2008

article thumbnail

Why PowerPoint rules the business world

Xplaner

A CALL FOR VISUAL LITERACY. In many organizations, the beginning and end of any business activity is marked by the PowerPoint presentation. In the early stages of an initiative, PowerPoint is used in strategy sessions, to present proposals and put forth plans. Later, it's used for updates and progress reports. In the final stages, it's used to report back and to present findings and conclusions.

Tools 106
article thumbnail

Design for Emotion and Flow

Boxes and Arrows

We create software and websites to display and represent information to people. That information could be anything; a company’s product list, pictures of your vacation, or an instant message from a friend. At this moment, there’s more information available to you than at any other time in history. All this information has a lot of positive effects, but it also creates challenges. “What information consumes is rather obvious; it consumes the attention of its recipients … a

Design 95
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Sean of AddsYou.com "visited" our class

Bennett Cherry

Sean Callahan, one of my former students at Cal State San Marcos, is on his 4th entrepreneurial venture, AddsYou.com. It's likely that you haven't heard of this site yet, but I'm guessing you'll be hearing more and more about AddsYou.com in the coming months as they near their alpha release in late November 2008.

article thumbnail

Structuring an Innovation Group for Internet of Things Opportunities

Innovation Leader

Dan Ostrower answers the question: Do any of your members or partners have any thoughts on how to think about the integration process for the internet of things?

article thumbnail

Navigating Payroll Compliance: Future-Proofing Payroll in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape

Speaker: Jennifer Hill

Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.

article thumbnail

Dave Gray » How to draw a stick figure

Xplaner

How To 102
article thumbnail

Forms, fields and flows

Xplaner

In this short video (about seven minutes) I introduce some basic principles of visual language: Forms, fields and flows. I think of this as the “alphabet&# of visual language. This set of principles is the primary set of marks you need in order to create visual meaning. Did you like this? If so, please consider buying me a coffee!

Video 101

More Trending

article thumbnail

How to draw a car

Xplaner

Part of my exploration of visual literacy is looking at how we might teach people to express themselves visually. Part of this is learning how to draw simple objects. This video shows how you can draw a car using very simple shapes. Did you like this? If so, please consider buying me a coffee!

How To 87
article thumbnail

The whirl

Xplaner

I talk about some of the cognitive challenges of the information age, and why visual language is an important tool for dealing with them. Did you like this? If so, please consider buying me a coffee!

Tools 84
article thumbnail

Prototyping with XHTML

Boxes and Arrows

Illustrations by Leah Buley If you design user experiences for standards-based websites and applications (i.e. those built with XHTML , CSS, and JavaScript), there are several great reasons for adding XHTML prototyping to your UX tool kit. Perhaps you’ve found that traditional wireframes just aren’t sufficient and are looking for more powerful ways to explore and communicate design solutions.

article thumbnail

The half of knowledge, is knowing where to find knowledge

Xplaner

This quote (&# The half of knowledge, is knowing where to find knowledge&# ) is inscribed over the doors of Dodd Hall at FSU. Apparently no one knows who actually said this , but it seems very applicable to the conversation about the importance of the network in connectivism. Authored by gminks. Hosted by Edublogs.

71
article thumbnail

Signal-Based Selling: How to Leverage 4 Key Buying Signals

As prospects define their problem, search for solutions, and even change jobs, they are generating high-value signals that the best go-to-market teams can leverage to close more deals. This is where signal-based selling comes into play. ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck recently broke down specific ways to put four key buying signals into action with the experts from 30 Minutes to President’s Club.

article thumbnail

Some rules for effective business communication

Xplaner

Here are some basic rules of communication that could improve communication flow in a business. Some of them are fundamental "rules of engagement” that could set the overall tone for a company. Others are specific concepts for categorizing and measuring communication flow. The idea is that the link between communication and action can be measured and reported.

System 71
article thumbnail

Getting a Form's Structure Right: Designing Usable Online Email Applications

Boxes and Arrows

I started writing this article with an emphasis on the financial domain. I then realized that I would like to broaden the focus because my findings are also applicable to a general domain like email account registrations, for example. In this article, I would like to take a simple example of how users register for an email account online. For a first timer, is the transition from a real world of letter writing to the online medium easy?

Design 65
article thumbnail

People Finder: Searching Without Logic?

Boxes and Arrows

One of the most frequent tasks on many intranets is finding people within the company. Providing an effective way to search people is thus a key goal in designing intranets. This goal becomes even more important for an organization like Emirates, a leading international airline, which has over 35,000 employees with over 140 nationalities and where more people are likely to use this feature more frequently.

System 63
article thumbnail

Building the UX Dreamteam - Part 2

Boxes and Arrows

As we discussed in “part one&# :[link] the skills in research, information architecture, interaction design, graphic design and writing define the recognized areas of User Experience design. However, there still remains much to discuss about what makes a UX team dreamy. Each UX Dreamteam has a finely tuned mix of skills and qualities, as varied as the environments in which they operate.

article thumbnail

Revolutionize QA: GAPs AI-Driven Accelerators for Smarter, Faster Testing

GAP's AI-Driven QA Accelerators revolutionize software testing by automating repetitive tasks and enhancing test coverage. From generating test cases and Cypress code to AI-powered code reviews and detailed defect reports, our platform streamlines QA processes, saving time and resources. Accelerate API testing with Pytest-based cases and boost accuracy while reducing human error.

article thumbnail

Flowmaps and Frag-Grenades, Part 1

Boxes and Arrows

By any measure, Halo 3 is one of the most wildly-successful consumer software interfaces in recent memory: more than 1 million players played the game in its first 24 hours on Xbox Live; over 8 million copies sold to date; and “over 100,000 pieces of user generated content being uploaded daily [.] 30 percent higher than YouTube on a daily basis.&# It’s probably safe to say that more cumulative man-hours have already been spent in Halo gaming lobbies than in Microsoft Word!

Design 57
article thumbnail

Applying Turing's Ideas to Search

Boxes and Arrows

Here’s how the game works: You’re on your computer, instant messaging away. One IM session is with a real person and the other is with an artificial intelligence (AI) program that’s designed to pose as a human being by using a casual conversational tone. The AI is able to respond in complete sentences with realistic syntax to mask its identity, even throwing in slang, canned humor, or typos.

Design 56
article thumbnail

Dave Gray » Affinity mapping

Xplaner

Groups 54
article thumbnail

CCK08: Do groups filter access to networks?

Xplaner

I was reading this excellent post about groups and networks and I started to think about if groups filter access to networks. I think that all of the readings this week (at least how I understand them ) point to groups being a restricted entity. In other words, there are definite boundaries to a group, access is controlled, there is an accepted language and other norms, etc.

Groups 51
article thumbnail

The Evolving Retailers Fulfillment Strategy: Meeting Demands with Agility

Speaker: Becky Parisotto and John Vurdelja

Fulfillment is no longer just about getting products from point A to point B – it's about crafting seamless, scalable, customer first experiences. Flexible fulfillment strategies are more important than ever for those aiming to stay ahead and build resilience as retail enters a new era in 2025. Learn how to optimize fulfillment processes, tackle complex, multi-vendor orders, and create seamless customer experiences – from white-glove delivery for high-value items to quick-ship solutions for ever

article thumbnail

Quick Turnaround Usability Testing

Boxes and Arrows

It starts with any number of scenarios: Design and development have taken too long to produce a prototype, you need to release in three weeks, and you suspect there may be design flaws. You are trying to incorporate usability testing into an Agile development process. Or maybe you simply want to pare down your process to make it shorter and less expensive.

article thumbnail

Autism - Networks

Xplaner

Ok, I give! CCK08 is officially killing me! I’m going to try and hang in there. I think the problem is that the topics are so meaty, and interesting, that I want to only do this class and nothing else. For instance, this post has been sitting in my head for a while. I just haven’t been able to get the words together to do real justice to the idea in my head.

article thumbnail

Dave Gray » The rule of thirds

Xplaner

45
article thumbnail

IDEA 2008

Boxes and Arrows

The “IDEA Conference&# :[link] took place in Chicago on October 7-9 at the Harold Washington Library Center. The speakers pushed the boundaries of what it means to design complex information spaces of all kinds. We can all expand our practice by absorbing their experiences and ideas. In cooperation with the “IA Institute&# :[link] we’re happy to bring you recordings of most conference talks.

article thumbnail

15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

article thumbnail

Quick Turnaround Usability Testing, Part II

Boxes and Arrows

In Part I , I discussed how to make the first three steps of Quick Turnaround Usability Testing (QTUT)—Sales & Kickoff, Recruitment, and Preparation—as short and efficient as possible. In Part II, I discuss the final two steps: Testing and Analysis & Reporting. Steps in the QTUT Process Step 1: Sales & Kickoff Step 2: Recruitment Step 3: Preparation Step 4: Testing Step 5: Analysis & Reporting Testing It’s testing day.

Report 44
article thumbnail

Why We Call Them Participants

Boxes and Arrows

It was not an easy recruit. Directors of IT are busy people. Oddly, they’re hard to get hold of. They don’t answer calls from strangers. They don’t answer ads on web sites. The ones who do answer ads on web sites we had to double-check on by calling their company HR departments to verify they had the titles they said they did. And now this. “Hi!

Study 44
article thumbnail

Will the promise of being in a “sexy, hot� field attract more kids to tech?

Xplaner

Here is the tweet that started it: That twitter conversation was sparked by this Details article about the so-called Playboys of Tech (my daughter calls these sorts of guys hipsters…). Chrissie was annoyed that there are never any articles about hipster tech women. But that sentiment of that tweet - that somehow typical tech women are not gorgeous and hot - really rubbed me the wrong way.

Groups 44
article thumbnail

Dave Gray » Seven C’s of communication design

Xplaner

Design 44
article thumbnail

Marketing Operations in 2025: A New Framework for Success

Speaker: Mike Rizzo, Founder & CEO, MarketingOps.com and Darrell Alfonso, Director of Marketing Strategy and Operations, Indeed.com

Though rarely in the spotlight, marketing operations are the backbone of the efficiency, scalability, and alignment that define top-performing marketing teams. In this exclusive webinar led by industry visionaries Mike Rizzo and Darrell Alfonso, we’re giving marketing operations the recognition they deserve! We will dive into the 7 P Model —a powerful framework designed to assess and optimize your marketing operations function.

article thumbnail

Your New Excuse to Get an Xbox

Boxes and Arrows

Games are fun, addictive, beautiful, and immersive. Websites, for the most part, are not. Take a moment and think about what video games look like, what they sound like, the way you can move on the screen, what “you&# can be. Think of how you feel when you play and who you play with. Consider the launch of Halo 3 on Xbox 360, with unprecedented graphics, sound, and interactivity that Time.com called “refined to the point where it delivers only pure unadulterated gaming bliss.&# Peopl

Video 44
article thumbnail

Calling in the Big Guns

Boxes and Arrows

Discount for Boxes and Arrows readers: Get a 10% discount by purchasing the book “directly from Rosenfeld Media&# :[link] Just use the code WFDBA. The scene is all too familiar. You’re presenting wireframes of the registration process for a new web application when the discussion veers down a dark alley. The sky has turned the color of black ink, and you can smell sulfur in the air as one team member after another debates the alignment of form labels.

article thumbnail

Flowmaps and Frag-Grenades, Part 2

Boxes and Arrows

I’d like to talk specifics a bit. I’m sure there will be some readers at B&A who aren’t gamers, and probably even more who haven’t played Halo —so my apologies to those folks— but… describe in some detail exactly what you contributed to the finished product. When I look at Halo 3 , what ‘pieces’ of the experience did you work on?

article thumbnail

Week 4 on RSS and Aggregators is Up at Work Literacy

Boxes and Arrows

We’re embarking on Week 4 of the Work Literacy learning project. This week it’s RSS and feed readers. Although the thrust of the module is primarily about how learning professionals can learn and manage information by subscribing to feeds, I find that I’m more interested in how we can use feeds as learning tools for the people with whom we’re working.

Trends 40
article thumbnail

Prepare Now: 2025s Must-Know Trends For Product And Data Leaders

Speaker: Jay Allardyce, Deepak Vittal, Terrence Sheflin, and Mahyar Ghasemali

As we look ahead to 2025, business intelligence and data analytics are set to play pivotal roles in shaping success. Organizations are already starting to face a host of transformative trends as the year comes to a close, including the integration of AI in data analytics, an increased emphasis on real-time data insights, and the growing importance of user experience in BI solutions.