OCTOBER 27, 2011Selective attention and user experienceI wrote an article for UX Magazine about how surprisingly limited and flawed our visual perception system is. In order to overcome these limitations, I describe several practices that designers should keep in mind.
 MARCH 18, 2011 In defense of design customizationI wrote an article for UX Magazine about how moderate, restrained design customization can be very beneficial to a user experience. MySpace's profile pages were truly seizure-inducing, but just because of one poor implementation, it doesn't mean that social media sites should abandon design customization altogether.
DECEMBER 30, 2010 The News Feed: The ideal model for presenting news and information onlineI wrote an article for UX Magazine about how the news feed is becoming the default model for presenting digital content across all platforms.
DECEMBER 9, 2010 Does branding matter online?Looking at news and information websites such as LATimes, MSN, NPR, and others, they're clean and lightweight, but they're basically colorless and brandless. They lack any sort of memorable, distinctive or interesting brand elements. My question is, do these characteristics matter? Does branding matter online?
DECEMBER 2, 2010 
The power of placementAffordances are applied to a particular interface element to improve usability. However, just as important is how that interface element is placed relative to the other elements around it. Good or bad placement can make or break the usability of an interface element, regardless of affordances.
OCTOBER 18, 2010 
The strangeness of everyday icon designI read a blog post recently (sadly, I'm unable to locate it) about the strangeness of icons that we commonly see on digital interfaces, and that we take for granted. Think of the 'save' icon: a FLOPPY disk! The floppy disk was popular for what, 2 years, but in that short period of time, it cemented itself as the icon for 'saving' for, apparently, the rest of eternity.
OCTOBER 13, 2010  An innovative new interface element -- kudos NYTimes.com!If you visit NYTimes.com, you may have noticed a new interface element that they're using on article pages. As you're reading an article, and are scrolling to almost the bottom of the article, a panel slides into the browser window from the lower right-hand corner, with a headline and link to a related article. JANUARY 26, 2010  Book Review: Thoughtful Interaction Design'Thoughtful Interaction Design', a book by Jonas Lawgren, Professor of interaction design at the School of Arts and Communication at Malmo University in Sweden, and Erik Stolterman, Director of Human-Computer Interaction Design Program at Indiana University, explores the world of design from a unique perspective. Most interaction design books focus on methods: how to create effective documentation; how to get the most out of research methods; the various types of prototyping. However, this book explores the facets of design that don't have anything to do with deliverables and methods, but that go on inside designers' heads, their creative process, and the unseen qualities of digital products. FEBRUARY 5, 2009 Masters ThesisIn 2009, I completed a Masters degree in Interaction Design and Information Architecture from the University of Baltimore. For my Masters thesis, I presented research and ideas on how tags can effectively augment classifications and search for content- and product-based websites. I examined numerous websites that combine these navigation and organization methods, identified trends, and developed practical models for utilizing these concepts on other websites.Download Thesis (PDF, 17.1mb) |
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