UK government issues usability guidelines for designing government websites

Check out the Quality Framework for UK government websites. Recommends a Human Centered Design approach to designing websites.

Why are scrollbars on the right of the screen?

If you've ever wondered about it, this paper by Alan Dix tries to provide some answers...

Macromedia Central looks good.

So Macromedia has apparently allowed beta testers to release MM approved screen shots of the new Macromedia Central, and it sure does look good.

The earlier interface was more Outlook like and had the left panels that listed the applications, but in the new interface it looks like they have shifted the application list to top and are using bigger buttons. This is much much better from a Fitt’s Law point of view as it will allow faster access to the applications. Also there is now a separate console. There are both advantages and disadvantages of having a separate console. The console is good from a space utilization point of view, however when to comes to ‘multiple window handling’ the lesser the better. In fact, I’ve come to love the Firebird tabs a lot and believe dockable tabs makes for much better handling (hope Adobe is not waiting to pounce- presonally I believe patents on UI should be stopped, but that is another post.) But since this is going to be a single console, it might not be such a big issue. The notification indicator is also quite prominent and should work well.

Overall I think this is coming along very well, and I can’t wait to start developing for it…

This is a post about Flash Mobs

It's not about MM Flash, but it's the latest sub-culture. Flash Mobs are not so random groups of people who turn up and dissipate within a matter of minutes thus making 'mobbing' kinda like a performance art. They use the internet (of course, what else?) to notify others about the next gathering, and now there is even a blog that keeps a track of the latest Flash Mobs. Interesting.

VC spending up in the 2nd Quarter

The SJ Mercury and Bloomberg have both reported so, and people on Sand Hill Road seem a little more positive...

This should be a good time to launch your startup idea, if you've got one.

Some Google search tips

Ever wanted to search for some real important piece of information on the Microsoft site? Well, good luck, 'cause MSDN is probably the most unruly site as far as navigating is concerned.

The good news is that Google comes to the rescue. You can search for MS related content on Google at:

http://www.google.com/microsoft/

Other Google micro-search-sites include:

Linux search: http://www.google.com/linux

BSD: http://www.google.com/bsd

Mac: http://www.google.com/mac

and of course

Uncle Sam: http://www.google.com/unclesam

Jeffrey Veen's Didactic Presentation

Extract from the post:

"When normal assumes the Web, that means the stuff you and I do will be woven into the fabric of life. We will not be able to remember quite what life was like before the Web, much like many of us cannot remember life before electricity, telephones and, uh, Tivo. And that, my friends, is the biggest challenge we face. We'll be working on the fabric of life."

Very well said.

Building a Flash Paper player

More than two years ago at Wanadu, we were considering building a product similar to Flash paper and I had built an interface and prototype which is still available online here. I could keep adding more features to this player if I wanted to as the source was completely in my control, which may not be possible with the Flash Paper player, and this is probably why we're seeing a lot of interest in people wanting to build their own Flash Paper players (see 'integrating flashpaper' on Flashcoders.)

Now it will be nice if MM could make the player source open or at least provide ActionScript APIs that will allow you to build your own players. I think it would soon become a need for developers...

But apparently the Flash Paper EULA does not allow you to do this. Too bad.

Interface Scalability

This article talks about building scalable interfaces for Content Management Systems, but most of what is said here is true for almost all enterprise class applications...

Learning Web Design

In this post Keith Robinson looks at the difference between web design and graphic design and urges design schools to treat them so...

Having worked with both media, I completely agree with Keith...

WinBeta looks into Flash 7

WinBeta.org has this to say about the next version of Flash...

Disclaimer: This site is not responsible for the contents on the sites it links to.

It's pouring here

Don't know how many of you have experienced the Indian Monsoon. It's just great, and right now it's just awesome outside. It's pouring, cats, dogs and cows. Just got back from a weekend in Pune (a city just outside Bombay) and on the drive back we had almost 0 visibility because of the rains.

Amazing ;)

India in the spotlight

After years of seeing a lot of negetive press, it's nice to see India get some good press. This article in the San Jose Mercury News is one.

Also Scoble seems to spotlighting Indian Bloggers. He's just listed Rajesh's blog in this post

Google Zeitgeist

Google Zeitgeist - Search patterns, trends, and surprises according to Google - Wonder how I missed this before...

Is that Scoble complaining about Indian Bloggers?

"...I see he's blogging from India. I think he's the first tech blogger that I've read in India. Soon I think I'll complain that some blogger in India has taken my job. .."

Strange fella...

Cool XUL links

There has been an interesting discussion going on about RIAs in general on WEBGUI list and a large number of XUL example emerged from it. Some of the cool ones are listed below:

XUL UI Widget Gallery
Bugxula
Mozblog
MAB Amazon Search
XUL games
XULChannel RSS Aggregator

Please feel free to add to this list...

Advancing UCD, while facing challenges working from offshore

I hate linking directly to word files, but looks like this paper is not available in any other format. This paper is an interesting look at the state of usability in India, particularly from the consulting company's point of view, but will make an interesting read for anybody interested in the state of HCI in India

Burning Issues

NY Times reviews Roxio and Nero. Why isn't CD burning part of the OS yet? Copying files to a floppy was, this should ideally be just an extension...

Mailinator

Have you ever needed an email... NOW? Have you ever gone to a website that asks for your email for no reason? Just type in any email ID with @mailinator.com. Go to the mailinator site and the email will be waiting for you. Not setup forms, no nothing...

Now that is cool concept

Should Macromedia standardize a markup for Flash?

Was going though JABBy Panda's list of Flash Markups and realized that there have been just too many attempts. Add to the list XML formats for Flash engines like Laszlo and the list would go on (in fact at Wanadu we were thinking of developing our own at one time.)

It makes me think that maybe Macromedia should provide a standard markup for all Flash based content conversion engines. And who knows, maybe even offer the next version of Flash as a web-service.

Now that is a thought...

;)

Open Source Comm. Server

Oregano is a new Multiuser Server for building Flash based multiuser sites and games...

See it on action here...

GPS dog tags

From starting out as a Phone Hacker and going on to start the PC Revolution, Steve Woz is a definitely a well recognized genius. After spending the last few years teaching fifth grade school kids, his latest venture into hi-tech is quite... hmnn... interesting.

Read this NY Times article about it...

Cell phone calls on jets may be OK'd by 2006

"Cell phone use aboard commercial planes in flight could be approved in about three years if a new study authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration shows that their transmissions don't threaten safety"

Says this article...

This definitely calls for those crazy cell phones that can teach you cellphone etiquette

Usability Heuristics for Rich Internet Applications

A very interesting article on boxes and arrows:

Extract:

“The key difference between a typical Flash site and an RIA is that RIAs possess the functionality to interact with and manipulate data, rather than simply visualize or present it.”

3-pane view anybody?

Interesting discussion

PDF unfit for human consumption?

Jacob Nielsen seems to thinks so...

Extract:
Users get lost inside PDF files, which are typically big, linear text blobs that are optimized for print and unpleasant to read and navigate online. PDF is good for printing, but that's it. Don't use it for online presentation.

First it was Flash, now Nielsen turns his attention on to PDF. I wonder what he will have to say about Flash Paper, which is sorta like PDF in Flash

[via Dan Gillmor]

Is Mozilla dead?

When I thought we finally had a browser that could stand up against IE, AOL cuts the remaining team on the project...

Is this the end? Or just the beginning?

Macromedia does an affiliate program

Found this on Mike Chambers'...

For more info check the Macromedia site...

The "User" in User Interfaces

Dan Gillmor's eJournal: The "User" in User Interfaces
IBM's Almaden Research Center is having its annual day-long New Paradigms in Using Computers gathering today. This year's focus is...
Read Complete Article
http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/001174.shtml
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can manage your account by logging into http://rss.blogstreet.com

Adobe launches SVG Viewer 6

Is SVG play catch-ups with Flash?

[via zoode]

McBusted:Baseline looks into McDonald's failed IS implementation

McDonald's planned to spend $1 billion over five years to tie all its operations in to a real-time digital network. Eventually, executives in company headquarters would have been able to see how soda dispensers and frying machines in every store were performing, at any moment. After just two years, though, the fast food giant threw in the towel…

Read the article...

Are you a sharecropper?

Asks this article:

Extract:

"These people have forgotten that all user interfaces used to be “richer environments,” which the users abandoned by the millions, in favor of the browser, the moment they got a chance. I said millions and I meant millions: tens of millions, hundreds of millions of browser downloads from the Netscape that was, and the software vendors fighting the rearguard actions to defend their “richer,” “more responsive,” “higher-performance” client software; and losing, losing...

...That’s why the phrase quoted above, about flexibility and usability, is so completely 100% wrong. Browsers are more usable because they’re less flexible."

I agree with the last statement a great deal...

Walk-by Hacking

Wireless networking has its own perils...

Iran Joins China in Blocking Blogs

Dan Gillmor's eJournal: Iran Joins China in Blocking Blogs
Hodder: Blogspot, persianblog blocked, plus hoder.com!. Ok, now it's official. Hamshahri, a very well-known newspaper, has reported that all Blogspot...
Read Complete Article
http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/001164.shtml
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can manage your account by logging into http://rss.blogstreet.com

The internet is shit!

The internet is shit dot org

Breeze Live v iConference

I wonder how different the Breeze Live product is from the old Wanadu iConference. Doesn't look too different...

Now it looks like iConference has been integrated into the MeetingPlace product suite...

Blogs in the Workplace

E M E R G I C . o r g: Blogs in the Workplace

NYTimes writes:

a growing number of businesses, government organizations and educational institutions are using Web logs to manage and improve the flow of information among employees. These blogs, not accessible to the public, typically allow many people to contribute entries that can be read by others in the organization.

It may be too soon to tell whether the corporate blog will emerge as a genuinely useful tool for business communications or simply another way for bores and blowhards to blather. But a growing circle of adopters swear by their blogs.

The telephone and wireless giant Verizon Communications uses a Web log to collect news and intelligence about the industry and competitors. "We used to spend lots of time e-mailing articles around but not keeping track of them," said Sean Byrnes, the lead architect on Verizon's project for Wi-Fi wireless Internet access. His group now consolidates such information in a series of topic-specific blogs.

Flash as standard

JD on MX
Flash as standard: Thought-provoking excerpt from a book by Ross Dawson at Internet.com here. The overall theme is the benefit of network effects, where the more people who use a technology the greater the positive returns to each. He uses...
Read Complete Article
http://www.markme.com/jd/archives/002802.cfm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can manage your account by logging into http://rss.blogstreet.com

Adobe discontinues Premiere for Mac

So Adobe will no longer be producing the Mac version of it popular Video Editing software Premiere according to this news article...

So is Apple going to become an appliance company? Asks Andrew Anker on VentureBlog

Slashdot on .NET

Just picked up this thread on Slashdot which is a discussion about the .NET scene 3 years after...

Makes some interesting reading despite the obvious prejudice...

Browser Cam

Designing Cross-Browser sites can be a pain (though it seems to have considerably eased in the past few years...)

However if you're a perfectionist and want to make sure your site looks good on all possible browser/OS combinations, Browser Cam looks like the right tool for you...

At $40 a month for unlimited use, it may be something web-design houses might want to look upon as a QA tool...

The database comes first

Had to follow a Gates interview with a Ellison interview...

[via Emergic]

Bill Gates' take on subjects from spam to Mozambique

Read all about it here...

A group is its own worst enemy

Reading Clay Shirky's article titled A Group is its Own Worst Enemy got a lot of mental threads running. This is an excellent look at Group Software and Behavioral Patterns that emerge from its usage. It's a long read, but worth it, especially if you're developing FlashComm applications...

[quote] We've had things like mailing lists and BBSes for a long time, and more recently we've had IM, we've had these various patterns. And now, all of a sudden, these things are popping up. We've gotten weblogs and wikis, and I think, even more importantly, we're getting platform stuff. We're getting RSS. We're getting shared Flash objects. We're getting ways to quickly build on top of some infrastructure we can take for granted, that lets us try new things very rapidly. [/quote]

[via Joel on Software]

Colorblind Web Filter

Found this on Kristin's Blog. It is a web filter to view pages as they would be seen by people who are color blind.

A nice resource if you're building accessible websites...

PS: Although you cannot filter Flash sites yet, the author does promise a Flash compatible version soon.

How democratic is the web?

David Hornik has an excellent article on VentureBlog:

Excerpt: But what about blogging? Is it evidence of democracy at work? My strong opinion is that blogging is indeed an excellent example of the democratization of information. Bloggers are turning journalism on its head in some respects. Look at the controversy surrounding my blogging of the Wall Street Journal Conference, when all the professional journalists were under a gag order. Suddenly the only source of information about what Gates and Jobs said at the conference is coming from bloggers, and the professional journalists are forced to cite bloggers as the source for their stories, rather than the speeches they themselves heard. Many bloggers are also able to report on highly specialized fields, so while they may not appeal as broadly as a New York Times, they have the potential of providing much more granular information. And that information has the capacity to have a greater effect on those targeted individuals who read it than the New York Times will have on the general public reading it. VentureBlog isn't intended to speak to the general Internet-surfing public -- it is intended to be read by entrepreneurs and VCs and students of the investment process, most of whom will hopefully find VentureBlog a better source for the sorts of information they find interesting than wading through the technology sections of the Times and the Journal.

Everything you wanted to know about User Personas but...

If you have read Alan Cooper's The Inmates are Running the Asylum you would have discovered an amazing interaction design tool called 'User Personas'. A persona is a user archetype you can use to help guide decisions about product features, navigation, interactions, and even visual design.

When I used to work in advertising we had something similar and at FCB I've used a methodology called 'Mind and Mood' to do persona development. This basically involved putting a representative user/audience in front of a camera and having them talk freely of things they do, how they work, how they play, just about anything. The insights you get from such an exercise is unbelievable.

Of course, the Cooper Methodology and Software Personas are slightly different but the essence is the same and they are both used as effective design tools. To get you started on User Personas I would recommend the Alan Cooper book highly followed by the following links:

Personas and User Profiles from the STC Usability SIG page
The Research Triangle
SBI-Razorfish Presentation
Personas, Participatory Design and product Development: An infrastructure for Engagement.
From User to Character
Constructing the User
Personas: Theory and Practice

[links thanks to the CHI-Web Mailing List]