When I originally checked out Get Satisfaction, I was immediately impressed. However, it wasn't until I needed to get in and use it for myself that I really began to appreciate the depth of thought apparent in the interface.
Comments: 3 (view/add your own)It's no secret that I'm a fan of simplicity, so when I came across "The Big Questions" widget, I immediately fell in love. Now, I'm enjoying it enough to want to spread the word.
Like many, I hate to see mindless copying or stealing of visual designs. When it comes to interface elements though, I feel exactly the opposite. I want to see sites reusing bits and pieces of interfaces. It's key to improving the usability of the web as a whole.
Comments: 4 (view/add your own)Oftentimes, there's an abundance of relevant information to display on the screen, and not enough space to display it. One way is to make efficient use of information that's already on the screen and recycle it by visually connecting it in a unobtrusive manner.
Comments: 3 (view/add your own)Having a clear vision and purpose for your application might seem like just a nice-to-have, but in reality, it's that vision and purpose that determines decisions at every crossroad. Any lack of clarity and strength of purpose will show through in the resulting application.
Comments: 7 (view/add your own)If there's anything I've learned about designing web applications in recent years, it's the fact that things change over the course of a project. Learning to embrace that fact and direct it towards a productive evolutionary process has made a significant impact on my work.
Comments: 12 (view/add your own)One of the more subtly powerful things we can do as designers is create a consistent and flexible visual language. Buttons are a common place where this type of activity manifests itself, and Amazon has traditionally done a very good job of this.
One of my favorite topics is the influence of business decisions on interface design. It's an unfortunate truth that the underlying business structure and decisions will invariably affect the interface. It's important to recognize this fact and work to improve both simultaneously.
Comments: 5 (view/add your own)One of the key requirements for creating any kind of issue tracker is making it easy to get data into the system. While the browser is the primary interface, I felt email also had to be a first class citizen for issue submission.
Comments: 4 (view/add your own)The format of my site doesn't really allow for quick little links, so I thought I'd start sharing some noteworthy links for sites and products that I've used, enjoyed, or pre-ordered. It's an easy way for me to share things without writing a detailed post about each one.
It's not uncommon to spend so much time on the big picture that we overlook the details. While I'm far from a typographical expert, my growing interest in typography has really helped draw my attention into more subtle details that add up to make a difference.
It's panel picking time, and Garrett Murray and I are hoping we can offer some insight into our design decisions for Simplelog and the issue tracker for SXSWi 2008.
We've taken a look at the concepts behind the issue life-cycle and workflow, and next we're going to see how the dashboard is playing out so far. For me, the dashboard is about quickly assessing the state of projects, and diving right in to managing them.
I've seen countless elaborate ways to link related or duplicate issues. While most of them get the job done, it's generally way more confusing than it needs to be. I considered a lot of different solutions, but in the end, there was one that stood out.
For my issue tracker, I've wanted a more natural process for updating issues. I decided that all activity would have to go through the comment form associated with each issue. This way any change in status, priority, category, or assignee could quickly and easily be associated with a comment.
I'll be on panel with some incredibly talented and knowledgeable Dallas folks discussing different aspects of Web 2.0 and rich internet applications this Tuesday, August 21st.
Last time, I went into my vision of a simpler bug and issue tracking life-cycle. This time, I want to focus on one of the manifestations of a simpler process—the status bar.
I'm a very big fan of spending equal time between drawing and sketching interfaces and pushing pixels in Photoshop or Omnigraffle. I've checked out quite a few sketchbooks and ideas, but the Dot Grid Book by Behance is my favorite.
It's been quiet around here, but things are about to pick back up. I've been spending all of my free time designing and developing an issue tracker that I'll be releasing as open source early next year. Until then, I'll be exposing and sharing the design and development process.
Webmaster Jam Session is right around the corner, September 21st through 22nd. There's a great lineup of speakers, and if it's anything like last year, it should be plenty of fun. I'll be doing a session on application interface design as well if you're into that sort of thing.
Another great conference has come and gone. This year was even better than last, and all things considered, I'm pretty happy with the results of the workshop.
The Geniant blog is live and kicking. After a month of squeezing in extra time here and there, we've managed to pull together some ideas and create a forum for sharing what's going on behind the curtain.
Several people have noted that I avoided having a logo or any traditional sort of branding at the top of my pages. I originally didn't see the need for a logo or branding until now. I've created a logo that I think is classic and expressive at the same time.
This year at Web Visions, I'll be putting on a workshop titled "Improving Interface Design". We'll take a hard look at the tangible and intangible aspects that affect interface design and discuss the steps we can take to make it better.
Since finding so much inspiration from Edward Tufte's books, I've made a point to branch out and read books that aren't so innately tied to web development. Most recently, is The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander, a great book about designing and building for and around people.
Comments: 3 (view/add your own)One of the easiest ways to improve an interface is to use ambient indicators to help set user expectations and effectively communicate and reinforce simple concepts. OS X does this rather elegantly with its close buttons on windows.
Too often we rely on color, whitespace, or icons to indicate hierarchical relationships. The New York Times, however, uses typography, and it just goes to show that there are plenty of ways to simplify and accomplish the same goals.
Even the longest journeys begin with a single step. The redesign of this site is just that—one step. It isn't meant to be revolutionary or flashy. Instead, it's meant to enable and focus on the creation of better content.
We take a good look through SimpleLog, a Ruby on Rails weblog application that does less. It's designed to be simple, as the name indicates, and focuses on writing above all else.