I’d like an iPod, but can’t seem to justify the cost. A friend at work has two, a 15GB for spoken word and a 40GB for music, both of which are full. ‘It has changed my life,’ he says. Thems strong words.
Funny that we so easily find ways to fill up 55GB of hard drive space.
There’s so much good art in galleries and museums in New York, the public art pretty much sucks, having put our resources into nifty architecture and parks instead.
The rare exception is Tom Otterness, who has installations all over town. Many, like the figures sprinkled throughout the 14th St IND station, carry a clear political theme, like cute little capitalists being dragged into manholes by alligators.
I used to walk through Battery Park on the way to work, where there’s another group of Otterness oddities. The funny thing about them is that little stories can unfold depending on which viewpoint you have. I used to walk by and wonder about this little guy and his worm friend being eyed by the bird…
…and later noticed the lemur-like creature eyeing the bird…
…and much later, only be taking a different path home around the wall, did I notice the dog eyeing the lemur…
…but the dog is tied up to the water fountain. Why? Is he doomed to watch this scene as it unfolds, unable to participate, to save the bird or bite the lemur?
Ohmigod, totally fucking brilliant: This Might Be a Wiki, a wiki for all things They Might Be Giants. How better to connect a community of music fans who are also nerdy then to let them make a website together? I was able to find the lyrics to the rare Tiny Doctors, so I’m happy.
OXO Good Grips are often cited as examples of insightful design. Having worked with someone who helped design them, it seems to me a case of someone actually designing, rather than just cobbling together the same old thing. OXO’s a great example to use when explaining the design process and its benefits because the improvement is so obvious. But the lack of any design thought in the previous product design is also obvious. I don’t mean to detract from the Good Grips design – it’s wonderful – but the traditional bent-metal thingies were practically designed to hurt the hand.
I’d like to think the impetus behind the design was much more sophisticated, that OXO also nailed the market and the timing, introducing better, more expensive kitchen tools just when the market was ready to spend on them, but apparently the origin was simply ergonomic; someone’s wife had arthritis.
What’s the essential difference between informational content and marketing content? I decided it was an objective tone vs. a subjective tone, respectively. I had to get that clear for myself as it can become very subtle when adjusting language and people can be rather passionate about wanting one or the other without actually knowing what they’re asking for.
Lately Peterme is posting lots of interesting thoughts related to HITS, About With For, and the Power of Design conferences.
Speaking of groovy IA peeps, Jess McMullin has just launched nform, a user experience consulting practice, in Edmonton. Jess is one of the best people ever, hire him.
We just assembled a great lineup of design folk for this year’s AIfIA Board of Advisors. I’m expecting great things.
You can make a donation to the Boxes and Arrows hosting fund with just a few clicks.
There’s a classic Seinfeld episode where Kramer’s new phone number is one digit from Movie Fone’s, so, surrendering to the misdialed calls, he imitates the automated voice. When he can’t interpret the key presses he improvises, ‘Why don’t you just tell me the name of the movie you want to see?” Which is kinda what interfaces should let us do.
We have a running joke at work: when a navigation design gets away from what the user wants someone says, ‘Why don’t you just tell me what you want to see?‘
It seems like Amazon took this same approach… ‘Hey Victor, why don’t you just tell me which products you want in your Gold Box?’‘
James and I attended Why Games Matter, centered on celebrating Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, called by Warren Spector the only current book to focus on game design, as opposed to merely the mechanics of making games.
Somewhat ironically the most interesting commentary came not from Salen or Zimmerman but from the other speakers. Spector at one point said, perhaps blasphemously, Sometimes people don’t want interaction. I think of this when I arrive at sites like Stuart Moore which gives you control or can display itself like a movie, unvieling the content in a linear story.
I’m working on a content management application – the part of the content management system the authors and administrators use – and jotted down a few principles to follow. They may not be applicable in every case, but expanding along these lines might lead to some design patterns.
do so.
content or create new content that will facilitate a significantly better user experience, create new content.
convinient processes, such as uploading templates outside of the CMA.
not delete or expire content unless absolutely necessary. In general, more content is better.
text from HTML and other formatting information.
authors with a familiar visual design
Challis Hodge has launched Experience People, a user experience search firm. I have to respect the moxie he has to launch a recruiting practice in this economy. It makes sense to pick a niche he knows – design practitioners who get it and employers who get it – and he probably doesn’t need to fill many positions to make a living, given the low overhead. Nice work!