notities

» Women prefer websites designed by women

» What we can learn from the iPhone

You can’t build playfulness into your designs without experiencing playfulness yourself. Play games and pay attention to what makes them fun. For example, the only rule in the card game Fluxx is that the rules constantly change. Completing a level in Peggle gives you the “Ode to Joy,” rainbows, unicorns, and fireworks! Use these elements as inspiration for working playfulness into your designs.

» Standing out in the crowd - Women in open source

“As men, you are able to glide through life ignoring these things. If you are white, and straight, and speak English, and are university educated, there are a bunch of other things you’ve been able to ignore so far, too. I’m asking you to try not to ignore them. Keep your eyes and ears open and be aware of how things feel to people who don’t share your privilege.”

Dumbing things down is not the way

According to Jeffrey Zeldman it is a good thing that CSS 1 (and 2.1) wasn’t very advanced, because otherwise it would have been too overhelming for newbies.

I disagree. Imagine in other professions possibilities being limited in order to make them easier to learn. Wouldn’t that be both insulting to newcomers and damaging to advanced users? Besides, HTML and CSS are still very easy to learn compared to other techniques such as Javascript, PHP or Flash/Actionscript.

Mr. Zeldman even claims that “This striving to be understood and used by the inexperienced is the underlying principle of all good design, from the iPhone to the Eames chair.” I love Eames chairs for their looks, but I’ve never encountered a chair that’s hard to use, so I don’t really get this comparison. And CSS is not an iPhone. An iPhone is just a product, but working with HTML and CSS is a proper job. Surely a person can be expected to invest time and energy in learning a new job?

Now I understand Mr. Zeldman’s argument that adoption of standards would have been slower if CSS had been harder to learn. However, in my experience, having too many options isn’t what makes CSS hard. If you don’t understand a property or a selector, you can choose not to use it. The biggest problem for newcomers is inconsistency of browser support. This is the main reason why some developers still use tables.
And the reason some designers and developers prefer Flash over HTML/CSS is actually because of the limited possibilities of the latter. Many things that can easily be done in Flash are difficult or even impossible to do with standards-compliant techniques. So yes, by all means make CSS richer and more complex. As long as the specs are clear and well written (I emphatically agree on that one) I don’t believe it would do any harm. Quite the contrary, actually.

» Great essay about procrastination and perfectionism

» Brinkman bepleit heffing op internet

Ik stel voor dat we ook tol gaan heffen op fietspaden om de kwakkelende autoindustrie te helpen :-/

» With Allies like These, who Needs Enemies?

Great article over at Brand New about a bank’s (GMAC) recent rebranding. A brand is about so much more than just a nice looking logo. Or, as one of the commenters puts it: Branding should be about communicating the company’s values. This rebrand kinda just smacks of putting on a brand new coat of paint on a rotten old house.

» According to Statcounter GS, about 12% in The Netherlands still use IE6.

That’s less than I thought. Which is good.

Web developers, don’t be lazy!

Among web developers there’s a heated debate going on about Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the very old, yet very much alive browser by Microsoft. Many designers and developers want to put banners on every site telling IE6 users they should upgrade. People are even talking about not ‘supporting’ IE6 any more.

The problem is that many IE6 users have no choice. In many cases they are using IE6 at work, where system administrators don’t allow them to upgrade to a modern browser. And some people simply aren’t very computer-savy and are afraid to mess with their software.

I don’t think we should stop these people from visiting our web sites. I don’t even want to make their experience worse by putting up banners that will only confuse or annoy them (after all, having to use IE6 on a daily basis is hard enough in itself).

However, this doesn’t mean that every website should look the same in both IE6 and modern browsers. That’s what progressive enhancement is for, isn’t it? I’m planning to start using more and more CSS3. This may mean visitors using IE6 don’t get to see each and every little detail, such as rounded corners and alpha transparencies. But everything should still be visible and usable. After all, the web is about open access to information for all. Let’s not forget that.

» The first one’s the hardest

Several designers have told me how important it is to have a specific use and point size in mind. The idea is that if you try and design a font that’s good for everything, it might not be REALLY good at anything. But if the font works really well for one specific use, then it can probably work well for lots of others. I’ve heard the example of J.K. Rowling writing her books for her daughter. If she tried to write books that everyone would like, they might be too general to connect with anyone.

Ada Lovelace Day: Leah Buechley and Lady Ada

Today is Ada Loveday Day, and even though I don’t write for this blog very often, I felt I should take part. Working in technology still is something many girls don’t want to do because they feel it’s not for them. We need more role models! Women like Leah Buechley and Lady Ada.

Leah Buechley is the inventor of the Lilypad Arduino, a small, goodlooking version of the Arduino that can be used with fabric to create e-fashion. The (Liliypad) Arduino is a great introduction to technology for those who are afraid it’s just for nerds (which isn’t true, of course). Last year I attended a workshop by Leah at Mediamatic in Amsterdam which was great.

Lady Ada wrote a very entertaining and useful introduction to working with the Arduino. She also sells components.

What I love about these women is the way they make working with technology both accessible and fun. When I was in high school I used to hate physics class. If I’d known about (Lilypad) Arduino’s I’m sure that would have been different.

Eat, Pray, … don’t read?

After watching Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk (previous post) I decided to read her book Eat, Pray, Love. And it left me somewhat disappointed. Sure it was an entertaining read, but she also comes across as incredibly self-absorbed, self-obsessed and self-indulgent. I don’t think I’d recommend the book.