The web vs. newspapers
A good case study from Publishing 2.0 on how ‘old publishing’ concepts are still struggling with the new forms the web are forcing upon it.
Adobe’s Flash, user interface and the iPhone
A great article that discusses why Adobe’s Flash will struggle to happily coexist on Apple’s iPhone – and not for technical reasons. The key issue is that Flash does not use native controls (buttons, drop-down lists, etc.), but instead lets a designer reinvent them. In terms of usability this is a major problem on computers, but when it is transferred to the mobile world, it creates an even larger issue.
Hugg, the enviro-Digg clone
Talking of Digg, take a look at this slightly clunky clone called Hugg, from Treehugger, the environmental issues blog.
Digg and brands that are loved
People moshing at a ‘chatshow’? That’s Digg. For a website that essentially makes it easy to share web articles with other people and see what is the most popular, Digg has certainly created an incredible brand that people really love. Zoe Margolis of The Guardian talks to Kevin Rose, one of the founders of Digg.
Observations on how to grow a community
George Oates from Flickr talks about what they learnt building and working with their community. Very relevant for us right now…
Search engines over web domains
More and more people just use Google to get to websites rather than bother typing in a hard to remember web address. Read more on Search Engine Journal.
FoxLand goes all a Twitter
While we have had mixed feelings about Twitter in the past, we’re working with a client on a super simple news feed system (wanting to avoid a blog or full news system) and we realised that Twitter would be ideal. With that in mind FoxLand has finally climbed on board, as have Christian, Calum and Andrew.
The making of Monocle
A fantastic article about how the website for the magazine Monocle came about, the thinking behind it, the design and the style. Written by Dan Hill who has worked for the last year on the site, it goes into great detail about the challenges staying true to the style and brand of the magazine while also working in the medium of the web. There are many good insights made, many that remind me of our projects. For example, while discussing whether user-generated content should be in the Monocle site: “my view was that we didn’t need comments on the site as people increasingly have their own spaces to talk, discuss, comment – whether that’s blogs and discussion fora, or the social software of Facebook et al.” — an insight many organisations could learn from and feel comfortable about. Monocle, the magazine and website, are also recommended.
Search vs. web addresses
In testing we know that many users search for websites rather than ever enter a web address, even when they search using a term such as “fox-land.co.uk”. As Cabel Sasser notes, in Japan things have gone one step forward, and web addresses are now not even used in advertising.
The return of the mixtape
Suddenly, mixtapes are the new ‘new thing’. In an age of endless digital music on tap, both Mixwit and Muxtape are attempting to bring back that magic of making mixtape compilations for your friends. Both methods are pretty nice looking, but ultimately I’m a sucker for the retro look of Mixwit’s dirty tatty tapes. Note: for people under the age of 30 or so, find out what cassette tapes and mixtapes actually are.
Advertising on the web
The web is a buying medium, not a selling medium. Matthew Creamer in AdAge on online advertising.
The Obama brand
Newsweek on the Barack Obama “brand” – including a reference to how Hillary Clinton is actively copying it, typeface and all.
Star Wars vs. Saul Bass
Imagine if Saul Bass had designed the Star Wars intro. Via Jason Kottke.
Top 10 Application-Design Mistakes
“Usually, applications fail because they (a) solve the wrong problem, (b) have the wrong features for the right problem, or (c) make the right features too complicated for users to understand”. Read Jakob Neilsen’s Top 10 Application-Design Mistakes.
Context and designing applications
While we work on complex web applications, such as for CBD/TPdb or Faculty of 1000, we have to consider the balance of ease-0f-use and creating context for users so that they can understand what they are looking at. Cathy Shive discusses ‘Computer Administrative Debris’ in applications (found via John Gruber).