Participatory design is an approach to design that attempts to actively involve end users in the design process to help ensure that the product designed meets their needs and is usable. This approach is focused on process and is not a design style. For some, this approach has a political dimension of user empowerment and democratisation. For others, it is seen as a way of abrogating design responsibility and innovation by designers.
#30448
An action possibility available in the environment to an individual, independent of the individual's ability to perceive this possibility.
Soegaard, Mads. Interaction-Design.org. Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Interaction Design
#25193
In the world of design, the term 'affordance' has taken on a life far beyond the original meaning. It might help if we return to the original definition. Let me try to clarify the definition of the term and its many uses.
Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2004). Design>Usability
#18392
The word 'affordance' was originally invented by the perceptual psychologist J. J. Gibson (1977, 1979) to refer to the actionable properties between the world and an actor (a person or animal). To Gibson, affordances are a relationship. They are a part of nature: they do not have to be visible, known, or desirable. Some affordances are yet to be discovered. Some are dangerous. I suspect that none of us know all the affordances of even everyday objects.
Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2002). Design>Usability
#27665
Questo libro risponde a due domande. La prima è "Perchè dovrei rendere più accessibile il mio sito?" E se non avete un sito web, questo libro non è per voi. La seconda domanda è "Come posso rendere il mio sito più accessibile?" Se non siete convinti della vostra prima risposta, non sarete di certo interessati alla seconda.
Pilgrim, Mark. Dive Into Accessibility (2002). (Italian) Books>Web Design>Accessibility
#24578
Afraid So: Horrible Web Monstrosities
Here they come. Nightmare web sites that, from a usability perspective, are horrid monsters. When you're tired and in a hurry, you want a web site to quickly and easily provide relevant content to you, so you can solve a problem or perform some task. Discover common hideous impediments to web usability. WARNING: Not for the faint hearted!
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design
#13698
The final decade of the last century witnessed the dramatic rise of hypertext as a literary, technical, social, and intellectual phenomenon. Today, despite the fact that hypertext provides the conceptual underpinnings for the World Wide Web (among other things), 'hypertext' remains a relatively peripheral term. In this talk, I'll track some of the ways that 'hypertext' has been articulated during the last five decades, describing how the social construction of hypertext inscribed the technology(ies) in limiting and ultimately self-defeating ways. I'll then attempt to track (and construct) some possible futures for a dramatically redefined hypertext, one constructed as an 'ethic of reference' within and among social communities rather than a technical practice.
Johnson-Eilola, Johndan. Clarkson University (2001). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext
#22377
Against Non-Standard Link Colors
User tasks are carried out faster and better with sites that use standard link colors as opposed to non-standard.
Bohmann, Kristoffer. Bohmann Usability (2000). Design>Web Design>Usability>Color
#19412
Age Classifications: When Considering the Age of Users, How Old is 
When considering the age of users – how old is 'old'?
Bailey, Robert. Web Usability (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly
#13658
The Age of Information Architecture
For the most part, information architects are communicators and strategists. While others merely tolerated the mishmash of responsibilities, they relished it. Designers often put up with having to write HTML but jumped at the chance to 'just do design.' Programmers were forced to meet with clients and work on strategy, but all along probably wanted to just write code. When these two ends of the spectrum split off, the empty middle was a perfect place to be. At the same time, there was an increased (but still hidden) need for information architecture. As the average web project process matured, more problems arose. Formal documentation was needed, business objectives were taking on increased importance, and, as the size increased exponentially, information organization became a much more important role. (The fact that this evolution took place during the 'dot.com fallout' is not insignificant, as this led to the placement of web projects under the same microscope as other business endeavors.) Some of these positions could be filled by existing disciplines; project managers, business analysts, and usability specialists transitioned from 'traditional' work and were added to web teams. Still, there was something missing. The connection between 'the big picture' (business strategy, high-level user tasks, basic structural architecture) and the nitty-gritty (categorization, labeling, bottom-up information hierarchies) often wasn't being made. This is where information architects fit in.
Lash, Jeff. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Articles>Information Design>Usability
#26374
The phrase User agent or user-agent or UA or browser or client or client application or client software program...all pretty much refer to the same thing. Or maybe not.
evolt (2002). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Web Browsers
#18613
This report discusses the 'AHA' system for presenting HTML in audio for blind users and others who wish to access the WWW non-visually. AHA is a framework and set of suggestions for HTML presentation based on an initial experiment. Further experimentation and further revisions will be performed with the system.
James, Frankie. Stanford University (1998). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Audio
#20041
AIfIA in het Nederlands is de sectie van de AIfIA website waar we vertalingen van belangrijke teksten over informatie-architectuur (IA) in het Nederlands publiceren. We plaatsen ook nieuws over en hyperlinks naar informatie over IA in het Nederlandse taalgebied. Wij bieden gelegenheid tot interactie in de Nederlandse taal via commentaren op nieuwsberichten en een e-mail rondzendlijst.
AIfIA. (Dutch) Organizations>Information Design>Regional>Netherlands
#23794
AIfIA Information Architecture Library
The IA Library is a selection of resources related to the field of information architecture. The collection includes articles, books, blogs, and more.
#23199
The AIfIA-announce newsletter is a free email that is published twice a month. It includes news about what's new with AIfIA and partner sites.
#22493
Illustration — AIGA | the professional association for design
Illustration lies in a no man's land, somewhere between fine art and clip art. Though illustration remains a powerful and versatile communication tool, it often plays a lonely role in the graphic arts. Illustrators operate from isolated studios, ignorant of the concerns of designers, who in turn are oblivious to the needs of illustrators. These articles explore the evolving role illustration plays in today's publishing environment.
Niemann, Christoph. AIGA. Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Community
#22491
AIGA Design Forum: Information Design
ebster's Dictionary defines information as: "The act of informing; the communication of knowledge". Information design is a highly specialized area of design that involves making large amounts of complex information clear and accessible to audiences of one to several hundred thousand. This section of Design Forum looks at characteristics and issues connected to this interesting and often misunderstood area of design. It contains articles both general and specialized that address issues, constraints and characteristics and attempts to formulate a working definition for those who are new to the subject. Is information design the best example of 'form following function' in graphic design? Designers usually love it or hate it...why?
Irwin, Terry. AIGA. Design>Information Design>Community Building
#22492
AIGA Design Forum: Professional Practices
As a champion of creativity, quality and a strong sense of community, AIGA is a valuable resource for designers seeking support for the work we do. Professional Practices focuses on important issues designers face daily, from the pragmatic matters of management to the pursuit of design excellence and integrity. Sometimes our work can be magical, other times our work can be mundane, and on any given day we believe this forum is the place to seek best practices, share success stories, and address the challenges of our profession.
Shelton, Sam. AIGA. Design>Graphic Design>Professionalism>Community
#21339
AIGA Experience Design - Past, Present and Future
At the end of April 2002, the AIGA Experience Design SIG will hold its first joint Forum as part of CHI 2002. Intended to be the first of several collaborative ventures to bring the Experience Design communities of practice together, the success of the forum marks a milestone in the life of the AIGA ED group.
Malone, Erin. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design
#21464
AIGA Experience Design: Case Study Archive
Welcome practitioners, educators and students from all experience design disciplines! The goal of this archive is to build a teachable and learnable body of knowledge for the extended experience design community, which can be referenced and is freely accessible. These cases have been peer-reviewed and present best-practices from each year.
#13996
This forum is for the passionate. It’s for those who are crazy in love with type, absolutely hate the problems fonts can cause, have an uncontrollable need to learn more about typography, or an irresistible desire to share typographic opinions and stories. This is not a place for the typographically indifferent. This is the place to rant about dumb quotes (hey, I still see them in supposedly good design), find out why font foundries don’t want you to embed fonts in the files you send to service bureaus, discuss the merits of Emigre’s new font family, or ponder the value of hanging punctuation. It’s a place for criticism, observations and lively discourse. Come on in!
#29258
Airbrush Tutorial: Basic Painting Technique
Airbrush is a much less forgiving endeavor than digital illustration. The first use of the airbrush started in the 1890s and was accomplished by blowing air through a tube with your mouth. With airbrush there is no command>undo. Mistakes are costly as they usually result in the need to do a separate piece of work as a patch or fix and have a printer strip it into the main image.
Hulsey, Kevin. Kevin Hulsey Illustration (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#27355
Asynchronous JavaScript And XML, or its acronym, Ajax (Pronounced A-jacks), is a Web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire Web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This is meant to increase the Web page's interactivity, speed, and usability.
#31058
AJAX Accessibility for Websites
Discover the accessibility problems caused by AJAX and how it can be used to enhance web accessibility.
Simard, Brigitte. Webcredible (2008). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Ajax
#27408
AJAX and Screenreaders: When Can it Work?
We've all heard a great deal of buzz about AJAX in the last few months, and with this talk has come a legion of articles, tips, presentations and practical APIs designed to explore the possibilities and try to arrive at best-practice techniques. But, for all of the excitement and hype, still very little has been said on the subject of AJAX and accessibility.
Edwards, James. SitePoint (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Ajax
#27044
If a modern day Rip van Winkle woke up after just a year's sleep, he would be stunned by the buzz around Ajax today. Technology is moving very quickly in this space and whether you are a web author, a CMS developer, or a regular web user, Ajax will make some exciting changes to your world.
Downes, Jonathan and Joe Walker. CMSwatch (2006). Articles>Content Management>Web Design>Ajax
