The Chromatic Typewriter
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Free Online Courses in HCI and Game Design from Top Universities
Free online courses from world’s leading universities
Human Computer Interaction
StanfordMobile User Experience Design
StanfordGame Theory
YaleGame Design
MITIntroduction to Computer Graphics
IITBesides the free courses there’s also a paid online MS in HCI from DePaul College, exam can be taken across the world
MS in Human Computers Interaction, DePaul College of Computing & Digital Media, US
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Best Practices for Designing Mobile Touch Screen Applications - User Centric, Inc. →
While touch screen technology is no longer a novel concept, the meteoric rise in adoption of Android and iOS devices over the past few years has helped the touch screen phone market reach critical mass with an estimated 28% of mobile phone users in the United States owning Smartphones. There are over 700,000 applications across iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Nokia, and other platforms making the need to differentiate even greater. User Centric recognizes this and having run more than 1,000 participants on touch screen devices, provides some tips for developers to consider when designing for these applications.
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10 Key Considerations for Your Mobile Web Design Strategy →
Brian Casel is a web designer and co-host of Freelance Jam, the live web show for independent professionals who build the web. Connect with Brian on Twitter @CasJam. There’s no turning back now. The web has gone mobile. More users are accessing the web from more places on more devices than… -
4 Strategies for Working With Designers Without Killing Each Other →
Fourteen years ago, in my first job where my title was “Information Architect,” I clashed with a designer. We were working at a large advertising agency that was known for stunning design work. The art directors wielded a level of power at the agency that I have never seen anywhere else, and … -
Nice bookcase!
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Noncommand User Interfaces →
This article was pretty abstract and hard to process at times, especially for a non-developer, but here are my thoughts:
- It’s interesting to see what has failed to come to fruition since this was written in 1993. Fact is, some of the problems Nielsen brings up are just as complex now as they were then.
- Object-oriented operating systems instead of application-oriented ones…who is even smart enough to figure out how the fuck that’s supposed to work? Baby steps, I suppose.
- The idea of the file based system being outdated doesn’t seem to have made much headway. Ultimately my system OS is just a nested directory of files inside folders, with no smart/granular hypertext interlinking. That sounds like it’d be nice though. It’s hard to find particular files sometimes. Spotlight ain’t bad though.
- When a user figures out how a noncommand system works, they may exploit it to control it actively (see the Little Prince example). In other words, if a noncommand system can be given commands… Does motive matter?
- Computer music accompaniment as noncommand interface is a cool notion. This reminds me of the Lorax iPhone app (which is super fun)!
- Siri is brought up here like in every article about the future of computing ever written. Siri doesn’t have as much agency as the “Agents” Nielsen describes, but she’s close. And we now have lots of ways to automate things, which is brought up here too. Actually a bunch of things in this article have been realized, so good job, team.
- Feedback is important. The smarter the better.
- And if we can’t have a noncommand system, at least make it so the computers are as friendly as possible in interpreting our commands.
- The idea of combining multiple input mechanisms that a user can use simultaneously (rather than switching off between a mouse and keyboard) seems promising, and still hasn’t been thoroughly explored.
- On that note, if you think about the majority of iPad/iPhone apps, they really don’t utilize multitouch as much as they could. Not intuitive enough? Seems like real life provides lots of precedents for this kind of interaction.
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The Design of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman
First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge; next came service. Now, Donald A. Norman, former Director of the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of California, reveals how smart design is the new competitive frontier. The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how—and why—some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.
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User Experience Design
I just came across these great bunch of notes created by Amanda Wright, who refers to this type of note taking as ‘sketchnoting’. If you’re in to UX design, or interested in learning a bit more about it, these ‘sketchnotes’ are incredibly useful and insightful.
Click here to read a great interview with Amanda Wright about UX design.
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The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands,but in seeing with new eyes.(Marcel Proust)
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Shared 7 Steps to a Kick-Ass UX Portfolio on UX Magazine. →
Last year, I found this question on the Interaction Design Association list:
I need to create portfolio to show my ability to design end-to-end user experiences with examples of design proposals, scenarios, use cases, interaction flows, wireframes, UX architecture, visual designs and specifications. I am looking for guidance and examples for how to create an interesting portfolio.
You already have all the tools you need; you just don’t realize it yet….
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Why is passion so powerful for aspiring designers?
- Passion Comes from a Pure Source
- Passion Leads to Productivity
- Professional Fulfillment Supplements Personal Fulfillment
- Passion is Infectious
(Source: graphicdesignblender.com)
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Productivity Future Vision (2011)
(Source: youtube.com)
