Usability Tidbits for Thursday 25-May-2006
Design Patterns: Part 1 (Author: Luke Wroblewski, Props: Column Two) — “Part one of Design Patterns: a conversation about defining and sharing user interface design languages.”
Architecture and interaction design, via adaptation and hackability — “So what follows directly addresses one of the stated purposes behind this blog: to see what we can draw from the culture and practice of architecture and design into this new arena of interaction design - and some of the issues in doing so.”
Peter Merholz’s closing plenary at the 2006 IA Summit (Props: Information Design)
Customer Made (Props: 37signals)– “…bringing you new insights and hands-on examples of firms already profiting from co-creating with their customers.”
The Guided Wireframe Narrative for Rich Internet Applications (Source: Boxes & Arrows, Author: Andres Zapata) — “It is true that RIAs make our jobs harder. But it is also true that they introduce some very exciting opportunities that can significantly improve user experience and flow.”
Smart: Give a talk, convert to article — How to be Silicon Valley (This essay is not related to usability but I like most of Graham’s writing so I’m posting the link. He sort of reminds me of Shirky.)
Google Is Tops For Search, But Lags Rivals In Portal Services — I haven’t seen any radical stepwise improvements from Google on search in a loooong time. Are their updates too subtle? I have to tell you, I’m getting some damn good results from Ask.com these days, and I like their interface goodies (e.g., narrow search, expand search, site preview, related names). Meanwhile, some of Google’s recent stuff, like video advertising, seems a bit weak. Whatcha think?
Free Choice and The Usability of Links (Cre8pc) — “Why does underlining words that don’t link anywhere matter?”
May 25th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
oooh, nice timing. I was just about to look for some resources re: inline linking! thanks John :)