WRD: I enjoyed the Text and Image class I took and I'm currently enrolled in Technical Writing (WRD 521). Document Design in the Winter quarter might be interesting, but I think Text and Image and Technical Writing together probably give me a pretty good foundation in this area.
HCI: I loved HCI 402 (Foundations of Digital Design) and will definitely take another elective in this program. Some interesting courses are Usability Engineering, Foundations of Human-Computer Interaction, and Digital Page Formatting. As I've mentioned before, my company will be launching a new website sometime in the next six months and I think it would be very useful to be in a position where I can be more hands-on than just telling a developer no, do it this or that way.
MBA: I intended to avoid MBA classes since I already have my MBA, but we're in a much different space than we were three years ago. The online marketing class might be worthwhile, but I'd like a chance to review the syllabus first.
CMNS 543 (Communication and Organizational Change): I'm not quite sure how I could get this to fit in my current position, but seeing this class makes me think about the industry change in Metro Detroit (where I'll likely return in a few years) and how useful of a course this could be in an environment like that. Just a thought.
I've discussed some training opportunities with my supervisor and would like to take a couple Adobe CS4 workshops. I would prefer not to spend much time in the DePaul classroom on what I might be able to learn in a few days. Ascend Training has come up as a possibility.
I am also interested in Prof. Akiyoshi's web design classes. I've heard good things about them and I hope I can bypass part I and enroll in part II for the winter. I'll need to show him my portfolio to see what he suggests.
HCI: I loved HCI 402 (Foundations of Digital Design) and will definitely take another elective in this program. Some interesting courses are Usability Engineering, Foundations of Human-Computer Interaction, and Digital Page Formatting. As I've mentioned before, my company will be launching a new website sometime in the next six months and I think it would be very useful to be in a position where I can be more hands-on than just telling a developer no, do it this or that way.
MBA: I intended to avoid MBA classes since I already have my MBA, but we're in a much different space than we were three years ago. The online marketing class might be worthwhile, but I'd like a chance to review the syllabus first.
CMNS 543 (Communication and Organizational Change): I'm not quite sure how I could get this to fit in my current position, but seeing this class makes me think about the industry change in Metro Detroit (where I'll likely return in a few years) and how useful of a course this could be in an environment like that. Just a thought.
I've discussed some training opportunities with my supervisor and would like to take a couple Adobe CS4 workshops. I would prefer not to spend much time in the DePaul classroom on what I might be able to learn in a few days. Ascend Training has come up as a possibility.
I am also interested in Prof. Akiyoshi's web design classes. I've heard good things about them and I hope I can bypass part I and enroll in part II for the winter. I'll need to show him my portfolio to see what he suggests.
Social Media Revolution
I guess eye rolling is the theme of the day for me. I clicked play on this video and waited to be bombarded with messages about how SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALL AROUND US!! and GET READY FOR THE REVOLUTION!! But when I saw the breakdown of how long it took radio, tv, internet, iPods and Facebook to reach millions, I stopped. I know the Facebook total users statistic is one we all know and love to cite. But when stacked against "old media" the number is staggering. Are you kidding me?
A few other interesting points (of about a zillion):
-1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum -- this makes me laugh because I remember that I used to say online education programs were a joke and a waste of time and money. Oops.
-80% of companies used LinkedIn as their primary tool for finding employees -- wait a second...I found my current job through LinkedIn.
-The record declines in newspaper circulation is no surprise, but I started thinking about how I find the most up-to-the-second news stories. At work one afternoon, I heard about 10-15 emergency vehicles fly past the building and immediately got a little spooked considering my office is across from the Sears Tower. I didn't go to cnn.com, or the Chicago Tribune online, or search Google News. I went to Twitter. And I found out what was going on in about ten seconds -- one quick search for Chicago and emergency. It took another hour or so before the Tribune had any mention of the story.
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