Nick Finck has created an excellent bibliography of UX web publications. The list is grouped into three main sections; Industry Publications (non-corporate ezines and/or printed magazines), Team & Company Publications (multi-author and/or business focused publications), and Personal Publications (practitioners who write). View the list here.
http://www.nickfinck.com/blog/entry/user_experience_publications/
This is a video on From The Couch podcast showing David Perel sketching wireframes for the Obox Theme. The first half shows David sketching, and during the second half he talks through the interface.
http://www.from-the-couch.com/post.cfm/title/wireframing-over-the-shoulder
This is the presentation from Jon Hicks' @media 2009 Icons for Interation talk in London, which includes speaking notes for every slide. Hicks demonstrates effective design and strategies for use, providing plenty of examples, and a link list that points to the resources and tips mentioned. You can download the PDF of the talk.
Fred Beecher wrote what he thinks are the nine essential characteristics you must possess to make a good software user experience designer, in reaction to a comment made about skills an IA should possess. It's an excellent read for those listing qualifications and evaluating UX Designers for hire, and a great list of qualities for job-seekers to demonstrate during interviews.
Elizabeth Buie also added a familiarity with HCI literature, and undboubtedly with HCI history, which I think should be there as well. For descriptions of each characteristic read the full article
http://userexperience.evantageconsulting.com/2009/07/characteristics-good-ux-designers/
Jonathan Snook shows a CSS technique for text rotation, which is supported in Webkit browsers, Firefox 3.5+, and IE 5.5+. Should be useful for ideas the little rotated year displays in the demo, but for me this would also be incredibly useful in dense angled headings for tables.
UX Bookmark lists a few printed UX books that are available to read for free online, including the following.
View the list with links on UX Bookmark.
http://www.theuxbookmark.com/2009/07/interaction-design/printed-books-on-user-experience-free-to-read-online/
Plasq designer, Keith Lang, recounts the story from computer folklore of how the rounded rectangle came to dominate the Mac OS, and discusses its effect on visual cognition. He gets Professor Jürg Nänni, author of Visual Perception to offer his opinion.
A rectangle with sharp edges takes indeed a little bit more cognitive visible effort than for example an ellipse of the same size. Our “fovea-eye” is even faster in recording a circle. Edges involve additional neuronal image tools. The process is therefore slowed down.”
Professor Nänni is saying that rounded rectangles are literally easier on the eye. Put another way, compared to square-edged rectangles, rounded rectangles are more computationally efficient for the human brain. To me, this is a revelation. An idea that at the very least demands more investigation.
The comment by Voideka provides a perfect visual reading of the difference between the rounded and sharp angled shapes.
"...to me the difference I perceive is a single line versus four lines. In other words, when corners are involved, the brain processes from point A to B, then B to C, and so on, until it completes a circuit. With rounded corners, the line never comes to a point, which we interpret as a stop, and so there is a single computation following the entire shape.
I think the key is in thinking of a point as a full stop (much like a period in a sentence).
The point being made is that a particular use of shape, color, position, and movement are not simply aesthetic decisions, but can impact visual cognition. Mullet Sano's Designing Visual Interfaces is another good source for the kinds of principles that can be used in practice. I haven't read Nänni's book, but have read a lot of literature on visual literacy, and tend to like the argument, however subtle, about the impact of the rounded shape on effort and perception.
http://www.uiandus.com/2009/07/27/theories/realizations-of-rounded-rectangles/
Liz Danzico sought out the advice of digital designers and designer conspirers to ask them to respond to the following statement:
So you’re thinking about becoming a designer? If I could tell you only one thing about going into the field, my advice would be ___________ .
The suggestions ranged from the philosophical to the pragmatic. Below are the ones that resounded with me.
Being empathetic helps designers create things that move people.
- Jennifer BoveDon't just fall in love with a solution and go full force and making it look great, but really make sure that whatever you design is filling a need in the world and has a purpose.
- Whitney Hess
When it comes to design, I'm a big believer in empathy, as are most IA/IXD's who invest in user research. Jennifer Bove's video focusses on this. Whitney Hess also hits on a similar point.
When it comes to finding solutions for people, I'm also a fan of JM Spool's "don't do anything stupid, don't do anything clever," although it's more about finding the middle ground between clever and stupid.
Be a champion of effortful study, the act of constantly tackling problems and challenges that lie at the very edge of your ability.
- Ryan Sims
I'm also a big fan of taking on new work that is unfamiliar in order to be innovative and improve one's skills. I love what Bill Buxton and Paula Scher have to say on this topic. Ryan Sims, also states it rather succinctly and points out that there will be dues to pay if you want the experience and wisdom.
Have undying, unending passion for what it is you're doing. You'll run up against people who don't understand, who don't want to pay for it, who don't respect it. Ultimately none of that matters if you have the passion to make that happen.
- John Kolko
Finally, I think the thing that I agree with most, whether it has to do with design or knitting or whatever you do, is that you have to be passionate.
If you don't believe that passion is important, or that you can't get you far without talent, I suggest watching A Man Named Pearl, the documentary about a self-taught topiary artist who, prompted by a bigoted comment, proves to everyone around him that hard work and passion are what matter.
http://interactiondesign.sva.edu/blog/entry/video_notes_from_the_field/
Holger Struppek has written an article describing the design and prototyping process for the redesign of the Wells Fargo ATM user interface by Pentagram. This is a rare, in-depth look at the prototyping process for an interface that we come into contact regularly.
The agency was contracted to abandon the prior touch screen/solid state UI, and transform the software to work with touch screen interfaces only and improve flow and visual design. There's some discussion of research considerations (environment, check scanning concerns), and excellent description of the design choices for button design, layout, and behavior, including the smart shortcut feature, which acts as a history-based shortcuts area for frequently-used features, and a deep look at the check deposit flow. I also appreciated the description of the physical factors of ATM screens and environments that affected contrast and positioning of controls.
SEOmoz user chenry posted some i8nteresting data showing captcha's effect on conversion rates vs. reduction in spam. Chenry was given the task of eliminating spam that was being submitted through a web form. Disliking the captcha solution, he decided run a test to compare the data after adding captcha for a period of time, with data captured after turning captcha off. He made the following observation:
From the data you can see that with CAPTCHA on, there was an 88% reduction in SPAM but there were 159 failed conversions. Those failed conversions could be SPAM, but they could also be people who couldn’t figure out the CAPTCHA and finally just gave up. With CAPTCHA’s on, SPAM and failed conversions accounted for 7.3% of all the conversions for the 3 month period. With CAPTCHA’s off, SPAM conversions accounted for 4.1% of all the conversions for the 3 month period. That possibly means when CAPTCHA’s are on, the company could lose out on 3.2% of all their conversions!
The important data point seemed to be this: "159 total failed conversions while the CAPTCHA was on". There were no failed conversions when captcha was off, but they also got the spam. Interesting observation, and a number that's pretty significant if we're talking missed sales or signups I suppose.
Read the article for a look at the data and comments.
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/captchas-affect-on-conversion-rates