Tag Design

Entries 9 Total

you can make your website better in five seconds

May 4, ’09 1:00 AM

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.

Comments (2)

Beautiful > Ugly

Dec 4, ’08 1:58 PM

Consider pouring yourself a coffee or tea and taking a few minutes to walk around your library and look at the signs you see. Where do they fall on this graph?

graph

Perhaps replace “friendly/mean” with “helpful/unhelpful” too. How many of your signs fall into the desirable quadrant I?

Ready for the real test? Print out the graph and hand some copies to library users. Pour them a coffee or tea and have them rate your signs. Is there a difference?

Much of the discussion surrounding signs in libraries has been around the attitude of the signs and the policies from which they stem. While this is very important, let’s not forget that they don’t often conform to the rules of graphic design either (i.e. they’re not pretty). Chances are that your library doesn’t have a graphic design department, so this isn’t a surprise.

If you’d like to improve the looks of your signs but don’t know where to start, you could do worse than to thumb through the go-to The Non-Designer’s Design Book. It isn’t going to turn you into an expert sign designer over night, but it will introduce you to some basic principles that can improve the appeal of your signs.

A great example of what can be achieved after reading The Non-Designer’s Design Book is this sign that Anna Warns redesigned for the class I’m teaching for the UW’s iSchool.

She writes:

Old sign:

This one is ugly and friendly. The message of conserving paper is a good one and anyone who’s been near the public access computers printer knows that there is a lot of waste. The sign is just…old and sad. While it’s clear that someone put a little effort into this, it’s horribly out-dated and is too wordy. Another problem with sign is the location – it is on the printer table and not able to be seen until you pick up your print job.
 
New sign:
The new sign has much less wording. It is concise and much of the message is implied through the graphic. The font will hopefully relate a computer/techy feel next to the earthy image and create context for the sign. I intend to put this one up in the library and change its location so it is relevant.

Is this concern for aesthetics superficial? I don’t think so. Having thoughtfully designed signs and pamphlets around the library makes things easier for patrons, and illustrates that the library takes pride in what it does.

beautiful > ugly

Dec 4, ’08 1:58 PM

Consider pouring yourself a coffee or tea and taking a few minutes to walk around your library and look at the signs you see. Where do they fall on this graph?


perhaps replace “friendly/mean” with “helpful/unhelpful” too

How many of your signs fall into the desirable quadrant I?
 
Ready for the real test? Print out the graph and hand some copies to library users. Pour them a coffee or tea and have them rate your signs. Is there a difference?
 
Much of the discussion surrounding signs in libraries has been around the attitude of the signs and the policies from which they stem. While this is very important, let’s not forget that they don’t often conform to the rules of graphic design either (i.e. they’re not pretty). Chances are that your library doesn’t have a graphic design department, so this isn’t a surprise.
 
If you’d like to improve the looks of your signs but don’t know where to start, you could do worse than to thumb through the go-to The Non-Designer’s Design Book. It isn’t going to turn you into an expert sign designer over night, but it will introduce you to some basic principles that can improve the appeal of your signs.
 
A great example of what can be achieved after reading The Non-Designer’s Design Book is this sign that Anna Warns redesigned for the class I’m teaching for the UW’s iSchool.


 
She writes:
Old sign:
This one is ugly and friendly. The message of conserving paper is a good one and anyone who’s been near the public access computers printer knows that there is a lot of waste. The sign is just…old and sad. While it’s clear that someone put a little effort into this, it’s horribly out-dated and is too wordy. Another problem with sign is the location – it is on the printer table and not able to be seen until you pick up your print job.
 
New sign:
The new sign has much less wording. It is concise and much of the message is implied through the graphic. The font will hopefully relate a computer/techy feel next to the earthy image and create context for the sign. I intend to put this one up in the library and change its location so it is relevant.

Is this concern for aesthetics superficial? I don’t think so. Having thoughtfully designed signs and pamphlets around the library makes things easier for patrons, and illustrates that the library takes pride in what it does.

iLike the iSchool

Apr 8, ’08 7:49 AM

Last Friday I had the honor of giving the first talk in the newly resurrected Margaret Chisholm Lecture series. Over 100 LIS students, alumni, and faculty spent a portion of their evening talking about the read/write web with me. LIS on a Friday night? My kinda folks for sure. I even got to meet my Flickr friend Jen Waller face to face. Nice!

They made some great posters for the event:

And had a big screen:

Here’s a pdf of my slides for the event: Libraries and the Read/Write Web. [11 MB]

Someone asked about what I read to keep up with all of the cool things happening on the web and in libraries. I managed to recommend using a feed reader and name a few blogs. I didn’t give a very exhaustive list mostly because my incoming self selected information stream is such a blur. I probably couldn’t name a quarter of the weblogs I subscribe to, I just pick out the interesting bits when they pop up.

To make up for my weak answer I promised to list some blogs that could make a little starter kit for keeping track of what’s happening with libraries and the read/write web. You’ll notice it is mostly non-library blogs. I’m not slighting library blogs, just highlighting the point that we need to get outside of the library and related writing.

Tech stuff
Gizmodo
NYT Technology

Design
Signal vs. Noise
information aesthetics
swissmiss

General
kottke.org
Lifehacker
TechCrunch

Misc
Pasta&Vinegar
Pink Tentacle
Wired Top Stories

Libraries
Librarian.net
LibraryCrunch
LibraryBytes
The Shifted Librarian
Swiss Army Librarian

Two more points. First, don’t click around to all of these sites every day. Use a feed reader to bring the information to you. To learn about that, see RSS in Plain English. Also, don’t limit yourself to these blogs and their feeds. Find some blogs relevant to you and your hobbies. This will get you in the habit of checking your reader frequently.

Thanks to everyone that made it a great event.

Comments (10)

ebsco’s more usable interface

Mar 14, ’08 11:22 AM

Kathleen McEvoy of EBSCO commented on my social database mockup with a link to an informational page about EBSCO’s redesign/ next product called EBSCOhost® 2.0.

Just so I’m not accused of constantly bashing library product vendors, I’ll tell you straightaway that despite the fact that “2.0″ appears 17 times on the informational page, the actual interface looks much, *much* nicer. I haven’t used the product yet but from the demo it looks like the default interface is just one search box.

There’s a nifty slider for limiting the date range of search results. The citation tool looks really easy to use with a one click copy to clipboard feature. Adding articles to a folder to save them takes one click. Deleting them is as simple as X-ing them out. These things make me happy.

It’s a bit strange to be praising a company for doing the things that should have been standard all along, but I’ll highlight the effort regardless. I haven’t actually used it yet, but EBSCOhost® 2.0 seems to have addressed some usability issues. This is good. Now they’re free to facilitate interaction and make it social. When I get to actually use the interface I’ll report any additional thoughts.

I’m glad Kathleen commented on the post. This is a *good* example of a library vendor being responsive to the conversations that are taking place.

…

Ok, one more little gripe, not really related to their redesign. Just me being a logo nerd. Why is the “host” in EBSCOhost® in italics when it is text, but not when it is in their logo?

Comments (1)

ebsco’s more usable interface

Mar 14, ’08 11:22 AM

Kathleen McEvoy of EBSCO commented on my social database mockup with a link to an informational page about EBSCO’s redesign/ next product called EBSCOhost® 2.0.

Just so I’m not accused of constantly bashing library product vendors, I’ll tell you straightaway that despite the fact that “2.0″ appears 17 times on the informational page, the actual interface looks much, *much* nicer. I haven’t used the product yet but from the demo it looks like the default interface is just one search box.

There’s a nifty slider for limiting the date range of search results. The citation tool looks really easy to use with a one click copy to clipboard feature. Adding articles to a folder to save them takes one click. Deleting them is as simple as X-ing them out. These things make me happy.

It’s a bit strange to be praising a company for doing the things that should have been standard all along, but I’ll highlight the effort regardless. I haven’t actually used it yet, but EBSCOhost® 2.0 seems to have addressed some usability issues. This is good. Now they’re free to facilitate interaction and make it social. When I get to actually use the interface I’ll report any additional thoughts.

I’m glad Kathleen commented on the post. This is a *good* example of a library vendor being responsive to the conversations that are taking place.

…

Ok, one more little gripe, not really related to their redesign. Just me being a logo nerd. Why is the “host” in EBSCOhost® in italics when it is text, but not when it is in their logo?

Comments (1)

i broke up with gradient (making new themes in keynote)

Feb 12, ’08 2:25 PM

I have a confession. The gradient theme in Apple’s sideshow software Keynote and I had a passionate love affair. But like many bright lights, it burnt fast. I can’t really tell if the breakup was all about me or the theme’s fault. Whatever the case, I’m through with it. I think it has something to do with the time that it let me down in the big, bright rooms with somewhat anemic projectors at Internet Librarian last year.

It isn’t entirely obvious how to design a new theme in Keynote so I’ll report what I learned from a post on MacTips. There’s a small divider directly underneath the “View” button in Keynote’s menu. Pull this down to reveal master slides.

You can design the slides to spark a new flame, then choose “File, Save Theme” to move the relationship along. You even get to give it a pet name. I’m sure I’ll fuss over it for a few days, but I’m aiming for a new theme with white letters on a grey background with light blue highlights. It might remind you of the design on walkingpaper.org, should you ever click through from your feed reader. Once I get it squared away I’ll upload it here in case it is good and you ever want a minimalist Keynote theme. *sigh*

Here’s where my new love and I have planned for the Spring:

26 Feb
National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services Annual, Philladelphia
The New Information Economy: The Changing Value of Content

3 Apr
Multonomah County Library Staff Day Keynote, Portland (!)
The Read/Write Web Opportunity

4 Apr
Margaret Chisholm Lecture, University of Washington iSchool, Seattle
Work on This, Please: Facing Current Challenges in Librarianship

6-11 Apr
Computers in Libraries, Crystal City
Various sessions and workshops

22 Apr
Suffolk County Handheld Libraries Conference Keynote, Bellport
Library in your Pocket

7 May
Massachusetts Library Association Annual, Falmouth
Having a Phone: IM Reference

8 May
Medical Library Association Annual, Chicago
Web 2.0 Panel

22 May
Catalan Library Association, Barcelona
The Read/Write Web Opportunity

27 May
ProBiblio, Amsterdam
Transatlantic Tech Librarianship

Comments (4)

The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard

Dec 5, ’06 6:00 PM

Japanese web and user interface design/branding firm Information Architects have a mini-manifesto called The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard that is making the rounds. Library websites could learn a few things from this list. Be sure to click through to the article to see their design philosophy in action and read some details about each of their points. But no calling me out about the default text size of this site!

Most websites are crammed with small text that is a pain to read. Why?

Don’t tell us busy pages look better
Crowded websites don’t look good, they look nasty.

Don’t tell us lots of links work better
Filling pages with stuff has never helped usability. It’s lazyness that makes you throw all kinds of stuff at us. We want you to think and preselect what is important. We don’t want to do your work.

Don’t tell us to adjust the font size
We don’t want to change our browser settings every time we visit a website!

Don’t tell us scrolling is bad
Because then all websites are bad. There is nothing wrong with scrolling. Nothing at all. Just as there is nothing wrong with flipping pages in books.

Don’t tell us text is not important
95% of what is commonly referred to as web design is typography.

Don’t tell us to get glasses
Rather stop licking your screen, lean back(!) and continue reading in a relaxed position.

There is no reason for cramming information onto the screen. It’s just a stupid collective mistake.

Again, read the full article, The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard.

Comments (4)

quick blogging presentations

Sep 20, ’05 11:40 AM

I was in Arlington, Virginia yesterday to help out with Blog University. The event went quite well: the attendees were engaged throughout the entire (long 8:30-5) day, and the presenters had a great rapport. The whole day seemed very collaborative because everyone just piped in when then had something to add. Because of this, the slides I prepared (using Jessamyn’s awesome layout) contain only a fraction of what these sections covered.

From Easy to Not Quite so Easy: Weblog Technology Options

Weblog Design Considerations: the Right Questions to Ask

Comments (0)