The Most Important Usability Article I’ve Read This Year
The latest issue of interactions magazine, contains Dennis Wixon’s “Evaluating Usability Methods: Why the Current Literature Fails the Practitioner,”. (You have to pay to read it online, unfortunately.) Dennis is annoyed with the current debate within the usability field about “how many users?” This debate recurs every professional generation, and, as he points out, generates [...]
The Slings of Boxes and Arrows — Persecuting Jakob
One of the best things I’ve ever (co-)written is now up at Boxes and Arrows, a review of the Nielsen/Norman Group report Usability Return on Investment
We aimed for a New Yorker-style review — to use the subject as a jumping off point for discussing the underlying issues. So, while about half the review is an [...]
Film Fans Rejoice – Night of the Hunter Mania
(also posted to the Beast Blog, but too good to just leave there…)
This weekend and next week, the Pacific Film Archive has a special treat for film lovers.
On Saturday, July 26th, there’s CHARLES LAUGHTON DIRECTS THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER: A PRESENTATION OF OUTTAKES FROM THE FILM. And on July 30th, they’re showing the film [...]
“Screen Capture” a Whole Web Page on Mac OS X
[Ignore this if you're not a web geek.]
So, back in my Windows days, I was a fan of HyperSnap, a screen-capture tool that could “auto-scroll” Web pages, which saves one from having to capture one portion, scroll down, capture another portion, then bring those into an image editor, and stitch them.
On Mac OS X, no [...]
Love Me Or Leave Me – Set Your Tivo!
On Thursday the 17th, Turner Classic Movies will show Love Me or Leave Me, a “biopic” of Ruth Etting, who made her way from small Chicago clubs to the Ziegfeld Follies and beyond, in a career managed by a Chicago gangster. My dad clued me into the prior airing of the film with this email:
Just [...]
Avast Ye! Scurvy Dogs! Arrr! And All That
Yesterday caught Pirates of the Caribbean, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. A rollicking adventure, it has what you’d expect: lots of swords, ships with damned men, parrots on shoulders, cannons, a damsel in distress (who can hold her own in a fight). It also has good stuff you wouldn’t expect — [...]
Business Issues and User Experience
At the DUX2003 conference, among the most commonly asked questions dealt with how user experience can better communicate its value to the world of business.
The questions often were of two types: 1. How can I measure my effectiveness? 2. What methods are there to influence others in my organization?
Those two questions are addressed in Adaptive [...]
Thoughtwander – Product Research, Hypertext Cycles, and Decision Making
Back in the day, I used to take many a thoughtwander. As I’m getting old and boring, they come fewer and farther between.
Recently I’ve found a couple threads that might tie together. The first deals with how people research product information online. The second concerns a hypertext pattern known as “The Cycle”.
I have been particularly [...]
State of the State
As if things weren’t bad enough in California, along comes an eye-opening and informative story on how the state’s “tough on crime” policies are rending the black communities in Oakland. Considering the delayed effects we’re just now witnessing, it’s likely we’ll see ramifications for years to come. Great.
Also of note is the haunting photograph by [...]
Usability != User Experience
Historically, usability engineering is done toward the end of a product development cycle, before something goes to code (and, sadly, often not until after), and usually by that point, the only revisions that can be made are rather superficial. If usability testing demonstrates that there are fundamental flaws with the product, well, too late, we’re [...]
Linkblog
- And the angel said unto him, stop hitting yourself!
March 4, 2010 | 8:34 amFunny.
- A new global visual language for the BBC’s digital services
February 22, 2010 | 2:24 pmTruly impressive work, and an impressive post detailing it!
- Talking Heads in Rome 1980
February 21, 2010 | 8:26 pmA series of 11 videos on YouTube of a 1980 concert. Sweet.
- Hot Pockets Ingredients
February 21, 2010 | 8:22 pmUm. An elegant poster of a disgustingly over-ingrediented “food”.
- The Birth of Cheap Communication (and Junk Mail)
February 21, 2010 | 12:07 pmFun, breezy take on the original “Victorian internet” – the British Postal System.
- Roger Ebert: The Essential Man
February 16, 2010 | 8:06 amHe might have no jaw, but Ebert has been as eloquent as ever of late (and quite the liberal activist!)
- Bing Maps Explore is pretty sweet
February 11, 2010 | 6:21 pmSadly, it requires Silverlight, but the functionality is fly. Check out the “Map Apps” (bottom of the screen). The Streetside Photos app draws geotagged photos from Flickr and applies them into the Street View. Pretty awesome.
- Ravens Coach Brian Billick Tackles Super Bowl XLIV : NPR
February 6, 2010 | 10:03 amAs we approach the Super Bowl, I found this interview about what a coach really does surprisingly informative.
- Henrietta Lacks: A Donor’s Immortal Legacy
February 6, 2010 | 10:02 amThis is utterly fascinating. Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells are the world’s first immortal cells. I had never heard of HeLa cells before this interview with author Rebecca Skloot. Now I want to read the book.
- The Incredible San Fancisco Artists’ Soapbox Derby, 1975
February 4, 2010 | 8:00 am24 minute film about a truly delightful community endeavor. I don’t think SF has this kind of artist mojo any longer, but I’d love to see something like this Oakland, careening down Joaquin Miller Road.
- Paywalls, Blogs, Comments, Editing and Magazines: A Conversation with Paul Ford, Web Editor of Harper’s Magazine | The Awl
February 4, 2010 | 7:37 amIf you’ve followed ftrain for the past 10+ years, you already know that Paul Ford is among the smartest people on the internet. This conversation with The Awl about pay models for publishing and his experience at Harpers is a little precious at times, but worth a read.
- Interview with Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed
February 2, 2010 | 8:12 amBloom County was among those key influences informing my sense of humor, including Monty Python, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Edward Gorey. This interview looks back to its creation.
- Axe Cop
January 31, 2010 | 9:52 pmSo awesome. And funny. The best comic ever written by a 5-year-old and drawn by his 29-year-old brother. I wanna Avocado Soldier t-shirt.
- Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 3 and 4
January 31, 2010 | 7:28 pmRick Prelinger collects archival, industrial, and found footage of San Francisco, and presents them as clips in front of live audiences. Delightful look at the city’s past.
- Roger Ebert’s best films of the decade
January 31, 2010 | 7:23 pmI’m a little late on linking to this. Historically, I’ve found Ebert to be far too forgiving a critic (he just loves movies too much and gives poor ones a pass), so I was surprised at how close his list is to mine (if I bothered to make one). Synecdoche, Me And You and Everyone We Know, even Juno.
- Taking Directions from Slime Mold
January 25, 2010 | 7:54 pmIf my colleague Kate Rutter were to have a spirit organism, it would be slime mold. Slime mold are bizarre, neither plant nor animal nor fungi, and they’ve become the poster species for self-organizing systems. Anyway, they can also design subway systems. Scroll down to listen to the piece about them.
- Where has all the popcorn gone?
January 24, 2010 | 4:20 pmThe folks on Chowhound have the same question I did the last time I went to the supermarket. Popcorn could become the next artisanal fetish.
- S.F.s Market Street changes as city evolves
January 23, 2010 | 8:07 amCarl Nolte does it again with an exploration of Market Street’s multiple personalities. The stretch between 6th and 9th is among the most depressing urban blights in the US.
- Online Dating: The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures
January 21, 2010 | 8:13 pmOKCupid.com is a dating site. OkTrends is where the people behind the site reveal insights discovered through statistical analysis of site behavior. It’s awesome.
- How to be a superstar bartender
January 18, 2010 | 8:39 pmExcellent set of explicit instructions for the basics of mixing drinks (measuring, shaking, stirring, twists, etc.)
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