Category: Social Interaction
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Me vs. You (vs. i)
In this final chapter of Pronoun vs. Pronoun (see previous chapters User vs. You, User vs. Tron, and You vs. I), we will now weigh in on the great schism between Me and You. Almost every web design team I’ve ever worked with has had to, at some point, wrestle with the “Me vs. You”…
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User vs. Tron
This is just a reminder that, in Tron, the citizens of the computer system worshipped their users. And make no mistake, “users” was exactly what they called them.
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I’ll Never Read Harry Potter
I suppose it’s as good a time as any to admit that I’m never going to read any Harry Potter books. I’ve got nothing against the series, actually. I’m sure they’re fine books and I’m glad so many kids, and many adults, enjoy reading them. It’s just that I can’t imagine actually sitting down to…
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Watch Me Speak in NYC: Thursday July 19 and Thursday July 26
I am speaking at two upcoming events sponsored by several New York-based information architecture organizations. When my wife asked who the organizers were, I said “It’s the IA Union!” At both events, I will be delivering a version of my informative, fast paced, and fun IA Summit presentation, “Interaction Design Style“. July 19: IA Summit…
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Should Bloggers Assume that Their Readers are Dumber than They Are?
Several bloggers I know have confessed to me that occasionally they’ll compose and publish articles or posts that they don’t feel especially passionate about, writing things that they aren’t particularly proud of or inspired by, simply because they know that certain topics, ideas, or opinions will give them an easy and predictable traffic boost. For…
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Grace, not just Efficiency, in Queue Management
Large retail stores and fast-food restaurants have a simple choice when designing their checkout customer experience: Multiple registers, multiple lines, one line per register Multiple registers, single line This problem is known in the retail industry as “queue management”. The New York Times today features an article comparing the checkout experiences of several New York…
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The Google Street View Racial Gerrymander
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in Architecture, Business, History, Images, NYC, Personal, Politics, Reviews, Social Interaction, Technology, WebI love Google Street View. But what a surprise I had when I tried to view my own building and found out that the Street View photo-truck decided that they would limit their coverage to upscale (i.e., white) neighborhoods.
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Sopranos and Seinfeld: Plus Ça Change…
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Sartre would be proud. The shocking (and to many viewers, utterly disappointing) ending of The Sopranos series finale was perfect. The tableau itself was a perfect jewel: the nuclear family all together, happy it seems for the moment, but completely surrounded by unknown and unseen danger. David Chase pumped the scene full of more tension…
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Start Your Own Sopranos Finale Office Pool
UPDATE 6/11: See the results of the pool, and my take on the Sopranos finale, here. In anticipation of The Sopranos series finale this Sunday, everyone I know is making predictions about who lives, who dies, and all other kinds of plots and events. To help make the speculation even more interesting, I’ve put together…
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In Defense of PowerPointism
Will Wright‘s cryptic, clip-art crazy PowerPoint slides make sense when he’s right there talking about them. Microsoft’s PowerPoint is frequently blamed for the poor quality of many presentations and for a supposedly- disastrous state of communication in both the private and the public spheres. Public speakers are lambasted for their wooden stage presence, crippled by…