THE WEB CAN BE A BETTER PLACE TO SURF AND DO BUSINESS !
Last Updated: October 30, 2004
[September 30, 2001]
Microsoft Research: Operating System Directions for the Next Millennium - "We believe it is time to reexamine the operating system's role in computing. Operating systems exist to create an environment in which compelling applications come to life. They do that by providing abstractions built on the services provided by hardware. We argue that advances in hardware and networking technology enable a new kind of operating system to support tomorrow's applications."
Nick Usborne: Words - the last, best way to differentiate yourself online.
[September 27, 2001]
IBM: Seeking Out That "Well-Crafted User Experience" - "To achieve a true user-centered solution that will achieve your business goals, you need to address content, design and information architecture before you make your software decision."
Intranet Journal: Five Winning Intranet Characteristics
Wired News: Web News Still Fails Blind Users - "Experts agree that more needs to be done to ensure that people with disabilities can access information online during times of crisis."
BBC: The font of all personality - "The choice of font used in e-mails and type-written letters could say more about an individual's personality than their creative writing skills."
[September 24, 2001]
Gerry McGovern: Fast downloading, information rich websites - "People who use the Web want pages that download quickly. They want websites that are full of useful information. They want to be able to customize these websites so that they can get to the information they want as quickly as possible. These are the results of a Jupiter Media Metrix study published on September 10, 2001. They reinforce the results from study after study of what people want from the Web."
youngpup.net: Iconologic and Standards - "In this paper, I set out to convince you - the account manager, the technical architect, or the visual designer - the value of building webpages that are 'standards compliant'."
[September 23, 2001]
Webmonkey: Browser Chart - "One of the biggest pains about making Web pages is having to keep track of which browsers support what features."
[September 21, 2001]
Jennifer Fleming: Interface and Interaction Design - "For a successful navigation design, it's important to consider the interface as well. The interface is the intermediary between users and content, an interpreter and guide to the complexities of a site. In the graphical environment of the Web, interface design has to do with constructing visual meaning. The happy marriage of architecture and interface--of logical structure and visual meaning--creates a cohesive user experience. This marriage is crucial to helping users get around on the Web." (O'Reilly)
[September 20, 2001]
Search Engine Watch: Finding Disaster Coverage At Search Engines - "Following the unprecedented terrorist attacks on the United States today, web users turned en masse to search engines for information. It took those services some time to adjust to the demand, but as the day progressed, many came up to speed."
[September 19, 2001]
Rob Rosenberger: A computer virus can't destroy a skyscraper
Bohmann Usability: Email notifications: Making unsubscription easy - "Unsubscribing email newsletters and other email notification services can be an unpleasant and time-consuming experience. Most unsubscribe problems can be avoided by making the subscribers email visible and linking to an unsubscribe page in all emails."
IBM: The cranky user: Making URLs accessible - "Users benefit when URLs are kept readable and understandable, and when the structure of a URL reflects the structure of the site. ... The structure of a URL is a powerful and informative tool. It provides a way out of your navigational structure."
[September 18, 2001]
Scott Berkun: The myth of optimal web design - "The secret is not to focus exclusively on the pursuit of tools, or perfect methods: it's in the development and cultivation of true design intuition, through experience, of the people that use them."
Jakob Nielsen: Mobile Devices Will Soon Be Useful - "Design usability and simplicity are key, particularly for the automotive market where complexity can be dangerous."
IBM: Personalized Web sites in a jiffy - "Steve shows how to create personalized Web sites that let visitors customize their view of the site and the information they see. This server-side application, for PHP developers with some experience, stores user profiles in a MySQL database and dynamically generates information using PHP. Steve also introduces the new session management features in PHP4 and discusses efficient PHP coding."
[September 17, 2001]
Shana Tova - Happy New Year !
The Jewish New Year starts tonight. LucDesk wishes its readers a year of health, happiness and above all, peace.
Dan Bricklin: The Internet is now a dominant tool for regular people
NYTimes.com (free registration required): Internet Surpasses Its Original Goal - "Nearly 40 years after it was conceived as a method of maintaining communications in the event of an attack on the United States, the Internet last week had the first real test of its original goal."
Web Informant: Why you should wait until next year to switch to Linux - "Since I have an AMD Wintel PC, my options are to move to Windows 2000 or XP, or choose one of the Unix versions such as Linux or BSD. I choose Unix for two major reasons: avoiding the Microsoft 'tax' and improved security."
[September 16, 2001]
InfoWorld: Microsoft Research at work on interface for Web services - "The basic idea is to make computing devices more like a living, breathing personal assistant."
How Braille Began - "Whether through software translators or direct entry, Braille turned out to be extraordinarily well suited to computer-assisted production due to its elegance and efficiency."
[September 14, 2001]
Web Techniques: "Effective information architecture starts with defining your site's goals and its target audience."
James Cook, M.D.: The Modern Patient (1999) - "I recently realized that what I want as a patient does not fit the traditional doctor's view of patient desires. I've decided to outline what I want as a 'modern patient,' so people designing healthcare systems can better meet my needs. ... I want to give my doctor feedback, and tell him the treatment did or didn't work. I want to get an e-mail a month later, asking me if my back pain went away, and offering me an appointment if it didn't. I want reminders about my labs, my blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring."
Cultural Dimensions and Global Web User-Interface Design - "The user-interface development process focuses attention on understanding users and acknowledging demographic diversity. But in a global economy, these differences may reflect world-wide cultures. Companies that want to do international business on the web should consider the impact of culture on the understanding and use of Web-based communication, content, and tools."
How Companies Can Track Your Movements on the Internet
[September 8, 2001]
"It is more honorable to repair a wrong than to persist in it."
-- Thomas Jefferson: Address to Cherokee Nation, 1806.
What does an information architect do?
Wired News: Seven Deadly Email Thoughts - "Should you worry about someone reading your private email?"
[September 7, 2001]
IBM: Cost Justifying Ease of Use - "Ease of use brings an added value that culminates in a higher degree of customer satisfaction, continued business and higher revenues. ... And one of the best ways to prevent problems from occurring, and to protect your development investment at the same time, is to keep your users/customers involved through the entire development cycle."
[September 6, 2001]
Cooper Interaction Design: Making use of user research - "Use ethnographic techniques to gain clues about what users need and what they expect while using usability testing to rate the effectiveness of specific tools, interface elements, and design choices." (by Gretchen Anderson)
PC Magazine: Site Design as Business Decision - "... And the best approach is to focus on usability issues from the start."
ACIA: People: An Interview with Peter Bogaards - "... Disciplines such as business modeling, experience design, object technology, and management need to work together under severe time constraints in a coordinated fashion."
NYTimes (free registration required): Windows XP: Microsoft's New Look for Fall, in Size XXL - "The bad news is that XP is power-mad. Microsoft's official minimum requirements are a 300-megahertz processor and 64 megabytes of memory. But that's like saying that the minimum requirements for marriage are two adults and a blood test; in real life, there's more to it than that." (by David Pogue)
First Monday: Exploring Users' Experiences of the Web (via WebWord)
Danny Sullivan: The End for Search Engines? - "... the long term strategy for survival should be to provide a great search product along with complementary ways to earn money off that product."
Google Zeitgeist - Search patterns, trends, and surprises according to Google - "... lists, graphs, and other tidbits of information related to Google user search behavior."
[September 5, 2001]
Charles Connell: The Relationship Between Software Aesthetics and Quality (Most Software Stinks!) - "Most software design is lousy. Most software is so bad, in fact, that if it were a bridge, no one in his or her right mind would walk across it. If it were a house, we would be afraid to enter. The only reason we (software engineers) get away with this scam is the general public cannot see inside of software systems. If software design were as visible as a bridge or house, we would be hiding our heads in shame." (via myNakada)
[September 4, 2001]
Grokdotcom: The Eyes Have It! - "If you know how folks gather information visually from their browser windows, you've got a powerful design tool you can use right now to support your mission of persuading your visitors to take the action you want."
[September 3, 2001]
Gerry McGovern: Are online communities working? - "Around 1995/96, it was believed by many, including myself, that online (virtual) communities were going to have a radical impact on the way people socialized and did business. Five years on, there are lots of these 'communities'. However, few have figured out how to make any money out of them, and their impact has remained marginal."
Gamasutra: Replayability, Part 2: Game Mechanics - "... Designing for replayability is the purest test of the game designer. Replayability requires a simple, compelling, addictive challenge and the most natural, frictionless user interface possible." (by Ernest Adams)
[September 2, 2001]
Michael Dertouzos: "We made a big mistake 300 years ago when we separated technology and humanism."
Jakob Nielsen: Designing Web Ads Using Click-Through Data - "Search engine ads are one type of Web advertising that can actually work. To create the best ads, do quick experiments and redesign ads based on usability principles for online writing. Doing so helped us increase ad click-through by 55% to 310%."
UIE: Driving Innovation and Creativity through Customer Data
Advogato: Why use Linux?
O'Reilly Network: Video Advertisements Embedded Onto Yahoo Pages
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