Wire-Framing
I liked this video on wireframing (via Konigi). This is one of my favorite things to do currently … plan systems.
Add comment March 18th, 2010
Posts filed under 'Technology'
Bad leadership translates into bad user experience.
Above is American Airlines unbelievably bad website. Read a case study by Dustin Curtis who asked American’s design team about this. Interestingly, the problem stems from the leadership of the company. It starts at the top, and works its way down throughout the company and the website too. The UX team is completely sabotaged by the company as a whole. And while Dustin’s approach may not have been the best, John Gruber points out:
The point is that American Airlines is clearly a failing company. They’re losing hundreds of millions of dollars every quarter. The experience of traveling on one of their flights is terrible. Their website is terrible. These facts are not unrelated.
Add comment November 6th, 2009
Creativity, Design and Business
My artistic needs are met these days with a little photography and graphic design. I am not a graphic designer, but I have many ideas that I need to communicate. Ultimately I rely on professionals for design and implementation, but I really enjoy trying to convey my concepts to these people, providing the general framework for business needs.
Recently, I thought it would be fun/useful to have an iPhone app for SlideRoom. This would be a mobile way for applicants to receive updates about pending deadlines, status notifications, or even to review their submission materials. Below is a sketch exploring some ideas and then a few actual comps to demonstrate the look.
While I have designed every page of this app, these designs are simply to communicate my ideas to the pros. They will keep some of it and rework most of it. (But it really helps to get everything half-way there). I love kicking off the design process this way and also doing final edits in the end.
Add comment October 5th, 2009
Help Jerry Get a Blog!
I am a huge fan of Jerry Saltz … and have actively been following his posts on Facebook. He is trying to blog, but using FB rather than a blogging tool. Naturally, this has become frustrating because of FB limitations. (It is not good for having over 5000 followers, not good for long-form posting, not good for unlimited comments, not indexable by Search Engines). I want his writing to be more open to the rest of the world.
I asked him on FB if there were any contractual reasons for not having a blog … he said “no.” And that the reason he doesn’t have a blog is because he “doesn’t know how any of this stuff works.” Ok, well I know 5000 people that would be happy to help.
Jerry, if you don’t have a personal friend you trust that can help you set up a blog, I will personally volunteer to do this for free. And to provide any lessons, whenever you need for free. Anyone who knows how easy blogging is, realizes this is not that generous an offer.
I realize he is starting a FB group with an “open status,” but this is difficult to interact with or link to. (Non-Facebook users cannot comment and archives are impossible). He has put some work into this, so perhaps he does not have motivation to start a blog? But it really is the best medium for what he is trying to do.
Anyway, I am raising a stink only because I am a huge fan.
Update: I also believe someone like Jerry deserves to be compensated for his writing via ads or sponsorship. Someone as famous as him could potentially make good money blogging. This is not possible on Facebook. It’s hard to believe that he does not have any friends providing him sound tech/business advice?
Update 2: I have just made a more detailed post about this topic on Glasstire here.The message is not really about Mr. Saltz anymore, rather I want to clarify technical misconceptions about Facebook and blogging.
6 comments June 30th, 2009
Follow Me on Twitter
I started a Twitter account as an experiment, to learn about the popular service. I post interesting resources/links several times a day, so follow along. I will write about my opinions of the service later, when I have more of an informed opinion. My initial reaction is a little negative; it seems like everyone is talking and noone is listening. And the large numbers of followers are mostly spammers hoping you will return the favor of following.
On the other hand, I have found it a very efficient way to follow many people who I do find interesting … so there is promise.
Add comment June 29th, 2009
