"usability" entries
Now available: "Breaking the Page" preview edition
The big question: How do we make digital books as satisfying as their print predecessors?
The three chapters in the free preview edition of "Breaking the Page: Transforming Books and the Reading Experience" focus on browsing, searching, and navigating.
Links on the side
A simple solution for including hyperlinks without undermining focus.
Digital documents that help readers focus are the ones that we're most likely to remember. Those that send us scampering around the web will be more easily forgotten.
"Revolution in the Valley," revisited
Andy Hertzfeld on the Macintosh's early days and its long-term legacy.
With "Revolution in the Valley" making its paperback debut and the work of Steve Jobs fresh in people's minds, we checked in with Andy Hertzfeld to discuss the legacy of the first Macintosh.
Note to visualization creators: Add subtitles and narration
Embedded information makes animated visualizations more accessible.
An animated visualization from NASA shows how subtitles and simple narration can make complex graphics easier to understand. We need more of this.
Six ways to think about an "infinite canvas"
How would content look, feel and act in an unlimited space?
Imagine a canvas that's elastic and infinite. Now consider the content that could exist in this domain. How would it work? How would you interact with it? Pete Meyers considers these questions and more.
Open Question: What needs to happen for tablets to replace laptops?
Moving from "tablet-plus-laptop" to "tablet-only."
What will it take for tablets to equal — or surpass — their laptop cousins? See specific wish lists and weigh in with your own thoughts.
Linking in ebooks: How much is too much?
Ebook hyperlinks don't always lead to a smooth reading experience.
Ebook producers must decide if the destinations behind embedded links are worth the disruptions they might cause.
The making of a "minimum awesome product"
Flipboard's Evan Doll on design and the importance of being inherently social.
In this podcast, Evan Doll, the co-founder of Flipboard sat down with Joe Wikert to discuss Flipboard's focus on design and social integration.
Spoiler alert: The mouse dies. Touch and gesture take center stage
The shift toward more natural interfaces requires new thinking and skills.
As touch and gesture evolve from novelty to default, we must rethink how we build software, implement hardware, and design interfaces.
At its best, digital design is choreography
Liza Daly on why digital design elements should move in concert.
In this brief interview, Threepress Consulting owner Liza Daly tackles a question about formatting content for browser publishing. She says for design to succeed, authors, artists and developers must work together.