Interaction Design | Web Directions

Presentations about interaction design

Matt Webb — Movement (Web Directions North Closing Keynote)

• In: Resources
• By: jessie
• February 12, 2008

A presentation given at Web Directions North, Vancouver Canada, January 31 2008.

We’ve always had metaphors to understand and design for the Web.

The original conception of the Web was as a library of documents. Our building blocks were derived from spatial ideas: “breadcrumbs,” “visits” and “homepages” were used to understand the medium.

Website-​​as-​​application was a new and novel metaphor in the late 1990s. The spatial concept of navigation was replaced by concepts derived from tools: buttons performed actions on data.

These metaphors inspire separate but complementary models of the Web. But the Web in 2008 has some entirely new qualities: more than ever it’s an ecology of separate but highly interconnected services. Its fiercely competitive, rapid development means differentiating innovations are quickly copied and spread. Attention from users is scarce. The fittest websites survive. In this world, what metaphors can be most successfully wielded?

Matt takes as a starting point interaction and product design, with ideas from cybernetics and Getting Things Done. He offers as a metaphor the concept of the Web as experience. That is, treating a website as a dynamic entity — a flowchart of motivations that both provides a continuously satisfying experience for the user… and helps the website grow.

From seeing what kind of websites this model provokes, we’ll see whether it also helps illuminate some of the Web’s coming design challenges: the blending of the Web with desktop software and physical devices; the particular concerns of small groups; and what the next movement might bring.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Cameron Adams — The future of web interfaces

• In: Resources
• By: Maxine
• September 29, 2007

A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 27 2007.

Ajax brought about a host of new possibilities in online interfaces, but where are we going next? Cameron Adams will look at the evolution of dynamic interfaces; interfaces that truly meet the needs of all their users. Through the careful use of Web Standards, client-​​side scripting, and server-​​side intelligence, it’s possible to create interfaces that shape, adapt to, and predict a user’s needs.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Lisa Herrod — Usability: more than skin deep

• In: Resources
• By: Maxine
• September 29, 2007

A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.

Web Usability is far more complex than User Testing and Interaction Design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface. We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Jonathan Boutelle — Ajax or Flash: what’s right for you?

• In: Resources
• By: Maxine
• September 29, 2007

A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 27 2007.

The web is finally moving beyond simple html. How can you make rich web-​​based user experiences that don’t surprise or aggravate your users? When should you use AJAX, when should you use Flash, and when should you mix the two? What are the opportunities and pitfalls when creating richer web interfaces? In this talk, Jonathan will argue that Flash and AJAX are complementary tools in the web developers’ toolbox, and that building effective web experiences often requires a blending of the two technologies.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Kelly Goto — Designing for Lifestyle

• In: Resources
• By: Guy Leech
• September 30, 2006

A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2006.

Interaction design is no longer limited to the web. The concept of user experience is being redefined as multiple delivery methods of social and business interaction merge into our lifestyles. As design migrates from the web to mobile devices we carry and interact with on a daily basis, our approach must also shift into cycles of design and research centered around the way people actually live. In this enlightening session, design ethnographer and web veteran Kelly Goto discusses the evolution of Web, handheld, and product interfaces and their cultural impact. Learn how companies are utilizing ethnographic-​​based research to conduct rapid, immersive studies of people and their lifestyles to inform the usefulness and viability of interfaces both online and offline. See the slides and hear the podcast »

Mark Pesce — Youbiquity

• In: Resources
• By: Guy Leech
• September 30, 2006

A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 29 2006.

The collection of social and information technologies informally known as Web2.0 have created a rich universe of applications — but a scattershot one. We plug lots of our information into websites everywhere — MySpace and Digg, Friendster and Yahoo!, and everywhere, Google, Google, Google. Yet it’s as if we’re spending all of our time building information silos; piles of data which are essentially unconnected. It’s getting dull. How many times do I need to list my friends, or my contact information, or my favorite bands?

We know why it’s happening: commercial interests are overruling the natural pooling and sharing of information that would actually bring some utility to this mountain of data we’re generating about ourselves. Yet the pressure to share is building up: the recent explosive emergence of mash-​​ups, which juxtapose two or three or more services in unique and valuable ways shows us that the hybrid always trumps the thoroughbred. And that’s just on internet services. Very few of us control the mountain of data we generate as we pass through this world — everyone wants it (for their own purposes), yet we — who are creating it — never have access to it.

It’s time to revisit the entire philosophy of interaction design on the Web, time to move the focus away from the site-​​as-​​resource, toward an idea of the site-​​as-​​personal-​​enabler. What we each bring to a website — or rather, what we should bring to a website — is a wealth of information about ourselves. This is the real resource of Web2.0, and the next place the Web is going. The exuberance around social networks shows us that people want to connect — it’s time for designers to build the tools which will truly enable that connection. See the slides and hear the podcast »

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