ajax world preso 100908adampolansky
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
you know more than you think you do
While not entirely a case study, it’s about the observations I made when I was thrust into the development of a high-profile RIA.
Everybody’s talking RIA. So what’s this about?
The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content.
Information Architecture for the World-Wide Web Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville
Organizing info so people can find stuff
>
First, what does an Information Architect do?
…I’m one
Two people speaking face-to-face
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
A History of Communication (Highly Abridged Version)
Archived graphic narrative
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
A History of Communication (Highly Abridged Version)
Archived written narrative
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
A History of Communication(Highly Abridged Version)
Archived graphic & written narrative
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
A History of Communication (Highly Abridged Version)
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
Reproduction of archived written & graphic narrative
A History of Communication(Highly Abridged Version)
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
Faster reproduction of archived written & graphic narrative
A History of Communication(Highly Abridged Version)
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance 1-way Quantity Immediacy
Reaching across distances
A History of Communication(Highly Abridged Version)
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance 1-way Quantity Immediacy
Increased sharing and access to larger amounts of information
A History of Communication(Highly Abridged Version)
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance 1-way Quantity Personal
Real time, mobile, human interaction both intimate and public
A History of Communication(Highly Abridged Version)
Make Communication Methods…
More Relevant: Timely or Informed
Available to More People: n-to-n
Cover Greater Distances: Space & Time
All this in order to replicate as closely as possible…
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
Narrative Archive Reproduction Speed Distance Quantity Immediacy
The experience of two people speaking face-to-face
Rich Internet Application: (RIA) are web applications that have the features and functionality of traditional desktop applications. RIAs typically transfer the processing necessary for the user interface to the web client but keep the bulk of the data (i.e. maintaining the state of the program, the data etc) back on the application server.
Some of the most recognizable attributes of RIAs are:…fluidity in their behavior…speed in their responses …engaging in their appearance - more than typical HTML web sites
Defined
• Customer Experience is in the driver’s seat
• Design-Centric vs. System –Driven
• Improved Performance
• The Design is the Code so no need for copious mounts of IA artifacts
What’s the buzz?
6 things I think I thought going in…
The Hammer problem: “When the only tool you have is a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”I didn’t want limitations on my part to drive the process into my personal safe-zone simply because it’s what I know
High-profile: The design team had done an excellent job of marketing the application internally creating intense pressure to deliver based largely on a static presentation
Design looks real and finished in the minds of stakeholders
Work from predecessor – Specialist in social web and its implications. Not an area that I’d focused on much
How is the effort different from HTML design?Lack of familiarity with the implementation needs
Urgency: Everybody wants it NOW! -CEO, CMO, Suppliers, Partner Marketing, Customers and the Press
Strategic ViewLimited Prototype: Developed around the particular needs of a single context –Las Vegas, and several issues around scalability had not been addressed – Islands Regions, Destination vs. Activity driven paths
Existing IA Effort: Very little in terms of IA work to consume. Predecessor was split between two engagements one of which would become a new business unit under his supervision
Maintenance: No CMS or digital asset management systems in place to enable areliable roll-out or maintenance plan
Navigation: Proposed list of initial destinations included different types of paths that had not been distinguished from each other
Tactical ViewScope: A detailed and long-term feature/user story list had not been qualified
Usability: The design that had been so aggressively marketed had not undergone any scrutiny from a usability standpoint
Content: Several content areas had not been fleshed out and the need forinteraction design prior to committing to code still existed
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
Observed how a new, richer interface did or did not influence entrenched expectations for the outcome of a task.
TransferenceEmphasis on Quantitative vs. Qualitative info
Saw (again) the impact of big pictures
Collected pragmatic ammunition to battle “giddiness”
Usability Testing of Existing Prototype
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
Qualified features and functions against three criteria
Mapped back-log sequencing to user need
Feature Analysis
Usability Testing of Existing Prototype
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
Ratings from 1 to 55 being highest
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
Least Flexibility
x3 x2 x1
MostFlex
ibility
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
x2x1 x3Multiply the values ineach column by their weight from the matrix
Sort on the weighted scores
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
Agreed with design team on Key-frames as reference points for wireframes (YES wireframes!)
Developed additional visual vocabulary to communicate rudimentary transitions without being too prescriptive
ID For Content Areas Yet To Be CharacterizedFeature Analysis
Usability Testing of Existing Prototype
Visual VocabularySimple notation to take in transitions within static artifacts
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
What to do first?: Review the Foundation
Identified Different Context For Navigation Used To See Inventory
ID For Content Areas Yet To Be CharacterizedFeature Analysis
Usability Testing of Existing Prototype
I want to go to...Las Vegas, New York, The CaribbeanI want to… Ski, Surf, Save Money
Hype: Higher “Giddiness” factor that comes from stakeholders’ seeing cool, shiny moving prototype
What’s Different?
Vocabulary: There is some language that comes with RIA development that is an outgrowth of its visual fluidity. This affects traditional artifacts
Rev Cycles: Lead-times between functional and visual design can be longer
ID Context: Interaction design often driven at a component vs. a page level
Business Logic in the UI: There is more going on in the UI than there used to be vs. the back-end. This informs the efficacy of certain interactions
Collaboration: Discipline in validating feasibility of features with technical development
What’s The Same?The process: Idea, Plan & Build
Planning: The need to do low-risk, functional prototypes devoid of design elements
Tactics: The need to assess your surroundings and choose tactics appropriately
Balance: IA bringing balance between the System and the UI. However, the desire to forge ahead without planning that used to come from technology is coming from design
Vision: Discipline in keeping the big picture in front of individual features
Pitfalls To Avoid
Interaction Design: Not getting caught up in the interaction at the expense of content or “The Rube Goldberg”* school of interaction for its own sake.
*Rube Goldberg (rōōb gōld’berg), n. a comically involved, complicated invention, laboriously contrived to perform a simple operation – Webster’s New World Dictionary
Revision Cycles: Don’t assume that visual edits are as easy in Flash as in HTML
Tone-Setting: Not killing the excitement with pragmatism
Q&A