Fancy-pants productivity
There are a few things in this post by Ryan Norbauer (via 37signals) that bother me. One is this idea that "code is meant to be read by humans first and computers only secondarily". I understand what he is getting... Read MoreMarch 14, 2008 12:38 PM
Using Acorn
I have a copy of CS3. Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash are all permanently in my Dock. If you do any graphics or animation work, you pretty much need these tools, in the same way that anyone who does any kind... Read MoreSeptember 25, 2007 01:18 PM
Essays about the web
Paul Graham thinks Microsoft and desktop apps are dead: "Gmail also showed how much you could do with web-based software, if you took advantage of what later came to be called 'Ajax.' And that was the second cause of Microsoft's... Read MoreApril 9, 2007 01:20 AM
Customer support
One of the most interesting (and difficult) parts of running an independent software business is responding to support email. It is very time-consuming and often more frustrating than writing code because the solutions can be illusive. You want to help... Read MoreFebruary 20, 2007 11:38 PM
You had me at scrolling
Last week I said I wasn't interested in an iPod phone, unless it was something no one had even thought to expect. Well, it is. I am blown away by the iPhone. The thing runs Mac OS X. The iPhone... Read MoreJanuary 9, 2007 10:59 PM
Mediocrity is the new application platform
Today marks the 4-year anniversary of this weblog. What better way to celebrate than with a discussion of web applications. Willie Abrams said in a recent Campfire chat: “Web applications automatically have sync.” He hits on the fundamental principle of... Read MoreMarch 9, 2006 09:41 PM
Smart software bloat
Everyone complains about software bloat. And it’s easy to see why — applications are bigger and slower than they’ve ever been, and users think the dozen features they will never use are to blame. On the Mac we are lucky... Read MoreFebruary 21, 2006 04:09 PM
Limitations in toys and software
One of the first things you notice when you have kids is how bad the toys are. Everything is electronic, makes too much noise, and is quickly discarded when the batteries run out or when everything you could possibly do... Read MoreJanuary 17, 2006 04:24 PM
To-do lists and embracing the network
There is something about Ta-da List that works really well. Simple things like hitting return to save one to-do item and start a new one, tidying up of completed lists, and automatic ordering of recent lists. And above all else,... Read MoreDecember 17, 2005 10:15 AM
Perfection
I don’t consider myself a perfectionist. In fact, I can often be downright lazy. I write sloppy code sometimes. I am hasty with my artwork instead of thorough. I am always impatient to see the end result, regardless of what... Read MoreAugust 20, 2005 10:48 PM
SXSW: Wrap-up
Leaving SXSW I think I noticed two major themes at the conference this year: Software development. Jason Fried’s talk on small teams set the tone here. Get close to your users, start building the real thing early, and keep it... Read MoreMarch 17, 2005 01:56 AM
SXSW: Simplicity, Ta-da, and XFN
Jason Fried has been talking a lot lately about keeping your product simple. His SXSW session on Saturday continued this theme of doing more with less — “constraints encourage creativity.” One example he cites is how Ta-da List’s lack of... Read MoreMarch 14, 2005 12:44 PM
Google and the great apps to come
Google Desktop Search is a neat app. The integration of local and global results is brilliant. But it’s not the future of desktop search. David Galbraith said something interesting in a post titled “Google lock in”: “Whatever Microsoft do, Google... Read MoreDecember 10, 2004 08:57 PM
Apple Design Guidelines
Last week Apple released the Apple Software Design Guidelines document. I’ve only just skimmed it, but it looks like the best document from Apple in years. Take this little bit of advice: “When saving files of your own document types,... Read MoreJune 1, 2004 09:50 PM
iTunes follow-up
Not 5 minutes after I posted yesterday’s iTunes piece, Ryan tells me I’m asking for too much. “My fear is that too many features will render iTunes a useless and unusable app,” he writes, and he’s absolutely right to be... Read MoreMay 13, 2004 03:36 PM
Breadcrumb navigation
There has been a fascinating discussion among information architects and web designers about the usefulness of breadcrumb trails. Mark Hurst of Good Experience talks about the page paradigm, Peter Merholz mostly disagrees, and Christine Wodtke offers her two cents. Here’s... Read MoreApril 8, 2004 02:47 PM
Usable software, and just shipping it
A few loosely connected weblog posts I read today… John Gruber, “Ronco Spray-On Usability”: “UI development is the hard part. And it’s not the last step, it’s the first step. In my estimation, the difference between: software that performs function... Read MoreApril 3, 2004 04:09 PM
SXSW Day 4: Fun, fun, and designing for people
The last day of SXSW tends to be less about substance and more about winding down after the long weekend and leaving on a positive note. In the morning I listened to Gabriel Jeffrey talk about his success with Group... Read MoreMarch 18, 2004 09:53 AM
SXSW Day 3: Design, user experience
Weather changes. The first two days of SXSW were marked with light rain, but today was a beautiful day. Leaving the EFF party tonight, we saw lightning off in the distance. Now, as I write this back at my house,... Read MoreMarch 15, 2004 11:55 PM
SXSW Day 1: Web design accessibility, Frog party
I almost skipped the accessibility panel but I'm glad I didn't. As usual Jeffrey Veen did a great job of putting the current web practices into perspective with stories from the old school of web design. It used to be... Read MoreMarch 13, 2004 11:56 PM
Jakob Nielsen, Sun, and 3d interfaces
I like Jakob Nielsen. He was practically the lone voice of reason when Flash web sites, splash pages, and graphics-heavy design seemed poised to take over the Internet and render it useless. But lately I’ve been ignoring his Alertbox columns.... Read MoreJanuary 1, 2004 10:38 PM
Stopdesign on CSS layout options
Doug of Stopdesign discusses fixed vs. liquid layouts in CSS: "Truth be told, table-based layouts are currently more capable of handling this issue than CSS layouts are. I'm certainly not advocating a move back to tables for layout. But unless... Read MoreDecember 23, 2003 12:20 PM
Google UI
After SXSW I made a point to seek out new blogs. One is Micah Alpern, who writes about Marissa Mayer's talk, "The How and Why of Google UI": "Marissa is involved in UI, Usability, and Project Management at Google so... Read MoreMarch 20, 2003 10:34 PM
Flash vs. web apps, again
Macromedia is fortunate to have two things going for it: Kevin Lynch, who seems like a smart guy, and Dreamweaver, which won't let the company forget about HTML. My expectations were very low for the Macromedia.com beta report, but truthfully... Read MoreMarch 16, 2003 11:34 PM
Inductive vs rich user interface design
Boxes and Arrows article by David Heller: "Ultimately, I don't see a long term future for HTML as an application development solution." Meanwhile, there has been a steady integration of HTML interface behavior into traditional applications. Two years ago, Microsoft... Read MoreFebruary 4, 2003 11:10 AM
Final Safari UI comments
Safari puts the classic SSL "lock" icon in the window title bar. Here's a screenshot: Turns out this is easy to do in Jaguar with Carbon's HIView system. Since the entire structure of the window (not just the content area)... Read MoreJanuary 15, 2003 08:56 AM
Apple's UI playground
Steven Johnson for Slate, "Is the Computer Desktop an Antique?" "Now that Microsoft has largely caught up to the Mac in terms of basic file manipulation tools -- thanks to Windows XP's elegant user interface -- the iApps have become... Read MoreDecember 19, 2002 09:16 AM
Amazon usability
Odd that I had never heard of Good Experience, a newsletter by Mark Hurst. Just discovered it today via Tomalak's Realm. Here's an excerpt from an interview with Maryam Mohit of Amazon: "For example, quite awhile ago we developed the... Read MoreNovember 22, 2002 03:46 PM
Peter on IA
Peter Merholz, "Thoughts on AIfIA and Information Architecture": "As information architects know, explaining what they do, even to smart people in related fields, is difficult. Once given a clue as to what user experience is, folks can understand that improving... Read MoreNovember 18, 2002 11:29 AM
Late night with user interface web sites
Best of chi-web and sigia-l: "Using the archives for each mailing list, I've compiled a list of the summary postings from useful threads, and a few personally selected favorite postings." [via WebWord] Also on UIWEB, Reasons ease of use doesn't... Read MoreNovember 16, 2002 11:36 PM
