Big Ideas
-
Your New Excuse to Get an Xbox
by Mia Northrop | [7 comments]
Games are fun and immersive, while websites, for the most part, are not. How do we get users to suspend disbelief on the web? Mia Northrup examines how some techniques for developing games can lead to better digital experiences. more...
-
Connectors for Dashboards and Portals
by Joe Lamantia | [4 comments]
This article is the fourth in a series sharing a design framework for dashboards and portals. In this installment, Joe Lamantia demonstrates how to connect content containers to ease navigation at all levels of the architecture. more...
-
Building Block Definitions (Containers)
by Joe Lamantia | [4 comments]
Joe Lamantia dives deep into the components of the building block system. Each has a place in his design framework for dashboards and portals. See how you too can use these same elements in your work. (Part 3 in a series) more...
-
It Seemed Like The Thing To Do At The Time
by Joe Lamantia | [19 comments]
Joe Lamantia shares three stories of failure and how changing your self-definition can open the way to continued success. (Part 1 in the Lessons From Failure series.) more...
-
Managing the Complexity of Content Management
by Victor Lombardi | [9 comments]
Content management systems suck. Or so you would think from the strife heard from analysts and practitioners alike. And yet, many websites regularly publish vast amounts of information with superior control and ease compared to manually editing pages. more...
-
Speaking in Tongues
by Christina Wodtke | [15 comments]
In last month’s welcome, I set out to describe Boxes and Arrows purpose and goals. On a line by itself I stated this is not a place for jargon. I felt that was important enough to call out. I certainly am being called to task for that. more...
-
Being Shallow
by Grant Campbell | [11 comments]
Information Architects are often put on the defensive by spears flung by brethren in related disciplines.
In taking the accusations seriously and accepting truthswithin them,
Grant Campbell reveals greatest
strengths in shallowness, insularity, and being "relegated" to history. more... -
Transitioning from User Experience to Product Management
by Jeff Lash and Chris Baum | [7 comments]
Part 2 What will you need to leave behind to enter the wine-and-roses world of Product Management? In Part 2 of this series, Jeff Lash and Chris Baum give us a preview of what's in store for your new role and give us tips on how to prepare. more...
-
Communicating Complex Ideas
by Alex Kirtland | [8 comments]
Can prediction markets be used successfully in a corporate environment? Kirtland forecasts that making them easier to use just might be the key. Through simple guidelines, he shares strategies for benefiting the wise crowds. more...
-
Fear of Design
by Christina Wodtke | [48 comments]
Not so long ago, on my personal site I posted a little entry on design. And a comment was made: “IA is not design.” This sentence has sat vibrating in my head for months. It speaks of bravado in the face of fear. But why should Information Architects fear design? more...
-
Personas and the Role of Design Documentation
by Andrew Hinton | [25 comments]
Andrew Hinton digs into the origins of the persona and reflects on how business uses (or misuses) design documentation. more...
-
Introduction to the Building Blocks
by Joe Lamantia | [14 comments]
Joe Lamantia covers the design principles underlying a building block system and the simple guidelines for combining blocks together to create any type of tile-based environment. (Part 2 in a series) more...
-
Using Adoption Metaphors to Increase Customer Acceptance
by Sarah A. Rice | [17 comments]
We know a product has a lifecycle, but does the language we use for that product also have a lifecycle? From TiVo to the Internet Superhighway, Rice shows us how the metaphors we use have an evoluation all their own. more...
-
On A Scale of 1 to 5
by Alex Kirtland and Aaron Schiff | [12 comments]
Rating and reputation systems
can reduce uncertainty decisions during online transactions. Alex Kirtland and Aaron Schiff give us solid practical advice on how to design them successfully. more... -
All watched over by machines of loving grace: Some ethical guidelines for user experience in ubiquitous-computing settings [1]
by Adam Greenfield | [10 comments]
Guest essay by Adam Greenfield on the threat and promise of ubicomp: It should be clear that ubicomp represents a substantial raising of stakes; that its field of operation is by definition total; and that its potential for harm is such that the user experience is too important to leave to chance. more...
-
Mission Statements: Why You Might Want One
by Erin Malone | [37 comments]
I recently started a new job. The group I manage is new and all the people on my team have recently been transferred into this group. Additionally, each person has spent a lot of time in the recent past working on individual, solitary projects, and has not regularly been part of a collaborative team. more...
-
Are We There Yet?
by Christina Wodtke | [18 comments]
It's true: even simple projects get messy. Christina Wodtke comes clean on Swiss Army knives, the writing on the wall, and the untidy glory of the Boxes and Arrows redesign contest. more...
-
A Web 2.0 Tour for the Enterprise
by Shiv Singh | [28 comments]
While Web 2.0 sweeps the internet buzz machine, businesses are a bit slower to pick up the new paradigm. Shiv Singh shows how taking the leap and embracing the collaborative nature of Web 2.0 can provide great rewards. more...
-
Search Behavior Patterns
by John Ferrara | [6 comments]
People search for information online is often in idiosyncratic ways. It's rarely as straightforward as designers of search systems assume. John Ferrara gives us hope as he helps us think about a broader search ecology and identifies patterns in behavior that serve as the basis for good search design. more...
-
Better Content Management through Information Architecture
by Masood Nasser | [15 comments]
Part 1 Content Management Systems promise so much: content is easier to publish, easier to update, and easier to find and use. Lots of promises, but do CMSs really deliver? Masood Nasser examines why Content Management Systems often fail and shows how Information Architecture can come to the rescue. more...