Blog

October 23rd, 2008

Internet Strategy, Social Networking

Reggie Henry (CTO of ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership) led a terrific discussion at last night’s Web Content Mavens. The topic for the evening was how to sell social networking to senior executives.  I’ve listed the most valuable nuggets from the presentation and ensuing discussion.  Hopefully there’s something in this list that will help to shape your thinking around social networking as part of a web strategy. (more…)

Kristin Hodgson

October 16th, 2008

User Experience Design

Now Gmail makes you think twice before sending that late night email to an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. You just have to answer a few math questions (you pick the difficulty) before the email will send. It automatically kicks in late at night on the weekends, but you can adjust the time parameters to fit your needs. You can read more about it on Gmail’s Blog.  Now that’s thinking about the user’s needs!

Toral Contractor

October 16th, 2008

Information Architecture

I did a double take as I approached this sign while walking from the beach this summer.  Nomenclature like this may make sense in the context of the beach but without the other points of reference, i.e. the path leading up and over the sand dune, the sign taken out of context, say placed on a highway intersection, may be misinterpreted by many people and cause unnecessary alarm by others. I took a glance to my left and right just to make sure I wouldn’t get squashed by a runaway dune. (more…)

David Alexander

October 16th, 2008

Usability

Haven’t heard of World Usability Day? Thanks to UPA, Usability Professionals Association, we have a day to celebrate and bring awareness to the work we do everyday. As the words “user friendly” and “ergonomic” are being thrown around a lot more to market and sell products, it is important to teach people what those words really mean and how critical it is to put people first when designing a product, application, or website. (more…)

Toral Contractor

October 16th, 2008

User Research

The Livescribe Pulse Pen has been out for a while and has been marketed towards high school and college students.  However, this will definitely make user researchers’ lives a little bit better.  Let me rephrase that.  It seems like this pen will make taking notes a little easier, but I still have not bought one yet.

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Toral Contractor

October 3rd, 2008

User Experience Design

From Human Factors Engineering, to User Interface Design, then to User Experience design, this field has experienced tremendous growth in the past 25 to 30 years. We as professionals in the field also have developed a lot of methods and patterns to help us adapt to the rapidly evolving technological innovations and user needs. I’ve recently come across two useful UX design resources. I thought to point them out so we can all take advantage of them without having to reinvent the wheel every time.

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Cathy Lu

October 1st, 2008

Insight Article

Content Management Systems are a core component of the web delivery stack for many companies. Using a CMS, companies are able to exert greater control over the branding and presentation of their web properties. The CMS also helps to establish a repeatable and tunable process for creating, testing, approving and deploying content.

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Daren Arnold