Designers… Mind your P’s and Q’s
Last modified on 2009-09-14 22:29:26 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Burger king just offended 2 countries with a new print and TV commercial campaign.
Wow! They didn't think that this would be offensive?!?!
Here’s the commercial ad… BTW the Spanish government is trying to get this pulled in Spain right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwpNQWrD8PY
Really? Nobody through the many steps that a design goes through thought that this might offend a few people? This would be pretty damn funny if they hadn’t made the “Luchador” a small person. But seriously, this is a stark reminder that what some people may find funny, others might just want to hunt you down in a large group with pitchforks and torches! I can’t help but think about our recent talks about market research and user testing. A commercial goes before a bunch of people before it ever makes it to air and a poster gets seen by a lot of people before it goes on display in public. Did they think to ask the Spanish community to look at this? I am honestly stunned when things like this happen this day and age. How’s about you?
Lighting a website, a subtle art?
Last modified on 2009-09-14 21:51:48 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Ok, why am I showing you an apple? Who ever thinks about lighting when building or designing a website? Actually, quite a few people do and it makes a big difference. As one who sometimes struggles with getting going and where to go once I do get going this was a nice article about how thinking about how lighting works in the real world can make a website really pop, or give it that wow factor, or even be good enough that people don’t even notice it (which is when you know you’ve really nailed it!) Check out this article from the always great Smashing Magazine.
5 Simple Tricks To Bring Light and Shadow Into Your Designs
Think about your users!!!
Last modified on 2009-09-14 21:51:10 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I know this should be drilled into us by now but look at how many bad examples there are out there in the online world. Step 1 in designing a site or more importantly a web app or form, one needs to think about the users.
This topic came to me by way of a new blog recommended by Melissa (yet another great recommendation, thank you Melissa!!!) Jason Robb of UI Scraps brings up a very basic yet valid point. A poignant point if you will.
Redbox fails on the small but nice touches.
In his blog post: Redbox makes me think Jason points out that on their checkout form, Redbox indicates your credit card expiration date with the full month names in the drop down list. I started thinking that a lot of sites do this but the good ones usually don’t. All credit cards have a 4 digit expiration date on them, but their site makes you choose the month name instead. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Dude, that’s being pretty damn picky no?” Well, actually, it isn’t. It reinforces the most basic element of designing for the web. Think about your users!
Jason even asks the question, “Hasn’t someone on their web team ever used a credit card before?” This is a great example of the kind of questions you (and all developers) should ask when first starting out designing a site.
- Who are we going after?
- What do they do?
- How computer savvy are they?
The list goes on and on but don’t overlook even the most simple of questions.
Social Networking cost me my (fill in the blank…)
Last modified on 2009-09-14 21:49:15 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
It’s funny, I overheard a conversation the other day that made me laugh and start thinking that this would be good blog fodder. A flight attendant was talking to some other attendants and she was asking everyone if they knew if Facebook showed when pictures were taken and what people could see when they looked at other people’s Facebook photos. The reason she was so worried was because she was planning on calling in sick the following weekend so she could go to a wedding.
Sites like Facebook and Myspace are getting people busted left & right.
People are getting fired and relationships are getting ruined because of pictures, status updates, and comments. People aren’t getting hired because more and more companies and hiring managers are checking up on people’s profiles online. I know this isn’t new but this recent article by Jake Widman on Computerworld talks about this and brings up some good privacy issues that come along part and parcel with social networking. I personally liked the quote, “Don’t do anything on Facebook you wouldn’t do in an airport.”
How Facebook mucks up office life.
Plan for Design, don’t muddle through Guesswork!
Last modified on 2009-09-14 21:49:30 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Taking the Guesswork Out of Design
This article from A List apart brings to bear a very simple yet detailed plan for designing a site. We’ve been told a thousand times as students to plan out and set goals. But this article lays out a groundwork that is easy to follow and understand. It also gives good reasons why you ought to do these things and how both the client and other design team members can benefit from this style of planning.
Attention maps? You’ve got my attention.
The article brings up the use of attention maps. This is a great planning strategy. It’s a visual map of your prioritized list of topics. This leads into actual page layout as well. It will help you visualize what should have the best real estate on your page. Also, the use of sliding scales to define opposing design traits is a great idea that allows people to quantify ideas. Instead of saying things like, “This looks too crazy.” It allows you to show how “Crazy” you might think something is. Great tip! Check out the article y’all.