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.
#20674
Antialiasing Examples from Real Applications 
Different graphical software applications have different abilities at antialiasing: some software is very good at it, while other software is not. Here are some examples for comparison.
IsoCalc. Design>Graphic Design>Typography>Technical Illustration
#20675
Antialiasing is a method of representing perfect, continuous vectors on imperfect, discontinuous display devices so that they look as perfect as possible.
IsoCalc. Design>Graphic Design>Typography>Technical Illustration
#19011
Anvendelighed som Succeskriterie
Normalt arbejder man i en velkendt kontekst på sin lokale computer, hvad enten der er tale om Windows, Kde, RedHat, Mac os X m.fl. men når vi åbner døren til Internet bliver disse rutiner ødelagt af noget som ikke altid er til at sætte fingeren på. Hvad er det som gør webløsninger svære at arbejde med og finde rundt i? Når man første gang sætter sig foran en computer er det som oftest med et mål. Nysgerrighed, at komme på Internet og shoppe, at skrive et brev og mange andre ting. Oftest er det denne drivkraft som får os til at tage de første slidsomme uger med styresystemet som man langsomt kommer til at forstå, og som man på sigt bliver fortroligt med idet det er den platform som giver og adgang til alle de digitale oplevelser. Kan man ikke arbejde på platformen vil man med sikkerhed heller ikke kunne opnå sine mål med arbejdet.
Orgaard Larsen, Thomas. Quark, The (2002). (Danish) Design>Web Design>Assessment
#14780
Anything Worth Writing Is Worth Writing in XML 
Tyson supports the claim of his title with a detailed discussion of three important benefits of XML.
Tyson, Paul H. Intercom (2002). Articles>Writing>Information Design>XML
#25691
Those familiar with Apache will be used to the luxury of being able to specify redirects on the fly, without having to write programs to catch errors, and ensure they return the correct HTTP status codes. Being new to Apache, I was amazed at just how easy it is. The following provides an overview of the Apache Redirect directive.
Lemon, Gez. Juicy Studio (2005). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes
#10701
Apple Guide Complete: Designing and Developing Onscreen Assistance
If you've been waiting to give your users more than just onscreen reference information, now you can with Apple Guide, Apple Computer's innovative help delivery system. With Apple Guide, you can produce guide files that actually lead users, step by step, through complex tasks and concepts. If you want to provide task-oriented, context-specific instructions, Apple Guide gives you the ease and flexibility to do so. You'll learn about the complete cycle of designing, scripting, and coding guide files in the four parts of this book.
Apple Inc. (1996). Design>Documentation>Help
#21743
Apple Human Interface Guidelines
These guidelines are designed to assist you in developing products that provide Mac OS X users with a consistent visual and behavioral experience across applications and the operating system.
#21497
Applicability of CGM Versus SVG for Technical Graphics
As certain traditional technical and engineering applications become established on the Web, they bring with them information resources that mix text and data with significant technical graphics components. Technical graphics for such applications as aircraft maintenance manuals are characterized by high volume and complexity, stringent fidelity and interoperability constraints, and long life cycle. W3C has two standards for Web based graphics, WebCGM and SVG. WebCGM was specifically standardized for technical applications. SVG has much broader applicability. In a nutshell, the usual formula is 'WebCGM for Web-based technical graphics, SVG for graphic arts and creative graphics.' Still, the questions continue to arise. why there are two formats, and isn't it possible to use the one for the other application? When one takes a careful and detailed look at the two formats, in the context of the particular requirements of technical illustration, then specific differences emerge. This session will present such a comparison, from both the theoretical, functional perspective, as well a practical real-world (implemenations and interoperability) perspective. The comparison is based on an ongoing study that has been conducted within the CGM Open consortium and the Graphics Working Group of the Air Transport Association.
CGMopen (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Online
#22975
The Applicability of the ADA to the Internet
As the Internet has increased in prominence in all sectors of society, interested individuals have begun to question whether or not the Internet should be included in the regulations set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Right now there is no explicit reference to the Internet in any of the language of the act.
Bohman, Paul. WebAIM (2000). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Policies and Procedures
#10757
A brief overview of evolutionary theory and its application to knowledge and learning in the theory of memetics is presented. The knowledge and learning structures that exist within a modern company are examined and significant failures within them are identified. It is concluded that harnessing and exploiting evolutionary learning can resolve many of these failures. Evolutionary learning is a natural precursor for the transition from training to performance support. For this transition to happen successfully it is necessary that the right corporate culture and knowledge infrastructure are present.
O'Gorman, Adam. EPSS (2001). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#30793
The Application of Model Matching Principle in User Interface Design: Part 1
By its nature, all UI consists of two parts: input and output. When designing output information, the matching between system model and conceptual model actually results in another commonly used UI design principle: 'use users' language'. To be more specific, when displaying information to users, such as prompt messages or error messages, the words or terms used should be understandable to users.
Zhang, Liang. uiGarden (2008). Design>User Interface
#30794
The Application of Model Matching Principle in User Interface Design: Part 2
For programmers, a programming language is a software tool. Its interface consists of its lexicon, grammar and semantic rules. From this view, using a language to do programming is actually using that tool to accomplish something. As we will see shortly, different languages vary greatly in the degree of how they get close to programmer's conceptual model.
Zhang, Liang. uiGarden (2008). Design>User Interface>Semantic
#22147
An Application of the Principles of Minimalism to the Design of Human-Computer Interfaces
Minimalism in information design, specifically as applied to user tutorials and manuals, was introduced in the early 1980s through the work of Dr. John M. Carroll, then a cognitive psychologist at the IBM Watson Research Center. Since that time, theorists and practitioners have further elucidated the principles of minimalism and have attempted to apply it to a variety of situations in which people attempt to learn how to use a software application. Most recently, a new exposition of minimalist principles and practices was published by MIT Press. This work, Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel, represents the work of leading theorists and practitioners in the field.
Hackos, JoAnn T. ComTech Services (1999). Design>User Interface>Human Computer Interaction>Minimalism
#13101
Application of Theory: Minimalism and User Centered Design
In the discipline of software and information development, minimalist design is not just doing with less (less features, words, widgets). It is selectively choosing what to include or eliminate with the purpose of making it easier for the user to quickly learn about a product in a natural and painless way and to start using it to do real work. User centered design fits well with minimalist theory because it incorporates user feedback throughout the development cycle. It is the best way to find out what customers actually do with your product and learn first-hand how you can help them with their goals. My team applied both these theories to our task of designing and building a set of samples for a Web development product. This paper shares our struggles and successes.
Lou, Mary Mazzara. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Usability>User Centered Design>Theory
#28682
Applied Empathy: A Design Framework for Meeting Human Needs and Desires
The design community keeps making a lot of noise about designing for people/users/customers. However, while this notion is well-intentioned and even conceptually correct, I find much of it boils down to empty rhetoric. What exactly are we doing? More user research? More usability testing? Certainly these are valid approaches to finding out about people's needs, but they're only a small part of an optimal solution. Are we using hollow tasks and tools like personas and scenarios? Those approaches typically take design farther away from the people for whom we are designing products rather than closer. How about focusing on usability and the user experience? That gets at only part of the issue and tends to come from the perspective of the product--as opposed to the more universal needs and desires of actual people.
Knemeyer, Dirk. UXmatters (2006). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods
#19184
Applied Theory: Working Toward an Accessible Web Site
With the passage of Section 508 and the efforts of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), interest in Web site accessibility continues to increase. Web designers and Web content developers are finding that knowledge in Web accessibility is becoming essential to be marketable to government contracts and private industry since accessibility is becoming a best practice, and in some cases a legal requirement, in Web development. This article is written for those who already have a general knowledge about the reasons for, and the techniques of, designing accessible Web sites. In this article, I will share the steps that I have taken to work toward transforming a Web site that I manage to one that is accessible according to the W3C recommendations.
McConnell, Kim. Usability Interface (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Section 508
#14798
Applying Audience Invoked Models to Instructional Design Methods
You should know what appeals to and motivates your audience before you approach them with a suggestion for action. The same point is also true for writers. The writer must have a good idea of who the audience is and what motivates them in order to create arguments that will convince his or her audience to not only to read the text, but also to behave in the desired fashion after they have read the text.
Cleman, Kelly A. Orange Journal, The (2001). Articles>Education>Instructional Design
#31538
Brand has become an integral part of the employee communicator's role as organizations recognize the importance of employee behaviors in building brand. When it comes time to integrate brand elements into the intranet or portal, good usability practices and testing can guide that integration, ensuring desired employee behaviors.
Wilson, Stacy and Susan Weinschenk. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Web Design>Intranets
#28663
Applying Color Theory to Digital Displays
For backgrounds behind text, use solid, contrasting colors, and avoid the use of textures and patterns, which can make letterforms difficult to distinguish or even illegible. Choose combinations of text color and background color with care. Value contrast between body text and its background color should be a minimum of about eighty percent.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2007). Design>User Interface>Accessibility>Color
#23235
Learn how to lay out and format your forms with the power of CSS.
Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>CSS
#19917
Applying Object-Oriented Design Concepts to Web Publishing
This is a story of how one internal project at Sun Microsystems migrated printed user and reference documentation to an internal Web site. The principle architect of this site discusses how she applied object-oriented design concepts to the Web architecture to accommodate many learning styles simultaneously. As important as the successes of this project are its failures, which offer some insight into when and how to use the World Wide Web as a communication vehicle in your overall communication strategy.
Hoft, Nancy L. STC Proceedings (1996). Design>Documentation>Web Design
#20983
Applying Personalization to the Purchase Decision Process
The idea of personalizing Web and e-mail content is becoming well accepted because most of us already personalize the person-to-person communications that we use every day. However, planning a personalized web site has proven to be more of a challenge than many marketers had imagined.
Allen, Cliff. Allen.com (2003). Design>Web Design>Personalization
#18394
Applying the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences to Products
People trained in the Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Sciences (BCSS) seldom play a critical role in the development of new products. Yeah, they do user testing and sometimes take part in the design, but seldom take part in specifying the product in the first place. Moreover, when economic times get tight, they are among the first to be let go. Why the failure? I place the blame squarely upon BCSS itself: students are badly prepared for the demands of a product-driven industry. Faculty are equally ill-prepared, and therefore unable to make a difference -- assuming they would even be interested in doing so.
Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2001). Design>Usability
#24606
Applying the Sensation-Perception Continuum to User Documentation
The sensation-perception continuum represents the interplay of sensation and perception in everything we think and do. Technical communicators must exploit this continuum by understanding and applying sensory filters and perceptual tendencies in the design and development of information. This paper discuss three sensory filters: thresholds, cocktail-party effect, and sensory adaptation; it discusses four perceptual tendencies: perceptual set, figure-ground relationships, laws of grouping, and goodness of figures.
Coe, Marlana A. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design
#28228
Applying Web 2.0 Technologies to Technical Documentation
This article is based on my presentation at the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators' annual conference in October, 2006. Every now and then, there is a change in the value of what technical authors deliver. These are moments when organisations pay attention to technical documentation. This is because they recognise that these changes mean they can create something that will be of real value to the business and to their customers. In recent years, there have been three "waves of interestingness". The first wave was the introduction of Windows Help (WinHelp). The second major wave was the introduction of the Internet and intranets. This was a time when organisations looked at how they could transfer large amounts of information from paper to online. They were faced with issues such as how users could access and understand all this information easily - issues that technical communicators deal with on a day-to-day basis. I believe we're just about to approach the new wave, which we have called "Tech Writing 2.0".
Pratt, Ellis. Cherryleaf (2006). Articles>Web Design>Documentation>Technical Writing
