Articles
In addition to writing on this site, I used to write a monthly column for O'Reilly Networks (also called 'Megnut'). Occasionally I write for other magazines and journals. Below is a list of articles available online.
Dial-Up Revelations
December 20, 2002
Dial-Up Revelations is my December, 2002 Megnut column. I'm not very good at being monthly with my column. I am trying to do a better job of it this year.
Lately I've grown lazy around the issue of page size and images. When designing something for a client or posting a picture to my own web site, I'd often think to myself, "everyone I know has a high-speed connection now-a-days" and with little more than a cursory glance at the file size, I'd post or design in happy, dial-upless oblivion.
Oh what a spoiled fool I'd become.
Blogging for Dollars
August 12, 2002
Blogging for Dollars - Giving Rise to the Professional Blogger, my July/August 2002 Megnut column.
Towards the end of June, I was invited to a conference at the Banff New Media Institute, located in the midst of the Canadian Rockies in the province of Alberta...During that weekend, I came to a realization that I've been mulling over ever since: a lack of money is hindering the growth and potential of blogging. Free--or personal--blogging can only take us so far.
What We're Doing When We Blog
June 13, 2002
What We're Doing When We Blog is my June 2002 Megnut column.
If we look beneath the content of weblogs, we can observe the common ground all bloggers share -- the format. The weblog format provides a framework for our universal blog experiences, enabling the social interactions we associate with blogging. Without it, there is no differentiation between the myriad content produced for the Web.
The Sanctity of Elements
May 03, 2002
The Sanctity of Elements, or Why You Shouldn't be Double-clicking in a <textarea> is my April/May 2002 Megnut column over at O'Reilly.
[The client] wanted tabs for the navigation. I said yes and without much more thought after the meeting, I implemented the "taps" and she was very happy. Because the client asked for something specific, I assumed she knew what she was asking for. I never paused to think about whether tabs made the most sense in the context of the application or what the user was trying to accomplish -- I just built it.
Later, when problems arose, I found myself biting my tongue in meetings as this same woman who requested the tabs complained of usability problems with the application. It became apparent that she hadn't understood the implications of using a tabbed interface when she made the suggestion -- she'd simply seen it somewhere and wanted it for her tool.
Understand Your Employees Better
April 19, 2002
Understand Your Employees Better a book review of Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams at New Architect Magazine.
Peopleware was written for IT managers, but it's appropriate for any knowledge worker in the IT industry, and even for those outside it. This book gives managers the tools -- and more importantly, the statistics behind the tools -- to improve their teams' work environments. It begins with a simple premise: although we work in the high tech industry, our success, and that of our projects and companies, is based on how well we interact.
Taking the "you" out of user
March 26, 2002
Taking the "you" out of user: My experience using personas at Boxes and Arrows, a peer-journal for information architects.
Not only were the personas not all like us -- our personas wouldn't even be able to use the system we were building for them!
Attendee-Centered Conference Design
March 19, 2002
Attendee-Centered Conference Design is my March 2002 Megnut column over at O'Reilly.
Homogeneity seemed the norm, not only with panelists, but with the audience as well...[But t]he audience wasn't as homogeneous as it had appeared, and something in that session didn't work: those viewpoints didn't get expressed. If I contrasted that session with some others I attended and participated in that were labeled "peer meetings," I noticed a distinction in the format and realized, it was the interface.
Using JavaScript to Create a Powerful GUI
December 21, 2001
Using JavaScript to Create a Powerful GUI was the first article I wrote for O'Reilly.
By utilizing JavaScript and CSS to build standard client interface components in your online application or Web site, you can make it easier for your users to understand, at a single glance, what actions are available to them and how to accomplish their tasks. The result? A site or application with powerful functionality and users who feel more confident about their actions and are less likely to make mistakes.
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