UI Conferences: The Big D Design Conference 2010

Tomorrow kicks off the two day conference event here in Dallas. This will be the second  year of the Big D Design Conference. A host of speakers and tracks are available covering several tracks on social media, social strategy, user experience design, and coding and development.  This year also brings back the workshop track which is my personal favorite. The small crowd size allows for some really nice interaction with the entire group. I will also have several of my friends there so it looks to be a great time. Read More

UI Design Book Review: “Designing for the Greater Good”

I recently received a preview copy of “Designing for the Greater Good.” by Peleg Top & Jonathan Cleveland. This is a hard bound coffee table size book full of non-profit design examples. Often, the world of non-profit design is viewed as second rate and a burden or after thought. This book helps to show that just because a designer is not getting paid, that beautiful non-profit design can and does happen everyday. Inside you will find a showcase of some of the best non-profit design available today. Read More

SXSW 2010 – Day 4

Seductive Interactions:

The day has started and it’s been a crazy morning. Stephen Anderson a local Dallas person, is ready to speak. I’ve seen the presentation online. I think it’s much better in person the nuances you get from the live version is well worth it.  Stephen will be speaking at Big D in may.

Usability? Meh. Let’s talk about persuasion. Are you designing serendipity, arousal, rewards and other seductive elements into your applications? We’ll discuss specific ways that sites like Dopplr, iLike and LinkedIn leverage basic human psychology to motivate and shape online behaviors. Read More

SXSW 2010: Live Stream Day 2 From SXSW 2010

Today my schedule is jam packed. I’ll be attending several workshops to explore some new approaches to rapid design. You can follow me on twitter to get a ton of new resources and supplemental information. Read More

SXSW 2010: Live Stream From SXSW 2010

I’ve arrived at SXSW for year 4 of coverage. You never know what I’ll be posting next. . This year I may actually introduce some video interviews, and some other fun items. Stay tuned for pictures and my own insights from the panels at SXSW 2010. There is a lot of fun information coming out of SXSW 2010, so stay tuned!

Social Media Panel:

The first panel attended was quite packed. I took my see near the front and proceeded to unpack all my devices.  So let’s talk a little about social media.
If I had to classify this panel it was heavily focused on social media 101. What was nice about this was they went beyond all the hype media and focused on some of the other channels. Yes, there are other channels to social media. I teach people this all the time. Read More

UI Design Patterns: Exploration of Data and Visual Imagery in Application Design

I was recently examining some interesting articles on Engadget and noticed  how the web site has been experimenting with different visual representations of data. As many know, Engadget is a high traffic tech blog. While it has not been special outside of the tech domain of knowledge. My eye caught something that was neat when trying to find popular articles and a little bit different. Next thing I knew I was no longer looking at the articles and instead was focusing on the interface design. Read More

Book Review: “The Visual Miscellaneum” – Explore The Design World of Infographics In Only A Few Moments

I recently received a review copy of The Visual Miscellaneum A colorful guide to the world’s most consequential trivia.  This was a  great book from the author of Information is Beautiful. The books is a visual exploration of information and contains numerous examples of how to rethink ways in which we interpret data. Not all of the examples are what you would expect. The book is full of brilliant colors, shapes, sizes, charts, scatter-grams, area charts, and eye-popping visuals. It’s a great addition to any UI designers reference shelf.

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UI Design Lessons: A UI Designer in an Agile World, Get Me Out of Hell! – Part 1

When I travel to conferences and speak with people about their agile UX experiences I come across a lot of repeat questions. Most of these pleas for help are about time management,  rapid design sketching, traditional usability approaches, group design mentality, lack of support for UI development, and let’s not forget meeting burnout.

Even today UI designers hear the word AGILE and there mind is flooded with demon visualizations straight out of Dante’s Inferno.  Why has this methodology caused so many headaches to UI Designers world wide? Why are they terrified? Can we beat them, or should we join them? Read More