Thursday, April 29, 2010
Visual Design
Learning the principles of design has been really intriguing. Its been interesting looking at the different elements and principles, as well as color schemes. I learned about the rule of thirds in high school, but have only heard a little bit about the golden ratio and how it should be used, its been really interesting learning how the human brain translates the design that is on the page.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Flash and Web Based Applications
Check out this article!
Recently I read an article by Jakob Nielsen (link above). The article is a little outdated (2002) but was still very interesting. Jakob took a sample of user's ability to find and use a flash application within a website, he used 46 different applications for the sample.
The percentages that Jakob gives are pretty amazing, almost half of the users could not find the application, especially if the application was promoted by a big colorful box, or with animated text. They found that if the applications was promoted in such a way that users would ignore the links, this was due to the fact that they assumed the box was an advertisement and the user didn't want to waste time looking at the ad.
When the users were finally shown, or found the application on their own, a surprisingly low percentage of users had the ability to navigate through the applications. And the final outcome was thought that a user would most likely click away from the site due to frustration.
The article reminded me much of a book that I read last year called "The Inmates Are Running The Asylum", the book is extremely good and really helps a programmer to recognize what they are doing that is driving the users crazy. In the book it relates software to a dancing bear, the bear is amazing and at first site is better than anything a person has ever seen. However underneath the phenomenon of the dancing bear is the fact that the bear truly serves no purpose. So it is with GUI that is over the top, or which promotes features rather than function. If the application is difficult to use then most of the time the user will walk away from it.
Although this article is dated I believe it is still somewhat relevant. Sure users are more accustomed to flash applications within sites, and the ways that these applications are linked to or used has most likely changed drastically, much of this article still applies as far as the design of the site and application are concerned.
Applications need to be user friendly, not only that but they need to accomplish what the users goals are. If the application is fancy and flashy then the user will most likely click away from it, however if it successfully accomplishes the user's objectives then the user will most likely return to it later for more use.
Nielsen talks a lot about the fact that a web application is often only used once, and that if the user has a bad experience they will never return to it, they will find something else. Unlike desktop software which is often required to learn a user most likely does not need the web based application which they have found on a daily basis and will do what they can not to return to it if it does not EASILY do what they need it to do.
It is true however that today many people do not see a flash application as much more than a web based tool, and are most likely used to them in the sense that they can easily learn to navigate through them. This may be in part to the fact that the users have learned and matured with the changes in web usage in the past 7 years, or that developers, designers and managers have figured out the most efficient ways to create these applications. Although the article was informative and well written, it is hard for me to believe that it is completely applicable to today's user base. However I could be mistaken.
What do you think?
Recently I read an article by Jakob Nielsen (link above). The article is a little outdated (2002) but was still very interesting. Jakob took a sample of user's ability to find and use a flash application within a website, he used 46 different applications for the sample.
The percentages that Jakob gives are pretty amazing, almost half of the users could not find the application, especially if the application was promoted by a big colorful box, or with animated text. They found that if the applications was promoted in such a way that users would ignore the links, this was due to the fact that they assumed the box was an advertisement and the user didn't want to waste time looking at the ad.
When the users were finally shown, or found the application on their own, a surprisingly low percentage of users had the ability to navigate through the applications. And the final outcome was thought that a user would most likely click away from the site due to frustration.
The article reminded me much of a book that I read last year called "The Inmates Are Running The Asylum", the book is extremely good and really helps a programmer to recognize what they are doing that is driving the users crazy. In the book it relates software to a dancing bear, the bear is amazing and at first site is better than anything a person has ever seen. However underneath the phenomenon of the dancing bear is the fact that the bear truly serves no purpose. So it is with GUI that is over the top, or which promotes features rather than function. If the application is difficult to use then most of the time the user will walk away from it.
Although this article is dated I believe it is still somewhat relevant. Sure users are more accustomed to flash applications within sites, and the ways that these applications are linked to or used has most likely changed drastically, much of this article still applies as far as the design of the site and application are concerned.
Applications need to be user friendly, not only that but they need to accomplish what the users goals are. If the application is fancy and flashy then the user will most likely click away from it, however if it successfully accomplishes the user's objectives then the user will most likely return to it later for more use.
Nielsen talks a lot about the fact that a web application is often only used once, and that if the user has a bad experience they will never return to it, they will find something else. Unlike desktop software which is often required to learn a user most likely does not need the web based application which they have found on a daily basis and will do what they can not to return to it if it does not EASILY do what they need it to do.
It is true however that today many people do not see a flash application as much more than a web based tool, and are most likely used to them in the sense that they can easily learn to navigate through them. This may be in part to the fact that the users have learned and matured with the changes in web usage in the past 7 years, or that developers, designers and managers have figured out the most efficient ways to create these applications. Although the article was informative and well written, it is hard for me to believe that it is completely applicable to today's user base. However I could be mistaken.
What do you think?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thumbnail Sketches
Here are some sketches of the website that I am designing for my Web Design class. They are pretty rough but they are supposed to give me an idea of what kind of structure and layout I want to have for the site. Enjoy :)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Good Designers Copy, Great Designers Steal
Oh man what an article. For anyone who has not read this article you need to! The address is:
http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/copy-great-designers-steal
The crazy thing is I don't think this was the first time I've read this article. I believe I read it in my interaction design class, and we even had a lecture centered around the possibilities that are available through the idea of molding another persons idea into something new and fresh. I remember liking the article as much then as I do now.
This article was written in 2003 but I think most of it is still really useful in 2010. There are always going to be a few points of falloff when there is 7 years of space in technology and design, but there really wasn't much on this article that I felt like wasn't relevant.
A quick summary of the article for those who haven't read it and are too stubborn to click the link and do so:
There are three levels of design:
1- Copy don't create
2- Steal from yourself
3- Steal from discrete sources
Obviously from those three levels you are thinking, where is the creativity if all you do is copy. I think the article really meant to show the creativity that can develop when you start off with a great design that someone else has created and you take it further. In the end, the design is not the original work that it started out as it has morphed and developed into something of your own. The author talks about discrete sources in that taking designs that are well known and copying those is hardly what he was trying to explain. You don't want to take apple.com and through your product on it and call it complete. Instead you need to find inspiration from designs that are lesser known. Go to a craft store, a bargain house somewhere with some really crazy off the wall stuff and say how could I incorporate that into my design. As you begin to do so you will see it changing before your very eyes.
If you haven't read the article yet, scroll up, hit the link and read it. You'll be doing yourself a favor. Trust me!
http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/copy-great-designers-steal
The crazy thing is I don't think this was the first time I've read this article. I believe I read it in my interaction design class, and we even had a lecture centered around the possibilities that are available through the idea of molding another persons idea into something new and fresh. I remember liking the article as much then as I do now.
This article was written in 2003 but I think most of it is still really useful in 2010. There are always going to be a few points of falloff when there is 7 years of space in technology and design, but there really wasn't much on this article that I felt like wasn't relevant.
A quick summary of the article for those who haven't read it and are too stubborn to click the link and do so:
There are three levels of design:
1- Copy don't create
2- Steal from yourself
3- Steal from discrete sources
Obviously from those three levels you are thinking, where is the creativity if all you do is copy. I think the article really meant to show the creativity that can develop when you start off with a great design that someone else has created and you take it further. In the end, the design is not the original work that it started out as it has morphed and developed into something of your own. The author talks about discrete sources in that taking designs that are well known and copying those is hardly what he was trying to explain. You don't want to take apple.com and through your product on it and call it complete. Instead you need to find inspiration from designs that are lesser known. Go to a craft store, a bargain house somewhere with some really crazy off the wall stuff and say how could I incorporate that into my design. As you begin to do so you will see it changing before your very eyes.
If you haven't read the article yet, scroll up, hit the link and read it. You'll be doing yourself a favor. Trust me!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Imaginary Organization - Graphite News
Definition and Primary Goal
Graphite News is a humorous online news site. By creating humorous news stories both factual and fictional they bring readers to their site and while offering entertaining news articles they also provide marketing opportunities to companies who are willing to buy space on the site.Primary Audience
Graphite News' primary audience is men and women between 20 and 35 years of age, who enjoy keeping up on current events as well as be comically entertainedObjective and Strategy
Graphite News' objective is to create a relationship with its readers which will encourage frequent visitation of the site, in order to create this relationship the articles on the site will be updated on a consistent basis providing new content constantly for the readers.Usability Concerns
The readers will have the ability to login to an account on the web site and based upon their interests will find article recommendations. Also the advertisements which they will be presented with will be based upon their article history and submitted interests.
As the company's primary financial income will be through advertisement sales, the company is concerned that growth may be slower than anticipated.
The readers will have the ability to login as mentioned above, also they will have the opportunity to sign up for mailings which will allow them to receive updates regarding articles that match their interests.
An rss feed will be provided which will allow readers to keep up on all new articles posted on the site. Also archives will be kept for readers to go back and read past articles which they have missed.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Expert Mind
After reading through the materials for the week I wanted to touch on my impressions from the article, The Expert Mind by Philip Ross. I thought it was a pretty interesting article as it explained the way that chess masters become chess masters and the ability that the human brain has to be trained to become a master at just about anything. I was really impressed with the article and really agree with the author that raw talent doesn't cut it as far as becoming great at something, you have to have a driving will to be able to become a master at what you are doing. I can totally see how this relates to the field of web design, although it takes talent to be a web designer that talent is something that you can create if you have the motivation to do so. If you aren't passionate about programing and designing then becoming a master at web design will never be something that you can do. But if you have the desire to become great, nothing can stop you from doing just that. For those anyone who has not read the article to which I am referring you can click here and read the article, I would highly recommend it.
I am currently taking a web design course, I expect to get a lot out of the course. I expect to learn the finer side of CSS and about how to use them in a way that will elevate my ability to create web sites. I expect to learn some tricks of the trade which will also help me to code faster and design cleaner.
I am currently taking a web design course, I expect to get a lot out of the course. I expect to learn the finer side of CSS and about how to use them in a way that will elevate my ability to create web sites. I expect to learn some tricks of the trade which will also help me to code faster and design cleaner.
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