• 2x 780nm 25mw infrared laser diode modules
• 120 degree line generators
• ps3 eye camera
• 42″ Plasma
• IMAC mini

The following video shows me testing out the screen’s response post calibration using Community Core Vision:

I apologise for the 1 or 2 second pause during the video, my phone started lagging during the video recording. I will take more videos which feature cool applications being run on the screen.

For more on Multi-touch visit the NUIgroup forums.

The IA pipeline involves research of user needs and behaviors, content structure and the context. This research returns metadata which is classified and organised. With the organisation of the information complete is it possible to create sitemaps and user experience flowcharts and finally interactive wireframe models.

It should be understood that designers should not just dive into designing their websites and navigation interfaces without first understanding the user needs, the website goals and scope and how this all comes together through a structure.

Wireframing and Rapid Prototyping
Wireframing is the process of creating mockups of products in the form of a wireframe or skeletal appearance. Wireframes can have a range in their fidelity and the ammount of detail which they contain.

Low-fidelity wireframes contain only enough detail that is required to demonstrate the wireframe’s goal. They are usually used in concept generation and presenting high level structure of a website, application or system.

High-fidelity wireframes contain more detail and generally aim to demonstrate the functionality of the proposed product.

Below is a live demo of a wireframe which demonstrates the functionality of a typical blog. The wireframe is created in sketchy style to strongly emphasise that the final product or design may not look exactly as layed out by the wireframe.

Live Demo

Sketchy Wireframe

1. 10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines

This article published by Smashing Magazine lists some very practicle advice on usability. Some of the details that the article lists may not seem to be critical but this is the nature of usability. A website which is easy and intuitive to use is a collection of simple usability principles and design patterns being applied.

Of the findins which this article lists the most stand out is the following:

3. Quality of Design Is An Indicator Of Credibility

One interesting finding of these studies is that users really do judge a book by its cover… or rather, a website by its design. Elements such as layout, consistency, typography, color and style all affect how users perceive your website and what kind of image you project. Your website should project not only a good image but also the right one for your audience.

Other factors that influence credibility are: the quality of the website’s content, amount of errors, rate of updates, ease of use and trustworthiness of authors.

2. Top 10 Usability Highs of Mac OS

This is a very interesting article which looks into the usability perfection that is Mac OS. The article goes through a showcase of good usability in the operating system and explains why it is so.  One of the points which I liked in this article was the following:

6. Fitts’ Law

Essentially, the famous Fitts’ Law says that users are more productive with the mouse when they have less distance to travel and a larger target to click on to do their tasks. Mac’s design engineers have incorporated this rule in their design: almost all application menus are attached to the top of the screen, rather than to the applications’ windows. It improves the usability and reduces screen clutter. Compared to other user interfaces, regarding Fitts’ Law Mac performs better.

3. 10 User Interface Design Fundamentals

A very useful article which goes through the fundamentals of user interaction design. It outlines all of the key features which need to be understood with the most critical principals being mentioned at the top of the article. The article does a very good job in stressing the fact of understanding your user and what their needs are.

Your user’s goals are your goals, so learn them. Restate them, repeat them. Then, learn about your user’s skills and experience, and what they need. Find out what interfaces they like and sit down and watch how they use them. Do not get carried away trying to keep up with the competition by mimicking trendy design styles or adding new features. By focusing on your user first, you will be able to create an interface that lets them achieve their goals.

4. 9 Ways to Take Your Site from One to One Million Users

This is absolutely brilliant and a MUST see article. The article is based on digg dounder Kevin Rose’s talk at FOWA London ( The Future of Web Apps). I highly recommend watching the video which is embeded at the bottom of the article. This article should act as a great reference to anybody who is launching a new web brand or service.

For more on usability and user interaction design read my article on user interaction design fundamentals.

Designing for user interaction is about looking into the relationship between man and machine and how the two interact with eachother. In the world of interface design the idea of user interaction design is about understanding what your user wants and developing an interface with interactions that allow them to easily acheive their goal. At the same time it is about not getting carried away with visual candy and showing off all of the technical features that your interface has. By understanding what your user is looking for you can design an interface which anticipates this user need and offers a solution.

In user interaction design the most important starting point is understanding your user and being able to predict the way in which they will interact with an interface. The idea of predicting a user’s interaction is the key skill in being a succesful user interaction designer. However there is much to learn before a young designer can make accurate and justified predictions on user interactions. One of the most common ways in which user interaction designers guide their users through the interface is through the use of well established graphical patterns or cues. A common example of this is applying a blue and underlined style to web links. When you visit a website and you see blue text which is underlined you immediently recognise this pattern and associate it with a single click interaction. In learning about usability and user interaction design at The University of Sydney our professor used doors as a great example of design patterns and exploiting the brain’s ability to connect design patterns to interactivity. Nearly every house has a different style door, it may have a different color, handle, frame, glass type or finish to the house beside it. In fact there is a good chance that many doors you come across in your life are unique doors that you have never used before. Despite these doors being completely new to you the collection of visual elements that the door features communicates to you “I am a door, open me!”. In this case, the form of the object drives the interaction, just like the underlined blue text on the website screamed out “I am a link!” and invited the user to click on it.

So in essence the idea of user interaction design is he creation of digital form which evokes the users the interact with the interface in a predictable way. Through this predictable interaction a user experience can be designed to esure that all of your user types meet their objectives.