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Saturday, June 30, 2001

Nothing to do with IA

Last night my sister, a friend and I went to a club in the tenderloin. The friend drove, and we parked on 6th, across from tu lan-- a heavily trafficked street. Heavily trafficked by drug addicts, street people and society's underprivileged. We came out two hours later to find the window broken into. They'd hurriedly gotten into the trunk, grabbing my sister and her friend's two bags.

I didn't carry a bag, and my jacket was untouched, but my sister had been apartment hunting lately, and almost everything she valued, including many artifacts of her identity, was in her bag. She spent 2-3 a.m. last night and 8 a.m. this morning trying to protect her identity, as well as canceling cards, disabling her phone, freezing her checks etc. She's an office manager for an university, underpaid and will be unable to replace her birthday/christmas gift, or the fruits of her tax refund. She lives a precarious life, making enough to live and a little bit more. Which means when something bad happens, there isn't much to do except cry a bit and move on. It's frustrating, to work hard and finally get ahead, and then just have it gone.

I've been robbed twice, and the worst thing is the personal items the thieves will discard-- they mean nothing to the thieves and everything to you and it's still taken away. In seattle my bag was stolen from my sister's van, and my sister and I walked down the nearby alleys to see if we could find anything. We were lucky-- we found my sketchbook, a trail of origami paper, the novel I was reading and other personal items scattered every few feet as if the theif had been emptying the bag as s/he ran. In Europe I wasn't as lucky. My bag was stolen and the item I still mourn was a sketchbook with about 30 drawings of Paris in it. I'm sure it ended up sitting in a trash can somewhere in Avignon.

Another friend told me a story about how she was in the lower haight, some years ago, and was jacked by three girl drug addicts. She was beaten with one of those sticks that are used to hold up sapling trees. This particular stick had a couple nails that ripped up her skin. She told me she would fall, and then get up and didn't know why she kept getting up, because the girls would beat her again. Her mind had stopped working. When she told me this story, as we drove through the now-gentrified lower haight I had a chill-- how easily she could have died, how easily I could have been cheated out of meeting one of the dearest people in my life.

San Francisco has always been startlingly beautiful and now it is so cleaned up and gentrified I think we've started considering it our personal Disneyland. Safe and clean and full of adult games, like "live in the heart of the mission" or "clubbing in dangerland". My sister and I started to walk down an alley to see if the thieves had thrown her bag in a trashbin or a corner, and we did see a pile of discarded purses (though not hers.) Then I looked up, saw several men in black parkas, and encouraged my sister to quickly return to the main street where we hailed a cop.

When I got home -- after my sister talked to several remarkably unhelpful institutions -- I called my husband. I just wanted to hear his voice, hear him tell me about his ordinary day at his Dijon university. In five days I'll know if he can come here for good, if the INS will allow us to finally live in one country as man and wife. At that moment I felt a strong urge to just see that he still existed. I was checking to see if my valuables were safe.

Why I am telling you this, why am connecting these events? I guess I'm warning you to remember that this world we live in is always dangerous, is never a themepark. Know what matters to you. Keep your valuables close at hand.

What is most precious to you?

Thursday, June 28, 2001

jargon is everywhere

On peterme.com, Peter contemplates evil VC and Evil Jargon.

Let's play a little game: match the jargon to the company.

go

Tuesday, June 26, 2001

bookmark this

Richard I. Anderson -- Addressing Obstacles to User-Centered Design

"Why do many organizations resist or use poor excuses for user-centered design methodologies (while sometimes claiming to be user-centered)? "

unemployeed and idle?

She's loking for poor unemployed dot-commas who will do anything to make their next SUV payment.
Pose Nude with my Sock Monkeys

Friday, June 22, 2001

it was just a matter of time...

Usability Analysis of Useit.com

This report is an analysis of factors affecting usability for the UseIt.com, a web usability site authored by Jakob Nielsen, renowned web usability curmudgeon.

if I could have one book on my wish list

The Arion Press Catalogue:"The Physiology of Taste"
A book on food, written by the king of explaining, translated by the queen of the lucious desctiption, illustrated by Wayne Theibaud! My hero! Sigh..... I'm starting a penny jar now.

I own a beaten-up paperback of Physiology of Taste, it will have to do for now.

Thursday, June 21, 2001

Jeff Recomends Stalking

Stalk Your User (Web Techniques, June 2001)

"After all, sitting down with users and watching them try to accomplish tasks with the product can be incredibly valuable. However, usability testing assumes that there's something to test%u2014either a prototype or final version of a product that's on the path to being launched. But how do you know what to build in the first place?

should we celebrate too?

Architecture Week 2001 Official Site

Architecture Week brings architects, writers, dancers, filmmakers and others together for a nationwide celebration of contemporary architecture. You have the opportunity to get involved with events which include building previews and tours, lectures, exhibitions and installations.

bladerunner is now

from 1964's First Things First Manifesto

"Many of us have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this view of design. Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact. To some extent we are all helping draft a reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse."

That a set of individuals-- any individuals-- owned up to being partially to blame for creating a world in which we are "citizen-consumers" makes me tingle with excitement... responsibility! Ownership! Willingess to clean up after your own mess!

but I am sad to read the addendum, created when the manifesto-- worthy manifesto-- was signed by recent designers...

"22 visual communicators signed the original call for our skills to be put to worthwhile use."

"Put our skills to worthwhile use"? What are you waiting for? Put your own goddamn skills to worthwhile use. Control your fate. Make a difference, don't make a difference, make your own trouble... too good for advertising? Make advertising better. Too good for product design? Make the products better.

Make the world better one toothbrush at a time.

(no, I am not kidding)

in other news
I can't remember the last time the news moved me to tears. A blog has never moved me to tears. But Mike's recent blog entry on a news article-- a news article I might have read and just shrugged at, helpless again at the horror of the world-- Mike allowed me to feel the horror of the news and cry. Maybe that is the job of art sometimes, to make us feel again.

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

Defining the damn thing

I've decided to start collecting definations of IA. Feel free to add any you come across or heck, make one up!

From Addwise

"Information Architecture (IA) is the process of organizing and presenting data to the user in a meaningful, clear and intuitive manner. IA is the foundation of all great websites. All other design aspects - form, function, metaphor, navigation, interface, interaction, visual, and information systems - build upon the groundwork of information architecture. Initiating the IA process is the first thing you should do when designing a website."

webworld's interview with lou

"Information architecture involves the design of organization and navigation systems to help people find and manage information more successfully." "

Lou again, on O'reilly

Information architecture involves the design of organization, labeling, navigation, and searching systems to help people find and manage information more successfully.
Organization systems are the ways content can be grouped. Labeling systems are essentially what you call those content groups. Navigation systems, like navigation bars and site maps, help you move around and browse through the content. Searching systems help you formulate queries that can be matched with relevant documents.

Jesse James Garrett in his "Elements of user Experience" says

Information Architecture: Stuctural design of the informaiton space to facilitate intuive access to content.

Stephen Downes gives a philosophical definition

Well - what is an information architect?

From my own experience, I would say that the practitioners are professionals, versed in every aspect of web design, adept communicators, and gifted visualizers - they are people who eat, sleep and dream web design and structure. But you can't put that on the job description.

Or - as I Sing the Body Electronic author Fred Moody observes: information architects are the sort of people who understand that the instructions on the shampoo bottle are just wrong: "Lather. Rinse. Repeat."

Squishy says

Information architecture is the science of figuring out what you want your site to do and then constructing a blueprint before you dive in and put the thing together.

Shel Kimen says

"What is information architecture?
At its most basic, information architecture is the construction of a structure or the organization of information. In a library, for example, information architecture is a combination of the catalog system and the physical design of the building that holds the books. On the Web, information architecture is a combination of organizing a site's content into categories and creating an interface to support those categories. It stems from traditional architecture, which is made up of architectural programming and architectural planning. "

Somebody explained what an IA does to her mom like this

"You know when you're on a website and you see a bunch of navigation choices to click on? I'm the one who decided what the choices are, what they are called and where they take you when you click"

Much like our real world namesakes, we design spaces for human beings to live work and play in. The big difference is the materials we work with: cement is replaced with thesauri, timber with hierarchies and steel with interaction flows.

information architecture - a whatis definition is based on technical writing....

"information architecture is the set of ideas about how all information in a given context should be treated philosophically and, in a general way, how it should be organized."

and finally (because I have got to get some work done today)
Mattie Langenberg

Information architecture, as the name implies, is basically about taking content and a structure to present that content to an audience. Whether the content is intended for a private audience on an intranet or for the public, it is the information architect's job to ensure that information is well-organized and presented in an easily accessible interface.

[continued]

Tuesday, June 19, 2001

best bounce yet

In these days of lay-offs I get a lot of mail bounces.

They usually look like this (address changed to protect the innocent)

Your message
did not reach the following recipient(s):

c=US;a= ;p=Breakaway;o=NYDataCenter;dda:SMTP=blurp@blurp.com; on Tue,
19 Jun 2001 17:55:17 -0400
The recipient name is not recognized
The MTS-ID of the original message is: c=US;a=
;p=Breakaway;l=EXGATE-NY0106192155M8FTW93F
MSEXCH:IMS:Breakaway:NYDataCenter:EXGATE-NY 0 (000C05A6) Unknown
Recipient

This is the first one I've ever seen in English.

Hello,

Thank you for your message addressed to an Organic, Inc. address. The addressee is no longer working with Organic. Your message is being returned to you unopened and unread. We encourage you to reroute your message to another Organic employee.

http://www.organic.com/

No traceroute nonesense, no extraneous machine code...

Monday, June 18, 2001

word spreads fast

Lou Rosenfeld has joined the ranks of the bloggers. What is unique about the "bloug" is that it comes with a special narcissim guarentee. You'll get no such thing from me (though perhaps I should consider the warning symbol...)

no clue

5 Cats

I have no idea what sport they are playing.

But I'd probably buy a t-shirt.

Saturday, June 16, 2001

liar-centered design

Flipping through the latest Industry Standard, I came across this article, The Great Pretenders

Companies that offer free magazine subscriptions in exchange for survey information are sitting on a landfill of garbage data, because in the questionnaire universe, everyone is a senior executive with the power to approve millions of dollars in hardware, software and consulting services. Cubicle workers may not have money, power or prestige, but they're getting the same junk mail as their bosses.

The article also records a syndrome endemic to focus groups: not only do people lie to get into the groups, they then lie to get the approval of the other focus group members-- flirty women adjusting their opinions to get the approval of the male members of the group and vice-versa. Their opinions just can't be trusted.

At Carbon IQ we've luckily seen a lot less of this, partially because we do far more usability testing than focus groups so we don't have to deal with the vagueries of group dynamics. We have come across the occasional "professional tester"; a person who lies aobut how often they participate in user research studies so they can do a lot more of them and make the nice little stipend. One fellow not only did that, but was savvy enough to say when filling out the screener that he was a student. He was a student-- part-time. We recognized him as a fulltime local web developer, a profession we were specifically trying to avoid.

Otherwise we've caught folks by listening closely-- often they become comfortable in the course of the test and say something like "At the other test..." Oddly enough they are often willing to confess at the test they are repeat testers, even though they have lied on the screener. Perhaps because they feel they are already going to get their money. We've long taken the precaution of testing two more than the minimum needed, as much to be able to discard those who provide us with useless data as to cover for no shows.

As budgets tighten, more and more folks are doing guerilla usability testing. However, areas with high concentrations of web and software companies (such as San Francisco) start to become a problem for finding suitable test subjects. Between the preponderance of designers and developers and the fact that almost everyone has been to a test or two, it's hard to find an "average" user. My first piece of advice would be to hire a seasoned usability specialist and recruiter, but if that is out of the question, try these tricks:

• Write your screener carefully. Be very explicit in weeding out anyone who may design or build products. People who design can't ever seem to just use a product-- they are always moving into design mode. "If you move this to the upper right, I could find it more easily." or "Red would work far better for this button." Marketing and market research people are also problematic, as they are often thinking about how the test should be run as much as the product they are supposed to be using.

  Also ask if someone has *ever* held one of these jobs-- we had a test subject once who was a market researcher-- except she had taken some time off to have a baby, and cheerfully filled out the survey question "Homemaker."

• Also be explicit in asking about recent testing-- most people prefer a white lie to a full one, so they may happily say, no I haven't participated in usability testing in the last six months when they've been part of three focus groups. People who a lot of research studies start considering themselves expert opinion givers, and will also move out of natural "use" mode and into "design" mode.

• Mail a check to the test subject rather than pay cash at the test. When we've told folks "We'll be mailing a check to you" some say, "Okay", but some seem surprised, and others will outright say "That's not how it was in the other test!" You can then dig a litle deeper to find out when that test was.

• Test somewhere else. Going to Sacramento (easy for us, since we are in San Francisco) can make a huge difference. Users are not only less tech-savvy, they are also less test-savvy.

Good luck!

Friday, June 15, 2001

Another perspective

IS THE WORST YET TO COME FOR INTERNET SHOPS?

But the worst may be yet to come. By yearend, the number of i-shops may be halved, or worse, analysts say.

"Yes, companies are going to go bankrupt. Yes, companies are going to get bought," says Steven Birer, a managing director at investment bank Robertson Stephens who follows i-shop stocks. "The pyramid on which this whole thing had been built -- the constant inflow of funds -- dried up"

Althougth the last couple paragraphs are cheering, at least for me...

Still, one key to staying alive may be to specialize. Now, companies that once offered everything are rethinking that approach.

Thursday, June 14, 2001

navel-centered design

A friend forwards Catalyst Resources, a "user experience" consultancy. I couldn't help but be struck by their "problems viewing this site" link, which launched a javscript pop-up window that said:

This is is optimized for 4.0 browsers and above on a PC. You need to have Macromedia's Flash 4 player installed in order to correctly navigate the site.

Another new UX consultancy draftsix, however, is as low-fi as it comes, and I'm sure they load lickty split... though some of the copy sounds oddly familar...

I should watch it; last time I insulted a small consultancy I ended up working there...

Anyhow, UX companies are springing up left and right, and Carbon IQ is about to be 1 1/2-- still kicking!

I can only consider this proponderance of UX companies a very good sign. If they are getting work in this thin market, it suggests that companies are putting more emphasis on customer satisfaction. Perhaps yesterday's rant will soon be a thing of the past.

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

duh moment 2367b

Why do we have to fight so hard to convince clients (and that can include bosses and/or coworkers) that we should think about the problem before we start designing the solution? And that we should test out solution while it's still in a cheap and easy-to-change form (say, paper prototypes) before spending a ton of time and money building the wrong thing?

Reading through Jeff Rubin's terrific Conceptual Design: Cornerstone of Usability I kept going, "Well, of course. Well, yes, of course." Sometimes because I've been doing user-centered design for a while now and I'm familiar with the techniques, but too often because he was
saying one needs to fight for the right to research the problem, sketch out a few solutions, test a prototype and then start building the product.

Is this a shocking protocol?

1. Study the problem, including the competitors' solutions.
2. Sketch out a couple of different solutions.
3. Test a rough protype of your solutions with the people who will use the product to see if you have a good solution.
4. Revise the solution based on what you learned.
5. Build a prototype that is close to the finished thing.
6. Test with the people who will use it.
7. Make fixes based on what you learned.
8. Ship the product. Include a feedback devise so you can make the next version even better.

Can anyone read that and find it a revelation? Do we really need to proselytize common sense?

Don't answer that...

Stealing from peter to reinvent paul

My husband sent me a series of links to GIS systems. Why do you care? There may be inspiration here in a way to visualize data in a meanful way. I'm exploring it...

Geographic Information Systems
Some freeware and an image gallery.
Esri, the company that makes Arcview and Arcinfo, two of the big GIS software programs.

Monday, June 11, 2001

visualize this

Transparent New York is lovely and amazing. (via Lesbarkeit von Strukturen)

Can we do this with site mapping? Should we?

addendum

After playing with it for awhile, I grew used to its tremendous beauty and because frustrated with it for its lack of information. To be beautiful (I suspect) some data was removed that would make it easier to understand. In particular, Animated Manhattan frustrated me-- I felt there was knowledge just out of reach of my comprehension, and a tiny bit more explanation of what I was looking at, a referencing grid perhaps, would make all the difference.

Sunday, June 10, 2001

Hello? Human here!

George told me I had been mentioned on FuckedWeblog. Well, I didn't find an entry on my little blog, but the idea made me cross my eyes a couple times--

I leave the country fairly often, I always come back, and sometimes I even blog from France. It comes from having a French husband who hasn't immigrated yet. And having a highly developed sense of wanderlust. Plus I'm part of a small company during a struggling time, and starting to do the conference circuit and contemplating doing some writing that is longer than a paragraph... but that doesn't mean the blog is dead.

Oh no! Sometimes I am consumed with the desire to say very little, and where better to publish thoughtlets but on a blog?. That won't stop! But write everyday? What am I? The SF Chronical? (look the quality of that rag...) I'll write when I can, as well as I can manage, and hopefully someone out there will be entertained or informed. That's the nature of Bloginess.

Anyhow, for the remarkably long list of retiring blogs out there I give you all the very fine advice Peter gave me when I started up the elegantblog: "You don't have to write every day."

Voila, you're free! Write when you feel like it.

Friday, June 8, 2001

Right on TOG!

I know I gleaned it but this article is so on the money I have to give it an extra call out. Ask Tog: How to Deliver a Report Without Getting Lynched

"The finest set of recommendations will be rejected if the form in which they are received is seen as hostile or belligerent. I recently received a copy of an unsolicited report sent to a firm that seemed unimpressed with the writer's efforts. The reasons why are instructive to us all."