NetNewsWire production process
I like this Flickr set from Brent Simmons showing the stages of building NetNewsWire for the iPad. It's exactly the process I'm going through right now with my new app. Get some placeholder views and tables in there, then iterate,... Read MoreApril 18, 2010 09:56 PM
Clipstart is not iPhoto
I get a lot of great feedback about Clipstart. There's value in almost every feature request, even the ones I don't plan to directly implement. Some people also suggest that I should copy more from iPhoto. While I understand this... Read MoreMarch 24, 2010 07:35 AM
iPad commercial
When the iPad commercial popped up during the Oscars, I thought it captured the power and elegance of the device extremely well. But as I commented on Twitter, after repeat viewings you can see that it's probably faked. The iPad... Read MoreMarch 8, 2010 10:28 AM
Removing features
Lukas Mathis writes about removing features: "You don't have to try to please everybody and eventually create an application that is liked by nobody. In fact, since your users are in all likelihood in a situation where they can switch... Read MoreFebruary 3, 2010 02:03 PM
Clipstart duplicates
Clipstart 1.0 tried to be smart about not importing videos that were already in your library, but it stopped short of actually giving you much control over whether to import duplicates or ignore them. I also felt like the window... Read MoreDecember 22, 2009 02:17 PM
It's like iTunes for...
Sometimes it seems like every app is trying to be "the iTunes for <insert subject here>". I've worked on an app that fits into this category, and there are countless more. iTunes 1.0 represents one of the biggest shifts in... Read MoreJuly 23, 2009 02:26 PM
MobileMe UI
I'm extremely impressed by this UI from MobileMe. All web-based, of course. Excellent progress feedback, great attention to detail... But then they nearly ruin it with "item(s)".... Read MoreJuly 10, 2009 02:27 PM
A fan for your unreleased app
Every product needs a believer. Not on the product team, but outside. A champion beta tester. Someone who sees the potential and will offer such constructive criticism and feedback early on that if you don't make the app perfect you... Read MoreJuly 9, 2009 10:20 AM
Tab click-through areas
It's often true that the further away you get from an event, like the release day for the Safari 4 beta, the closer you get to a fair analysis. Initial Twitter reaction was gut level and some not even based... Read MoreMarch 10, 2009 09:28 AM
Defending Safari 4 tabs
The first reaction most people had to Safari 4 — especially the new tabs interface — was negative. I'm here to defend it. But first, let's get the mistakes out of the way, because they are substantial. Safari 4 tabs... Read MoreFebruary 25, 2009 10:27 AM
App Store new version UI
Centralized app update notifications on the iPhone were a great idea, right? Turns out, maybe not. My App Store icon has a "26" badge on it. I have no idea which apps have a new version available until I click... Read MoreJanuary 19, 2009 08:11 PM
Tagging survey
Last month I asked on Twitter for opinions on comma-delimited vs. space-delimited tagging. I didn't get very many responses, but what I did get was pretty interesting. Consensus: most people like commas and everyone likes Flickr. (The second takeaway here... Read MoreJanuary 10, 2009 11:01 AM
Wil Shipley on bugs
From a Wil Shipley post a few months ago: “Software is written by humans. Humans get tired. Humans become discouraged. They aren't perfect beings. As developers, we want to pretend this isn't so, that our software springs from our head... Read MoreSeptember 22, 2008 01:59 PM
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
Time for a better Finder
A few weeks ago John Siracusa wrote a great summary of the Finder, with specifics on why the OS X Finder is a step back from the OS 9 Finder. In the second half he provides suggestions for improvement that... Read MoreApril 22, 2003 01:43 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
To the crazy ones
There has been some excellent critique of Apple's UI experiments on Irate Scotsman, Daring Fireball, and NSLog. While moving some books last night I found the following, which you may recognize from Apple's Think Different ad campaign. Reading it I... Read MoreFebruary 20, 2003 09:38 AM
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
Kottke has the same NetNewsWire
Kottke has the same NetNewsWire gripe that I do, and a mockup to go along with it. I submitted this as a feature request in Ranchero's bug database earlier this week. The software is maturing quickly, but the 3-pane approach... Read MoreAugust 23, 2002 04:49 PM
I hate what smileys have
I hate what smileys have become. Just look at all these from the latest Yahoo Messenger! What's the point? Give me the :-) and ;-) and I'm fine.... Read MoreAugust 15, 2002 04:40 PM
Hey Apple, can we use
Hey Apple, can we use those fancy colored checkboxes from iCal in our apps, too?... Read MoreJuly 22, 2002 10:57 PM
From a thoughtful Kottke.org post:
From a thoughtful Kottke.org post: "Elastic sites work well because they embrace the 'Webness' of the Web...they allow people to interact and communicate with each other as they prefer to do in the real world. Human relationships are elastic in... Read MoreJuly 8, 2002 03:26 PM
37signals has a beautiful mockup
37signals has a beautiful mockup for what the future of a web-based car interface might look like. But unlike 37signals usual stuff, it's not grounded in reality. Car companies need to focus on real innovations like cars that get 100... Read MoreJune 25, 2002 05:32 PM
Mac OS X users have
Mac OS X users have yet another browser choice in the works: Chimera, based on Mozilla but with a beautiful interface that removes the clutter and extraneous features of the full Netscape browser. David Hyatt, one of the main people... Read MoreApril 29, 2002 02:40 PM
Jeff Veen from Dec 1999:
Jeff Veen from Dec 1999: "My prediction remains as it always has: The fastest Web sites, regardless of end-user bandwidth, will be the most successful... I'm looking for a page loading experience of under one second. Period." [From EVHEAD] Google... Read MoreApril 24, 2002 06:47 PM
Alan Cooper's "The Inmates Are
Alan Cooper's "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum" had been gathering dust on my bookshelf for a couple years before I finally picked it up again. I finished it last week, and I only wish I had read it sooner.... Read MoreApril 9, 2002 09:21 PM
Until now, most sites creating
Until now, most sites creating their own UI widgets in DHTML have been slow, not to mention distracting -- the non-standard scrollbars and buttons clash with the rest of your system. Oddpost.com changes that, creating an incredibly dynamic application that... Read MoreApril 5, 2002 05:14 PM
Anyone care to guess what
Anyone care to guess what the difference between the OK and Cancel buttons is?... Read MoreMarch 28, 2002 10:39 AM
Meg talks about her experience
Meg talks about her experience using personas at Pyra in a new article on Boxes and Arrows. Evan Williams, from Jan 31 2001: "And Then There Was One", on the breakup of the Pyra team.... Read MoreMarch 27, 2002 09:53 AM
Dave Winer mentions some of
Dave Winer mentions some of the thought his team put into making Radio Userland respond quickly to the user. Thank you. The thing that makes this possible (that most other apps don't have, whether they are web-based or not) is... Read MoreMarch 24, 2002 06:38 PM
Every so often a web
Every so often a web site will add something small that makes all the difference. Today the example of this for me was the Sample Code section of the Apple Developer site. A new popup menu allows quick viewing of... Read MoreMarch 22, 2002 05:38 PM
Martijn van Welie has some
Martijn van Welie has some concise descriptions of web design patterns and types of navigation that have become common over the years. They are things we intuitively know from building and using web sites, presented together in a clean way.... Read MoreMarch 21, 2002 05:02 PM
Slides from the Veen and
Slides from the Veen and Lynch SXSW keynote are up. Also includes links to sites mentioned in the keynote and to Jeff's notes. Very useful -- more panelists should do this sort of thing, especially since its unclear whether video... Read MoreMarch 19, 2002 10:41 PM
First in a series of
First in a series of new Megnut columns for the O'Reilly Network: Attendee-Centered Conference Design.... Read MoreMarch 19, 2002 10:10 PM
Notes from the Simplicity in
Notes from the Simplicity in Web Design panel at SXSW are now online. "Someone suggested that tooltips were always useful, but someone else shot that down because of the time required." I was that someone else. After the session I... Read MoreMarch 17, 2002 02:43 PM
A few years ago, a
A few years ago, a friend gave me a copy of Alan Cooper's The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. For some reason I never finished it. I saw it recommended yesterday and dug up my copy. A great book on... Read MoreMarch 15, 2002 10:33 AM
At the SXSW keynote the
At the SXSW keynote the other day, Jeff Veen pointed at his slides and said that they'd all be online by the next day. I smiled, thinking to myself there is no way those will be online within a week,... Read MoreMarch 13, 2002 10:17 PM
Cam writes: "The cool thing
Cam writes: "The cool thing is that Kevin was very receptive to my concerns and actually echoed some of them, which tells me that Macromedia is very aware of how their products, especially the Flash Player, are perceived among both... Read MoreMarch 12, 2002 10:20 PM
Ernest Kim and Jason Fried
Ernest Kim and Jason Fried of 37signals ran a great panel yesterday: "Simplicity in Interface Design: A Game Show." A lot of fun, with some good discussion at the end on icon design and designing for speed. Ernest and Jason... Read MoreMarch 10, 2002 08:39 AM
