Chapter 12 is about when the client wants to to make bad design decisions. Things such as animation, splash pages asking for too much info ect.
It is important that people do nto want to fil out forms. When they do they just want to fill out the least amount of infomation they can. If you ask for too much info people will lie to you and will send you incomplete forms. keep it simple and short and you will get more responces. On an upside it will make the client look better because they are nto asking the user to fil out too much infomation.
Also pizzazz is almost never a good thing. web sites do not need the pizzazz, sizzle or flash to them. Users normally just want to get the infomation they need and get out. Adding all the extra stuff just takes them longer to do that and angers them. Of course there are exceptions to the rules such as webpages that are suppose to be fun such as entertainment, branding and protfolio websites.
Of course it is possible to still work these ideas into a webpage and have them be usable. Remember that clients have a reason they are asking for the bad ideas and its our job as designers to figure out why they are asking them and come up with a better solution.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Week 6 Reading
Chapter 10 was all about goodwill towards the user. Basically I learned that you need to make things easy for the user to find and make sure you include infomation that the user could be looking for. If I have a question about something make sure that I can find it. It is also a good idea to make sure that while I am using the website that if i need infomation do not ask me for infomation that You don't really need. People do not like having to fill out forms that ask for infomation that is not needed for the task at hand.
Chapter 11 was about accessablitiy for websites. As a programer it is important to remember that a website needs to be accessable to people with disabilities. Not designeing to planing for htem and believing that the users who have disabilities are not going to use your website is a No-No. If the website is confusing to people who do not have disabilities it is goign to be confusing to peopel who so have disabilities to make not confusing. Use CCS and html as opposed to things such as flash or tables for webpage layout. Tings to also remember use alt image tags, properly label forms using HTML, have skip to main content links a the top of everypage, make all the content accessable using the keyboard and not the mouse, avoid things like javascript and do not use server side image maps.
http://www.w3.org/wai/
http://wave.webaim.org
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/wiwa/
Chapter 11 was about accessablitiy for websites. As a programer it is important to remember that a website needs to be accessable to people with disabilities. Not designeing to planing for htem and believing that the users who have disabilities are not going to use your website is a No-No. If the website is confusing to people who do not have disabilities it is goign to be confusing to peopel who so have disabilities to make not confusing. Use CCS and html as opposed to things such as flash or tables for webpage layout. Tings to also remember use alt image tags, properly label forms using HTML, have skip to main content links a the top of everypage, make all the content accessable using the keyboard and not the mouse, avoid things like javascript and do not use server side image maps.
http://www.w3.org/wai/
http://wave.webaim.org
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/wiwa/
Week 8 Reading
The reading was wealth of infomation. Something that I think I will find very useful in Creating Our App. From Creating custom icons because it is important to have the artwork be different to understanding how Iphones work and know what the commands are so we can plan properly for them. Also how its the little things that are important. As the saying goes: The Devil is in the Details.
http://matadornetwork.com/goods/hot-todesign-smartphone-apps/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/21/iphone-apps-design-mistakes-overblown-visuals/
Http://mashable.com/2010/07/07/designing-mobile-apps/
http://matadornetwork.com/goods/hot-todesign-smartphone-apps/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/21/iphone-apps-design-mistakes-overblown-visuals/
Http://mashable.com/2010/07/07/designing-mobile-apps/
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Week 5 Reading Response
Chapter 8: As designers we tend to think that most web users are like us. Features that we like about webpages are often that, things that we like not what everyone else likes. It leads us to believe there is an average internet user when there is not. Everyone uses the web differently. Often times the best way to figure out what works and doesn't work is to test it with other people.
Chapter 9: Focus groups are good for determining what the website needs to do and is done early on before any designing is done. Usability tests are good for seeing how people will use teh website. A good thing to do before a website is launched but not right before it is launched. Testing is important, always test even if it is just one person and test early and often. When testing people use screen recorders. test ins small groups, fix the problems and test again. test as much as you possibly can.
www.webpagecontent.com/arc_archive/124/5/
www.usefulusability.com/24-usability-testing-tools/
Chapter 9: Focus groups are good for determining what the website needs to do and is done early on before any designing is done. Usability tests are good for seeing how people will use teh website. A good thing to do before a website is launched but not right before it is launched. Testing is important, always test even if it is just one person and test early and often. When testing people use screen recorders. test ins small groups, fix the problems and test again. test as much as you possibly can.
www.webpagecontent.com/arc_archive/124/5/
www.usefulusability.com/24-usability-testing-tools/
Week 4 Reading Response
Chapter 7: The hompage is the most important part of the webpage. The hompage can not do it all. it is important to sometimes have things on other parts of a site, just make it easy for a person to get to what they are looking for. Make sure to have a short blurb about the webpage and what the pae is for. keep it short and do nto confuse it as a Advertisement. Use taglines, they can help to tell the user what your site is about but is not imporant for website where people already know wha tthe site is such as microsoft, apple, yahoo, google, amazon ect. Sometimes a New TO A WEB SITE link is advisable if your site can be somewhat complex.
www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/08/home-page-design.php
www.useit.com/alertbox/20031110.html
www.alistapart.com/articles/homepagesgoals/
www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/08/home-page-design.php
www.useit.com/alertbox/20031110.html
www.alistapart.com/articles/homepagesgoals/
Week 3 Reading Response
Chapter 6: States that in life we are given directions on where to go such as in a store. Stores have way finding systems, the web does not. SOme people are browsers and click on links while others are searchers and will use the search field almost right away. Navigation needs to be simple as possible going from general to specific. Make sure the user can tell where they are on the website. leave some kind of marker to tell them what page they are on. sorta like a street sign. Perstant navigation, global navigation is a good way to let users know where they are except for hompepages and forms. Make it easy to get to the begining again. have a home button or link the logo to the hompage. Make sure to tell people what they are searching for if you include a search, such as the webpage, this website, for a specific item such as a book or the whole internet.
Week 2 Reading Response
Chapter 3: Make the more important things stand out. Visually relate things that are related infomation wise to each other it includes nesting of objects and info. Web conventions are important because the are something that the user is already used to. Go with them, do not reinvent the wheel. Make it clear what is clickable and what is not. Keep things simple, declutter them, make them less busy.
Chapter 4: It is not impotant how many clicks on a webpage it takes you to get where you are going but how much thought you need to put into the choices of what to click on. treat people as if they are stupid or mindless. If it is something the user has to think about they make make a bad choice.
Chapter 5: Keep your writting simple. If there is info there that doesn't need to be there, take it out. It reduces noise, makes your content more revelent, and reduces the size of the page allowing users to read it faster. Remove all introduction from the main page. its useless and people skip over it. Remove instructions on your website, if instructions are needed the design is not working.
http://styleguide.yahoo.com/writing
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/12/minimalist-web-design-when-less-is-more/
http://w3schools.com/site/site_design.asp
Chapter 4: It is not impotant how many clicks on a webpage it takes you to get where you are going but how much thought you need to put into the choices of what to click on. treat people as if they are stupid or mindless. If it is something the user has to think about they make make a bad choice.
Chapter 5: Keep your writting simple. If there is info there that doesn't need to be there, take it out. It reduces noise, makes your content more revelent, and reduces the size of the page allowing users to read it faster. Remove all introduction from the main page. its useless and people skip over it. Remove instructions on your website, if instructions are needed the design is not working.
http://styleguide.yahoo.com/writing
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/12/minimalist-web-design-when-less-is-more/
http://w3schools.com/site/site_design.asp
Week 1 Reading Response
The introduction was pretty basic. The writer who is a usability expert, basically stated who the book was written for, People like my self who are not usability experts but are spending the time creating and designeing webpages.
Chapter 1 was also pretty simple. He kept hitting home the fact that the eaiser it is to use something the more people are going to be inclined to use it. Somthing that is hard to use is is not going to be used. He also kept talking about the choices we use for wording for buttons and links. Keeping it simple in its most simple form allows for users to make quick decisions with out having to think about what the link means.
Chapter 2 states how we spend very little time looking at each webpage and only look for the info we want. Instructions do not help as most people ingnore them and just start by guessing. He also states that if people are going to treat the web like a giant billboard then design as one.
http://www.mattdempsey.com
http://www.rzmota.com
http://taufiq-ridha.co.cc
Chapter 1 was also pretty simple. He kept hitting home the fact that the eaiser it is to use something the more people are going to be inclined to use it. Somthing that is hard to use is is not going to be used. He also kept talking about the choices we use for wording for buttons and links. Keeping it simple in its most simple form allows for users to make quick decisions with out having to think about what the link means.
Chapter 2 states how we spend very little time looking at each webpage and only look for the info we want. Instructions do not help as most people ingnore them and just start by guessing. He also states that if people are going to treat the web like a giant billboard then design as one.
http://www.mattdempsey.com
http://www.rzmota.com
http://taufiq-ridha.co.cc
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Concept statement
I have a love of traditional printing techniques. Lino cut printing, wood block printing, dry point, lithograph, etchings and engravings. I want my website to have a feel of those traditional printmaking techniques. I will use fonts that have an older world feel along with textures and wood texture that have that feel.
Sketches
I like to make my sketches small and use large markers to do my thumbnails. The reasoning for this is because i feel they give less detail, allow for more freedom and/or allow for diferent ideas to pop up from them.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
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