October 29, 2007
Did anyone else notice those short, subliminal adverts for KFC during the ARIA’s last night? They flashed on-screen for a second between each artist as the nominations were read out.
I’m not sure I like it. Aussie telly’s already plagued by too much advertising without these intrusive stealth tactics.
October 9, 2007
The legal case against “Target”:http://www.target.com/ in the US has been in the headlines again this week as a federal judge in has just granted “class action status” to the lawsuit.
Like many in the web industry, I have been aware of this case since it first came to light back in early 2006 (when a 24-year-old student, along with the “American National Federation for the Blind”:http://www.nfb.org/ filed the suit, alleging the Target Corporation is breaking the law by failing to make its website accessible and usable for the blind), but I wasn’t too clear on what this recent “class action status” meant, and what the ramifications might be.
After a little scout around the internet I’ve discovered that a “class action” is:
bq. A lawsuit brought by one or more plaintiffs on behalf of a large group of others who have a common interest. (“Answers.com”:http://www.answers.com/class+action?cat=biz-fin&gwp=13)
I guess what this means in the context of the latest ruling is that a) the judge has identified the case as genuine and significant, and b) the status will allow blind people throughout America who have tried unsuccessfully to access Target’s site to become plaintiffs in the suit.
An article entitled: “Court Ruling Says California Disabled Rights Law Applies to the Web”:http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=221, on the “American National Federation for the Blind website”:http://www.nfb.org/ states that in fact, two decisions were made during the ruling:
bq. San Francisco, California (October 2, 2007): A federal district court judge issued two landmark decisions today in a nationwide class action against Target Corporation. First, the court certified the case as a class action on behalf of blind Internet users throughout the country under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Second, the court held that Web sites such as target.com are required by California law to be accessible.
So what does this mean for us as web designers then? Well whether you think this kind of legislation is “right or wrong”:http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346162, it’s certainly brought the issue of website accessibility into the public consciousness. Personally, all legal stuff aside, I think that in terms of professional web design this can only be a good thing. It highlights the importance of ensuring your website is available to as wide an audience as possible as par for the course. As Paul Boag suggests in “this article about the Target issue”:http://www.boagworld.com/archives/2006/02/target_accessibility_and_opinions.html, Website accessibility (along with standards conformity and good usability) has to become regarded as just part of what we do as good web designers, not something to be offered as an extra feature to our clients.
October 2, 2007
Radiohead are releasing their latest album under their own steam, with no record label and no distribution, via an internet download where you choose how much you want to pay for it.
It’s already been well documented and discussed, but whatever you’re take, it’s certainly an interesting idea and one that’s sure to generate a fair amount of publicity and get people thinking about the business of marketing music now that the internet is on the scene.
While this is not a completely new thing (a few bands have given music away as a free download before), this is the first time I’ve heard of a band as well-known as Radiohead doing it. What’s interesting about this approach, too is that while you could technically download the album for nothing, the band’s site sends you through a shopping cart that asks you to fill out the price yourself. You pay what you want (if anything at all):
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If you click the ‘?’ next to the price you get this message:
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…and if you click it again you get this:
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(I love that little touch).
Whether they make back the money it cost them to write, rehearse and record the album is yet to be seen, as is the record industry impact that the experiment may have. I don’t know how much bands usually get as a percentage of each record sale, but maybe with no label, CD pressings and distribution costs the band will actually work out making more money than they otherwise would have, though I’m certain that’s not their intention.
The other thing about this is that we’re all downloading the album without having ever heard any of it. I guess Radiohead have such a huge, dedicated following that we’re all happy to do this, but what about those that want to hear it first? Perhaps they’re assuming everyone will just download it for free somewhere? Maybe they’re going to release it on CD at a later date.
It’s worth also mentioning that they’re releasing a ‘Discbox’ for those fans that want something tangible, containing:
…the new album, in rainbows, on cd and on 2 x 12 inch heavyweight vinyl records. A second, enhanced cd contains more new songs, along with digital photographs and artwork. The discbox also includes artwork and lyric booklets. All are encased in a hardback book and slipcase.
This includes the digital download too, all for 40, which they’re making to order.
Personally, I really like Radiohead. Not only for the music but for exactly this kind of stuff. I’m not a big enough fan to buy the Discbox, but I’ve placed my download order and I’m quite enjoying the anticipation of receiving my email with the download url and access key. The other thing I love about Radiohead is their artwork, so I’m interested to see if the download contains any other surprises like printable artwork, or a PDF booklet.
September 8, 2007
Fresh from the printers today.
I’m concerned that the details block sits a little too low on the white side, but there’s always something isn’t there? I guess it’s just part of being a designer.
Overall I’m pretty happy with them though.
September 2, 2007
I am currently in the middle of designing a transactional web application that, amongst other things, will enable users to run reports on a number of accounts, and conduct searches of other site users.
In developing the wire-frames and projected work-flow for the site I have encountered a little usability problem that, while I imagine it is a common issue, I have not been able to find any writings regarding it’s best-practice solution anywhere on the web. As such I thought I’d post the problem here in a similar vein to Dan’s “simple quiz series”:http://www.simplebits.com/bits/simplequiz/. I think I have my answer, but I wanted to share the problem with you to provoke some discussion in an effort to establish the best approach.
h3. Site layout
Before I get to the specific problem, here is an example of the site design and layout. As you can see, it’s a simple 2-column layout:
h3. The problem
This approach to layout/site design/work-flow works just fine across the majority of the site but in the section relating to searching and viewing a site user’s details there’s a problem. The thing is this - you can’t view the user details that you want (including the associated left navigation links) until after you have searched-for and found that relevant user within the site database. In other words this section of the site has to perform slightly differently to the rest as the user has to perform a ‘3-step’ searching process to get to their desired content.
h3. Possible solutions
I have come up with 3 alternate solutions to this problem which are listed below. I’d like to get your feedback about which (if any) is the best. Obviously I want the final solution to be as consistent as possible to the way the rest of the site performs.
h3. Option A
In this approach I’ve replaced the area usually reserved for left (sub) navigation links with the search form required to locate a user:
Once a search has been conducted the results appear in the main content area:
Once the user has selected the person they need from the list of results, the page re-loads showing the user details in the main content area and the left nav shows links relating to this content, replacing the search form:
p(beforeList). Advantages:
p(beforeList). Disadvantages:
h3. Option B
With this design, the left navigation links are retained and include a link to the currently shown page called ‘Person search’ or ‘User search’ (The exact label is yet to be determined, but you get the general idea). All other links in the list (which relate to the user details that are not yet shown) are disabled and shown in grey to suggest this to the user (There could be a message to explain this should a link be clicked):
The results are shown in the main content area (no surprises there):
Once the user has been selected from the list of results, the details are shown in the main content area and the left navigation becomes active. Furthermore, the active link is now shown as the second link in the list as we’re no longer looking at the ‘search’ page:
p(beforeList). Advantages:
p(beforeList). Disadvantages:
h3. Option C
Here the left navigation is removed completely. The page template shifts to a full-width layout showing only the search form:
Again, search results:
Left (sub) navigation links appear only after a user has been selected:
p(beforeList). Advantages:
p(beforeList). Disadvantages:
So there you have it. Let me know what you think. Any feedback or other approaches as to how best to show this content will be very gratefully received.
Many thanks to “Garett Dimon”:http://garrettdimon.com/ for the nice “wire-frame templates”:http://v1.garrettdimon.com/resources/templates-stencils-for-visio-omnigraffle
August 3, 2007
I caught up with a couple of mates, Chris (of “Docoloco”:http://www.docoloco.com/ fame) and Phil last night for a beer and to see what these “MODM”:http://modm.wordpress.com/ meet-ups are all about. Neither of us had been before and it sounded interesting so we all braved the cold and set off for a look-see.
Organised by “Cameron Reily”:http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/ and “Simon Chen”:http://blog.eightblack.com/, last night’s event was held at “Riverland”:http://www.riverlandbar.com/ which is a great little venue on the Yarra underneath Federation Square. The idea is for anyone interested in online digital media to get together, have a bit of a chat and share ideas. Yesterdays included a presentation from Robert and Mark Gabriel about their new search site/plugin, “MyLiveSearch”:http://www.mylivesearch.com/ which sounded interesting and has apparently been getting a bit of interest in the media of late. The beta is due out some time soon so watch this space…
We also got talking to “Keith Lang”:http://songcarver.com/ who, besides being a thoroughly nice bloke, is one of the guys behind “Plasq”:http://plasq.com/, makers of “Comic life”:http://plasq.com/comiclife/ and “Skitch”:http://plasq.com/skitch/. What with talking to him and Chris I’m even more tempted to switch to a mac now!
Good do. Nice people. Recommend it.
July 11, 2007
"Boxes and Arrows":http://www.boxesandarrows.com/ has been around for a
while and, as we all know it’s a great resource for user
experience/interaction designers.
Another great site that had escaped me until yesterday though is “UX
Magazine”:http://www.uxmag.com/. Great content, beautifully designed.
Favourite site at the moment for me.