Written by David Charney
Posted: May 22, 2009 (2 years, 8 months ago) | 0 comments
It is first the fundamentals then the application of information that builds experience. A simple example:
For a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. a² + b² = c²
OK, now go use it… Go on…
For many of us this is where the problem begins. We don’t know how to apply this information. If we can’t apply it, we can’t relate to it. If we can’t relate to it we may find it boring or not something our time is better spent on. So we move on or find a good movie to watch.
So let’s finish the puzzle. We know a² + b² = c², but how do we apply it? How do I use this information? Let’s give an example of it’s application. I would love to make this interactive but due to time here is a quick mock-up. So the scenario is this. You are building a bike ramp. You know how long and how tall the ramp is, but you haven’t put together anything yet so you can’t measure the length of the final plank. So you ask yourself…
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Written by David Charney
Posted: May 9, 2009 (2 years, 9 months ago) | 0 comments
I was at Siggraph a few years back and these guys were presenting their new usability ideas and theories that surrounded a new UI. They tried to go for the cool factor as a means for better usability but without the many other attributes they were failing fast.
One of the components they had on screen was similar to what I have created here - except for their first example had a little close button in the top right corner of the main panel. Basically there were these little info panels that could display contact information - or really any kind of information on screen. They could throw these different panels out and re-align them quickly. It sounded like the usability testing they did involved a focus group of themselves and that everything was working great except for one thing. They explained that the close button was too small in the top right hand corner of their info panel. They kept missing it with a mouse or touch screen. There can be many panels on screen and so closing them needs to be quick and effortless. Their current system was unacceptable to them and their “new” approach to usability… but they had a trick up their sleeve.
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Written by David Charney
Posted: May 8, 2009 (2 years, 9 months ago) | 1 comment
I just got back from RIApalooza 2 (and felt the need to drink around seven liters of Mountain Dew). There were 100+ people who attended and ranged from Silverlight, Flash, and Flex developers to UI/UX designers (and everyone in between).
The speakers were UX evangeilsts, platform evangelists, evangelist evangelists, consultants, and developers, who came from Adobe, Microsoft (Alphabetical order on the first two - no favorites), Clarity Consulting, Digital Primates, Magenic, The Iona Group, and Roundarch. Their ideas, theories, and best practices were all very different but they all had in common the desire to create better RIA today and in the future. Here is a list of what went on:
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Written by David Charney
Posted: May 6, 2009 (2 years, 9 months ago) | 0 comments
My company, Illumen Group, has just introduced a new blog called Illumenate. [www.illumengroup.com/illumenate]
Illumenate looks to advance new ideas, new technology, and best practices for learning, training, and marketing professionals.
Articles will be posted on educational/learning/training/marketing news, tips & tricks, theories, case studies, technologies, etc. We will have articles written by David Denz, Tony O’Dell, Chris Okamoto, myself, as well as by our advisers and subject matter experts.
