Category Archives: web stuff
various coordinates
Looks like someone’s CMS was spitting out funny breadcrumbs. I haven’t seen this too much.
Looks like someone’s CMS was spitting out funny breadcrumbs. I haven’t seen this too much.
Over at our INFLUX blog Amanda and I have been writing a series of posts about easy to do website improvements. Here are the first three.
#01 Wrangling Content
#02 Navigation & Wayfinding
#03 Online Card Application
My friend Antti in Helsinki writes:
Our library app is now officially @ App Store. It’s called iKirjasto. That’s iLibrary in Finnish. Check it out.
Link to App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/fi/app/ikirjasto/id349629673?mt=8&uo=6 [not downloadable in the US]
Our site: http://www.ikirjasto.fiIt’s the very first beta release of the app. So don’t be too harsh on it. It’s just a basic seach app with some special functions limited to Helsinki City Metropolitan Library (you can browse new book titles in cover images & a native client for reserving). It’s only in Finnish, but hopefully it’s clear how it functions. I posted some crude screen captures to our blog: http://labs.kirjastot.fi/?q=blogi/ikirjasto-app-storessa
There are currently 468 different Finnish libraries and 9 different library systems in the app. It covers almost all libraries in Finland. This made it a bit complicated to code, as you might imagine. This also delayed the project quite a while.
I like the fact that this app works for 468 Finnish libraries. We’re actually working on something similar for the next version of the DCPL iPhone app.
Panic, a small company that makes software for Macs here in Portland is one of those (rare) companies that seem to do everything the right way. For a quick example, check out how nice their new blog looks.
I was very impressed with the friendly writing and useful content in this well formatted email they recently sent. They make it easy to unsubscribe and do it in a way that makes you not want to.
This is a good model for libraries to follow for their web writing, email communication (and print material, really).
Hi there!
This is Cabel from Panic — you might remember us from our nice Mac OS X software (Transmit, Coda, Unison, etc.) and, for some reason, t-shirts and posters and such.
We love e-mailing our customers and fans with important, interesting Panic news, like updates, new products, or sales. But it’s 2010. Time to clean up our lists and combine them into one.
You signed up for our list via Transmit.
Here’s the deal: we’ll write, at most, a few times a year, and only for big news. Not minor updates. We know your inbox is crowded.
If you don’t want to hear from us again, click the sad button. Otherwise, do nothing, and look forward to breaking Panic news!
[unsubscribe button]
Thanks for being a customer or a fan. We literally couldn’t do it without you.
[signature]
PS: We also have a blog now! It’s the future!
Maybe I’m out of the loop but I haven’t seen too much about mobile site from North Carolina State University. It is very nice and had the feel of a standalone app. You can preview it without a mobile device on their site: NCSU Libraries Mobile.
What an adorable promotional video!
Via Suzanne at userslib.
INFLUX’s Workshop at IL09
Our slides about library website usability and design.
Making Content Shine
An example of rewriting content for the web.
The Making of influx.us
What we kept in mind while making this site: a mini-case study.
The text could probably be a bit easier to read but I like this Mad Libs style form from moof.
[via konigi]
During some downtime on my recent trip I was watching old skateboarding videos on YouTube and was prompted to check The Pirate Bay to see what albums by fIREHOSE were available. I didn’t get very far.
I was a bit surprised but evidently Danish courts ruled that ISPs must block the site.
If I had to choose between really big bike racks and thepiratebay.org I might choose really big bike racks but not at the expense of being able to access perfectly legal websites.
Here are two new to me display/organization techniques.
#1: Stylous.com let’s you chose facets by clicking pictures.
[via]
#2: I find fancy architecture firm websites to be some of the least usable websites around. This might not be an exception, but the websites from diller scofidio + renfro achieves a CoolIris type effect (by using Flash).
[via]
Here’s a way that you can see if your webpages are doing what you want them to do.
As the name suggests, the 5-Second Test involves showing users a single content page for a quick 5 seconds to gather their initial impressions. Five seconds may not seem like a lot of time, but users make important judgments in the first moments they visit a page. Read the article [5-Second Tests] for more details.
If you’re looking for a place to start, why not with your homepage? In just a few minutes you can see if the message you think you’re broadcasting to people is what they’re actually seeing. If not, schedule some time to make an adjustment (bigger font size? more contrast? less words?) and take another 10 minutes to retest. Better? hint: Yes.
This is even perhaps more applicable when you’re in the planning/building process. Do some 5 second tests with drawings or Photoshop mockups. Little fixes early on can save you from having to correct things that are nearly cemented in place.
You can do 5 second tests with almost anyone as your testers, but if there are absolutely no people around (or you just want to do something different) check out fivesecondtest. You can upload an image and have random people on the web give you their results. A great way to get a feel for how to conduct a test might be to make a designer happy and do a few tests.
For even more lightweight usability testing goodness, take a look at the NPYL Labs’ infomaki.
