Are you sure you want to be in San Francisco?
From 37signals, popular since 3 monthsTechies, VCs, and the press are always swooning over the glory of the Bay area. This is where all the excitement, the money, and the people are, they say. And that’s true to the extent that your great big idea fits the current cultural mold of that environment.If you’re looking to build the next web 2.0 social media eyeball-collecting application, don’t want to worry about boring details like revenues, and hope to either flip to Google for an early $20 million or get that Facebook billion-dollar valuation, the Bay area is exactly where you want to be. No where else do you have the connections, the people, and the [...]Go to site
Apple apologizes and compensates for MobileMe downtime and their loose definition of “push.”
eNormicom eNormicom was a parody site we made mocking the new media branding foolishness that was all the rage during the web bubble.It takes a lot to differentiate your brand in today’s “me too” world of electronic business solutions. At eNormicom, we create and develop campaigns that break through the chatter clearly and consistently.
“Homing In on ‘Intelligent’ Web Design” is an article in the NY Times about the site.Design Not Found We also started collecting good and bad error messages at our site “Design Not Found.” The site’s no longer around but it eventually evolved into our book on the same topic: “Defensive Design for the Web: How to improve error messages, help, forms, and other crisis points.”37express With 37express, we offered quick, effective, subtle revisions done for a fixed price in one week. It was our way of getting work done quickly without having to deal with all the back and forth headaches that typically accompany client work.Signal vs. Noise And of course there was Signal vs. Noise too. We would trade lots of interesting emails or have conversations over lunch that seemed like they would be interesting to others too. So we converted these emails and topics into blog posts.I remember thinking we were a little late to the blog party but, in retrospect, we were fortunate to get a blog up and running still relatively early. (Lesson: Technology that’s a year or two old may seem like old hat to us web freaks, but there’s still a while to go before saturation.)Building an audience Since we didn’t advertise and relied on word of mouth, projects like these were essential. They kept us in people’s heads.They also freed us from the restrictions inherent in client work. We were able to play and experiment which, in turn, kept us happy/sane.We built up an audience that turned out to be an invaluable headstart when we eventually launched Basecamp. It’s a lot easier to market a product when you already have thousands of fans — ones who are the perfect target market for what you’re trying to sell.It’s also worth reemphasizing one thing that’s been there from the beginning: Our philosophy. By knowing what we stood for, we always had an internal compass to guide us. We knew which clients were right/wrong for us. We knew which projects we wanted to spend time on. And we knew what we stood for.P.S. A big shoutout to early members of the 37signals team who have moved on: Ernest Kim, Carlos Segura, and Scott Upton. They’re all brilliant.
The first charge against TripLog is “clutter,” that there’s too much on the screen at once. We’ll get to clutter, but first we have to talk about speed. Patt explains that the #1 purpose of TripLog is to help people track their deductible or reimbursable mileage. If people can’t enter their trips very quickly, the friction of entering data will overpower the motivation to track. For customers, untracked data means miles that aren’t reimbursed. So speed is Patt’s top priority.What does speed have to do with clutter? I once saw Tufte give a workshop in Chicago where he introduced a valuable concept. He said information may be displayed adjacent in space or stacked in time. Take a book for example. If two dots are on the same spread, they are adjacent in space. All it takes to switch between them is movement of your eye. Compare that to a dot on one page stacked above a dot on another page. You can’t see them at once. You have to flip back and forth between pages to see one dot versus the other.
The trade-offs between elements adjacent in space versus stacked in time are always in the mind of a UI designer. Placing many elements on the same screen reduces the need for navigation and gives users a comprehensive feeling of “it’s all at my command.” Moving focus from one element to another is instant and seamless. On the flip side, separating elements onto different screens slows things down with navigation while increasing clarity. There is more room for explanation and luxurious space when fewer elements occupy the page. The eye has less to filter through. The course of action is more obvious.So did Patt put too many elements adjacent in space on one screen when he should have separated them out in time? Is his UI “cluttered?” To answer that we should pull ourselves out of the computer and sink our feet firmly in the customer’s shoes. Patt explains that customers load the application for two reasons:They want to log miles they just droveThey want to double-check that they logged a recent tripThe first is obvious. Patt explains the second:There’s a very simple reason, which we know because we’ve been selling our Athlete’s Diary software for logging a different kind of mileage for nearly 20 years. It’s because when you start up the software, half the time you’ll be scratching your head saying, “Did I remember to enter yesterday’s ride (or run)?” ... You want to be able to answer that question immediately, with just a quick glance down to the bottom of the screen.
Half the time people want to add new entries. Another half of the time, people want to verify a recent entry. On top of that, people also like to confirm the accuracy of data after they submit it. These factors together form a motivation to place the “add an entry” and “verify recent entries” features adjacent in space. It’s a decision to optimize for instant access to both features at the cost of showing more elements on screen at one time.Beyond first impressionsWhen we talk about “usable” or “intuitive” interfaces, Apple devotees and the web app crowd (myself included) tend to bias toward the first-time user. The idea is an interface is easy to use if new users can figure it out and get running quickly. Or an interface is “clear” if all the parts and functions can be immediately parsed upon eye contact. Typically this means stacking features in time so that each screen has fewer elements and is easier to digest. TripLog, while far from perfect, has a different focus. Rather than first-impressions, Patt is thinking about repetition. Spatial memory and adjacency play a major role in repetitive tasks. How many of you keep an assortment of pens, papers, and peripherals on your desk in specific positions instead of moving them in and out of drawers every day?
Patt’s bias for adjacency and speed continues inside the “Add an entry” block. There are two ways to log a trip: manually enter data in the fields or choose user-defined presets called “Frequent Trips.” Both methods are exposed. However everything can’t be exposed all the times. There are some features stacked in time too. Choosing a date “Other” than Today or Yesterday, selecting a different Car (for IRS purposes), and editing the Frequent Trips list are all behind the time wall and require navigation.So what did we learn?The fact that a screen is “cluttered” doesn’t automatically mean it is poorly designed or ill-conceived. To many of us, screens thick with adjacent elements are like cold water we prefer not to step into. The very fact that TripLog is no feast for the eyes attests to the difficulty of bringing clarity and order to a screen relying too heavily on adjacent features. It would be a fun exercise to redesign TripLog for more visual clarity without removing any elements.However before we criticize we should look for successes. Where TripLog fails on style it may well win on speed and pragmatics. Patt has thought about his work and designed a product intentionally. Following fashion and the status quo is easy. Thinking about your users’ lives and creating something practical is much harder. Patt can work on his colors and alignment, and hopefully please his user base with a helpful tool. Meanwhile the rest of us would be wise to work on the quality and value of our criticism.
We build it up little by little, the way a sculptor does. We stand around the object, have an open dialogue and modify it as we go along. Then, I bring that same model along when I go to Struer. That way all sides can see what the design is about and why it’s essential to do it this way and not another.WSJ: How much does the final product depart from that cardboard version?MR. LEWIS: Hardly. When it comes out unpacked at the shop, usually it’s exactly what was envisioned. One example: In 1993 B&O management said, “Make us a new speaker.” Just that. I had the idea to make something less present in a room, something that could offset the bulky television sets that still existed back then. Essentially, a loudspeaker that you could hear, not see. So we modeled ultra-slender column speakers with cardboard and plastic. Once it was in three dimensions that way, we could see all the details and really feel the design…WSJ: How do you get your inspiration, your crazy ideas?I often just sit and look out my office window for a long time, thinking. Why does this look so terrible, why can’t we do this or that?I also visit art galleries and museums as well as Danish antique dealers with architectural furniture and the like, from the 1930s to ‘50s. I have a lot of it at home. It interests and inspires me.Related Getting Real: Built-in seats in “A Pattern Language” Meetings Are Toxic Finding fresh inspiration 
Edith Macefield, 1921-2008.
MobileMe’s login screen is more than just an empty box. The depth charge approach gives you a peek at what’s behind the login and makes you want to “unwrap” it and get inside. It’s not surprising that a company that famously does a great job with product packaging would have an online product wrapper that stands out too.Acrobat 
Acrobat.com offers a login screen that lets you select from a variety of options. The focus shifts depending on which tool you select. And though the page doesn’t reload, there’s a distinct URL so you can link to a specific tool’s login.Vimeo 
Vimeo offers this playful login screen. Not really related to video sharing at all, but it does hint at the vibe of the community that uses Vimeo.Any other login screens that you feel stand out from the pack?
More photos at Curbed.
