April 03, 2004
see it
found on zappos
Zappos as a site is a bit of a mess, but the multi-view function could not be more perfect. Usefulness, on state, expectations, clarity of icons, labels: 5 out of 5.
March 12, 2004
untransparency
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this is a series of icons on product information, including "see larger image" care instructions and shipping info. As cute as the icons are (the whole site is really quite beautiful) this strikes me as wrong.
Most of this should just be information on the product, and listed openly. Why should I open a pop-up to see care instructions or shipping info? Why not just have it all there on the page, available at a glance?
As for the larger image, this is just placed wrong-- it needs to be near the smaller image, not in a toolbar.
February 01, 2004
exercise chart
From 1976design.com
A nice view of the author's daily exercise that's simple and easy to understand. Even better, it uses a combination of HTML tables and div elements to present the data, overcoming the need for images. My only complaint is that the text is a bit light, but it looks sharp in the otherwise beautifully designed weblog.
January 25, 2004
discussion visualization
From the Dana Centre
"dana4throom takes the comments that have been posted in one of our discussion boards and creates a person icon for each of these comments."
You can click on the user name to find out more about the user or click "more" to read the comment on the discussion boards. It's cute but not very practical unless it does more than than simply create a person icon. For example, it would be very cool if a lot of the people icons grouped together for an active discussion. Even better would be visual feedback that reflected the tone of the discussion. If there were lots of smilies in the comments, the people icons could look like they're laughing. If comments were very long, people icons could be standing on top of a soap box. The possibilities are almost limitless...
January 24, 2004
Aspects
found on Orkut
Subtabs are used to show the different aspects of "friends" concept: list of friends, groupings of friends, ratings friends (called karma), and friend finder. It's a very fisher-price design, makign me doubt this is really for business networking, but it's very charming as well, and make rating friends seem like a cuddly huggy thing to do. "i love you too!!!"
the brand is baked into the interface.
Upon Richard's commet, I harvested this, which represents aspects of a profile (social, professional and personal, if you believe the mouseovers).
Which brings me back to an old post on tabs as folders, lenses, filters and what-have-you.
December 30, 2003
calender tool
from Orbitz
compared to expedia's, it is (possibly) more stylish and (definately) more musterious. I cropped cotext around it, so it'd be clear it was a calendar--- but doesn't it look more like a caculator, or maybe a 50's drink coaster? But context makes the icon, and it's location makes up for a host of design flaws.
