Chickenfossil's Blog

I love this book more and more. I don’t think I will be selling it back to Powell’s.

Interview with Riber Greenberg: “Designers now must learn to design flexible templates.  They need to develop content that works across the four screens, which we define as mobile phones, laptop/desktop computers, TV, and dynamic/digital signage.”

Interview will Clement Mok: “At this point in time, I do think designers who work with the digital medium tend to tackle a problem with a suere’-need perspective, The aesthetic component is not the driver.”

Interview with Tarek Atrissi: “The most important element is to have the information architecture very clear.  As complex as any environment is, users must be able to find their way quickly and clearly.”

“When educated as a digital designer, it is very important that the education teachers you how to teach yourself.”

Interview with Brett Traylor: “At its core, brand identity is about consistently expressing a certain personailty–preferably in a seamless way.”

Interview with Michael Roberts: “You have to undersatnd that this is a business, and design, in thsi setting, is a business function.  And you also have to be able to think strategically, and not just about the design but about relationships.”

Interview with David Volger: “In a world of infinate content created by both pros and amateurs, the great differentiator is quality.  The destinations with the best content design and execution will be the ones that win.

Interview with Bonnie Siegler: “There is always a lot to communicate, and never enough space.  And this is especially true on the Web.  You just have to pay extra special attention to having room to breathe on every page.”

Taking the qotations taken from each of the interviews in blue lettering at the top of the pages just shows how much this author really cares about making the whole process intelligent.  He isn’t choosing quotes willy-nilly. These are words from real professionals that can help any person achieve their career goals and be successful.  I really appreciate that this book is readable and not like a boring text.  This is information an aspiring professional needs to know and figure out.

So, I doubt this counts, but I’m going to wrap up what I’ve been doing for the past three weeks of class into one blog post.
I know I’ve already posted a small smei-sinopsys of what I was going to present in class, but it turned out being far more low key and unfortunately less informative than what I had originally planned.

Here is a brief description of what I was thinking when Clifton and I were working on the infographic:

This is ice cream. Look at all the ways it can be enjoyed.

Ice cream uses a top-down architecture.

The top-down method starts by establishing its content, and later arranges that content into a structure.

When you walk into an ice cream parlor you have already decided on the content of your treat.

The parlor offers multiple formats to structure your dessert. You can eat your ice cream from a bowl, in a cone, in

a mlikshake, and even sandwiched between two cookies.

Ice cream consists of three main parts.

Content of the ice cream consists of the multitde of flavors offered today.

The ice cream flavor is the information within the content.

Once the flavor has been decided on you then choose the structure of your content.

Ice cream can be presented in a paper cup, a sugar cone, or in milkshake form. This structure is also an indicator

of how we interface and use the ice cream.  A paper cup requires a spoon. A sugar cone you eat from your hands.

The milkshake you use a combination of spoon and straw.

But before we even begin to dive into our yummy treat, we see the design of the dessert.

Ice cream is a flexible substance that can be made to look like clowns, be sandwiched between cookies, and liquified.

What designs we choose to further enhance our experiences include making sundaes with toppings like hot fudge and sprinkles,

broken up bits of candy, and whipped cream.

Ice cream does not necessarily need these extras to be desireable, but it reinforces positive user experiences and

its versatility. It keeps us engaged in the process of going through the entire dessert just as good web designs keep us

engaged in a site as we read content and dig for information.

With ice cream, the content is always constant.

CONTENT Structure Design

No matter how we have our ice cream the point is to enjoy the content, the ice cream itself.

In the same way, the purpose behind visiting a website is to gather information.

So in our analogy, ice cream is the content of the dessert.

STRUCTURE

After we have chosen

————————————————————————————————————————–

This is pizza. Structure Content Design

Pizza uses a bottom-up architecture.

The structure is always constant where as the content can change.

The bottom-up method relies on a stable structure that is filled with various content.

The crust is the base for all pizza. Whether you are creating a pizza from scratch or with ingredients from the market,

the dough is what comes first and is where the content is placed.  This structure is then topped with various types of content.

Mushrooms, cheese, meat, veggies, pineapples and canadian bacon, etc. This type of structure also defines two basic ways of

interfacing with it.  We eat pizza with our hands or with fork and knife. Websites with static or formulaic structures

typically use a standardized interaction model. Even though the way we interact with a model like this may

always appear similar, the visual design is interchangeable. When you enter a pizza parlor, you choose from many different toppings

to define the pizza’s content.

When your content and architectural structures are established, it is still possible to develop varying user experiences

through information and navigation design.

This is ice cream. Look at all the ways it can be enjoyed.
Ice cream uses a top-down architecture.The top-down method starts by establishing its content, and later arranges that content into a structure.

When you walk into an ice cream parlor you have already decided on the content of your treat.The parlor offers multiple formats to structure your dessert. You can eat your ice cream from a bowl, in a cone, ina mlikshake, and even sandwiched between two cookies.
Ice cream consists of three main parts.
Content of the ice cream consists of the multitde of flavors offered today. The ice cream flavor is the information within the content.Once the flavor has been decided on you then choose the structure of your content.Ice cream can be presented in a paper cup, a sugar cone, or in milkshake form. This structure is also an indicatorof how we interface and use the ice cream.  A paper cup requires a spoon. A sugar cone you eat from your hands.  The milkshake you use a combination of spoon and straw.  But before we even begin to dive into our yummy treat, we see the design of the dessert.Ice cream is a flexible substance that can be made to look like clowns, be sandwiched between cookies, and liquified.What designs we choose to further enhance our experiences include making sundaes with toppings like hot fudge and sprinkles,broken up bits of candy, and whipped cream.Ice cream does not necessarily need these extras to be desireable, but it reinforces positive user experiences andits versatility. It keeps us engaged in the process of going through the entire dessert just as good web designs keep usengaged in a site as we read content and dig for information.
With ice cream, the content is always constant.

CONTENT Structure Design
No matter how we have our ice cream the point is to enjoy the content, the ice cream itself.In the same way, the purpose behind visiting a website is to gather information.So in our analogy, ice cream is the content of the dessert.

STRUCTURE
After we have chosen
————————————————————————————————————————–
This is pizza. Structure Content Design
Pizza uses a bottom-up architecture.The structure is always constant where as the content can change.The bottom-up method relies on a stable structure that is filled with various content.
The crust is the base for all pizza. Whether you are creating a pizza from scratch or with ingredients from the market,the dough is what comes first and is where the content is placed.  This structure is then topped with various types of content.Mushrooms, cheese, meat, veggies, pineapples and canadian bacon, etc. This type of structure also defines two basic ways ofinterfacing with it.  We eat pizza with our hands or with fork and knife. Websites with static or formulaic structures typically use a standardized interaction model. Even though the way we interact with a model like this mayalways appear similar, the visual design is interchangeable. When you enter a pizza parlor, you choose from many different toppingsto define the pizza’s content.When your content and architectural structures are established, it is still possible to develop varying user experiencesthrough information and navigation design.

And that’s that.

As far as sociality and being a part of a community, I see it as a huge asset for us as individual creatives to come together to create even bigger projects.  Having the ability to be social and make connections has a greater advantage than for the people who prioritize their own self worth.  This is where you are going to get jobs, this is where you are going to be included on ground breaking projects, and this is where you are going to learn the most after graduating from college.

I feel sad though. I’ve tried inviting my peers in class about what is going on, but I feel like they don’t care. Somehow in addition to that this class performed as a sifter to weed out those who were merely interested in the subject from those who were determined to make a career out of it.  With that in mind, as harsh as it may seem to be, being creative doesn’t require a whole lot of natural born talent, but if you suck, you suck. And that’s the truth of it. I don’t think I suck, but I sure wish more people in class were interested.

My google map of places in Portland showed quite a cluster of places in downtown. Portland isn’t so large that you couldn’t walk the entire city three times over in a day. I’ve done it multiple times. Are people really that lazy and confused by Portland? It’s really not that scary if you pay attention to where you are going. And there are so many small companies, groups, and services in Portland that are involved in the community.  When we went to Step Change the guy talking to us said not to get all caught up in our scruples, which I am fine with, but at the same time I am a huge supporter for local business. Sure I’m employed by a national company, but we’re not deliberately screwing over the economy. Point being, when I am well enough off to be doing my own thing comfortably, I’m not going to get my panties in a bunch and reject the system that supported me.

Anyways, enough of the soap box. As far as the presentation itself went. I think I did ok considering that guy from the new com was video taping…that was a little strange, but I think I handled it well enough? hah…ok, well maybe.

For the next class maybe it would be better to have a list of specific things for people to research into. Like taking the group roles listed in the text book and researching what each role really is and does and functions within a company/agency.  That might give people a little more idea of what is going on.

So, here is what the project will be. Since I have to cram it all into a 5 minute presentation:

I will present a basic definition of Information Architecture using the infographic @maxticket and I developed.
First shameless plug for @maxticket.

From there I will segway into why information architecture is important to organize information in a way that can be understood with words and images

Next is my wireframe of Chappys site and it’s informality. What changes I prefer to make to the page.  And also, this will probably be a good time to do my second shameless plug for Portland.Taplister.com.
With that site, what I would change and why.

Lastly is a list of networking resources and places to work in Portland. A thought-flow chart as opposed to a highly graphical infographic. Since I suck immensely at creating my own graphics the thought-flow will work better.

I just need to think of where to start the thought.

Ok so after a quick discussion with @maxticket and @gizmopunk we have discovered a flaw in my metaphore with the cupcake. Through basic understanding of what UI and structure is. The cupcake wrapper can be seen as a UI in terms of how we hold the cupcake and eat the cupcake. But it is the cupcake pan that is more likely to be what creates the structure in the first place. 

After the cupcake has been cooked does it hold shape with the wrapper attached around it.  When content is placed into an area without structure it is incapable of making any sense to the user.  As a structure and organization to the data is introduced, the content is then manageable.  And how we manage the cupcake is through a UI. Do we use a fork or do we use our fingers?

As far as the frosting is concerned, I still think it does dictate some type of UI, but only in the sense that it is what we see first and then decide how to go about eating said cupcake. Loads of frosting can get licked off before the eating of the actual cake occurs. Our actions and approach to the cupcake is dictated by the wrapper, the frosting, and the tools avaliable to us.

Some more thoughts on the final project:

Information Architecture:

Bottom-up categorization idea 1: cupcake

Items:
A. Paper cup/wrapper
B. Spongy cake
C. Sweet top half of the cupcake
D. Frosting
E. Sprinkles
F. Cherry/candy piece

Bottom-up Information:

A. What format or platform is the structure to be held in? Where and in what form will the information be constructed?

B. Filled with content.  Content is ordered, structured in a way to form a recognizeable structure.  Cupcake batter is slimy and formless until heat is added.  Data is a mess and meaningless until it is organized.  Chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, German chocolate? What is the content that dictates the categories?

C. Before the frosting, this part of a cupcake can have a sweetness of its own.  This is the first layer of categorzation of the data.  Perhaps it is the separation of content and the menu bar.  Either way, it is the top of the cupcake itself that lends a clue as to what type of flavor the cupcake is.

D. Frosting is the decadent layer, the translation would be the interface?  What we see, the web design itself with graphics, content area, and menu bar. Frosting is what we are all looking at, drooling over, wating to taste first and typically what we do taste first. It has to be inviting! It also needs to marry with the content. You don’t typically want a chocolate cupcake with cherry flavored frosting, but the food coloring turned it purple. That’s misleading! Nor would you want a chocolate cupcake with brown frosting, which leads you to think it is chocolate flavored when in fact it is licorice.

E. On top of that frosting is the sprinkles. Not all cupcakes come with sprinkles, or anything noticable as sprinkles. I suppose then the good cupcakes come with them. And as a translation, that is to say that our options, menu bars, and other descriptions invite the user to experience one cupcake over another. The sprinkles can also be seen as navigation. They are the little things that lead to bigger/more intuitive/descriptive things. It draws you in to investigate that much more into the webpage or the interface.

F. The topping on top! The logo or banner of the information.  The precise description and what links all the content.  The first thing you see when you view a cupcake is the top which includes the frosting, the sprinkles, and the candy on top. The first things you should notice on a webpage is the general layout of the page, the navigation, and the banner/logo of the site.

These are the notes I jotted down from the book:  The Elements of User Experience, User Centered Design for the Web. Authored by Jesse James Garrett. American Institute of Graphic Arts, 164 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10010 © 2003. Pages 94-102

Create categorization scheems

Top down: making content based on categories, 
or
Bottom up: making categories based on content.

Node- corresponds to any piece or group of information.

We can then apply common language, set of structural concepts to a diverse range of problems.  Set the level of detail.

Hierarchial structure such as parent/child relationships

Matrix- two ‘dimensions’ or more allows different needs to navigate through the same content.

Organic- case by case basis.  No strong concept of sections or patterns.

Sequential-

Organizing principles – chonology, categories, conceptual structure

Facets:
Nomenclature: the descriptions, labels, and other terminology the site uses. Controlled Vocabulary.
Metadata: information about information.  Author, type of data, date, product, name, etc.

Use a thesaurus when needed.

Ideas: cupcakes, vegitable trays, court house architecture, organiziation tools, the structure of just one web page that is patterned throughout the site.