Acute search?
UX Pond is a newly launched search engine dedicated to UX-related content.
Is the concept of closed or “acute” search a progressive approach or one that belongs in the past?
Before the world of the search engine, the approach to making content findable was to apply the directory model. This was the basis of search within portals such as AOL and Compuserve.
The emergence of “natural search” tools such as Google brought with it a sense of fairness, that content would be found on merit of suitability alone.
So why use a closed search engine?
As UX Pond put it, “why search the ocean when the answer’s in the pond?”. Content related to user experience topics is fairly niche so there’s an argument for sectioning it off for quick search. Of the thousands of results returned for “navigation” for example in a Google search, the vast majority are sites selling sat nav or mobile navigation apps. Whereas the average UX-er is probably looking for blogs, discussion, UI patterns, or tools.
UX Pond category tabs
It’s that difference in user needs that drives the tabbed categories for refining a search.
Just as Bing and Google have introduced facetted search, ie filters for refining search results, UX Pond (powered by Google) allow users to refine content in a way that’s tailored to their unique needs.
Are people going to turn their backs on conventional search in favour of closed search sites such as this? Probably not. But they may pay a visit for those lengthy search sessions within the field, in which a tailored solution can make the answer that much more findable.
Remove clutter with Axure’s ‘Move Panel(s)’ interaction
Axure allows UX folk to generate prototypes that demonstrate various interactions that an end user will experience. Many such interactions involve dialogue boxes and other content items appearing and disappearing as choices are made.
Building these interactions tends to incur the creation of multiple dynamic panels all set to show and hide at the click of a button. Screen designs that include a few different overlays will often require the designer to fill their page with piles of yellow and blue boxes. This can become a nightmare to maintain as it becomes tricky to open the right box.
An alternative approach is to use the ‘Move’ interaction.
Rather than showing/hiding dynamic panels it can be more effective to give each panel its own bit of space, and then move it into the spotlight as necessary.
A designer positions a dialogue box at the bottom of the page design before adding the 'move' interaction.
Here’s how to do it.
1) Build your dialogue window at the bottom or the side of your page.
Adding the 'move' interaction.
2) When it’s complete drop it into a dynamic panel and leave it in the same location.
3) Click on the button/component that will initiate the dialogue box.
4) Open a new ‘on click’ interaction and select ‘Move Panel(s)’.
5) Set the x and y values in accordance with where you want the top right corner of your dynamic panel to move to (e.g. 500,300).
6) Now open the dynamic panel and apply a similar interaction to the elements that close the window so that the panel can be returned to it’s original location (e.g. 10,800).
7) Generate the prototype.
You may be able to see the dialogue box peaking onto the screen on page load. If this is a problem just move the panel and update the second ‘Move’ interaction.
Advantages
No matter how many dynamic panels you want to include, your Axure file will never become cluttered and fiddly to maintain.
None of the interactions that have been designed will get lost when the prototype is being reviewed.
Each page can be exported as an image with the accompanying dialogues neatly laid out at the bottom/to the side.
With any luck, this will help you demonstrate all the necessary interactions without the headache of a messy file.
Card Sort Analysis Template
Card sorting sessions, though they may only last an hour or so, tend to generate a large amount of data. The interpretation of this data is key to informing the subsequent architecture of the application so a solid preparation and analysis tool makes sure the process runs smoothly.
There are some great templates out there, but this version was created with a view to summarising the raw data in a simple format that makes the rest of the analysis a little easier.
Open the Card Sorter Excel Spreadsheet
Features
Card Sorter summary page featuring analysis dashboard
- Automatically generates A4 printable cards
- Presents a simple view of participant consensus
- Supports open and closed card sorts
- Supports workshop and online card sorts
- Doesn’t require formula editing
- Setup for up to 20 participants
10 Step Instructions
(instructions also included in the .xls)
Pre-Sort
- Enter card titles into the ‘Cards & Categories’ worksheet
- Print the ‘Printable Cards (A4)’ worksheet
- Cut out the cards
Post-Sort
- Enter the categories from the sort into the ‘Session Categories’ column of the ‘Cards & Categories’ worksheet
- Enter the raw data from the session into the ‘Raw Data’ worksheet plus any participant comments on the ‘Comments’ worksheet
- View the summary of the data on the ‘Summary’ worksheet
- Analyse the data – there’s no automatic substitute for this
- Compile a final list of categories and enter it into the ‘Cards & Categories’ worksheet in the ‘Final Categories’ column
- Assign each card a final category in the ‘Raw Data’ worksheet
- Review the data in the ‘Summary’ worksheet in preparation for drafting a sitemap
With any luck, this will take some of the heavy lifting out of the exercise.
I hope you find this tool useful. If you decide to use it please comment on how useful it was and how it could be improved.
Open the Card Sorter Excel Spreadsheet
UX Lisbon – 12 – 14 May 2010
Okay, it may not be in the UK, but for anyone who can’t make UX London, the Lisbon equivalent looks every bit as impressive.
This year`s conference includes heavyweight speakers such as Steve Krug, author of Don’t Make Me Think and Larry Constantine, author of countless usability publications, among many more.
Why attend?
1) It’s Cheap!
Starting at € 295.00 for advanced booking of the conference day it’s a competitive high-profile event.
2) It’s Even Cheaper!
Using the discount code “RKER2010″ gets you another 10% off.
Register now to get the best deal
UX Lisbon
3 Eventful days in Lisbon for User Experience Professionals
When
May 12 – 14
Where
FIL Meeting Centre, Rua do Bojador, Lisbon, Portugal
Google map
How much
Prices start at €295.00
10% discount when you enter discount code “RKER2010″
Prices
More information
UX Lisbon
Nice Navigation Tool
The process of selecting a navigation format usually starts with a few standard questions:
- What does the sitemap look like?
- Are there a few pages or thousands?
- How will the site content evolve over time?
- What are the accessibility requirements?
And many more…
Once that’s done, it’s a simple case of rolling it all out. The thinking ends and the labour begins.
That’s why it’s always good to find examples that reflect a thought process that has carried on into the second level of navigation.
Photobox Dropdown
This example from Photobox shows a handy little tool that lets the user delve into a 3rd level within the navigation dropdown instead of loading up a whole new page of options.
It’s not consistent across each top level item and that’s okay.
After all, the question “is it useful?” should always carry more weight than “is it consistent?”.
By going into autopilot and rolling out the standard UI elements we risk building interfaces for computers instead of people.
Usability Week 2010 – May 16 – 21
The Nielsen Norman Group was formed by two of the pioneers of the discipline of usability, Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman.
The Group’s mandate is to “help companies enter the age of the consumer, designing human-centered products and services” and that’s what forms the agenda for this year’s usability week.
There are 29 full-day tutorials scheduled. Here’s the UX-Press top 5 to give you an edge in 2010:
Designing for Mobile Devices
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Human Mind and Usability: How Your Customers Think
Monday, May 17, 2010
Guerilla Usability: UCD Without a Budget
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Application Usability 1
Thursday, May 20, 2010
From Print to Web
Friday, May 21, 2010
Usability Week 2010
When
May 16 – 21
Where
The Victoria Park Plaza, London
Google map
How much
| 1 day | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days | 5 days | 6 days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Registration until 16 April |
£458 | £829 | £1,166 | £1,469 | £1,739 | £1,999 |
| Regular Registration until 14 May |
£509 | £921 | £1,296 | £1,632 | £1,932 | £2,221 |
| On-site Registration after 14 May |
£659 | £1,071 | £1,446 | £1,782 | £2,082 | £2,371 |
More information
nngroup.com
The key to knowledge discovery
The web is full of knowledge. More so now than ever before. And it’s only going to get bigger.
That’s largely why, unsatisfied with the common search engine as a discovery tool, community driven bookmarking tools have become the preferred discovery tool for web users.
Sites such as Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Stumbleupon and more provide a filtered stream of the latest web content based on the proposition that if these people found it relevant to a category, I will too.
Twitter too, has become widely used as a real-time bookmarking tool, through which users can quickly syndicate their recommended content to a specific community of receivers.
It’s convenient and more often than not the highest rated content is the most worthwhile to view.
But there’s an inherent problem with relying on community ratings for knowledge that will often help form your own opinions and level of knowledge.
It’s all too easy to put yourself at the mercy of consensus, to only hear one side of any argument. This comment has been made about the web in general. As a rule, the smaller the pool of content we dip into, the more skewed our experience of shared knowledge becomes.
The diagram above illustrates my thoughts on the knowledge discovery process. Items at the top are convenient but skewed. Whereas offline discovery at the bottom, takes more activity but serves to increase the pool of knowledge.
In order to ensure the shared pool of knowledge expands with original thinking, offline research will always be the key to creating that layer of online data for the search engines to index and the people to rate.
UX Brighton – Jan 12
While the specific agenda is yet to be determined the speakers are confirmed as Paul Thurston of Thinkpublic and Nick Marsh of Conchango (now part of EMC Consulting).
Thinkpublic are a London-based agency who specialise in improving usability for public sector services such as the NHS and for campaigns such as The No To Knives Coalition.
EMC Consulting provide a range of IT services across the UK and Ireland.
January Special on Service Design
When
Jan 12
Where
iCrossing, Black Lion Street, Brighton
Google map
How much
Free
More information
UXBrighton.org.uk
UX London – May 19 – 21
Of all the usability events taking place in the UK in 2010 UX London is the most renowned and most eagerly anticipated. This year`s conference boasts a prestigious set of speakers and talks at the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch.
Here`s the UX-Press top 5 reasons to attend:
1) ‘Experiencing Comics’ presentation by Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud has become an author beloved within the digital community ever since the 1994 release of ‘Understanding Comics’. A comic about comics, the book is a compelling read that gets to the heart of how information should be displayed visually – totally applicable to user-focused web design.
Scott’s presentation will explore how an art form communicates content effectively to its readers while creating a seamless user experience.
2) ‘Information Architecture with Maps’ workshop by Peter Morville
Peter Morville is credited with having helped create the discipline of information architecture. He co-wrote the bestseller ‘Information Architecture for the World Wide Web’ with Lou Rosenfeld and will be releasing ‘Search Patterns’ in 2010.
Peter’s workshop will cover how maps can be used to improve the process and output of information architecture and UX design.
3) ‘Real-World Agile User Experience Design’ workshop by Jeff Patton
‘Agile’ development methodology is still the trendiest way to run a project. Everyone wants to do it, most people claim they’re doing it, but few actually know how the theory translates to practice.
Jeff Patton’s workshop will introduce the concept and back it up with real-life examples and exercises from UX practitioners on how agile development can benefit the day-to-day and overall management of your project.
4) ‘Content Strategy: The Missing Piece of the UX Puzzle workshop’ by Kristina Halvorson
Kristina’s workshop will help dispell the myth that great websites get built by creating a wireframe, designing a nice looking UI, developing the code, and then dropping in the content. Content can make or break a user experience so it’s vital that the content strategy be discussed and defined sooner rather than later.
5) ‘DIY UX’ workshop by Whitney Hess
The world of usability testing and UCD is perhaps the final frontier for the more traditional depts within an organisation. Consequently, the benefits of considering UX as part of the project lifecycle may be unclear to key stakeholders.
Whitney’s workshop will advise on how to relay the importance and commercial benefit of UX in a way that gets the stakeholders on side now and in the future.
UX London
Presented by Clearleft
When
May 19 – 21
Where
Cumberland Hotel, London
Google map
How much
£895 + VAT (when you book Dec 1 – Jan 31)
£995 + VAT (when you book Feb 1 – Mar 31)
£1095 + VAT (when you book Apr 1 – May 14)
More information
UX London
A Q&A with the Speakers from UX London
Usability for the Public Sector – Feb 17 – 18
The fundamental principes of UCD apply to all web projects but for an optimal user experience it`s important to design with your audience and market sector in mind. Public sector websites must follow specific accessibility guidelines and also conform to other standards.
The User Vision workshops will introduce both the fundamental concept of usability testing as well as the nuances unique to the public sector.
User Vision is a usability and accessibility consultancy dedicated to improving the user experience of websites and software.
Usability for the Public Sector
When
Part 1 – Feb 17
Part 2 – Feb 18
Where
User Vision office, 55 North Castle Street, Edinburgh EH2 3QA
Google map
How much
£300 + VAT for one day (£250 + VAT if booked before 15 January 2010)
OR
£540 + VAT for both days (£486 + VAT if booked before 15 January 2010)
More information
User Vision – Part 1
User Vision – Part 2
