From the category archives:

User Experience

Replacing the Save Icon

January 20, 2010

The Save icon – that little ol’ floppy disk that exists in nearly every application sitting on your computer and on the Web. A representation of a piece of technology so utterly out of date that it’s meaning has shifted away from its physical existence into a concept of safety and permanence.
As a means of [...]

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Define then Solve

October 17, 2008

If I had 20 days to solve a problem , I would take 19 days to define it.
Albert Einstein
Solving a problem is easy.
Solving a problem well requires time to understand it.
Solving a problem after defining it leads to a downright sexy solution.

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The Business Model and User Experience

September 24, 2008

When the business model doesn’t match the user experience or… when nobody seems to understand what the business model is, the designer can’t know if they are helping or hurting the company by creating a better experience for the user.
Jared Spool, Why Understanding Business Models is Important to Ix Designers

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Thoughts on A Complete Experience

September 23, 2008

I recently posted a quote from Steve Ballmer discussing a key difference between Apple and Microsoft, which I titled A Complete Experience. Having spent a bit more time thinking about it, I thought I would capture some of those thoughts here. This is basically a brain-dump, so it is by no means comprehensive, or for [...]

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A Complete Experience

September 16, 2008

In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving. Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
The quote is from [...]

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In Search of Useful Prototypes

July 29, 2008

Normally a post describing a site launch doesn’t grab my attention, as they cover the same ground (base level descriptions of the design process, technologies used, how great the client is etc.). But the write-up the launch of Dangerbird Records by Athletics, a design firm out of Brooklyn includes a discussion of their home-grown prototyping [...]

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