Bloug

Book testing: how we did it

louisr — 2008-05-08T11:20:54-05:00

Joshua Kaufman of UXmatters interviewed Liz Danzico and me about Rosenfeld Media, specifically addressing how we determined book features and tested our designs. We describe a bit of the "show and tell" approach we used for identifying features, and a bit about the task analysis we did for the print and digital edition designs. It's a nice short read; Joshua and Pabini Gabriel-Petit, UXmatters' editor-in-chief, did a great job.

Speaking of books, I think we'll have sold 1,000 copies of Luke Wroblewski's Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks by tomorrow. That's not bad, considering it launched Monday! I wish I could take credit as some sort of guru of book promo, but it ultimately comes down to an excellent author and excellent content. Unfortunately, we're also experiencing all sorts of glitches with our shopping cart that are keeping me up way too late, but when your systems are suddenly hit by 20 times the normal activity, I guess stuff is bound to happen.

New Rosenfeld Media book: Luke Wroblewski's "Web Form Design"

louisr — 2008-05-05T15:27:34-05:00

Whew! It'd finally available. Joy. Relief. Here's the info from the Rosenfeld Media site:

We're excited to announce that Luke Wroblewski's long-awaited book, "Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks," is now available! And with hundreds of sales since our soft launch earlier today, apparently we're not the only ones!

When you buy directly from Rosenfeld Media, you'll pay US$36 for the paperback and digital editions, US$19 for digital only. (Compare with US$36 for paperback only at Amazon.)

The paperback is 244 pages with high quality paper stock, a sewn binding, and a full color interior. At 6"x9", it'll be easy to stuff in your carry-on bag for reading during the flight to your next client meeting. And of course, the digital edition (373 pages) is pretty easy to take along too; in fact, it's been designed, tested, and optimized for on-screen use. Both editions are graced with 216 illustrations, which we've made available for you via Flickr to peruse, download, and use in your own presentations.

We're quite thrilled with Luke's work—from his original research to the volume of practical advice he's managed to cram into this book. We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we have.

The Redesign Must Die talk

louisr — 2008-04-30T15:15:56-05:00

Just on my way home from an enjoyable visit to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Tim Offenstein and friends put on a great event. Sick (again; WTF?), exhausted, but happy. And happy to report that I should have a new book to go on sale later this week.

But enough of that; here are the slides. Much better with animation, but I had to upload a PDF, as the PPT was too large for SlideShare. Email me if you want the full 59Mb PPT. And thanks to everyone who made suggestions; it was a fun keynote to give (and hopefully to sit through):

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Tales from Redesignland

louisr — 2008-04-28T11:11:49-05:00

On Wednesday I'll be keynoting the University of Illinois' 9th Annual Webmaster Forum. The theme of the event is redesign, and for me, redesign boils down to two four-letter words. Double trouble. Redesigns are counterproductive; not surprisingly, my talk will be titled "Redesign Must Die".

So Judy Matthews' timing couldn't have been better when she pointed me to Tales from Redesignland, a fantastically funny (and apropos) new blog about the travails of those pushing the redesign rock up the academic mountain. Cool. Now I don't need to prep; I can just read Redesignland's cartoons out loud. I hope Tony Dunn manages to hold on to enough shreds of his sanity to keep producing this excellent blog. Highly recommended.

Updated workshop slides

louisr — 2008-04-25T11:03:51-05:00

Just posted an updated set of the slides for my site search analytics workshop. Feel free to download them from SlideShare. I'll be teaching it once more this spring, in Chicago on May 15; come join us for the day.

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Bug tracking for government

louisr — 2008-04-24T14:13:39-05:00

Just got back from a few days in the Bay Area. Incredibly packed trip, immensely enjoyable nonetheless. The coolest idea from the visit: Mike Kunavsky told me about ParkScan.org, a "...community-initiated, web-based reporting system that tracks maintenance conditions in San Francisco's parks and playgrounds." More from their site:

Community members' observations, once reported via our web-based form, are sent electronically to the appropriate city departments for action. A tracking number is assigned to each report, and the responsible department is notified. Dangerous conditions are acted on immediately, and general maintenance issues are handled in short order. Capital repairs are scheduled as budgets permit.

Wow. Underfunded government entity, meet concerned citizens. Citizens supply data to the system, which routes it to the appropriate officials. (Meaning the appropriate official only has to be located once, rather than by each citizen.) Patterns and trends appear, enabling the officials to prioritize their efforts and budgets.

Man, I love this concept. Of course, squeaky wheel citizens will be the ones who are frequent Internet users. Which doesn't describe low-income citizens. Who happen to be the ones whose parks are in the worst shape. Hmm, I see a problem here.

Nonetheless, as someone who really wants to see governments succeed in serving citizens, I can see approaches like this making a big difference.

Government 2.0, anyone?

Chicago early bird registration is April 18

louisr — 2008-04-17T11:57:51-05:00

The Steve and Lou tour's last spring stop is Chicago, May 15-16, and the early registration deadline is tomorrow. Register by then to receive a $100 discount off each day-long workshop.

I'll be teaching my new workshop, Site Search Analytics for a Better User Experience, and Steve Krug's new workshop, Don't Make Me Think: The Discount Usability Testing Workshop, takes place the next day.

We'll be joining in a happy hour the evening of May 15, sponsored by Roundarch's Chicago office. Details forthcoming; hope to see you in Chicago next month!

I'm grateful

louisr — 2008-04-16T18:54:37-05:00

Anyone who's followed my blog over the past seven (!) years knows that I'm always promoting the IA Summit. It was my baby at its inception, but it's gotten better every year. As a strapping nine year-old, it's clearly enjoyed some great parenting along the way. Many thanks to Richard Dalton, Dick Hill, and the rest of the committee for another outstanding event.

But this year something extra special happened. Amid the sessions, networking, socializing and such, I encountered some completely unexpected generosity.

Kevin Cheng and I have been discussing his writing a Rosenfeld Media book for some time. His proposal is about done, and I'm dying to publish the book. But Kevin's nothing if not careful and diligent; on the first day of the Summit, he told me he wanted to get a little more input on a few points before finalizing his proposal. I suggested we convene a few interested people— maybe five?—and see what they thought.

A day later, after some tweeting and some gentle arm-twisting, nearly twenty people were seated around a few tables, ready to talk comics and user experience design. And that we did; not for the half hour I'd hoped for, but for over two hours. Incredible. It's not like they had nothing else to do. I still can't quite believe it.

Everyone contributed. It was a polite discussion, but it was punctuated by passionate interjections and plenty of joking. Dan Willis went into auto-facilitation mode, really helping things along.

Why do we need companies and hierarchies? With another hour or two, this ad hoc collective could probably have figured out what to do about global warming.

I want to acknowledge those who donated their time and ideas; I'm in awe and thank you deeply:

Stephen Anderson

Mario Bourque

Lorelei Brown

Whitney Hess

Kaleem Khan

Livia Labate

Jess McMullin

Matthew Milan

Danny Muller

Greg Nudelman

Adam Polanski

Frank Ramirez

Dave Sturtz

Russ Unger

Dan Willis

Stuart Woods

I hope I'm not forgetting anyone; please let me know if I did! Thanks again (sniff); you guys rock.

Early and Earley

louisr — 2008-04-15T12:23:28-05:00

The early registration for Steve Krug's and my May 15/16 Chicago workshops (site search analytics, do-it-yourself usability) is this Friday (April 18). Last chance to save $100 per workshop, last stop on our spring road trip; details here.

And on Thursday (April 17), I'll participate in Seth Earley's Search Solutions conference call series, making a very short presentation on (you guessed it) site search analytics. No charge to listen in; details here.

Discount to attend An Event Apart

louisr — 2008-04-11T09:33:23-05:00

After months of intense negotiation, Louis Rosenfeld LLC's legal department has just completed an agreement with the good folks at An Event Apart to provide you, loyal Bloug readers, with a very nice discount for this year's conferences. These are fabulously-produced events, with excellent speakers (including Rosenfeld Media authors like Luke Wroblewski and even, um, me) in three great locations (Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago). I really enjoyed my experience at An Event Apart, and I hope you will too:

AN EVENT APART PRESENTS THE BLOUG DISCOUNT

An Event Apart, the design conference "for people who make websites," announces a special discount exclusively for attendees of Louis Rosenfeld's workshops—or anyone smart enough to get on this mailing list, whether you've attended a workshop or not.

Save $200 off An Event Apart's Boston, San Francisco, or Chicago shows with discount code AEASKLR.

With its focus on web standards, best practices, and design inspiration, An Event Apart is the perfect complement to Lou's IA workshops.

In 14 sessions over two 9.5 hour days, you'll learn directly from the leaders in modern web design. Each monster, two-day An Event Apart learning session features 12 of your favorite web design authors. It's like bringing your bookshelf to life.

SAVE THE DATE! BOSTON, SF, AND CHICAGO

The discount applies to three An Event Apart conferences this year:

Boston: June 23/24
San Francisco: August 18/19
Chicago: October 13/14

A conference pass, including admission to all sessions, snacks and lunch on both days, access to all social events, and a bag of swag, is regularly $995.

But with special discount code AEASKLR, it's just $795 when you register before the early bird expires. (If you register for any show *after* the early bird discount expires, you still save $100—just $895.)

Registration is now open at https://store.aneventapart.com/ and seating is limited, first-come, first-served.

Who needs the government?

louisr — 2008-04-10T13:47:03-05:00

I've always loved Kurt Vonnegut's take on social networks, as presented in Slapstick, published in 1976. I blogged about this five years ago:

"...I was reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick for the umpteenth time recently. The protagonist runs for President with the slogan 'Lonesome no more!'. Upon his election, every American is randomly assigned a brand new government-issue middle name, based on a plant, an animal, and other object, combined with a numeric code. President Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain's plan takes off, and these new 'families' persist after the inevitable collapse of western civilization. As you might guess, I recommend Slapstick: a quick and funny-as-hell read, and a little bit of social network thinking along the way."

So... just saw this article in today's New York Times. Thanks to the Internet, we don't need to be connected through artificial names; our natural ones will do.

Calling all Lou Rosenfelds!

IA Summits past and present

louisr — 2008-04-10T12:06:02-05:00

As so many of us head to Miami for the ninth (!) Information Architecture Summit, a couple of souvenirs from #8 showed up: video interviews of a whole mess of information architects by Jorge Arango in Boxes and Arrows magazine, and by Valerie Kelly of Kent State's Information Architecture and Knowledge Management program. Check them out here and here; and say hello if you'll be in Miami!

Slides for my new workshop

louisr — 2008-03-27T13:54:29-05:00

Lou's teaching a whole day on site search analytics? Is there really that much to it?

Well, you be the judge; here are my 118 slides.

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During the workshop, I'll also be demoing and leading three hands-on exercises. So I hope you UXers out there will take me at my word; there's something to site search analytics.

Did I mention my three spring workshop venues? (Of course I did, but that won't stop me from doing it again.) Boston, April 2. Sunnyvale, April 22. Chicago, May 15. All the details are right here.

Beautiful patterns

louisr — 2008-03-26T20:46:45-05:00

Peter's hit another home run with his collection of search patterns. Incredibly useful; all right there on Flickr. Very handy; enjoy!

Spring 2008 talks (Philadelphia, Boston, Urbana-Champaign, Sunnyvale, Chicago)

louisr — 2008-03-23T16:02:59-05:00

On April 2, I'll be speaking at PhillyCHI on site search analytics. Todd Warfel's Messagefirst is hosting the event; here are the details (including RSVP info):

Time: 6 - 8PM (social time from 6 - 6:30PM)
Location: Messagefirst
230 N 2nd St. Suite 2C
(215) 825-7423
Map: tinyurl.com/yqsvqv
RSVP: phillychi@gmail.com

Then I'll hop the Acela for Boston, where I'll be teaching my first-ever full-day workshop on site search analytics (on April 4). There are lots of seats open; I'd love to see you there.

Another stop on the site search analytics workshop tour takes place in Sunnyvale, California, April 22, sponsored by Involution Studios Master Academy. This was originally scheduled for last week, but frankly, I was sick as a dog.

On April 30, I'll be keynoting the UIUC Webmaster Forum. Given that the event's theme is web redesign, I've saucily titled my keynote "Redesign Must Die". I'll then do a short session on (you guessed it) site search analytics.

Finally, on May 15, I'll teach my last site search analytics workshop of the spring in Chicago. Then I'll head home to refurbish the nest for baby #2...