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PREVIOUS
Yahoo!
at last... Best of the Cool Award... Multimedia, the Web & CD-ROM...
[Jan. 2000]
Our new
look... Goodbye, AOL...
Tell your friends... Better critiques...
[Dec. 1999]
What I
know about you... Teaching computer-based media... NY Minute wins
Best of Show... Nudes in Parma
[Nov. 1999]
Graffiti
& hip-hop... More student involvement = better critiques... Photoshop
5.5 vs. Fireworks 2
[Oct. 1999]
Swiss
Design Quiz... Barcelona... AIGA / NASAD briefing
paper... Response to Upgrade Junkies, Pt.
1
[Sept.
1999]
Upgrade
junkies,
Part 1.
[Aug. 1999]
Report
from International Design Conference at Aspen
[July 1999]
"Interactive
Design" or "New Media?"
[July 1999]
If no author
name is show, article is written by Al Wasco, author of this
website.
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on any article and/or suggestions for future articles by clicking on
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...web usability hits the fan
Like the stars aligning in the heavens,
two things happened almost simultaneously to make web usability the
hot topic this month:
The
argument in a nutshell:
Usable websites as defined by Nielsen
and others are fast, easy, consistent, predictable: they give users
what they want as quickly as possible. Yahoo.com
is considered a prime example of usability.
On the
other hand, many designers believe that splashy graphics and entertaining
animation make for a better experience, one that users will wait for.
They want to push the envelope, to expand the possibilities of what
can be done on the Web, rather than sacrificing innovation on the altar
of download speed. An example: Word.com.
Highlights
of the debate:
- The
Art Director at Word.com announces a redesign that exactly mimics
the Yahoo.com look. [link to article no longer
available]
- An incredulous
designer asks "Is this for real?" and others reply. [link
to article no longer available]
- The
Art Director at Word.com reconsiders. [link
to article no longer available]
- Another
Web "expert" weighs
in.
And so
on. An interesting debate. What do YOU
think?
Forget
the Valentine card?
OK, so maybe it IS a holiday
conjured up by the greeting card & chocolate industry, but if
you still want to send your honeybunch love & kisses, you have
plenty of online options. You can send free greetings from big websites
like Amazon, Apple Computer, American Greetings as well as many small
ones (type "free email greeting cards" into your favorite
search engine).
E-cards.com
has a good variety of valentine
designs, and using their website generates income for the World
Wildlife Fund. (Too
ordinary? Try an arty
card from MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art.)
C-A,
N-A, D-A, eh?
I overheard a drunken group
of tourists chanting this on a Mexican beach last week. Reminds me
that I'd like to welcome the many Canadian visitors who find this
website via Sympatico.com.
After seeing a lot of hits coming from this URL I decided to check
it out.
Think
of it as a more colorful version of Yahoo! with a strong maple flavor
(or flavour). In English & French.
Hear
Canadians tell how
they "pass" in American society. They're everywhere, you
know. Peter Jennings! Pamela Anderson! and Captain Kirk, too.
(May 30, 1997 episode of This
American Life. Requires RealAudio player)
Instant
gratification
Beginning with this issue you'll notice
"buy it now" links where books & CDs are reviewed. We've
joined the Amazon.com Associates program, which returns to us a small
percentage of the purchase price (with no added cost or effort for
you). Why?
-
If
a book is reviewed here we're enthused about it and think you might
be too, and might want your own copy.
-
I've
used Amazon for years, not just because of its huge selection and
reasonable prices, but because of its prompt and effective customer
service. If something gets screwed up, they fix it.
-
Interactive
Design Forum has expenses but (at present) no income. Every
little bit helps.
If you
prefer to support your local book/CD store, I encourage you to do so.
If you like the convenience and selection available online, you'll be
supporting Interactive
Design Forum when you click through from this site.
Tough
job, but someone's gotta do it
A
group of nine of us left chilly Cleveland,
Ohio for a week on Isla Mujeres, a lovely, quiet island a 20-minute
ferry ride across the bay from Cancun, Mexico. Even on sleepy Isla,
though (population 8,000), I was surprised to find at least 5 internet
cafes.
My
favorite local sight (well, if you don't count the topless beach)
was the town cemetery. Angel statues watch over graves topped by
small altars filled with personal items: pictures, flowers, etc.
They're poignant still-lifes: stories
half-told. If you know about this Mexican custom, please write
me. I'd like to learn more.
As part
of my commitment to you, my friends, I invested a few pesos to check
how Interactive Design Forum looked south of the border. The
good news: it looks the same. The
bad news: despite a 56k modem, the connection speed the day I tested
it was MUCH slower. A good demonstration of Nielsen's argument that
smaller is always better.
Tell
a friend or colleague
It's
easy to tell your friends about Interactive Design Forum: send their
email address(es) to feedback@awdsgn.com
and we'll add them to our email
list for a monthly update message. Or
just click on the Recommend-It icon at left
to generate an automatic email message right now.
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