Re-imagining the Autism Spectrum Diagram
The term “autism spectrum” is a bit of a misnomer, as it’s not actually spectrum in a linear sense at all. In this post on my other blog, I illuminate how I’ve tackled the problem and hopefully created a more accurate, easier to understand diagram explaining where an individual might be on the so-called autism ...
Netsoft Holiday Card
This year’s Netsoft holiday card (a quick design I came up with just in the nick of time).
User in Chief
The genius of Steve Jobs is not in his creative or technical chops, but in his ability to be the ultimate user. He is able to tap into his own sensibilities to discern what will be great, and what will be a flop. More to the point, however, he is driven by his own own ...
Musing on Muse
In case you haven’t heard, Adobe is about to release a new AIR-based website design and building tool code-named Muse (the actual product name hasn’t been made public yet), and it’s currently available to download in beta format. I spent some of this past weekend using it, and below are my impressions. The promise of Muse ...
Lorem
Some UX professionals will tell you never to use lorem ispum, aka greek copy, and their reasons are very valid. In the real world, however, project deadlines often require us to start work without final (or any) copy. What are we to do? Because I agree that a block of phony text isn’t very useful, I ...
Free Wireframe Sketch Template
If you’re like me, you usually start your prototypes or wireframes on paper. However, it can be hassle to sketch out all the browser elements and grid anew for every page in a project. That’s why I created the 970 pixel wireframe sketch template that you can download (PDF) and use for your own work. ...
A Font of my Own
If you’d like to use my admittedly rough and misshapen handwriting … well, printing … for yourself, you can download this font for free.
970 Grid PSD
I’ve been using the 970 pixel grid for a little while now, and I agree with those who argue it has many advantages over the traditional 960 pixel grid. For more information, read this article. To download a layered Photoshop file with grid and measurements that I developed, click here.
My Type is Growing
Large type is in vogue on websites these days due in part to larger screens, higher resolution monitors, and stylistic trends. But I bet part of it is also due to the aging eyes of those who design websites. We’re not all kids anymore.
Words Matter
Right now, conservatives are circling the wagons, defending themselves, claiming that the rhetoric of Palin, Beck, Coulter, Hannity (really, most of FOX News) cannot possibly be blamed for the actions of one psychotic young man in Pima, Arizona. And they may be right: preliminary evidence suggests that the shooter was not, in reality, motivated by ...
Fireframes
Over the years, I’ve used many apps for wireframing, from Mockflow to Mockingbird, Dreamweaver to Flairbuilder, Protoshare to Balsamiq, Omnigraffle to Indesign and Illustrator. And, of course, everything still begins (and sometimes ends) on paper. But I’ve yet to give Fireworks a whirl, despite the fact that some UX people rave about its strengths as a ...
A Better Cart
The e-commerce checkout process can be frustrating and confusing: it’s not always clear where you are in the process, how to go back and make a correction, or how much further you’ve go to go until you’re done. Fortunately, a relatively new type of checkout is starting to appear around the Web. It takes the ...
Creating Hades
Blade Runner inspired a generation of filmmakers and other visual artists to think differently about what the future might look like. In this short video, Douglas Trumbull, who led the visual effects team on the film, describes the inspiration for, and the making of, the Hades (opening) sequence. From Inspiration to “Reality” It is striking ...
Goodbye Site Map, Hello Mind Map
There are a few reasons I’ve almost entirely ditched site maps in favor of mind maps. (Mind maps are traditionally considered tools for concept mapping or diagramming complex ideas, not websites.) First, site maps tend to be better for page-based site diagramming, but as we move toward states and modes, user decisions and flows become ...
