User Experience Design June 21, 2004 I've been practicing information architecture since 1994, and from Gopher to Google have seen dramatic changes in the landscape of organization, search and retrieval. Through these ten tempestuous years, I've found the infamous three circle diagram to be a great tool for explaining how and why we must strike a unique balance on each project between business goals and context, user needs and behavior, and the available mix of content. Figure 1. While this diagram was conceived with IA in mind, it's equally useful for explaining UX. Facets of the User Experience When I broadened my interest from IA to UX, I found the need for a new diagram to illustrate the facets of user experience - especially to help clients understand why they must move beyond usability - and so with a little help from my friends developed the user experience honeycomb. Figure 2. Here's how I explain each facet or quality of the user experience: Useful. A Different Way of Seeing A Big Hive
the service The nonagon (Method „A“) « Sacred geometry THE NONAGON (Method „A“)with example of trisection of angles larger than 90° Foreword to Chapter Eight Before we say anything about the nonagon, we will „single out“ one of the fundamental laws of sacred geometry that we might have noticed in our presentations up to now and which will be deepened in our forthcoming chapters. In addition to the fact that in sacred geometry all curves and straight lines are given in their full circumference, meaning in arched full circles and straight lines across all areas of the circles, and as we have said, all intersection points incurred by such inscribing are new data and as “controllers” of the accuracy of the geometric plotting and data, the fundamental law would read: The initial – central circle is the mirror of all the other radii originating outside it and within it. An example is the hexagon (scheme – pattern – validity). The basic or initial circle is a mirror of all geometrical on-going procedures within it or outside of it. with the nonagon
img - service design Thoughts on Developing A Design Concept A good design begins with a good design concept. You’re trying to solve a problem and your concept will lead the way and give you direction for your design decisions. How do you form a concept? What is a Design Concept? concept (n) – a general idea used to formulate a plan A design concept is the idea behind a design. Your concept will lead to your choices in color and type. Your design concept becomes the framework for all your design decisions. We can think of design concepts in two ways. Verbal – the verbal parts of your concept might be words you use to describe the site. Typically I begin forming a concept verbally (a process I’ll describe below). Generally verbal concepts come before visual concepts as the visual is really about how you’ll communicate the verbal, though it likely depends on the individual and how you think best. What to do Before Creating a Design Concept Developing a design concept is something of an individual process. What is your client’s brand? Summary
Repository Design activities Co-designing Envisioning Testing & Prototyping Implementing Representations Texts Graphs Narratives Games Models Stakeholders Professionals Service staff Users Context System Offering Interaction Actors map Affinity diagram Blueprint Character profile Cognitive walkthrough Constructive interaction Customer Journey Map Design games Evidencing Experience prototype Group sketching Heuristic evaluation Issue cards Lego serious play Mind map Mock up Moodboard Motivation matrix Offering map Personas Poster Role playing Role script Rough prototyping Service prototype Service specification Storyboard Storytelling System map Tomorrow headlines Usability testing Use cases Wizard of Oz info@servicedesigntools.org / message box for suggestions about tools and case studies / all contents by Roberta Tassi / nc-by-nd cc licence / 2009
Applying the Golden Ratio to Web Layouts and Objects by anthony on 10/21/10 at 5:36 pm 1.618 is a number all serious designers should know. It’s known as the golden ratio found throughout nature, art and architecture. Seashells, the Mona Lisa and the Parthenon all show the golden ratio. Our faces and bodies are also proportional to the golden ratio. It’s so omnipresent that it’s even found in sounds and intervals of time. The golden ratio gives us a divine sense of aesthetic that we can apply to web design. For example, take your typical 960 pixel width layout and divide 960 by 1.618. You can also apply the golden ratio to the height of your website, assuming your page has a fixed height. Getting the width and height of your layout using the golden ratio is easy to do. Not every interface object is going to have a rectangular shape, but for objects that do have a rectangular shape, we can use the golden rectangle to make the elements proportional to the golden ratio. The example above shows a vertical golden rectangle. anthony
21 Card Decks for Creative Problem Solving, Effective Communication & Strategic Foresight What are some useful playdecks for sparking creativity and innovation? That was this week’s question that went out on twitter, and below are some of your responses. The number of decks out there is large, so I decided to curate this list based on whether there’s a full free version available online, or at the least a nice sample deck to get you started. So below are 21 tools, ranging from general design process principles to cards on game dynamics, facilitation methods, and long-range futures thinking. Under the descriptions, which are excerpted from the playdeck websites, are links to their free downloads. Thanks to all who helped compile this.. (in no particular order) Principles & Processes 1. “These cards evolved from our separate observations on the principles underlying what we were doing. (edition 4 list) .2. “It is a process and a set of tools, to help your organisation engage with your users through the online products you develop. (interactive deck) .3. (free download) 4. .5. .7.
The Golden Ratio: a designer's guide | Graphic design There's a common mathematical ratio found in nature that can be used to create pleasing, natural looking compositions in your design work. We call it the Golden Ratio, although it's also known as the Golden Mean, The Golden Section, or the Greek letter phi. Whether you're an illustrator, art director or graphic designer, it's well worth considering the Golden Ratio on any project. The designer's guide to grid theory In this article, we'll explain what it is, how you can use it, and point to some great resources for further inspiration and study... Closely related to the Fibonacci Sequence (which you may remember from either your school mathematics lessons or Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code), the Golden Ratio describes the perfectly symmetrical relationship between two proportions. If you remove this square from the rectangle, you'll be left with another, smaller Golden Rectangle. Golden Ratio in use Greek architecture The final result is a building that feels entirely in proportion.
Download Our Free Persona Template | Fake Crow Xtensio is a toolbox to help you organize your thoughts, make decisions and present ideas. Learn more about the Persona Creator and other free tools at www.xtensio.com One of the benefits of working with lots of different startups is that when we discover something that works really great with one project, we can repurpose it for others when it applies. Although every product is unique and requires its own custom approach, we try to define processes for common UX design steps whenever possible. Yeah, sure, there are a lot of examples out there of how to put together personas. You can use the template to generate personas for user experience design process, branding and marketing strategies. Get the link to download the file. To make it more shareable, we’ve cleaned it up a bit, added instructions, sample data, a wireframe, and a printable version that can be filled in by hand when you’re in a hurry. The file is organized into layer groups and is pretty simple for the most part. 1. 2. 3. 4.