Space is the Final Frontier

Hi Dad,

One day at our favorite little coffee shop in lower Wallingford you showed me your cell phone and your digital tape recorder and said - "this is my office - every where I go - I just place ads take calls and make notes and I am in business."

I have to let you know you helped me out with something - that is recognizing that if I reduce the stuff I own down to a minimal amount I can be more mobile and flexible.


So you are in a virtual business as a real architect meeting people and then doing the design and drafting at home (on paper but so what?). This virtual office ideal you were already living. While I may have considered myself hip and with-it as far as technology goes the reality is that isn't as true for me as it is for you.

Of course I had read about this kind of lifestyle, I knew it was possible. Working in technology companies, I helped to make it possible. What I knew about I hadn't integrated into my personship - although I am always looking for projects and design work to help people succeed, it had not occurred to me that in order for me to be happy, flexible, and carefree I have to dump old ideas even about what a job or an office is, and the accompanying stuff I have saddled myself with for so long. Sure I loved the stuff. But it's mostly gone now anyway having moved to a new flat on average once a year my entire life.

So I had saddled myself with a bunch of old ideas along with electronics and clothes and things to cook with and paperwork that I don't really need anymore. Arguably I don't even need my art supplies because I just digitize the resulting images anyway, and other than that in our age art is really a moving medium or a conceptional framework rather than something you hang on the wall. The things we hang on the wall are really more of artifacts any way.

What finally broke me through to your side - my 85 year old father's revolutionary mobile office of one highly skilled professional? I wanted to see the beach and take photos of people surfing the same day I was working, I wanted to watch the sun set, I wanted to be outside. It's not that there aren't enough photos of people surfing in the world, it's that I wanted to be there and I wanted to upload my images to Flickr immediately so that others world wide who follow my photostream - like a little movie of "What Does Linda Lane See?" - could view them right then, and any subjects could see their images right away!

But I had work to do, a design to get out, so instead I stayed home. Finally late at night it dawned on me. My laptop has wireless, I have a car, I can do the design work (which is all digital) on my laptop, turn it in from a beachside coffee shop, and shoot the photos and publish them to the Web the same way. Duho!

So now I want you to know I am combing through all that remains to see how much can be donated to charity or shredded or dumped. And I won't be collecting more - I will collect things like a couple of lens and bodies for the camera, a video camera, and another laptop cause this one was never intended for the kind of traveling I plan to do. Life is too short to sit at home any more. It's going to take a while but I am going to live up to my name.

I love you Daddy! Thank you!
-Linda

Revisiting the 2008 Intranet Design Awards

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html

A couple of things stand out about Dr. Jakob Nielsen's 2008 Intranet Design Awards that are worth revisiting, as 2008 draws to a close.

Here is his summary:
"Consistent design and integrated IA are becoming standard on good intranets. This year's winners focused on productivity tools, employee self-service, access to knowledgeable people (as opposed to "knowledge management"), and better-presented company news."

The Award Winners for the top 10 best-designed 2008 intranets are:

"1. Bank of America, US
2. Bankinter S.A., Spain
3. Barnes & Noble, US
4. British Airways, UK
5. Campbell Soup Company, US
6. Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation, US
7. IKEA North America Service, LLC, US
8. Ministry of Transport, New Zealand
9. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Australia
10. SAP AG, Germany"

First, the technologies Dr. Nielson mentions are best in class:

"The most-used products were SharePoint and the Google Search Appliance.[emphasis mine- Ed.] Other frequently used products were Red Hat Linux, Lotus Notes and Domino, and Oracle databases.

No single product made the list of most-used products for all of the four most recent Design Annuals (2005-2008). This simple fact reinforces the point that intranet platforms still have a long way to go. That said, the following products made the most-used lists more than once during this four-year period:

3 of 4 years: Google Search Appliance, Microsoft SQL Server
2 of 4 years: Apache, Documentum, IBM WebSphere, Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Lotus Notes and Domino, Oracle databases, SharePoint"



The second item that Dr. Nielsen points out is the use of Microsoft's Silverlight for interactivity:

"In addition to these widely used intranet technologies, we constantly see new ones applied. For example, the Ministry of Transport is already using Microsoft's Silverlight technology to add interactivity to one of its intranet areas."

For 2009 expect to see more Sharepoint, Microsoft SQL Server, Google Appliance, and Microsoft Silverlight in use on intranets, in addition to the other things Dr. Nielsen mentioned.

Amazon to launch streaming video service

This was one of the projects I worked on designing recently ... a precurser to this product -

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/05/28/amazon-to-launch-streaming-video-service/ "the Amazon Unbox download client and video player only supports Windows XP and Vista"

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/28/bezos-second-kindle-is-not-that-near-amazon-to-launch-paid-v/ "Bezos also announced a new, for-pay, streaming video-on-demand service for Amazon, which will be released in the next couple of weeks. The video should start playing "instantly," but we don't have any further details (like number of titles, library, price, etc.)"

See details at: http://www.amazon.com/Unbox-Video-Downloads/b?ie=UTF8&node=16261631

Agile workplace configuration at Microsoft

Working as a development product manager at Microsoft at the time I had no idea what scrum or agile development was, but this configuration of tables and chairs in the hallway of the 3rd floor of Microsoft's Building 114 just made sense to me.

I found these tables abandoned or stuck in hallways from other floors and dragged them here with my new team members. Then I ordered comfortable chairs from Microsoft's internal portal. We were set and took off and developed like mad.

The person, my friend, in the foreground found our environment to her liking, quiet, convenient yet friendly and joined us; as many travelers or consultants did from time to time. This worked for many reasons and gave MS full-timers the ability to find and interact with us without having to search around much.

Due to the location, our rules were straight forward, low tones, quiet, leave nothing in the room when leaving, push in your chair, and police your area. As you see in this photograph we had one phone for 18 + people. It rarely rang. The person being sought was nearly always there.

Twice in several months there was a slight disagreement about how open or closed the blinds should be but that environment worked very well for the team. We launched our project on time of course.

I absolutely loved working with them.

After I studied and worked with Agile development I came to understand that the techniques I had developed on my own, such as short daily meetings (scrum), worked for others.

Lynne's livingroom nook makeover

In progress - Interior design by Linda Lane with West Seattle couple. Complete renovation, walls, floor, windows, trim done by family members. Custom sofas and pillows. Prints from existing collection.

Enlarged Tibetan Afganistan carpet pattern, from New Zealand Wool. This room is still in realization phase. Jewel tones to be added, and art. The cats scattered as I started photography of this room. I want to find a great green silk curtain set, and use a combination of the curtain color and style of the pillows and carpet style to create a thin washed wall painting on the inset wall.

Right now the space is a little too formal and needs brighter colors and shapes to warm it up. This is just one section of this room and I am looking forward to having the entire thing complete.

Lynn's husband did an amazing job of stripping this room down to the supports and building new walls, and installing new windows and a beautimous new floor.

Really pretty!!!

M. David Becton Design

Doesn't everyone love M. David Becton's little square tables with all that personality? Here we have an assortment... and David regarding his work, about which he is quite passionate:

"Details in Style" is drawn from a variety of historical and cultural sources which run through our lives. I have been designing and building the furniture that occupied my thoughts and my commissions for many years.

With this new idea I have combined a clean, yet dramatic, feel with the sources of our visual history of stylistic elements. They are the result of a history degree and a life influenced by art and the theater.

The traditional lines and details of each statement are jewels in the cultural and architectural pieces of the human puzzle and evidence of the terrible effect of what six years of higher education and a sheet of imitation parchment can do to innocent scraps of wood.

Each table is designed to dramatize some voice from the past or reinterpret a cultural idea that has struck my imagination with enough force to be knocked out and take on a life of its own. You could think of these tables as a present day "Contemporary furniture beverage with a historical twist," or simply a bit of personality to inspire an otherwise harmless room.

The bases are fabricated from a solid core medium density wood fiber product designed to resist the irregular shrinkage properties of newly cut trees. Whenever possible we use purified, recycled wood fiber. For the tops we use a special veneered board that is the standard for exterior art and signs.

Each exterior seam is reinforced to eliminate finish cracking common to jointery of any kind. Our craftsmen and artists apply a resistant gesso-like surface by hand to create the look and feel of antique stone or plastic with some of the same characteristics of durability.

After the background pigment is applied for hue it is glazed with various nuanced pigment to add depth and personality. The result is a table that, although new, has the feel and personality of an older and wiser table. All in all, each piece has a sense of depth and patina all its own.

A pool in an oriental garden could only hope to feel this serene."

See David's site at: http://www.bectonltd.com
M. David Becton

Amazon Downloader I designed

Here a link to the downloader I helped to design at Amazon in 2007. Check out the link to see how to use it and download it to use it yourself!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/swvgdtt/help/get-started.html

Why Information Management?

"It's not easy to turn a conceptual grasp of a large space into workable solutions, however, and takes many different skill sets—not the least of which is learning to focus and work with talented people who may not have the overall picture but can contribute to the solution." (Mike Crandall, email Jan 21, 2007)

A thorough understanding of information, verses just design or data structures, is at the core of refined application and web design. In depth comprehension of information may help with design in ways planners, designers, and developers may not be able to imagine until actually undertaking the action to expose or make transparent data structures for human and machine use and interaction.

What a Document Is

From: Linda Lane
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 5:34 PMTo: 'buckland berkeley.edu'

Subject: a 'document' is what it is used for; something that intends to inform, a document also refers to that something itself.

Hi Dr. Buckland,
Thank you for your recommendation for me to read “What is a Document” - I found it more informative than expected, especially regarding the spiritual overtones which while scratching the surface so lightly I would not expect to spring so quickly and significantly to the surface.

One thing is that I remain unsure of is - what you think a Document is. The closest I can figure out is that you have closely analyzed other’s opinions and feel that although they did not say it so clearly as have you, that a document has nothing to do with it’s flatness or what medium it’s in or is stored in, a document is what it is used for and also refers to that thing itself. You infer:

“1. There is materiality: Physical objects and physical signs only;
2. There is intentionality: It is intended that the object be treated as evidence;
3. The objects have to be processed: They have to be made into documents; and, we think,
4. There is a phenomenological position: The object is perceived to be a document.”

But you question even these things. I can think of things that inform which may not be documents, until they are documented in a way that others can read them. Such as termas.

The question “is it art because it’s framed as art” – no pun intended I hope – by this you seem to be saying that you agree that information, and documentation can be defined by the context it is in. That’s it is relative to use, to what you are using it for, that it is for informing one about something.

So to give a crude example which suddenly came to mind, a person on an outhouse throne can read a Sears and Roebuck catalog page, but the second that they intend to use it for something other than entertainment, say as toilet paper, it’s no longer a document (unless it was to be then used as a sample for medical reasons or other research).

Besides the obvious reasons I care about your definition, is back in the dark ages of home computer use (1989-1991), I labored as a technical support worker at Microsoft. One day while working in the Works unit, not the preferred department, a confused customer called and after speaking for a while I said, “ok, open your document.” And the person having just discussed whatever file they were having trouble with, said, “What is a document?” This person said they had never heard that word before.

Bang! ‘What is a document’ I thought – that’s a real basic question. But having supported 18,000 individual questions over a 2 year period, I was used to questions such as “File Menu? What is file? What is menu?” and “where do I put the mouse?”. The repetitive nature of answering simple questions with very practical answers = “Yes, the print menu item is always in the same place, from now on.” For the 6th time with the same customer. Sort of causes you to stop thinking about the symbolic or higher meanings of just about any question. (and caused me to think it was the fault of the software.)

Regarding signs, I foresee soon a kind of digital display device that I will see in my lifetime in wide use that is displayed on some medium like ionized air and hangs down in long brightly lit transparent panels.

Back to your paper – so you are inferring that a document is something that intends to inform. If you wanted to tell me what a document is, you would have named your paper that, but since you asked a question, that is exactly what your paper does – posit the question, not necessarily tell us, but to get us to think.

So I will read the second document – “What is a digital document.”
Cheers!
-Linda

http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/~buckland/whatdoc.html

Solomon's Mine in Time -- on Children's Information Retrieval Behavior and Survey of MP3 Usage by Mark Latonero

"Children's information retrieval behavior: A case analysis of an OPAC," by Paul Solomon, 1993

“Survey of MP3 Usage: Report on a University Consumption Community,” by Mark Latonero, 2000


Solomon's Mine in TimeOn reading "Children's information retrieval behavior: A case analysis of an OPAC," Paul Solomon’s 1993 study published in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 44(5): 245-264, I learned how important context, especially the date a study was written, is to critical analysis when reading articles in our rapidly changing information environment. Overall I enjoyed his kind and informative tone. He showed real empathy with his study subjects and introduced new ideas to me, which I enjoyed the best.

Solomon opened his introduction with a literature review. By using the term “excitement” in the second sentence I felt Solomon might be a writer who possesses enthusiasm, and finding his mention of Case, knew that this writer was someone to read thoroughly. Solomon also assumed that studying new algorithms for search would not add as much to the field as the study of human subjects would. I was encouraged by this viewpoint.

Solomon’s article was written in a clear, factual manner. I especially enjoyed his self aware sense of humor and sense of playfulness as expressed in his problem statement:

“Searchers, in turn, have their own way of thinking about their topics and interests. Although tools such as the four-volume tome, Library of Congress Subject Headings, are sometimes made available, users for the most part either avoid them, are unaware of their availability, or do not know how to use them. (Solomon 1993)”

By using the term “tome” he gives some idea of what remains unstated – that information searchers are probably not going to read a huge set of books on subject headings to become expert in the science of information seeking and retrieval. This is especially true since we later hear about young children looking up “dinosaur” and having trouble with their spelling.

In the problem statement, Solomon addressed the ubiquitous answers computers give to not finding searches (“TERM NOT FOUND” or “QUERY ERROR”) and suggested that information retrieval systems provide instruction and support instead of dead ends. His main theme, supported by the evidence he collected, was the importance of practical solutions to such problems, so that even a child can use search systems effectively.

The feeling of respect he imparted regarding the children he interviewed and observed was very enjoyable. As a result, I felt he did not go into the field knowing it all, or with something to prove, but that he actually did his work with a marvelous sense of discovery.

Solomon’s observations and call for future research – “Continued testing with different groups of children has helped to refine the interface into one that lessens the skill barriers that searchers face. These barriers, such as search term generation (recalls) are often problems for adults. Thus, workable interface solutions for children may influence designs for other users as well.” (Solomon 1993) and when discussing Grade-level impacts –

“…the syntactic idiosyncrasies of the OPAC software influenced all users from time to time.” (Solomon 1993)

-- struck me as hilarious, because rewording with his prior observations it adds up to:

“Everybody, regardless of age, likes more well designed tools for search, not brain dead ones.[1]”

This is humorous because I am reading this study as someone who has had search engines like Google available for many years -- Solomon didn’t have advanced search and neither did the children he studied. To find information, even with a computer-based OPAC system, they had to know how to spell and how to remember a search. They also had to understand related and broader search concepts. I have the luxury of terribly garbling[2] my spelling in a search and then most online search engines will attempt a correction. In addition, I can completely forget a search, because I can store the results as a favorite. There are many ways to stumble onto the same information I once found, to recall it, through tags, and other tools commonly available to those on this side of the digital divide.

In fact, the reason I noticed the date of the study is because the OPAC search tool Solomon was using at the time sounded like some kind of torture tool to me; using graphics effectively he included the user interface as a screenshot, details with other screenshots, with the description of how searches returned results. Those graphics and description led me to check the date.

Prior to that I wondered who would put their kids into such a backwards school, were they neo-luddites[3], or did they have other reasons such as the context of the study itself? The date told me everything. Then my mind turned completely and I felt these students may have done better in their lives as a result of Solomon paying attention to them. As a result of the training that occurred naturally, they learned how to find information faster than other students[4].

In a way his problem statement can be reduced to: ”Information retrieval systems need to be designed for real people, even kids.” He reasons that children are a perfect example of people who use an information retrieval system with no expectations, and learn it. Researchers can learn about what information retrieval solutions needs are to improve these systems. Solomon’s research question was “How do children use Information Retrieval Systems?” using the OPAC system. The methodology was very appropriate for his research problem; I was especially fascinated by searching for information rituals that he discovered in children in his study[5].

Clearly in light of new search engine technology we see that his conclusions and recommendations were true and correct. Possibly his own studies brought forth fruit. Those very things he recognized and wrote about have changed in modern retrieval methods on the World Wide Web.

In hindsight we see that having too much information return in a retrieval can be nearly as bad as nothing being returned, but he brushed by delving much into that, possibly due to the nature of difficulty of returning large amounts of data successfully.

I could not interpret some of Solomon’s statements. On page 247 of the publication of his work in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science, he speaks about “children of average intelligence investigated more themes,” and I wondered in contrast to what kind of intelligence in performance? Offering only the middle point is difficult to understand if you mean higher or lower intellects investigate more themes. Some highly intelligent people focus more on one thing so may not have a broader range of understanding.

On page 254 the truncation reference to “e.g. (hurr@)” raised questions. Perhaps the @ sign was being used as some kind of wildcard. In such a way would someone from the future be unable to interpret code, software, hardware or related terms embedded in a current Hacker Koan[6]? If you use symbols, it’s important to reference their meaning in some way so it’s not lost in time.

My plans are to return to Solomon’s study and mine it for more information in the future.


Latonero’s MP3 Study

Upon the recommendation of my cohort Jagadish Yadavadri I read Mark Latonero’s survey results on University of Southern California students’ consumption of MP3 sound files and self reported purchasing patterns. The fact that as a master’s degree student he obtained funding of $2,000 dollars to perform the study[7] while others just cried foul, reminded me of the old adage, “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does any thing about it.” Latonero took up the actual inquiry into the subject of MP3 use, its effects on purchasing patterns, and published one of the first empirical studies on the subject.[8] He deserves credit for his thoughtful approach, although his study reports results, and does not serve as well to inform.

One of the notable differences in the style of these two kinds of reports, Solomon’s case analysis and Latonero’s survey, was the amount and kind of information provided. The survey stands alone lacking outside reference materials; it contained no references and no recommendations for further studies, related or otherwise. The study particulars are visually very well documented with graphs and short explanatory interpretations. The reasons driving the study refer to “speculation” and “most media reports” without quoting one professional publication or news article. However, readers can imagine the worried music production company executives pacing back and forth wringing their hands and wondering about depressed marketshare, Dr. Latonero’s survey focuses on what 275 randomly selected respondents actually reported at the time.

His main conclusion was clearly expressed on the first page and second paragraph of his study, where he stated that –
“MP3 File sharing is wildly popular, but contrary to most media reporting, the majority of students surveyed are still willing to pay for recorded music. The study found little persuasive evidence to indicate that student’ aggregate use of MP3 technologies has been harmful to either the recording industry or artists.”

Since this study is self reported and does not focus on the actual marketplace I wondered how Latonero could backup this statement. Stating facts and backing them up with more evidence lends more weight to evaluation and analysis. Clearly there is something going on in the music industry related to file sharing and the Internet.

For example as reported in our class the popular music store Tower Records filed for Chapter 11, on Feb. 9, 2004[9]. At the time this was widely reported in the media, and articles written at the time said Tower “suffered from rapid changes in the music business, especially the exploding popularity of downloading music for free from the Internet.[10]” Not presented in our class was that Tower Records pulled out of Chapter 11 protection only 35 days after filing[11]. This calls into question not only the causes but also what exactly the problem was. The reason provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission quoted in the same article was that Tower, after borrowing money for expansion, failed to make a profit -- “revealed the retailer had lost money for 13 straight quarters.”
Similarly contradictory reports from record companies and artists call into question just where and how people purchase music, such as in which formats[12]. This also creates questions regarding changes in the music industry which appear that their actions are now and will be enforced in the future by the new technology more than the law enables enforcement of anything.

There are such a wide number of variables, and possible solutions to what some view as a problem. Others in the music community view these same issues as an opportunity. No longer do individual artists require huge marketing machines to promote their music, which prior to this meant locking themselves into a unique form of debt termed “an advance”. These same artists can promote themselves to their audiences directly using new Internet based marketing techniques and many business and technical models.

Internet wags offer that “major record labels have been criticized for failing to take advantage of the potent marketing opportunity presented by the Internet and the MP3 download rage[13]” are in my estimation correct. That industry is resisting inevitable change through a newly enacted law, THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1998[14] in the Web’s Wild West environment. Regarding the law, educated and informed individuals’ express confusion of what the laws even are and how such laws are related to digital media, as repeatedly shown in studies including our own “IMT510 – Final Report – Group 5” detailed on pages 5-7.

Though I appreciate Dr. Latonero’s survey it is far too simplistic to say downloading music doesn’t appear to be affecting the industry based on just one survey. Even taking into account the date it was written the opinions seem naïve.
[1] My original margin note read “Stupid software hurts everyone.”
[2] While I draft this paper in Microsoft Word, Word fixed the word “garblling” to “garbling” but I could not make it stop correcting it for this note, nor stop auto correcting a capitalized word unless I turned off the function for the entire page.
[3] Reference term Friday November 5, 2006 located description at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-luddism
[4] “Change in Competence of Children”, Solomon, P. (1993). "Children's information retrieval behavior: A case analysis of an OPAC." Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 44(5): 245-264.
[5] Rituals may be something not well understood in information retrieval.
[6] Reference example Friday November 5, 2006 located at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_koan
In the days when Sussman was a novice, Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6.
"What are you doing?", asked Minsky.
"I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-tac-toe", Sussman replied.
"Why is the net wired randomly?", asked Minsky.
"I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play", Sussman said.
Minsky then shut his eyes.
"Why do you close your eyes?" Sussman asked his teacher.
"So that the room will be empty."
At that moment, Sussman was enlightened.
[7] Reference downloaded Tuesday December 5, 2006 located at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/dt/V142/N44/01-napster.44d.html
[8] Reference downloaded Tuesday December 5, 2006 located at: http://www.stanhopecentre.org/about/
[9] Reference downloaded Tuesday December 5, 2006 located at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/09/entertainment/main599008.shtml
[10] Reference downloaded Tuesday December 5, 2006 located at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/09/entertainment/main599008.shtml
[11] Reference downloaded Tuesday December 5, 2006 located at: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FNP/is_7_43/ai_115080290
[12]Case, D.O. (2002) p. 263. Looking for Information. New York: Academic Press. “Journal of Marketing …”How do Customers and Consumers Really Behave?,” Donald Lehmann (1999)… the focus must shift, Lehmann says, away from viewing the consumer as a conscious, rational “decision maker” and toward the customer as an emotional, unfocused, learning human. Allegedly “irrational” behavior should not be merely identified as an aberration but should be modeled and explained as much as possible.”
[13] Reference downloaded Tuesday December 5, 2006 located at: http://www.goingware.com/tips/legal-downloads.html
[14] Reference downloaded Tuesday December 5, 2006 located at: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf



Dr. Paul Solomon's Website at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill







Review of two papers for the IMT510b, Masters of Science in Information Management, at the iSchool, University of Washington, Seattle. Wednesday, December 6, 2006.

Who or what lives behind the Gates of Eden? What does it mean to be human?

What does it mean to be human, what is a unique object that could illustrate or frame what being human means?

Anything can symbolize what it means to be human because it is we ourselves who are the interpreters. Meaning itself is open to interpretation, symbols already are an abstraction. Considering symbols brings to mind the more abstract parts of being human.

Googling “What it means to be human” returned religious essays. The kinds of images which immediately came to my mind were religious imagery, and ideas around trust - from the most trusted - to enemies. Trust itself was the basis of Windows NT (and later) “trusted systems”, these are rings of related authentication and validation systems which trust each other to allow just the right access and levels of privacy permitted for use by the appropriate systems and persons.

Thinking about physical aspects of being human, first ‘fingers’ came to mind, and then ‘children’ came to mind. Children are our mirrors, and these as ideas are used in database propagation. Almost anything human can relate to the design of information systems. But what about things of a more abstract nature or the deeper things which make humans special, forgiveness, kindness, freedom, honor, beauty – and thinking itself? Or less pleasant or poisonous things? Doubt, insecurity, hatred, stupidly, cruelty? Do these relate to information systems?

Information systems are abstractions; which human experiences are naturally abstract that can be applied to information systems, whether they exist already or not? At some level of humanity abstract things are those that we are most interested in, and at a more practical level, it is the attribute that humans possess in abundance -- the ability to abstract applied with imagination. We have used systems to aide nearly every aspect of human endeavor, past, present and future; research, medicine, flight, extrapolation, supply chains, deliveries, living machines – finding and designing shelter. Information systems can provide for all these things and more, they are useful when they serve us. But for now computer information systems can not be human, and can not have human experience.

What information systems can do is assist humans to do things or communicate. They in themselves lack consciousness. While consciousness is a thing it is not a thing you can bring somewhere, other than it naturally resides in humans, and Kirlian photography aside, you can not take a picture of it, like you can a smile to express emotion.

So it is consciousness itself is the most interesting human thing that an information system could do, or at least mimic. Consciousness, thinking, acting like a human, and giving human like responses is very interesting. If meaning can be derived from experience, if information systems can give the appearance of human behavior, this could be the most creative because it is possible that anything which mirrors us could help us think about things in a new way, just like mirrors do.

Robots, androids, and sentient beings without emotions are fascinating to people and a frequent subject in science fiction. Isn’t our real question what would it be like to have perfect intellect, vast knowledge, wisdom and no emotions, in effect a machine like human or a human like machine? Is this our idea of the perfect machine, like the perfect human?

My questions: It is helpful to have a system trust you, because security is one of the basic human needs, would it do any good to have a system pray for you? What would a system which prays for you be? How would you know if it’s working? Would you gather merit as a result? Would you spontaneously forgive? Could information system take requests and as output pray for a person and as long as the person was aware of it, would it then have an effect? Is doing things easily Nirvana? Who or what lives behind the gates of Eden?

My choice of something that symbolizes what it means to be human is a modern Prayer Wheel filled with prayers in text form, stored as PDFs on CDs ready to plug in and pray.

Written for Dr. Cheryl Metoyer's IMT 510



Dr. Cheryl Metoyer's University of Washington's iSchool Website





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It Works and We Like Using It

No matter how comfortable and well upholstered a chair is, if a person’s goal is not to sit down but to take a shower they need a shower not a chair. With basic and common sense approaches to system design authors on task analysis and usability outline ways to test and examine real people performing actual or visualized tests so that the resulting system designs both function and do so elegantly; these methods can compliment each other to derive the best from both forms of analysis.

In the early days of the Web, basic text sites, with just simple links sold merchandise; one classic site that sold quite a bit of merchandise was a Christmas gift site, center-justified colored text with many links running straight down a single page decorated with randomly placed candy canes. Certainly such sites were not easy to find, nor easy to use and, in a word, ugly. But they were useful.

One might think by now we were way past questions around online goals, and into customizing beautiful interfaces, but with the plethora of reasons to use Webs the need to evaluate what people’s actual goals are in unique situations and combine ease of use customized with real goals has grown as the world reaches past the 100 million mark of live sites(1). We seek to both have things work and enjoy using them; using these techniques ensures both are likely.

To help designers improve systems Task Analysis focuses on what real people do to achieve their goals (Greenberg, 2003), and Usability Evaluations are based on evaluating how discoverable and possible the interface allows for people to achieve their goals (Krug, 2000). Both have the same goal – usable systems – but by different means. The difference is Task Analysis captures the working environment and demonstrates who the user is and what they are trying to achieve, what their goals are including failures. In the Usability Evaluation method the goal is to help designers increase how well end users can accomplish tasks, and even measure the difference from old systems to new ones.

Following the advice of these authors, from the beginning envision incorporating task centered design to follow and watch how users actually work, and make notes as they demonstrate the Web based software for the design process.

As you learn more about a system you tend to forget that you are making due, using workarounds to make up for system flaws, so it is just as you enter a system that it is best to carefully document and record what your own experience as well as the users immediately.

Paper prototypes are a swift approach to get to the first level of task centered design, and it is with this approach that the beginnings of usability start. Working with teams dispersed worldwide one plan of action is to rely first on local teams, using their feedback begin to construct clickable wire frames, iteratively requesting feedback. Scenario based design (Carroll, 2000) will also help make the designers job easier in terms of what it takes to display lots of data and make it useable.

Several authors make the same point that having just a few people perform some usability tests is better than no data at all, notably Nielson. All in all combining pulling from several methods from beginning to end will make both the process and the results better for everyone.

(1)“Web reaches new milestone: 100 million sites” CNN article located at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/11/01/100millionwebsites/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Written for IMT 540

Dr. Dave Hendry's University of Washington's iSchool Website

Screaming caller's right to use software revoked by manufacturer

A while back working for a local software firm I heard a ruckus when an upset woman phoned into the support line and later she got more than she bargained for. She screamed so loud into the phone about her software problems and sounded actually furious enough to kill someone that the tech recorded the call, and summoned his supervisor to listen in, and put the call on mute so they could discuss it as the woman ranted and raved - as part of the slacker generation he found it utterly hilarious, the more he had tried to do something to fix the apparent problem the worse she became.

I was in the next room at the time listening to the bustle, and the tech laughing; playing back the end of the unbelievably loud call.

Well of course we weren't actually working for the software company directly we were working for an outsourcing firm, but we did have access to their old backend database which included detailed records of coded support calls.

Checking out the history of her calls it was discovered that this is what she did to get new software, call in sounding mad and escalate to sounding insane. The techs always blamed themselves so frequently a manager was called in to pacify the enraged woman and, of course, give her something - the something was always more software.

Kinda like throwing lighter fluid on a flame to extinguish it.

Using this tried and true technique she was able to have any software product (manufactured by that company) she wanted (I believe records went back to Aldus) - she had been taught that it worked so she used it.

It worked - at least until she met someone with a high degree of self confidence, experience, knowledge of the tools at his disposal, and an understanding of human nature.

Following up on the details I heard the following:
Managers called her to discuss the matter but in the first few minutes of the call the pattern repeated - confirmed -- they sent her a formal letter revoking her licenses and asking her to dispose of the products as she did not have legal copies any more.

In addition a team of lawyers visited her in person and served her with a legal notice that her licence to use the software was revoked.

Somehow I enjoyed the thought of these suited gentlepersons at her door giving her the news, there she is on a bright sunny day, was just working in her garden and doing a little design work - when surprise - karma boomerang! - even though that's a little sad.

So, speaking of sad - this is the kind of link that I would like to warn people about emotionally before clicking on it, I found it really disturbing -- Dolphins being harvested, including being dragged while alive behind trucks, and having their throats slit open:

http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin

A frowning face does not convey enough seriousness of the expression of potential harm to a viewer / friend -- so go there forewarned.

Docusign.net heuristic evaluation

https://www.docusign.net is the subject of this heuristic evaluation.

This application uses the technical convention of an authenticated user on a website printing a document to a local service which has been previously installed on the local box to obtain a legal signature from a remote party or to send or respond to such a request. This “printed” document then appears in a registry in the Web interface on which the user will perform actions which the Web services provides. The document with its various suggestions for use, such as SIGN HERE, grants the ability to have legal digital signatures.

From the point of view of a user the convention is sending a letter, with the contents, envelope, and stamp of approval, proof of receipt and similar mail conventions.

While I found it stunningly easy to use, there arose what I refer to as “Omissions of the 3rd Kind” which means they are not intuitive and require more in depth experience with the system to understand, or some simple reason prevents the enduser from understanding the interface such as fear of use.

The first one was encountered after successfully following the steps to install the application locally, and printing the document I wanted to send it to someone to have it digitally signed. As I went through the crabwise steps appearing and clicking “Next”



Addressing the header in the Envelope.

After passing through all the steps, it became apparent that the application was going to allow me to send a document to be signed but not to open and digitally sign a document myself, and then forward it. I stepped through the entire process, taking screenshots of the process. I located the help files and played them and found that the interface did support signing and sending. But first the document needed to be prepared with the locations for signing embedded in the file.

So I stepped through the application again. I felt that instead of “New” in the interface it might have a option to Request Signature, and one for Send Signature as a scenario based design could offer. But as I used it the second time it seemed more intuitive.

I took it at face value, I trusted it. Signers IS Signers – it is anyone including me. So I addressed the “Envelope” to myself.



Adding myself as the addressee for sending and signing

Then I simply followed each step as it was encountered. Forwarded the document to myself through the application and voila, it was done.

The only real limitation I could immediately discover considering the purposes I wanted to use it, is if the new window is open, any documents you have not “printed” will not appear in the open window. This application detests the back button which is not a familiar scenario for some kinds of web uses.

Eureka! This application works from the heuristic point of view and it works well, with three simple caveats
1. View the basic instruction presentation
2. Trust the application to lead you, don’t overthink it
3. Read the interface.

For most users I believe they could get this to work the first time.

Empathy in Well-considered Human Centered Design

Reviewing three basic value propositions to well-considered human centered design by activating the humanistic standard ‘empathy’ in real ways presented by Leonard & Rayport, Dr. Friedman and Holtzblatt & Beyer (see details at bottom of post) I feel that as humans make products it only seems practical for design concinnity to include human-involved practices in the field, resulting in recursive feedback into existing and new systems.

Each author offers a slightly different view of what effective empathy means, but all see it as helping individual people in particular and the masses in general, by listening and asking questions through a variety of methods. All mentioned work-arounds which people employ unconsciously to combat commonplace non-functional technical environments.

Empathy is the ability to feel affection for other living beings, like in a mirror image, to understand other’s motivation, from the dictionary –
“Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives.”
Or in less romantic terms from Holtzblatt and Beyer – “We want our feet to be sore where their shoes pinch ”

Leonard and Rayport see empathy as an exciting way to “delight the customer ” through a process of market research with observers capturing data, analyzing the brainstorming to create prototypes. They also consider it as culture shift to ensure sustainable successful companies. The AOL section seemed misplaced – who cares if a company is technical or not – nobody wants their private contact information sold without consent.

Friedman uses a business based phrase to capture the attention of managers with “Value Centered Design ”. Friedman championed people strongly, with her powerful view of empathy, she framed the wording and examples to convince businesspeople to attempt these solutions. Her crowning materials were the moral views on informed consent particularly where web based user tracking was outlined, illustrated with “how a user might benefit or be harmed by it’s use. ”

Holtzblatt and Beyer use empathy because people just want get their work done on computers, not focus on the tool itself. They elucidated the processes of contextual inquiry. They want users as “strong participants in the design process.”

There are nothing but advantages to the methods outlined with only a few disclaimers:
1. These adaptations consume cycles (resources) and increase the “time to market”; a clear short term disadvantage: as engineers say:
“What do you want for your product? Good quality? Inexpensive? Quick to get to the market? Good, cheap, quick: pick any two.”

2. Change to refocus on the real needs of consumers is impossible for some well established producers (dinosaurs). As Donald A. Norman states in “Want Human-Centered Development? Reorganize the Company”
“It is difficult for a company to make the transition to a consumer-driven marketplace.”

These megalithic monstrosities drive themselves out of business -- with top down management they will not allow employees to have input, much less customers.


3. From experience how could anyone think for a New York second that the practice of tracking end users through cookies does not affect their work? ‘Sniffers’ and ‘click trackers’ grind robust browsers down to a snail’s speed – to read these articles online SpyBot, defragger, and “anti-virus” software had to run to restore the browser’s speed to normal. Less knowledgeable users have to pay for support.

4. Democracy as a human value; living in a failing democracy one wonders if the highly prized human values stated in these article will linger long enough to overcome greed.

empathy. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved October 12, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/empathy

Holtzblatt, K., & Beyer, H. (1993). Making customer-centered design work for teams.Communications of the ACM, 36(10), 92-103. Retrieved 1 Dec 2004 from http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/163430.164050.

Leonard, D., & Rayport, J. F. (1997). Spark innovation through emphatic design. Harvard Business Review, 75(6), 102-113.

Friedman, B. (2004). Value Sensitive Design. Encyclopedia of human-computer interaction. (pp. 769-774). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group.

Wicked Problems in User Interface Design

The wicked problem examples from urban planning that Rittle & Webber (1973) present ring true for information systems design because when addressing and serving more and more people’s diverse needs naturally wicked problems arise, hopefully to be solved, in large part with monkey-like mischievous solutions.

Working with Apple Computers, Mountford (1990) expressed those wicked problems in computer information systems outlining on the first page:
“The world is rich with data, rapidly becoming more and more varied in media type…
The challenge is how to best present and represent such data within the interface, to transform it into useful information.”

Making this suggestion for resolving these problems:
Future interfaces need to incorporate new information types and to accommodate new types of users with additional customized real-world interface metaphors that make information easy to find and use.”

Suggesting merging the efforts of two groups not generally thought of working together, scientists and artists. Comparisons from design traditions, animation, theater, architecture, industrial design, and information display (using Tufte’s famed cartography example of Napoleon’s March to Moscow: The War of 1812”). Suggesting looking at real world tasks and environments to find new ideas which in the technology and music fields we call “mashups” today, Mountford writes:
“Some people believe that new ideas are almost always the result of collisions –juxtapositions or recombinations of ideas” (Koestler, 1964)

These are outlined based on Adam’s (1986) brainstorming steps, as new uses for the object, adapt the object to be like something else, modify, magnify, minimize, substitute, rearrange, reverse or transpose, combine the data into an ensemble. This advice seems virtually the same as Jasper Johns’ esthetic theorem, now considered basic advice to artists --
"Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it."

Role playing is suggested as a creative exercise to delve more deeply into the change the idea or object metaphor, and outlining four personality and functional roles, the Explorer, the Artist, the Judge, the Warrior, that could be worn like a costume on Halloween, but accurately providing a warning that if interacting all at once, perhaps the role of the judge should wait to sort the ideas presented instead of eliminating them.

In a way Johns is a good example of the polar differences between scientists and artists, with information science providing solutions to needs looking for something one doesn’t know or have and Johns ‘something’ becoming something else based on “things the mind already knows. ”

Mountford ends advising interface designers to live in the present and future, anticipating the challenges for designers in new ways to use computers having suggested prototyping models, and these several techniques that are in wide use today.

Life too far in the future isn’t always economically feasible, but combining with role playing should help software projects remain practical and satisfying for those of us who enjoy building successful information tools and toys, or just imagineering we are. I feel the analysis is especially accurate as far as customizable user interface design goes.

Jasper Johns sketchbook, page 42 from 1963–1964 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20001218/danto/2

Quote obtained Oct 31, 2006 from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/john/hd_john.htm

Rittle & Webber / Mountford on Wicked Problems

Rittle & Webber (1973) present the concept that due to the complex nature of human beings scientific answers fail because of the nature of the problems (in the context of Urban planning), such as hard to measure or soft things - societal concerns - which as stated:
“do not have a solution in terms of definitive and objective answer. ”

Mountford (1990) collects ideas from a variety of sources, and advises In effect doing the same thing for information system design - advising finding ways for artistic and scientific people to collaborate, approaching things from a variety of levels of human experience, stating:

“some of our new interface ideas will come from people who study thought, language, entertainment and communication, as well as from people who study hardware, algorithms, data structures. ”

However some wicked problems can only be resolved in granting end users rights and freedoms when it comes to information. Some problems are not served by direct end user participation because it won't help anything and it would not make sense for the many.

Take a WAP (wireless) phone application which has a GPS function (locator that knows where the end user is all the time), and a Search function, so if an end user wants to find a coffee shop within a short distance, they run a Search and the 5 closest coffee shops are returned.

What users may be interested in doing is setting their own preferences to Starbucks Only coffee houses, or only hotwired coffee houses which have computers available for rent. They may be interested in knowing how other people who went there rated the coffee, etc. They may also be planning to meet someone there for reasons other than coffee (but that is for an adult audience).

Google weighs query responses using a variety of ways, but one of them, perhaps the strongest, is by how many times someone clicks on it. This is just like voting - there is a good argument that personalization is the greatest contribution that the American post war baby boomers, with their large purchasing power have made and continue to make today. Companies, and other ensconced or older established organizations still experience enormous trouble facing these kinds of 1 to many, 1 to 1 individualization or personalization changes.

During today’s and yesterday’s job interviews I advised allowing end users to set their preferences on a Web site when they are at a full sized computer to help them find whatever they want on the smaller screen, even if some “father knows best” defaults must be present.

While there are things that the end user may wish to configure, the typical end user is not interested in exactly how the algorithm returned the Search sort to the database, and has no interest in writing it, or contributing to writing it, or even ever hearing the word "algorithm" -- users just want the results and fast.

One of the questions I was asked in a recent interview was a standard sort question for an algorithm, my response was true to that of a designer (or an end user) – “Find a database engineer, sorry that’s not how I think about or consider these problems.”

This remains a problem that inexperienced or less well educated technical or scientific approaches believe that individuals should know everything – most end user/customers can not function in this manner and should not be expected to think about how the machine runs to obtain the results they want, even if they have some kind of mental model.

Imagine if Google functioned only as well as the user’s understanding of search engines permitted – they wouldn’t find anything – they have to rely on Google’s code poets to figure out how to take Search from the functional status of a hammer and make it into a starship. Same goes for Live Search, in my humble option, but that’s a completely different subject.

The wicked quality of being human means that solving ill-defined and sticky problems should not be and can not be the domain of just one facet of thinking about a problem or a system, but as my recent interview demonstrates simplistic thinking about designers roles and customers needs still dominates the software industry.

One solution is everytime a designer uses the term BRAINSTORM and wants to use this technique they should define it so that all present understand that some wild and crazy ideas are likely to form, and just as likely they will go away later, leaving just the good stuff, it's all part of the process. If critics make their presence known immediately, the uber creative will find someplace friendlier to be.

Holtzblatt, K., & Beyer, H. (1993). Making customer-centered design work for teams.Communications of the ACM, 36(10), 92-103. Retrieved 1 Dec 2004 from http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/163430.164050.

Leonard, D., & Rayport, J. F. (1997). Spark innovation through emphatic design. Harvard Business Review, 75(6), 102-113.

Friedman, B. (2004). Value Sensitive Design. Encyclopedia of human-computer interaction. (pp. 769-774). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group.

How do you go about developing a good design?

Developing good design intiality can be instant, but then refined iteraratively. If working with other people agreeing on a style of working together, process, and communication are very important.

Depends on what I am designing but generally I start on paper and work through wireframes and the relationship to other products, flesh out the design and maybe do a high end first pass.

I like to gather other people's opinions and datapoints so I will show it around and ask for input. Make some changes and go to the next step.

Sometimes a project also requires advising people what they need to learn or to understand in order to accomplish a very flexible interface. Elements like using the proportion of the golden rectangle (also called the "golden mean") makes user interface design beautiful.

Visio plans often help in visualization for everyone involved.

When we have something we are somewhat happy with I like to run it through user interface studies, even if they are informal using volunteers or paying to do a brief study. Oftentimes this will back up what you already believe about a design but what is really great is when you learn something totally unexpected and you can use it.

With my experience in fine art and design, I enjoy the critical review cycle, but it's always nice to give some positive feedback.

Most of my work is in product or program management so in this way I work interactively with lots of very smart people to design a composite of what we need, using the best ideas and best practices in a cooperative manner.

When designing a small business website, after meeting with the client I begin by structuring the information, and visualizing the look and feel of their site design. Then I follow my iterative process as time and their budget permits.

What is your definition of a well-designed product? Example/Why?

A well designed product is one which seamlessly performs as the customer thinks it should, and expects it to, and is easy to use.

An example is a product which gets fewer support calls.

Another definition is a product that is reliable, and doesn't cause systems or the OS to fail in the worse case, or leaks memory. On the web you don't want to over burden the client or make too many trips to the server.

A well designed product is one that in a way you don't notice, because nothing bugs you. A poorly designed product, for example is one that you can't even authenticate (in otherwords you can't use your userid and password to get into or there are severe complications.)

For an example of a good platform design; within the .Net framework, code is compiled rather than interpreted as ASP script is; this aids in early binding of objects directly resulting in performance gains. Since state management is handled within .Net, lines of code can be eliminated and this reduces the time required to load functionality.

Less processing time between pages contributes to an improved end user experience. A cleaner code set makes upfront development costs per feature less expensive, Web applications quicker to test and deploy, and as a bonus are easier to maintain and update.

I think a great product should be fun to use.

UI / UX Interview with Microsoft

Today I interviewed for a perm position at Microsoft to help redesign a product's training Web site.

What was cool about it was that in the course of our conversations I was shown the original designs for the Web site, and I quickly analyzed it and got everything right in terms of what they had already done and the improvements they needed to make.

But better than that I knew exactly where I could take them successfully to the next stage in functional design.

I discussed what basic changes to make it user friendly and easier to read and negotiate. I mentioned, because the audience would be predominately male, that the images and shapes should be attractive and relaxing to the eye, and begin with some females, then show people, including people of color working together on systems, laptops and with handheld devices.

Also I showed that the straight lines were too formal and tended to zoom the enduser's eyes right off the screen.

Then the interviewer showed me the next design, executed by two additional designers which surprise! surprise! surprise! - showed curved lines and a pleasant looking woman. It was "sexier" in the sense of appealing, and more relaxed.

Each time the interviewer showed me a new revision, I discussed what needed to happen - and I was correct each time - what an ego booster!I showed him some modern designs of a group of programmers and IT guys working in a friendly environment, but using futurist fonts, with a slightly Star Trek style design, that it was much more appealing to the audience they are designing the site for.

Speaking about flexible design (such as with CSS) and how to communicate process I showed him some designs that include process, and discussed how showing breadcrumbs and numbering processes is OK, it sets the enduser's expectation that it is a process, and how many steps to expect.

He also showed me some very bright red designs that covered the entire screen - I had to agree that it was more than a bit overwhelming. Color as used by a trained artist, who is also a colorist and understands the physiological and physical responses people have to strong color can be a useful tool, or it can fail to achieve useful goals if misused or misunderstood.

I discussed four primary design elements and strong design considerations for Web page design:
1. Who is your audience?
2. Where is the most useful real estate on a page and why is that vital?
3. What is the golden rectangle or golden mean and how is it used to direct the eye in refined designs?
4. How mammals, including human beings react to being presented with any screen or vista.

For me design is often spontaneous, it comes complete, or nearly complete in a flash of insight. Which is not to say that there are not going to be any changes. Often too I draw things on paper and evolve, consult with others, redesign, and rework until it is very close, and then do a final version which is submitted to be tested.

The UI testing, such as performed by information architect testers, often will uncover unexpected or unanticipated design flaws, which can be fixed and retested on an iterative basis.

In the case of working with Developers I found that they are readers pure and simple - if something is a huge red circle reading BUY ME HERE RIGHT NOW, they will skip it, and probably perceive it as an advertisement. But if it is in even a small font and reads, Buy name of product now then they will perceive it and click on that text.

This is exactly what the world's leading experts have been saying all along about design. For those interested in what is new in the field, considered checking out and subscribing to Dr. Jakob Nielsen's http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ current issues in Web usability.

Microsoft is a great company that has a lot of wonderful technology at it's fingertips - getting things right with the human - computer interface and interaction is a bit more difficult.