March, 2010

Links for March 30th

The iPad and Innovation Theory « Scott Berkun

"If they do use it, what will they be using it instead of? This is an interesting exercise for designers and makers – it focuses you on people’s behavior, or how you imagine them behaving, rather than getting lost in the abstract wonders of devices and technologies…"

tags:

apple

design

A List Apart: Articles: Contrast is King

Understanding color contrast, especially in light of accessibility issues such as colorblindness.

tags:

color

design

accessibility

How to use HTML5 in your client work right now | HTML5 Doctor

Great overview of what we can do with HTML5 in client work right now, while still being sure that things work for IE users without JavaScript, for example.

tags:

html5

html

design

Links for March 28th

Anti-Slavery

"Anti-Slavery International is the only UK charity working to eradicate modern slavery, and is the world's oldest international human rights organisation."

tags:

human-rights

activism

abolition

Links for March 26th

10 Principles of UX – 52 Weeks of UX

List of 10 principles of UX. In addition to the fact that they are just really good to know, I'm struck by the resonance that many of these have with theological and ecclesiological thought that I think we need to be engaging in as part of this Theology After Google discussion.

tags:

design

user-experience

Links for March 25th

YouTube – Content-Aware Fill Sneak Peek

Brilliant video preview of a feature that is coming in Photoshop CS5. I really look forward to upgrading.

tags:

video

photoshop

adobe

design

Links for March 24th

The hgroup element | HTML5 Doctor

This examines the hgroup element in HTML5, and when and why we can use it.

tags:

design

html

html5

Economic Scene – In Health Bill, Obama Attacks Wealth Inequality – NYTimes.com

Wonderful observation that the healthcare bill is "the federal government's biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago." This helps explain why, though I wish the bill had things like a public option, it is still a deeply important bill and I'm deeply grateful that it passed.

tags:

poverty

obama

politics

healthcare

Theology and design in the age of Google

March 23rd, 2010

Recently, I reflected upon the concept of Theology After Google, to which a conference, a great podcast episode, and lots of blog posts have been skillfully devoted.

Links for March 22nd

User-Centered Innovation Is Not Sustainable – The Conversation – Harvard Business Review

On the limitations of user-centered design. "Only leaders and designers who are driven by a vision and who explicitly search a priori for those sustainable behaviors can tune out the unsustainable needs of 99% of users and focus on the few exceptions." It's important to notice what this article does not say: that user insights are not precious and necessary. They are. But here, they are necessary within the context of a vision, and in this example there is focus on users who are needles of sustainability in the haystacks of consumption.

tags:

creativity

sustainability

user-experience

design

Links for March 21st

Robert Paterson's Weblog: Why our problems are complex – Why our current institutions cannot cope

Great, though quick and necessarily broad, read on Emergence theory and the shifting of our power institutions.

tags:

culture

emergent

Links for March 19th

Michelle Obama’s Health Campaign | onehandclapping

Julie Clawson reflects upon MIchelle Obama's attempts to end childhood obesity, and specifically the statement that the government shouldn't be telling folks what to do. Julie observes that it is, in fact, the government's financial subsidies that are in part the cause of so much of the problem.

tags:

julie-clawson

economics

politics

An Absolution Revolution blog » The irony of progress

"However else it may be defined, it is generally agreed that a (if not the) major feature of modernity is the pervasiveness of the myth of progress." Reflection upon the modern myth of progress, and the ways in which it is still alive and affecting us.

tags:

postmodernism

culture

Ezekiel 20:25-26 and the Condesending God » Blog » Greg Boyd (Christus Victor Ministries)

Greg Boyd examines a text in Ezekiel, and what it says about how God works in the world. Compelling observations that make me really exited about the upcoming book he mentions.

tags:

theology

bible

old-testament

greg-boyd

Links for March 18th

Solidarity and Resistance in Community 4: A Death to Death | the Jesus Manifesto

Fourth part of a series that investigates solidarity and resistance in community. This part examines what resistance actually means, and deals with hard questions regarding the results of nonviolent resistance when compared to its more violent counterparts. I'm not sure there are any satisfactory answers to these questions, but they are important ones.

tags:

faith

community

activism

To Create OR To Aggregate, That is The Question. | The Connected Marketer

Great thoughts on the concept of content creation, and the balance involved in creating a balanced user experience that includes original content and other kinds, such as user-generated content.

tags:

user-experience

content-strategy

"No Dashes Or Spaces" Hall of Shame

Simple piece of ecommerce and overall form usability that is overlooked far too often. There's no reason to force the entry of credit card numbers, phone numbers, etc. in a specific manner as far as spaces, dashes, parentheses, and so on; we can strip out all of these when we process the forms.

tags:

ecommerce

forms

programming

user-experience

usability