October 2010
September 2010
“I thought I actually did offer concrete suggestions in my article. But it’s not really about redesigning the home page, though I’ve personally always found it cluttered. It’s more about the features that would make it useful when *not used like a paper newspaper.* To recap: - search needs to work. Right now, the NYTimes search doesn’t work properly. Try searching for an article you know is there. Try searching for the answer to a specific question on something the Times should cover well. @currybet did a great series on how terrible news site search is, including tests, which I link to in the article. - Search needs to work on the Times’ apps too, and across the archives. - I want very granular filtering. How about a “follow” button for each story? How about the ability to subscribe to tags or names or places. I know that the NYT has a complex metadata system, why can’t I use this to filter the stories? - Please link. Please please link. And not topic page links, but real links, both within your stories and to curated articles. - Less event-driven news, more ever-green explainers for complex topics. These need to be kept updated. And have revision histories and time-labelled sliders to browse the revision histories, and a way to notify me of changes. Like super-topic pages. I would say, don’t try to be comprehensive. Just commit to a few big stories, and find forms to tell them online as opposed to paper. - My understanding is that currently, the paper story is the final version of the web story. That strikes me as wrong-headed. The paper story lasts for a day. The web story needs to keep growing. - Stop trying to fill a fixed news-hole. Direct effort instead to those (journalistically relevant) topics that get long-term user attention. Who cares if you publish only 50 stories today, not 100? Nobody reads the web cover-to-cover. The concept doesn’t exist. - Of course many of these demands (yar! makes me feel like a pirate) are in conflict with the requirements of producing the paper product. Paper still pays the bills, so it’s going to be difficult to put digital first. I have some ideas for monetizing digital, but that is very definitely another story…”
—@jonathanstray
Lessons from the BBC on online video that works →
reportr.net
Basically: talking heads aren’t desirable in short form video.
Long form video, journalism
“
Six things that make a game hardcore:
Difficult controls Overwhelming options Prerequisite knowledge Abstract memorization Unclear goals Unclear solutions
Six things that do not make a game hardcore:
Challenge Trial and Error Strategy Theme Repetition Depth / Graduated objectives
” —Evolving the Social Game: Finding Casual by Defining Hardcore
game mechanics, UX
http://sixrevisions.com/usabilityaccessibility/10-usability-tips-based-on-research-studies/ →
sixrevisions.com
Great overview of web design myths
THE HARDY BOYS THE FINAL CHAPTER. . . →
washingtonpost.com
On great writing.
# inspiration, writing
Play
