Reposts

Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful Why do these devices work so well? The basic reason is that they were all developed with a deep understanding of the activities that were to be performed: call this Activity-Centered Design. Many were not even designed in the common sense of the term, rather, they evolved with time. Each new generation of builders slowly improved the product upon the previous generation, based on feedback from their own experiences as well as from their customers. Slow, evolutionary folk design. But even for those devices created by formal design teams, populated with people whose job title was…

Your app makes me fat If our work drains a user’s cognitive resources, what does he lose? What else could he have done with those scarce, precious, easily-depleted resources? Maybe he’s trying to stick with that diet. Or practice guitar. Or play with his kids. That one new feature you added? That sparkly, Techcrunchable, awesome feature? What did it cost your user? If the result of your work consumes someone’s cognitive resources, they can’t use those resources for other things that truly, deeply matter. This is NOT about consuming their time and attention while they’re using your app. This is…

Kids can't use computers... and this is why it should worry you - Coding 2 Learn Google and Facebook give kids money if they manage to find and exploit security vulnerabilities in their systems. In schools we exclude kids for attempting to hack our systems. Is that right?

The Anatomy Of A Successful Logo Redesign Familiar logos are like overly attentive suitors: They’re so naggingly present that their charms are lost to you–until, one day, they’re gone. Then you realize just how much you took a shine to that Gap, Tropicana, or American Airlines icon. The replacement logos only serve to remind you of what you liked before everything changed. That’s how we usually react when a brand is overhauled–we notice only the “bad” redesigns. But occasionally, a company’s logo undergoes such a subtle transformation that it’s barely noticeable, even though if you were to compare the old…

My app design workflow

iOS 7 Speculation One of the most satisfying things about the iOS platform is the affordance and tactility of the interfaces which urge and woo you into touching them. This is the most logical UI speculation about iOS7. Designers kept on making design speculations about the iOS7 UI and stuff. They forgot one thing, usability and clarity comes before making UI “look” good.  In case of windows flat UI (Designers are in love with it, few even think its modern!), lack of affordance is the basic problem. Making something simple doesn’t mean making it minimalistic. Clearly while trying to reduce…

Alcatraz : Xcode Package ManagerAlcatraz is an open-source package manager for Xcode. It lets you discover and install plugins, templates and color schemes without the need for manually cloning or copying files. It installs itself as a part of Xcode and it feels like home.

Infographic: A Timeline Of The 100 Most Important Cameras Ever MadeWhich isn’t to say that photography hasn’t changed over that period. Of course it has. The most popular camera in the world today isn’t even really a camera—it’s an iPhone.

Five simple steps to better typographyTypography, I find, is still a bit of mystery to a lot of designers. The kind of typography I’m talking about is not your typical “What font should I use” typography but rather your “knowing your hanging punctuation from your em-dash” typography. Call me a little bit purist but this bothers me. So, in an attempt to spread the word here’s the first of five simple steps to better typography. To kick it off, part one is about the Measure.

Choosing the Right Font: A Practical Guide to Typography on the WebTypography is an huge field. People devote years of their lives to this ancient craft, and yet there’s always something new to learn.

Leave Them Weeping Grab people by the heart. Make them remember who they are. Show them what they can be. Change their lives and exist forever in the ether.