Austrian Android Developers Day

Am 7. Mai 2009 startet um 16 Uhr im T-Center Wien der erste Austrian Android Developers Day (kurz A2D2). Eva Mader von der Agentur Ambuzzador hat gerade angefragt, ob wir Leute kennen, die bereits Erfahrung mit der Entwicklung von User Interfaces auf Android haben und die dort stattfindenen adhoc Tech Sessions bei diesem Thema unterstützen wollen. (Mehr dazu unter dem Punkt Programm auf der a2d2 Site )

Wer also jemanden kennt oder sich selbst angesprochen fühlt, der möge sich doch bitte bei Eva melden unter: support@mobileblogger.at
Genauere Details erfahrt ihr ebenfalls dort.

Unter anderem werden die Wikitude-Leute dort präsentieren, bin schon gespannt…

How to sketch transitions

During our last Stammtisch I came up with an example of a transition I sketched for one of the projects I’m involved in right now (it’s a web application). The transition consists of a list of items that folds up slowly when a certain link on the page is clicked. You can see a demo of this effect on the Scriptaculous Wiki.

I had two questions regarding that transition. First I wanted to know if it was wise to use a transition at all (there are other ways to solve my problem). I don’t want to go further into this right here because I got the response that yes, the transition would serve a good purpose in my design.

But instead I want to continue to discuss my second question: What is the best way to demo these kinds of animations (or: all kinds of animations). I came up with several possible techniques, but none of them is without flaws … Continue reading How to sketch transitions

website of the day

mucho help wanted

i obviously overestimated the importance and impact of a company’s website.

as an example: endpoint technologies associates by ‘wisdom pearl dispenser’ roger l. kay, imho created circa 1991 [although: archive.org’s first copy is of 2006, which makes the current ‘© 2007 all rights reserved’ less timeworn]. this website surprises with

  • some undervalued technical delicacies: images as text (sometimes further enriched with image maps), in-line styles, (mostly) links to local files a la file:/C:/Program%20Files/Yahoo%20SiteBuilder/sites/Test/JobsJob.html, interesting comments in the source code a la <!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE -->
  • and fonts which seem to have fallen into oblivion in the rest of the web: Bookman Old Style, Monotype Corsiva

if i understand kay correctly then that is the way the website ought to stay jusqu’au bout du monde: endpoint — the final location, terminus, the completion of the process

kay is the author of »what price cool?« [pdf] — a white paper sponsored by microsoft — which concludes that the apple tax is not only a higher price tag upfront, but that it actually includes higher costs in the long run as well (the ‘hidden apple tax’).
the study has been published 9.4.2009 and evoked some reactions since, eg by arstechnica, technologizer, osnews, vnunet, cnet … and brandon leblanc of windows experience blog, mary jo foley of zdnet to name a few for the ordering party as well.
apple tax

52. interaction design stammtisch

dienstag, 14.4.2009 um 19:00 uhr

im werkzeugH, 1050 wien, schönbrunnerstr 61 [öffis: u4 pilgramgasse, 14a, 13a, 12a, 59a]

von 19:00 bis 20:00 weitere planung des “world usability day 2009 vienna”, der am 12.11.2009 stattfinden wird

danach stammtisch wie üblich — ideas worth spreading
dh jede/r ist eingeladen bücher, videos und/oder 2 folien über sachen, die sie gerade im bereich interaction design, usability, … beschäftigt, mitzunehmen und vorzustellen.
welche videos + bücher beschäftigen uns zur zeit?

wir freuen uns auf euer kommen

ps: easter eggs and random leftovers are very welcome 🙂

pps: der interaction design stammtisch findet jeden monat am 2. dienstag statt. jede, die sich für die themen interaction design, usability, accessibility, user interface design, … interessiert, ist herzlich eingeladen — anmeldung ist keine notwendig

Design Under Constraint

The latest print issue of WIRED contains a quite amazing article by Scott Dadich (Creative Director at Wired) about Design under Constraint. (Some abstract?)


Quelle: http://www.wired.com

“… In fact, the worst thing a designer can hear is an offhand “Just do whatever you want.” That’s because designers understand the power of limits. Constraint offers an unparalleled opportunity for growth and innovation.

Think of a young tree, a sapling. With water and sunshine, it can grow tall and strong. But include some careful pruning early in its development—removing low-hanging branches—and the tree will grow taller, stronger, faster. It won’t waste precious resources on growth that doesn’t serve its ultimate purpose. The same principle applies to design. Given fewer resources, you have to make better decisions…

From Wall Street to Detroit to Washington, the lack of limits has proven to be a false freedom. (…) But design teaches us that this is our hour of opportunity. In the following pages, we explore a few of our favorite constraints. In each case, the imposition of limits doesn’t stifle creativity—it enables it.

Constraints are your friends 🙂

Black Berry Storm

One of the nice things working in a bigger company is that it is easier to get the opportunity to test new gadgets or technology. So happened with the new Blackberry Storm, yet another “iPhone killer”. The GUI design reminds strongly on a combination of iPhone and Windows Vista, all in all looks quiet ok (or let’s say conventional).


Quelle: http://www.handyversand24.com/images/blackberry-storm.jpg

The biggest surprise for my opinion is the touchscreen, which behaves like o n e   r e a l   b u t t o n (physically seen). When you “click” on it the complete surface reacts and gives you tactile feedback, which is quite surprising the first times.

Slightly touching the screen let you select an item like e.g. a mouseover . So this touchscreen gadget is the first one I know which offers Mouseover and Onclick, what I really find worth mentioning (though some people seem not to like this kind of behavior 🙂