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On Risk and UI Design
Most designers and businesspeople are reticent to stir the pot when they’ve got a good thing going. When you’ve got thousands or even tens of thousands of people visiting your site each day, why take the risk of making a potentially shocking change? It makes little sense, right? Well, that certainly makes sense if you’re…
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HCI Students’ Questions: Answered (Part 2)
Let’s take a crack at a few more questions from HCI students. I’m going to give a real thorough answer to one question, and knock out a few more with a simplified response. If you haven’t done so already, check out part 1 of this article. What are professionals & hiring managers looking for in…
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HCI Students’ Questions: Answered (Part 1)
This weekend I returned to my design roots and met a ton of Indiana University’s current HCI/d students. I was pleased to be a member of the Alumni panel and was impressed by the questions that the students asked. I was so impressed, in fact, that I think many of the questions they asked are…
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The Best Feature: Fun
Sometimes, you just want something to feel right. On the site I help design, that often means adding a lighthearted aesthetic. Implementing this aesthetic comes down to the details. Check out the icon below, taken from Groupon, everybody’s favorite $1.35 billion website: Who the heck is that woman? And why is she the face of…
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Please, Stop Sending Purposeless Emails
This afternoon, I received what one would think is an innocuous email: However, there are so many glaring mistakes in this email, it’s hard to choose where to start. How about this, I’ll start with two simple questions: Who sent this email? Why was this email sent? The first question is relatively hard to answer.…
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In Everything, Find Purpose
It really is as simple as that. As a software developer, business analyst, or even project manager, you will find yourself tasked with designing user interfaces no matter how hard you try to avoid it. Clients will tell you how they want it to look and act, others on your team will provide input, and…
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On Winter and Payback
I spent nearly an hour this afternoon digging my car out from a pile of snow and slippery ice. I had done the same thing yesterday, though it was less ice and much more snow. Winter in a cold climate tests one’s will to commune. All those hours holed up indoors means that you’re not…
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Google Chrome’s Design Comic
So the big news on the internets today is Google’s new browser: Chrome. It’s only available for Windows as of today, and since I’m on a Mac I haven’t been able to play with it yet. But that’s ok, because Google hasn’t completely left me out of the loop. I have access to the comic…
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Ask “What if” Questions
What if we could travel 5 miles in less than 5 minutes? What if we could watch movies in our own homes? What if we could buy things for a whole day without using any paper money? What if we could communicate with friends on the other side of the world without leaving the house?…
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This is why we don’t just ask users what they want
Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children’s Healthcare Thanks, The Onion. Happy Monday everybody.