Just thought that I would write a little something before I walk into the second day of the UIE Web App Master Tour in Minneapolis.
So far, it has been a really fun and interesting experience. Lots of interesting people and really great presentations.
Jared Spool opened with an interesting presentation about some of the research that he and his team have been working on to try to define what the required skills that a design team needs to have to solve the difficult problems that today's application can bring to the table.
Stephen Anderson also shared his work on the psychology of the user and how what is known about psychology can help make applications more seductive. He walked us through the process of using mental notes cards to help with brainstorming. (I want a deck of those cards)
In the afternoon, Hagan Rivers spoke about navigation hell. That is a really large topic that seems a little dry. No worries, the presentation was pretty interesting and had 2 little gems in it: Navigation is its own application and Navigation is like storytelling.
Christian Crumlish spoke about social media. He broke it down into its basic components and the patterns that make things social. With simple examples and a few anti-patterns to be aware of.
The day ended with Jason Fried that walked us through the redesign of the project overview page of the Basecamp application. He even joined the conversation with his team live from the stage to comment on an iteration of the design that had just been posted on their chat. (he didn't like it)
Looking forward to today's presentations, I'll check in again tonight or tomorrow.
3 comments:
Are mental note cards similar to Oblique Strategies?
They are similar in the sense that they are a tool to be used to focus a discussion. In this case however, they are focused at generating ideas and provoking thought.
Each card is essentially a reminder of a particular artifact that is based om a psychological principle and encourages you to think about that principle as you are trying to work on your design. Concepts like "delighters". Little things that delight the user as they use your app.
Thanks for the notes, very enlightening! My colleagues attended the UIE Web App Tour in Minneapolis. I opted for An Event Apart earlier this month in Seattle.
Post a Comment