Web Design is 95% Typography

Oliver Reichenstein

July 14, 2009

http://informationarchitects.jp/the-web-is-all-about-typography-period/

This article emphasize the importance of typography in the web and designers should learn the right discipline of types. Arranging text is the information design's duty who should be able to divide the body text, create readability flow and easily navigate what appeals to user interface. He also made a strong point that if a well-written text cannot be read or poorly display is consider of no value. Designers should "treat text as an interface." He put an example of Khoi's Vinh's website, who is the current Design Director for the NY Times as an example of good use of typography and readability flow.

The article is a good read after seeing everybody's blog being scrutinized on the spot in the last class. Typography is an old school technique of arranging type design. Type plays the most important roll in both print and web world. It always have been the clear-cut rule about making text readable as possible that involving kerning, leading, tracking, line length and size. Maybe typography in the web is not so much about choosing the font because they are only a few fonts available to choose from but I believe choosing typeface is not completely unimportant.

Microbloggers, Meet the Microvideo

Jenna Worthham

September 21, 2009

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/microbloggers-meet-the-microvideo/?ref=technology

This article is about a company called Particle who designed video software that can be posted as a status update in Facebook and Twitter.  The concept is originally aimed for digital calling card online that holds data about someone’s identity on the web. However, the idea becomes a thriving trend for social networking users who like to broadcast every single detail of their lives online.

This is another good example of information design as people always find a new way to communicate by posting microvideos in their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Both sites are web based text and pictures so by adding videos, the online socializing just become more interesting and lively. Microvideos is just another interface. It maybe a short video but it is without doubt an engaging trend because you are not just reading text or looking at pictures with tag lines but you are hearing sounds and watching movements.

Playfulness, Usability, & Context: The Three Pillars of a Delightful User Experience

Fred Beeche

September 15th, 2009

http://userexperience.evantageconsulting.com/2009/09/playfulness-usability-context-delightful-user-experience/

The article is about users experience on iPhone’s apps based on design structure and entertainment. The author picked two new measurement unit conversion apps in which both iPhone developers recorded their design activities on the web and made the app available a week after one another. The two apps served the same purpose but with an entirely different approached on the user experience. One app was sensible while the other was playful and mechanical. The author also wrote colloquial “usability test” and exercised them with iPhone user peers. The result brought the author in conclusion that playfulness was obviously not the great focal significance in experience design. In developing apps, the author encouraged designers to give in a lot of thoughts about the context in the users-end approach and take in playfulness when assess accordingly.

This is a great review to read and for many iPhone users like myself, who is always scouting for new fun interesting apps, I find myself agreeing with the author. Some apps were so poorly design that it’s so hard to navigate the created system when the developer should have use pragmatic approach than theoretical. It’s not about how bad apps can be but sometimes, fun does not always fit the case especially when the idea of playfulness becomes one’s frustration.  An app like conversion, the task is clearly straight going from point A to point B and there’s simply no room for play. This review is definitely relevant to the class and information design extracted the relationship between usability and playfulness and how they should apply on the context and delivers them to users interface. There may be plenty of ways to pass information and develop apps but keeping individual interaction in the application is a success.