I have a shortÂcut to medium.com on the home screen of my Android phone. It’s there because I browsed the site a couÂple of times and Chrome’s app install banÂners promptÂed me to add it to my home screen, so I did. Some time latÂer I launched the site from the shortÂcut icon and it opened and loaded so quickÂly that I actuÂalÂly thought it had retrieved a copy from an offline cache. But it hadn’t, it was just very well optiÂmised. So ten points to the MediÂum team for that.
Today I launched the site from the shortÂcut again – but this time the expeÂriÂence was someÂwhat difÂferÂent. So difÂferÂent that I have to take away all the points I preÂviÂousÂly awardÂed to the team. The probÂlem is that when I launched the site today, I had the door emphatÂiÂcalÂly slammed in my face.
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Last year I began explorÂing the idea of the uncanÂny valÂley as it applies to creÂatÂing proÂtoÂtypes, using a panÂel from UnderÂstandÂing Comics as an illusÂtraÂtion. Lukas MathÂis at UX MagÂaÂzine has had a simÂiÂlar idea, but explored it in much more depth and with greater clarÂiÂty.
I work as an InforÂmaÂtion ArchiÂtect / DevelÂopÂer, and I’m a big fan of comics. For my IA work I refer freÂquentÂly to the work of Jesse James GarÂrett, espeÂcialÂly his EleÂments of User ExpeÂriÂence book, and as a fan of comics I recentÂly read (again) Scott McCloud’s UnderÂstandÂing Comics.
I’m not sayÂing that to boast of my geek creÂdenÂtials, but to introÂduce someÂthing I nevÂer imagÂined I’d find: a conÂnecÂtion between the two.
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The ongoÂing docÂuÂmenÂtaÂtion of Mark BoulÂton Design’s redesign of the DruÂpal webÂsite is proÂvidÂing some great insight into the process; Leisa Reichelt’s latÂest post, on the comÂmuÂniÂty wireÂframÂing project, is a prime examÂple. Now — whether by hapÂpy serendipÂiÂty or a desire to comÂpete — WordÂPress have begun to do likewise.
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Mark BoulÂton Design have been selectÂed to redesign drupal.org, the webÂsite of the DruÂpal CMS. I’m a big admirÂer of Mark’s writÂing about design and typogÂraÂphy, and I think it’s excitÂing that a big open-source project is going in this direction.
Now, if we could get him to design the DruÂpal user interÂface (as VeerÂle Pieters is doing with ExpresÂsion Engine), that would realÂly be something.
I’ve been doing quite a lot of site mapÂping recentÂly, and lookÂing for a way to escape the stanÂdard boxy top-down view. In searchÂing for examÂples of difÂferÂent ways to present the inforÂmaÂtion, that are pleasÂing to look at but still immeÂdiÂateÂly conÂvey meanÂing, I found a numÂber of interÂestÂing examples.
Below are the pick of the results, along with a few that don’t quite work, and some old standÂbys. I wantÂed to include images to illusÂtrate this, but in most casÂes the license didÂn’t allow.
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