UI Patterns
September 7, 2009 at 9:18 pm | In Architecture, Design, Process, Product development, Project management, Strategy, User Experience | Leave a CommentPattern languages are a design tool used to describe a set of best practices for a given design-space. Pattern languages have been used for centuries in urban planning and architecture; more recently they have been applied to software product design.
The earliest pattern books were created by the Roman architect Vitruvius wherein he describes best practices for siting buildings, proper arrangement of rooms, external ornamentation, fenestration, etc. Christopher Alexander coined the term “pattern language” in his 1977 book that focused on designing buildings and ranged from the macro (regional planning) to the micro (interior window treatments).
Jennifer Tidwell started an early effort to catalog UI patterns online which resulted in her book Designing Interfaces. Yahoo’s design pattern library is a popular site for Ux designers interested in pattern languages. There are many web sites on UI patterns that can be found using Google.
My team is currently in the process of constructing a set of UI pattern libraries that will serve as the canonical design references for our entire product suite. Continue reading UI Patterns…
Agile + User Experience Design
May 4, 2009 at 5:18 am | In Architecture, Design, Process, Product development, Project management, Strategy, User Experience | 2 CommentsI’ve recently been thinking about how to better blend Agile development and User Experience Design.
Given my education in Industrial Design (ID), that was a natural first place to see what models might translate. Yes, there is all the prototyping, mockups, and rendering that are highly applicable to any software project. However ID doesn’t really do it because it is classic “waterfall-based” design approach. There is no other choice when designing for manufacturing on an assembly line. Everything has to be defined up front in order to build the tooling and stamp out the parts.
Next, I looked to Architecture (the building kind). Although I’m not an Architect, nor do I have Architectural training, I helped to re-design the kitchen and master bedroom/bathroom of my house. I also served as general contractor on the kitchen remodel. Building buildings is a lot more like software development than ID. You try to define most things before construction begins, but there are always quite a
User Experience Strategy
August 12, 2008 at 4:05 am | In Business, Design, Process, Product development, Project management, Risk management, Strategy, Usability | 1 CommentI recently posted the following question to a group of Ux professionals: What is the single most important activity that a user experience group can do to increase its effectiveness and influence? I asked everyone to draw from their real-world experience, NOT theory or ideals.
There were a number of thoughtful, practical responses…
Onshore | Offshore: Don’t Break The Product
June 14, 2008 at 4:42 pm | In Process, Product development, Project management, Risk management, Usability | Leave a CommentTags: Process, Product development, Project management, Risk management, Usability
This article was originally published in Interactions magazine Nov + Dec 2007
Introduction
Offshore outsourcing (offshoring) for software development is a trend that is on the rise. The primary drivers of this trend are mostly economic. When the tech bubble burst in 2001, software companies saw their revenues drop while having to compete aggressively to win new business. In this economic climate, companies sought ways to cut costs while still delivering high quality products.
The technical workforce represents a significant portion of the operating expenses for a software company. On average, the fully loaded costs for a software engineer in Asia or Eastern Europe range between 30 – 50% less than their U.S. or European counterparts. And it’s not simply a matter of expenses. Engineers in these lower costs regions have proven their technical capabilities on numerous projects.
Continue reading Onshore | Offshore: Don’t Break The Product…
User Experience & Risk Management
June 14, 2008 at 4:13 pm | In Business, Product development, Project management, Risk management | 2 CommentsTags: Business, Product development, Project management, Risk management
Risk mitigation is one of the many benefits that a well run User Experience practice brings to technology development companies. There are several dimensions to be considered:
Effectiveness: Understand Users
Does your company talk with and observe the end users of your products as part of its design research program? If not, it could be introducing serious risk into the business. Neglecting end users in design introduces a number of potential problems:
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