Looks like someone’s CMS was spitting out funny breadcrumbs. I haven’t seen this too much.

#01 Wrangling Content
#02 Navigation & Wayfinding
#03 Online Card Application

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.fi

It’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.

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!

What an adorable promotional video!

Via Suzanne at userslib.

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]

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.

#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]

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.

Among the photos there are images of buildings around DC, some colorized images, and portraits of people (many of which have awesome mustaches). One set of photos I like are the four cornerstones marking the boundary of Washington, DC.

If you want some information about what part of the DCPL’s massive photo archive is going into the collection you can visit the Flickr Commons project page on DCPL LABS.

Better yet, take a look at the post titled “Photo Contest: DC Then & Now” to see how the library is encouraging people to interact with its photos.

The quick summary: to enter the contest, people can submit photos related to the DCPL Commons to a Flickr group called DC Then & Now. The intention here is to get people interacting with our stuff and gently guide them to participating in something online that might be new to them.

Once again, this was a great team effort. Mark Greek uploaded the colorized images, Bill McClendon rescued image metadata, and Chris Tonjes assembled the team and signed off on the project.

Enjoy the photos and add some tags and geocode data if you into that kinda thing!

Free-access World Digital Library set to launch

We’re going to do a few site visits, including some Web enabled all-terrain buses that travel around Mexico providing access. Does that sound as cool to anyone else as it does to me?

Here I am in full turista mode at Zempoala, where Cortés headed after arriving in Mexico.

I have a list of sites and some strategies that I want to share but hey, I’m only one person. You know about things that I haven’t seen yet and it would be great to include some collective intelligence in the presentation.

Be assured that if you email me with your favorite new tools and websites you’ll get full credit as I’m doing my show and tell and maybe even a little thank you gift if I use something you send in.

THANKS

I’m convinced swissmiss deleted a post just so she could show it off.

walking paper’s 404 page has a nice photo but could stand to be more clever.