Tag Archives: interaction design

Mega IA: Thinking Outside the Box

By Georgia Otto | Published: 11.18.2009
For the November meeting of the NHUPA, I did a 10-minute talk about the effects of social media on information architecture. This blog entry provides some additional resources for anyone interested in doing further research on the topic. You can also download the original slides and handout. For those who missed the presentation, I’ll give you a [...]
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Wireframing & Prototyping Tools: Balsamiq & Friends

By Georgia Otto | Published: 11.12.2009
For last month’s meeting of the NHUPA, a number of people did short presentations and demos of a variety of wireframing and prototyping tools. I presented Balsamiq, a low-fidelity wireframing tool best used for capturing ideas quickly, keeping people focused on concepts/layout or for teaching new user experience designers about wireframing. I figured someone might find it [...]
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Samsung Memoir – Product Review with Photos

By Georgia Otto | Published: 05.18.2009
About a month ago, I bought the Samsung Memoir. The other reviews out there are mostly written from the perspective of people who are highly experienced with using smartphones, comparing them, and writing about them. This review is from the perspective of never having used a smartphone before. Before we begin, I think it’s important [...]
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NHUPA – Design Slam!

By Georgia Otto | Published: 04.21.2009
Last month’s NHUPA meeting had an interesting format, the “Design Slam” workshop. The basic idea was that a non-profit organization presented goals and needs for a new website (to be designed from scratch, not a redesign). Then we all split into groups to plan and design a specific aspect of the site. We determined our [...]
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Is Banner Blindness a Myth?

By Georgia Otto | Published: 04.10.2009
Banner Blindness is a term which refers to the theory that users ignore page elements that have typical traits of an advertisement. Animation is one trait of advertisements which users have allegedly learned to ignore. However, a 2003 study by Ping Zhang and Nelson Massad for the Ninth Americas Conference on Information Systems shows that: Animation [...]
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Etsy Provides Innovative Ways to Browse Products

By Georgia Otto | Published: 04.3.2009
Etsy is a site where people can buy and sell homemade goods, craft supplies and vintage items. This site offers over a dozen unique and innovative ways to browse through products. My top 3 favorites are:
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Two New Tools for Quick Usability Testing

By Georgia Otto | Published: 03.6.2009
In a previous entry, I discussed the need for better UX design tools. Now, from the makers of OptimalSort, come two new tools for testing the usability of your IA and interface design. Treejack You input a sitemap in the form of a hierarchically structured list and assign tasks for test participants to perform. Participants navigate through the [...]
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Designing Web Forms – Label Placement & Primary vs. Secondary Actions

By Georgia Otto | Published: 02.13.2009
As previously mentioned, user experience practitioners often rely on common sense, convention and past experience when making design decisions. Usability research may seem like overkill, but even when you’re sure of your assumptions, it’s always good to double check. For instance, Luke Wroblewski once wrote an article in which he provided some very sensible guidelines for [...]
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Improving User Experience Design Tools – The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh is Weak

By Georgia Otto | Published: 01.15.2009
User Experience professionals are frequently concerned with bridging the gap between themselves and the users of systems they design. However, there is a parallel gap that needs to be closed between UX designers and the developers of UX design tools. A series of surveys conducted in 2006 by associates of The Information Architecture Institute revealed [...]
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