http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog a blog on everything and nothing en milesdowsett@googlemail.com Copyright 2009 2009-03-23T16:28:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/data-design-the-genius-of-jon-snow/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/data-design-the-genius-of-jon-snow/#When:16:28:00Z I recently finished reading Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map, which is an incredible book on the Cholera outbreak in London's Soho district in 1854. One wouldn't naturally associate violent intestinal disease in Victorian London as a great source of design inspiration, but not only did this dark chapter in London's history produce a fantastic data visualisation model, it also changed the model of how all urban environments exist to this day. Code, Data, Design, Inspiration 2009-03-23T16:28:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/context-is-king-on-mobile-devices/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/context-is-king-on-mobile-devices/#When:20:01:00Z I was interested to see an article on the Webcredible website this month written by the editorial staff at Mobiles.co.uk about improving mobile internet usability. Being quite interested in this space I was naturally keen to hear what they had to say on a topic that's been widely talked about ever since the Wireless Application Protocol 1.0 was introduced over 10 years ago - a vastly different proposition than today's 3G technology. Data, Design, Mobile, User experience 2009-02-12T20:01:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/the-value-of-sketching/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/the-value-of-sketching/#When:20:13:01Z I've noticed a real surge in people advocating the use of simple sketching recently; putting more value on design in the early stages of a project. This is great news for us designers. But I was wondering how this significant change has come about. Design 2008-12-04T20:13:01+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/the-importance-of-design-metrics/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/the-importance-of-design-metrics/#When:20:22:00Z Good design is hard to quantify. If design is effective in communicating to its audience it becomes transparent; you simply don't notice it at all. If you don't believe me just stop to think about how you use motorway and road signage. I'd be willing to bet you don't think about its design at all when driving, just the information it communicates. An example of great information design. Design, Research, User experience 2008-12-03T20:22:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/user-research-upon-a-new-product/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/user-research-upon-a-new-product/#When:20:55:00Z I've been doing a lot of research on a new product of late and one of the crucial phases is gaining that initial user insight. However, with a new product you can't rely on usability tests or observe users by shadowing them in their natural environment because the product doesn't exist yet. So, one of the most important things you can do is talk to people - either by phone or face to face - and use that feedback to model personas. This isn't always as easy at it would seem; especially if the market your after is quite narrow. To that end, I've found the following tips useful in confirming that all important interview. Research, User experience 2008-11-17T20:55:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/online-persuasion-techniques/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/online-persuasion-techniques/#When:10:51:00Z In an increasingly complex online world of conversion and retention there are a few techniques that are pretty easy to implement - but often overlooked - when persuading people to buy online. It simply comes down to tapping into a little psychology and basic human nature. Data, User experience 2008-09-23T10:51:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/flickr-badge-code-issues/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/flickr-badge-code-issues/#When:19:48:00Z I've been using a Flickr badge on my site for quite some time now to display four thumbnails from my Flickr photostream. However, all of a sudden, without any warning it started to misbehave and I found the badge displaying five thumbnails with the first being an unclickable blank white image. Code, Data 2008-09-15T19:48:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/aurora-interface-concept-part-two/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/aurora-interface-concept-part-two/#When:20:58:00Z Further to my previous post about the Aurora interface concept earlier in the week, Adaptive Path has just released part two. The second part explores the data browsing experience using a mobile device rather than the traditional desktop. Data, Design, User experience 2008-08-07T20:58:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/adaptive-paths-aurora-interface-concept-unveiled/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/adaptive-paths-aurora-interface-concept-unveiled/#When:20:56:00Z Adaptive Path, the user experience and product development consultancy firm, have just released the first part of a new web interface concept called Aurora, in collaboration with Mozilla. Aurora is their take on how the web browser could evolve and work in the future, by harnessing masses of data within a very fluid and highly interactive user interface. Data, Design, User experience 2008-08-05T20:56:00+00:00 http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/former-google-staff-launch-cuil/ http://milesdowsett.com/index.php/blog/article/former-google-staff-launch-cuil/#When:20:39:00Z Cuil (pronounced 'Cool') is the latest search engine designed to challenge Google. The internet is littered with search engines that purport to offer something superior to Google, but none of them never have really gained any momentum and ultimately have sunk without trace. So is Cuil any different? Data, Google, News 2008-07-29T20:39:00+00:00