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BarCampLondon4
Despite some early WiFi problems (which prompted me to finally go out and buy the broadband dongle I’ve been considering for a while), I’d say BCL4 was a big success. I was particularly pleased to find many people bucking the geek trend and choosing not to watch Dr Who, instead joining in the beery Werewolf [...]
Pragmatism, not idealism
I’m currently taking a short break before starting my new job (more to follow on this).
Obviously I’m relaxing and enjoying the weather, but I’m also brushing up on XHTML and CSS so I can ditch Visio wireframing and start creating live prototypes. I had planned to use this blog as my sandbox, but to do [...]
The Fox goes shopping: cognitive dissonance in e-commerce
One of the most widely used metrics in e-commerce is conversion: simply a measure of the proportion of people who go from x to Sale, where x might be simply visiting the site, or perhaps adding something to the basket.
Of course, increasing conversion is generally a Good Thing because it makes big red lines point [...]
The death of page views, and why we should care
Ask any web geek and they’ll tell you that the page, as we know it, is terminally ill. For many years, it was the proud atom of the web: an unbreakable, fundamental unit. However, much like the atom, it has now been broken down further, and in modern times is being bypassed by Ajax, Flash, [...]
Metaphors
Having one of those jobs that defies snappy explanation, I spend a while explaining it to others. I came up with this one a few months ago, and so far it seems to be holding up.
Formula 1 teams spend millions on tyres. The tyre companies themselves spend millions more. Their extensive R&D programmes pour money [...]
Full coverage
As I’m struggling with my WiFi yet again (I’m on the point of conceding that my MacBook has dodgy wiring - off to Regents Street I go…), I was interested by this article on the pointlessness of mobile signal strength bars.
We, the public, have no understanding of communication technology. We simply trust the designer to [...]
Old interfaces die hard
One thing bothers me about Bill Gates’s assertion that touch interfaces will be all the rage over the next few years. Namely that I’m convinced he’s wrong. Of course, it’s not hard to disagree with a lot of what Bill says, but I really can’t see this major shift on the horizon.
Let’s start at the [...]
Comics and personas
Inspired by Rebekah Sedaca’s Boxes and Arrows post, some workmates and I took a social day out learn the art of comic drawing. I can barely remember the last time I attempted to draw anything ‘for real’ - it’s long been something I’ve decided I couldn’t (and therefore shouldn’t) do.
And, well, I’m still not hugely [...]
How to avoid the UX dark side
Slides from my short presentation at BarCamp Brighton:
May not make much sense without the audio (but then if your slides don’t need a speaker why are you bothering to present?). Also please forgive typographic quirks introduced by SlideShare.
Been a fascinating weekend so far, and I’ve finally lost my Werewolf virginity. My theory that all unfamiliar [...]
Why become an Information Architect?
I can’t remember where I heard it, but I was surprised it came from someone in the field. The sarcastic tone surprised me even more than the chuckles of agreement.
Hang on, I thought with astonishment, surely we’ve not reached the stage where we reduce ourselves to hackneyed self-criticism? In my experience, passion for their craft [...]