Design Artefacts Part 2: Content Inventory | May 5, 2008
If you’re redesigning an existing site, and especially if the site is a traditional content driven site, then one of the best ways to start is by performing a content audit. The process involves going through every page on the site and noting what the page is about and where it sits within the existing navigational structure. Looking at the content from a macro level allows you to generate a clear picture of how the site is currently structured and whether this structure makes sense.
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Disconnected in Auckland | May 4, 2008
Hey sports racers. I’m in Auckland at the moment, on the second leg of my world tour and feeling decidedly disconnected. I’m not sure if it’s just bad luck but I’ve been having WiFi nightmares down under.
MorePosted at 10:28 PM | Comments (14)
Mental Models Workshop with Indi Young | April 25, 2008
If you don’t know Indi Young, she’s one smart cookie. As one of the co-founders of Adaptive Path she spent 5 years working alongside the likes of Jeff Veen, Dan Saffer and Peter Merholtz on a variety of diverse and challenging projects. Indi left Adaptive Path in 2006 to work on her new book, Mental Models, which was recently published by Rosenfeld Media. We got a copy in the office a few months back and haven’t put it down since.
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World Tour | March 25, 2008
Somewhat unintentionally I seem to have arranged what almost amounts to a world tour over the next couple of months.
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Design Artefacts Part 1: Introduction | February 21, 2008
I’ve decided to start a quick series of posts on design artefacts. Basically all the documents, diagrams, designs and other outputs you create during the design process. These artefacts include the following items, although I’m sure you can think of more. As the series progresses I’ll link all the items up for ease of navigation.
- Content Inventory
- Competitor Analysis
- Personas and Wireframes
- Site Maps and User Flow Diagrams
- Low Fidelity Paper Prototypes
- Interactive Prototypes
- Usability Testing Reports
- Mood Boards
- Rapid Design Iterations
- Page Designs
- HTML/CSS Templates
Posted at 3:54 PM | Comments (17)
Shark! | February 18, 2008
A few weeks ago we organised a public speaking workshop for the whole of Clearleft. A lovely chap called Alex Marshall hosted the workshop, and asked us all to give a 5 minute presentation to the rest of the team. Each session was video recorded and then played back to help us see what we’re doing well and what we’re doing badly.
I’ve been a dive instructor for several years, and have worked as a safety diver on shark feeds in the Great Barrier Reef. I’ve dived with all sorts of sharks in my time, from little white tip reef sharks in Thailand to schools of over 50 hammerheads in the South China seas. There is nothing like jumping in the water with a top level predator to get the heart racing.
However my first ever experience of a shark underwater was dead, laying on the bottom of the ocean with it’s fin cut off. Shark meat isn’t worth much, so it’s quite common to slice the fins off a living shark and then throw it back in the water to slowly drown. As such, I chose to do my talk on the terrible shark finning trade around the world.
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