9:1 ratio of bad ideas to good

I tell my clients that I try to maintain a 9:1 ratio of bad ideas to good. And, no, I can’t tell which are which. If only.

- David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto (Chapter 5)

Handbook of Usability Testing, 2nd ed.

From Dana:

Hi!

I’m tingling, I’m so excited. I like to think that this is a special event in the user experience world. But every book author probably thinks that.

Handbook of Usability Testing, Second Edition by Jeff Rubin and Dana Chisnell ships on Monday, April 28.

This is not your mother’s HUT. Well, of course not. The first edition was published in 1994. Technology isn’t special anymore, it’s everywhere. (There were DOS examples, for heaven’s sake!) For HUT 2.0, Jeff and I

• Simplified the organization of the main sections
• Reordered many chapters to more closely reflect the flow of planning and conducting a test
• Updated dozens and dozens of examples, samples, and stories
• Expanded and updated discussions about recruiting participants, whether you need a lab, working with observers, analyzing testing data, and (we think) the best way to make recommendations
• Added a chapter on variations on the basic method
• Populated www.wiley.com/go/usabilitytesting with
• • electronic versions of many of the deliverables used as examples used in the book
  • updated references
  • a (we hope) comprehensive list of other resources such as conferences and seminars, other books, blogs, and podcasts.

The drawings and diagrams are have been freshened and improved. The layout and format promise to be less nerdy and more accessible, too.

Oh, and we benefited from sage reviews from Janice James, founder of the Usability Professionals’ Association as our technical editor (brava!), and a foreword by Jared Spool. [...]

Hope your experience with HUT 2.0 is good.

Dana

P.S. Here’s the official cite:

Rubin and Chisnell, Handbook of Usability Testing, Second Edition: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests (Wiley, 0470185481, 450 pages, April 28, 2008).

Dana’s blog: usabilitytestinghowto.blogspot.com

10/20/30 rule of powerpoint

It's that simple (at least to get venture capital for your startup)

• 10 slides in less than
• 20 minutes with at least
• 30 point text

blog: blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html

video: youtube.com/watch?v=liQLdRk0Ziw

Wil Shipley on Mac Software & Hype

Right from Wil's blog: Call me Fishmeal.

Find other conference videos at mprove: webcasts.

How to update a Firefox Add-on?

Stefan and I have created a new version of the OpenOffice.org Menu for Firefox with better usability for the menu to quickly navigate ooo's sites from Firefox. However, problem is that we cannot replace v1.0.4 with the new v1.1. See the discussion at Firefox Add-on site. Who can provide any help?

List of IA blogs

A list of blogs concerning information architecture is available at Stefan Freimark's blog.

Elements of Style

For a presentation I gave last week on the origin of patterns I found a quite condensed version of Christopher Alexander's latest book "The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe". The abridged version "Elements of Style" was featured by Wired in December 2003. You can find my version in English and German at Slideshare.net:

| View

(Let me know if anyone has high resolution images. Mine are a bit jagged.)

Jef Raskin found by Anarchaia

Anarchaia found and linked to my page with Jef Raskin's design rules. I'll have to check the other cool stuff collected by Christian Neukirchen.

interview questions and exercises

Interview questions for user experience design roles by Day Alexander and discussion at IxDA.

Related on LinkedIn: What are key questions for hiring managers and executives?

IxDA Patterns

The Interaction Design Accosiation has collected its discussions on patterns.
Find more resources on patterns (in general) at mprove: HCI Patterns.