Pelago :: web design & development blog » Logical Design

Interaction Design Process

Michael — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 01:31:56 +0000

We’ve been advocating and using this methodology ourselves. Starting with paper is definitely the quickest design methodology that exists because it’s easy to change 100 times before you commit to anything.

Creating an Interaction Design from SAP.

Google Trends and Web Related Search Terms

Michael — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 18:14:18 +0000

Google Trends is another voyeuristic tool to see what others are searching for. I decided to check a few key words in our industry. Here are the results:

Summary: A whole lot of over seas action…

Adaptive Path Training – The Nine Pillars of Successful Web Teams

Michael — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 01:24:55 +0000

Last week I attended a training session by Adaptive Path on user experience design and two nuggets stood out:

1. Adaptive Path has formulated a very powerful tool for explaining the components needed to build a successful web team.

» The Nine Pillars of Successful Web Teams

This wasn’t the main point of their training, but I found it extremely valuable. We are a web only shop and sometimes our clients don’t fully appreciate what all that entails and what kind of expertise we bring to the table. The web is a multi-disciplinary animal and the 9 Pillars does a powerful job of showing the pieces. It’s also a great tool to think about your own career development and what may be missing from your team.

2. It’s great getting together with peers in the Web Development industry.

It’s rare that professionals from small and big companies, generalists and specialists, get together and talk shop. Our industry needs to make more efforts for collaboration and discussion. Maybe we should host an event in Santa Barbara?

-Michael

The Healthy Alternative to Browser Text

Jaime — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 22:52:13 +0000

Here’s a nifty way of combining JavaScript and Flash to create your own custom typeface page titles; it is also great for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes.

Introducing sIFR: The Healthy Alternative to Browser Text

The Anatomy of Web Fonts

John — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:46:04 +0000

A good primer on how the web differs from its print predecessor.

Art and Computer Programming

John — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 16:32:51 +0000

Take one look at poorly written code and you’ll see just one influence of art in computer programming. Strong visual skills are important for writing good code. On the flip side, understanding the inner workings of your medium will make you a better artist. It is important for a web designer to understand how a web site is built, so they can take advantage and push the limitations of the pixel. More on this from John Littler…

Keep your home page from becoming a total mess

Michael — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 23:06:32 +0000

The folks at Adaptive Path usually have good things to say, and this article is no different. Indi Young does an excellent job of explaining why treating your home page like a portal can be a bad move. I agree with her thoughts, but there are exceptions. For portalish sites (wow…I don’t think I’ve said “portal” in a while) it makes sense. For example, if I’m visiting cbs.sportsline.com I probably don’t mind lots of clutter with so much content, but I already know what I’m getting before I go there. There is a healthy balance between having an annoying, get out of my way, splash page and 9 million links….especially with larger sites because the tendency is to cram too much information in.

-Michael

So what the heck is Web 2.0 and is it the same thing as Internet 2.0?

Michael — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:14:37 +0000

Web 2.0 deals with the ongoing evolution of Web 1.0 (aka the Internet as we know it). It’s a statement on the condition of things and where they are evolving to.

Digital Web Magazine has a good summary of Web 2.0 and how it impacts web designers. Check it out here.

Internet 2.0 is a departure from the current Web as we know it. Internet 2.0 is a consortium of universities with some government and non profit involvement. It has an all fiber backbone with extremely high bandwidth throughputs and applications are built around experimental protocols. Here is the official Internet 2.0 site.

-Michael

Michael Graber Contemplates The Poetics of Information Architecture

John — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 15:30:11 +0000

Any way you measure the success of Web sites Web trends, ROI, site counters, e-commerce transactions, brand awareness, one certainty exists: No site excels simply because it has a pretty face. Great design can be an inestimable benefit, but only if the design reinforces the content objectives with a rooted sense of character. Likewise, a faceless, disorganized page of raw information and links leaves users cold and unhappy, satisfied to never to return to your site again.

Art & Computer Programming

John — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 17:13:35 +0000

John Littler discusses the relationship between art and computer programming. At Pelago, we stress and cross train in both disciplines, hence the tagline “creative engineering, logical design.”