2008

May

Blog of the Week: Icon-O-Cast

There aren’t very many design-related podcasts out there. A select few are of consistently high...
May 10th

In the Details: Button Hook

All of the cars I’ve driven in the past have had pretty standard switches for the automatic windows....
May 8th

Instant Winner

The internet has improved a lot of things and created wonderful new experiences. Due to this...
May 7th

Web Form Design

Luke Wroblewski’s new book, Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks, has just been published by...
May 6th

Free Speech

I was traveling this weekend to attend a cousin’s wedding. On the drive there, my car was damaged...
May 5th

Blog of the Week: Brand New

What do Ford, Starz, Discovery Channel, the Seattle Founders FC, Thomson Reuters, SanDisk, and...
May 2nd

Keyboard Tradeoffs

For the past four and a half years, I’ve been using Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I love the...
May 1st

Apr

Upgrade

Tonight, I’m saying goodbye to an old friend and welcoming a new member of the family. I purchased a...
Apr 30th

Sent from my iPhone

Thus reads the default signature in Mail on the iPhone. Thus far, I have not made the effort to...
Apr 29th

In the Details: Volume Control

Another feature of my new Mazda5 that I really like is the automatic volume adjustment. The volume...
Apr 29th

Synchrosurprised

Back in November, I wrote about Microsoft’s new Sync system, which is currently available in Ford...
Apr 25th

“Never tell me the odds.”

Han Solo, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back How many times have I heard a respected...
Apr 24th

Roulette Vendor

There’s an elaborate vending machine in the building at which I’m working this week. Rather than...
Apr 23rd

Hit with the Ugly Sticker

I was riding to lunch with a co-worker the other day and noticed that he had one of those paper...
Apr 21st

Sorry Safari

Now that the iPhone SDK has been released and third-party apps are on the way, nobody is claiming...
Apr 18th

Talking sMac

I love my Mac… which makes me all the more sensitive to its faults. I often commend Apple for...
Apr 16th

DesignAyear

It was exactly one year ago today that I began this little blog. I’m happy to report that...
Apr 14th

Blog of the Week: Adaptive Path

I typically attempt to bring something new to the blogosphere on DesignAday, rather than simply...
Apr 11th

It’s Not Easy Being Green

Rachel Hinman made a very useful post to the Adaptive Path blog about a CHI presentation by Elaine...
Apr 10th

Narrative II

Building on the Time Series, Tufte gives examples of a few distinct types of narrative...
Apr 9th
Narrative Visualization by Andrew Carnill
Apr 9th
Narrative II Detail
Apr 9th

Grate Expectations

I’d never consider myself to be a great movie buff—I don’t see all that many movies. However, I do...
Apr 8th

In the Details: Cruise Control

Seeing as how the new Mazda5 is my wife’s car, this weekend was the first time I had driven it for...
Apr 7th

Blog of the Week: I Love Typography

As an Interaction Designer who spends most of my time limited to the fonts that come standard with...
Apr 4th
How often do you think this motion-sensing paper towel...
Apr 3rd

Designer’s Toolbelt: xScope

I recently became aware of a great little utility from The Iconfactory called xScope. It’s comprised...
Apr 2nd

A Promising Vision

Autodesk has posted a video showing the results of research into green building design through a...
Apr 1st

Mar

Can’t Touch This

On Friday, Engadget posted a video demonstrating a working prototype of a touchless remote control....
Mar 31st

Blog of the Week: Design View

As regular readers have likely noticed, I’ve begun featuring design-related blogs in my Friday...
Mar 28th

Missed Opportunity #7: Incremental Brake...

Several years ago I was driving to work and brainstorming ideas for new automobile features that...
Mar 27th

In the Details: Speedometer

The speedometer on the dash of my new Mazda5 is quite large, which makes sense, as it is typically...
Mar 26th
Mazda5 Speedometer
Mar 26th

rEject

One of the products featured in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, which I wrote about last...
Mar 25th

Lazy Validation

The agency that handles my local taxes just made on-line filing available. I decided to take...
Mar 24th
Required Fields
Mar 24th

Blog of the Week: A Brief Message

I spend entirely too much time reading blogs. It keeps me up late at night. It isn’t healthy, but...
Mar 21st

Literarture

I had been planning on posting about another interesting product design, but that will have to wait....
Mar 20th
Brian Dettmer’s Book Art
Mar 20th

Safari, So Good

Apple released an update for Safari yesterday, bringing it to 3.1. While they have added a lot of...
Mar 19th
Web Inspector: DOM
Mar 19th
Web Inspector: Network
Mar 19th

Greenery

The winners of the Greener Gadgets Design Competition held during the month of February have been...
Mar 18th

In the Details: Rain Sensor

The evolution of auto design is relatively slow due to a number of factors. I don’t expect to...
Mar 17th

Blog of the Week: Logolog

When I see a really clever logo, one that just nails it, I get a quick rush of adrenaline. Call it a...
Mar 14th

If Apples Could Talk

Apple is famous for keeping its design process a secret. Interaction Designers regularly speculate...
Mar 13th

disSolution

Iconocast, the podcast produced by Lunar Design, just published a presentation by Jeff Smith,...
Mar 12th

Blast from the Past

Based on an idea published by Robert Scoble, a wiki has been created to collect all of the skills...
Mar 11th

You Can Never Leave

To anyone who has been reading this blog regularly, it is no secret that I choose to use Macintosh...
Mar 10th
Log Out Blocked
Mar 10th

Another Ding in the Universe

Apple has been getting a lot of press—most recently from Fortune’s Top 20 Most Admired...
Mar 7th

Interaction Design in the Wild

Some Interaction Designers believe that Interaction Design is strictly about digital products:...
Mar 6th
Easy Open Tab
Mar 6th

zoom zoom

I wrote the other day about my disappointment with Chrysler’s new line of minivans. We had...
Mar 5th

Holy Banner Ads, Batman!

I typically don’t mind banner ads. Having been desensitized, I very easily ignore them....
Mar 4th

Pitching Manure

There was a discussion on the IxDA list last week about “de-skilling”, and someone...
Mar 3rd

Satisfraction

ChangeWave released a report today on the trends in corporate smart phone purchases. It’s no...
Mar 1st

Feb

Morph

Nokia has a video up on YouTube showing a futuristic concept device based on nanotechnologies. While...
Feb 28th
Warch Watch
Morph 
Feb 28th

Techsuck

Time has been weighing on my thoughts lately. I never seem to have enough of it. I’m involved...
Feb 27th

Choice Bits from Alan Cooper

I don’t take a lot of notes. I did, however, make sure to write down anything that really made...
Feb 26th

Driving a Living Room

Being a relatively young adult, I have only owned three cars thus far: a Dodge Neon, a Chrysler PT...
Feb 25th

Luke Arm

Dean Kamen is at it again. The inventor of the AutoSyringe, the first insulin pump, the all-terrain...
Feb 22nd

Pseudo Tabs

I’m in the market for a new car, looking to replace a Chrysler Voyager. I was checking out the...
Feb 21st
Pseudo Tabs
Feb 21st

frAgile

Interaction 08 saw quite a bit of debate around the role of design in an Agile development...
Feb 20th

Designer's Toolbelt: Thermo

The most exciting thing I saw at Interaction 08 was a demo of Thermo, Adobe’s upcoming user...
Feb 19th

Design Delivers

One of my co-workers told me the other day that he started out with the typical engineering mindset...
Feb 19th

I'm a Designer

On Sunday, as I was walking between the River Club and the Sheraton on my way to another session, I...
Feb 15th

Sharing the Pain

Saturday night’s reception at Interaction 08 was hosted by Microsoft. Aside from the four...
Feb 14th

Things I Learned at Interaction 08

Bamboo chairs are aesthetically pleasing, but they aren’t very comfortable. Appetizers are...
Feb 13th

Schwag Bag

One of the most important questions to be answered about any conference is, of course,...
Feb 12th

I'm a Selfish Social Butterfly

I’m back from Interaction 08, and I’ll be posting about it for several days. This was an...
Feb 11th

Interaction 08

I’m catching a plane for Savannah this morning. I hope to gain a lot of inspiration (and a few...
Feb 8th

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

I’ve been quite happy with my Verizon FiOS internet service. It’s fast, reliable, and...
Feb 7th

Designer's Toolbelt: Axure

The Pittsburgh local IxDA group held their first programmed event last night. Their were...
Feb 6th

iTunes as Design Pattern

I was having a discussion with one of my co-workers about the UI design of one of our products. I...
Feb 5th

Design on the Soles of Her Shoes

One trait of a good designer is that they are observant—much more so than the average person. They...
Feb 4th

CrowdVine

Interaction 08 is only a week away, and I’m getting pretty excited about it. This is due in...
Feb 1st

Jan

Narrative Visualization

Based on Tufte’s categorization, one of the assignment’s in the class I taught last...
Jan 31st
Tarannum’s Narrative
Jan 31st
Narrative Detail
Jan 31st

...but who’s counting?

I’m beginning to wonder if I will ever have a good air travel experience again. I booked my...
Jan 30th

Designer's Toolbelt: TextWrangler

While I prefer to leave implementation to the developers, I do have to muck with code on a regular...
Jan 29th

Let’s It Snow

I’m not sure which is worse: the fact that this gift bag was designed, printed, shipped,...
Jan 27th
Made in China
Jan 27th

Everything Old...

I heard a news story yesterday about a new, innovative method of ship propulsion that will conserve...
Jan 25th

Time Series II

In this second example from my course on Information Design and Visualization, another time series,...
Jan 24th
Time Series Version 1
Jan 24th
Time Series by Tarannum
Jan 24th

In the Details: Head Phone

One of my favorite iPhone features has nothing to do with the innovative multi-touch screen or the...
Jan 23rd

Time Series

One of the early assignments in my course last semester was the design of a time series data...
Jan 22nd
Enlarged Area of Visualization
Jan 22nd
Time Series by Marcie Kent
Jan 22nd

Pump Stumper

A good friend of mine related the following story to me last Friday.  After breakfast today, I...
Jan 21st
Which button do you press after entering your zip code?
Jan 21st

Simplehuman

It always excites me to see companies succeed due to exquisite design innovation. For OXO’s...
Jan 18th

Jello is GUI

The new version of the iPhone software added a number of quite useful features (although I’m...
Jan 17th

Time Capsule

I’ve been planning for some time now to put together my “ultimate” back-up system....
Jan 16th

Powramid

One of the few things coming out of CES that actually perked my attention was Kreative...
Jan 15th

Alarming Clock

The clock/radio/CD player in my hotel room last week almost stumped me. It had multi-position...
Jan 14th
Alarming Clock
Jan 14th

SelectShun

I realize that what I’m about to say is obvious, but using the iPhone for all of my email and...
Jan 8th

Pretty dumb bird! Brraaaaauwk!

One of the toys that my daughter wanted most, and received, this Christmas was the FurReal Squawkers...
Jan 7th

Every Day

When I originally started DesignAday, I did intend to post every day, and I did post every day for...
Jan 6th

In the Details: Contextual Volume

It is readily apparent that Apple thought a lot about the context of use when designing the iPhone....
Jan 4th

Aptera Typ-1

Looking more like a small airplane cockpit, devoid of wings or tail, than a car, the Typ-1 is a...
Jan 3rd

Registration Frustration

Now that the holidays are over and I’m back home, I have a stack of product registration cards...
Jan 2nd

2007

Dec

Xmas Xperiences

Santa was pretty good to my family this year. Here’s a few brief gift observations.My...
Dec 27th

Mystory

As it is Christmas Eve, and I’ll probably be up early tomorrow, I wanted a quick post for...
Dec 24th

I iz making ur logoz

I saw yesterday that a new version of Macware’s Logo Design Studio Pro had been released....
Dec 21st

I'm Sorry Too

I was reserving my hotel room for Interaction 08, the first IxDA conference being held in Savannah...
Dec 20th
I’m sorry too.
Dec 20th

A Few Observations

Designers with formal design education often believe it to be extremely valuable and important to...
Dec 19th

Missed Opportunity #6: Smart Folders

A couple years ago, before the release of Mac OS X Tiger, I was designing a file library for one of...
Dec 18th

sdrawkcaB

I occasionally take frozen dinners to work for lunch. I appreciate that the Hungryman meals include...
Dec 17th

Making Good

Back in September when Apple announce the new Ringtone feature in iTunes, I posted about...
Dec 14th

A Legacy of Poor Design

I’ve been singing tenor in my church choir for years. As do most churches, we have filing...
Dec 13th

10 Print "Happy Birthday C= 64!"

20 goto 10 run  I am fortunate to have a very intelligent, well read, forward-thinking man for a...
Dec 12th

Email Evangelism

I’ve always considered it part of my job description to be a design evangelist. I try to...
Dec 11th

Voicemailigned

Don Norman spends a good many words relating the problems with telephones in his book The Design of...
Dec 10th

Designer's Toolbelt: OmniOutliner

The Omni Group makes a lot of outstanding applications for the Mac. OmniOutliner is a tool...
Dec 6th

Robo-Guitar

Gibson recently announced a new “Robot Guitar”. No, it doesn’t play itself, but it...
Dec 5th

In the Details: Nicknames

Here’s another little detail that has bugged me for a long time. Apple’s address book in...
Dec 4th

Raleigh Ringers

I attended a concert by the Raleigh Ringers Saturday night. They are an internationally acclaimed...
Dec 3rd

Nov

Putting the "No" in Innovation

I was just looking over the CES Award winners, and with a few exceptions, find them rather...
Nov 29th

All or Nothing?

Jermaine Dupri, a music producer and president of Island Urban Records, published a rant in favor of...
Nov 28th

In the Details: Dating

I’m quite impressed with the new “detection” capabilities in Mac OS X...
Nov 27th

Hippo Flasher

Some months ago, I wrote about a toothbrush with a flashing light that acts as a timer, teaching...
Nov 26th

Disection Paste

When I purchased my Photoshop upgrade, I was, of course, given a new serial number. After...
Nov 21st

Photoshop Junkie

I’ve been a little behind on upgrading my personal copies of a lot of the software I use....
Nov 20th

Kindle

Having a background in Graphic Design with some knowledge of bookmaking and letterpress, and being...
Nov 19th

In the Details: Spring-Loaded

Since way back in OS 9, Apple has had a feature in their OS called “Spring-Loaded...
Nov 16th

Hide and Recycle

I finished a bottle of shower soap. This one happened to be Zest Energizing Effects Body Wash....
Nov 15th

In the Details: Coupling

It has been said that truly great design is invisible. When I used a Treo, I had a Logitech...
Nov 14th

Car Command

I ride Microsoft pretty hard for poor design decisions in their products. I really don’t care...
Nov 13th

In the Details: iCal

Ever since the advent of Mac OS X, I’ve been bothered by the fact that iCal’s dock icon...
Nov 12th

The Immortal Floppy

We Interaction Designers have a skeleton in our collective closet. Back when the desktop metaphor...
Nov 9th

Design View

I’ve been reading Andy Rutledge’s Design View blog regularly for some time now. I...
Nov 8th

Showoff