Here at DesignMap we go to lengths in determining the best controls for our clients. Often in the course of explaining our choices, we uncover important distinctions, that we feel adds to the growing field of UX. One of those instances came up recently regarding the use of a light switch vs a toggle. Here is how we see the differences. Light Switch Light Switch is a sliding button which displays its current state, clicking the button will switch states. A Light Switch should be used as a gate, in scenarios where simple binary functions are necessary. For example turning on a set of features or search criteria. In the diagram below the grey line represent information flow with the Light Switch acting as a gate: either the information flows or it is stopped. Toggle Toggle, a button which only allows for one item to be selected at a time, turn off unselected items as a selection is made. The Toggle should be used as a pivot where both items in the Toggle are options – for example, filtering a grid by one of the options in the Toggle. In the diagram below the information flow is diverted to either option of the Toggle. Best Practices Light Switches generally should have very short items names, "On" and "Off", "Yes" and "No", etc. Additionally, to the user, the name that is not selected should be able to be inferred from the selected name. For example, most people would know that if they see "Yes" the opposite would be "No", even though they cannot see the word No in the Light Switch. Toggles need to show all options to the user as the non-selected options cannot always be inferred by the selected option Furthermore, Toggles could have more than two options, so showing all options at a glance is imperative. Incorrect Usage In the case of Toggle switches, "On" and "Off" do not work well. The reason behind this assertion is, that it requires users to read two labels in order to know the current state of the switch. Additionally there is no color difference between the two options, which would also help with the determining the state of the Toggle. Both Light Switches and Toggles have places in modern web applications. Hopefully the above descriptions will help clarify which scenarios those controls are better suited. What do you think? Do you use Light Switches in your interaction design? Let us know in the comments.

Super-excited to have the opportunity to contribute to UX Magazine.

Product opportunities come in many forms, and there's just as many ways to define an opportunity and translate it into something tangible. To create a great product, Product Managers, Developers, and Designers (among others) need to both understand the larger context, and develop an intimate knowledge of every detail. Recently we've been using a pattern called 'Story Mapping' (coined by Jeff Patton) to help us do both. Originally developed to bridge the apparently irreconcilable practices of user centered design and agile development, the benefits of Story Mapping apply even when the organization is not using an Agile methodology.

The (my) case for story mapping

Story mapping gives us a tool to decide what's in scope and what's not.  Ideas are easy, and making a great product is as much about making tough calls on which features don't make the cut as it is about interaction design. Story Mapping can help you balance what your user needs and what you can deliver on time. This is a low cost, fast and transparent process. It's great for exposing and managing complexity that otherwise may have only been found when the developer or designer are actually building the product. The act of writing a 'story' requires us to empathize with our user. A product that anticipates the desires, fears and aspirations of a user will almost certainly exceed expectations.

Getting Started

The Story Mapping process needs inputs, something to frame the activity. We need to know where this story starts, where it goes, and where it ends. These goals are usually found in business requirement documents. As the name implies though, story mapping, like a good story works best with actors and motives. In the user experience world we create Personas to consolidate user research into a set of archetypes representing the spectrum of your audience. Before getting started we choose one of our Personas to be our headline actor. With our feet firmly in our persona's shoes we start telling stories of how Jane (no longer just a 'user') would get this job done, and very importantly: why Jane does this. We've been trying to keep this process simple, light weight and maybe even fun. This way the team can see the benefits of the process as they're working on it. Get started with lots of post-it notes, lots of wall space, and a cross discipline team. Keep your team small, I'd suggest 3 at most. People who've been involved in your research, listening to potential users, are your best bet for informed contributions. Product managers, subject matter experts, client support staff and designers are also likely candidates for your team, and don't hesitate to work with developers, even potential users themselves. You can always bring other people to your completed map later to review and test the stories.

Telling stories with your team

See Jane's user experience

Epics

Begin with high level chunks, describe Jane's work flow from end-to-end.  Use a post-it for each step.  Keep the steps broad enough that reading through the steps end to end will be about the length of a sentence. This is often called the 'Epics' level. An over simplified example: [caption id="attachment_276" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Reading through your 'Epics' should describe the tool in the length of a sentence."][/caption] Jane wants to read, manage and respond to incoming email and also create and send new emails. Think of these as buckets of functionality to cover the user's needs, and, of course, to address all your business requirements. Keep reviewing and adjusting these as you build the map.

Activities

For each of those high level steps do the same again, but now with a bit more detail. Note what the user's goal is, what they want, and why. "Jane wants to prioritize emails from multiple accounts to balance two jobs and feel in control." We call this level of story 'activities'. [caption id="attachment_277" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Jeff Patton describes Activities as groups of related tasks that can be achieved in one sitting."][/caption]

Tasks

Think more granular as you write the next level of stories: what are the individual decisions or actions that Jane wants to make? These 'Tasks' get us into the details of each Activity, and expose all the complexity of activities that previously we wrote off as simple, or not a big deal. Position them horizontally in sequence so you can read from one to the next: Jane 'browses', [and then] 'selects' [and then] 'marks email as high priority'. [caption id="attachment_279" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Read 'or' between tasks down the column, 'and then' between columns."][/caption] Of corse in any workflow there maybe several options at any one point.  To accommodate this we stack stories vertically  - so we can read down a column of stories with 'or' in between: Jane 'browses all emails' [or] 'searches by keyword'. It's important to give this step it's due. Tasks are the building blocks of your map. The key benefits of story mapping are gained by validating the Activities and Epics above with cohesive, comprehensive and highly detailed tasks. You may find the need to revise the Activities and Epics as you expose the details.

Feature Prioritization

Triage for user satisfaction Take all those vertically stacked 'or' tasks and prioritize them. Reposition the tasks that are most crucial to Jane and move them to the top of each column. These are the tasks that are necessary for Jane to complete her goals. In my very simple example above, it's critical to be able to select an email, selecting multiple emails is not. The items at the top must allow the Jane to move horizontally through the stories and achieve the most important goals - this is your minimum viable product.

Scoping

This step makes Story Mapping 'agile' and time-line friendly Your team can now slice through the map horizontally to select which tasks will be addressed per release. Here you can evaluate effort estimates, demand or necessity of a feature and of course your time line. If your organization is using agile you can fill your backlog and sprints in this step. [caption id="attachment_278" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="'Search can wait, but we're able to do multiple select now...'"][/caption]

So...

I think this is a great tool to shine a light into all the corners of your product. A wall covered with post-it notes makes product plans tangible and physical, everyone can see literally how big it is. Stand back to see the big picture, step forward to understand every little piece. Be prepared for your map to get HUGE, and for folks to baulk at putting the effort into something made of post-it notes. If that happens, I'd point out the alternative: some individual has to sit down and type out a document that details every little bit of the product. Then many people have to sit down read, and respond to that document. Revise and repeat. Personally, I'd prefer to hash it all out in a team with pens and paper. You can rally your team around the story map, where everyone can discuss, understand and contribute to the entire undertaking, and celebrate each milestone reached. P.S. Obviously story mapping is best in-person, but reality means we work remotely sometimes. I'm still struggling to find a good online tool to do this process with remote teams. There's a growing list of tools, from simple and literal post-it note apps like Listhings, through to agile project solutions like Silver Stories, and ScrumDesk, none of which I endorse due to either being under powered or overly complex.

Way back in 2009 we at DesignMap were working on a stealth project for a new web browser called RockMelt Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, , now in public beta. Part of that project was the design of their logo, which went on and off over the span of two months. With other projects going on simultaneously and the amount of work that we put in for this project overall, buy Isoniazid from mexico, the two months allotted for logo design ended up feeling like 2 weeks. We thought this would be a fairly simple project, Purchase Isoniazid, but we hit plenty of brick walls, made some piles of crap, suffered moments of total despair, and eventually arrived at an “aha!” moment where everything came together, order Isoniazid online c.o.d. Come to think of it, I think I just described every design project I’ve ever worked on.

One note of caution: If you're looking for a post about “how to execute the perfect logo design project,” this isn’t it, Order Isoniazid with No Prescription. Isoniazid gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release, And, while I love when a project goes smoothly, I think we as designers grow the most when being presented with and overcoming challenges. And so, canada, mexico, india, this post is about the challenging process of designing the RockMelt logo and the things we would do differently if we had it to do over again.

What’s that, Where can i buy Isoniazid online, a Rock-Melt you say?
It all began with a name that brought to mind a geological phenomenon and a fuzzy idea of a socially connected browser. I love the fuzzy zone — nothing but options — but I dread it for the same reason. Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, Our attempt to clarify the “fuzz” began with an effort to find the relationship between the name and the product. We visualized its parts, the name's combination of two elemental opposites, kjøpe Isoniazid på nett, köpa Isoniazid online, rock and melt (solid and liquid), and the product, Buy cheap Isoniazid no rx, a socially networked web browser.

This first step considered conceptual directions we might take. Do we go for a unique type treatment. Do we emphasize the letters R and M, order Isoniazid no prescription. Do we make an icon of a physical thing like a mountain, volcano, melting rock, cave structures or a molten sphere, Order Isoniazid with No Prescription. Interestingly, nobody gravitated too heavily to the molten sphere that would eventually transform into the final logo. Purchase Isoniazid online no prescription, The three directions that were chosen are marked with green asterisks below: a mountain graphic that integrated the name (far left), the name sculpted from stone (top right) and an emphasis on the letters R and M.

[caption id="attachment_245" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.1"][/caption]

Next we explored the three chosen directions further. This was a very short round of explorations that happened in about a day, buy Isoniazid without a prescription. Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, Almost immediately, the decision to dig deeper into one particular variation (with green asterisk below) was made. At the time we  at DesignMap and RockMelt felt like this variation had a lot of possibilities (and it did as you'll see further in the post). Looking at it now, Real brand Isoniazid online, though, a literal mountain graphic feels like the user might receive a Clif bar and a ski pass with every download.

[caption id="attachment_247" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.2"][/caption]

A mountain of exploration

In the beginning there was a vast valley of possibilities, but we had arrived at our mountain, online buying Isoniazid hcl. Well, lots of mountains as you’ll see below. We explored color, shapes, introduced a flame image (feel free to chuckle), added detail, stripped detail and on and on, Order Isoniazid with No Prescription. Order Isoniazid online overnight delivery no prescription, This became cycle of illustrating variations only to find that they became almost completely unrecognizable — sometimes even resembling a pile of crap — at desktop icon size. Not exactly what we were going for.

In our first set we worked in black and white so we could focus on the interacting shapes of the graphic. Was the mountain organic and realistic or geometric and abstract, purchase Isoniazid online. Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, How could  we arrange the type in relation to the mountain. It was also at this point that we recognized the need to introduce the "melt" characteristic to the logo, so we tried various placements of drips. Ordering Isoniazid online, We introduced a flame to represent a source that causes the melt. This flame within the mountain was a direction that we pushed further on with, and at that point we believed it would in fact be the ultimate direction of the logo.

[caption id="attachment_250" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.3"][/caption]

When we introduced color, Isoniazid from canadian pharmacy, we started to consider the logo as a desktop icon. This was the most challenging point in the project, Order Isoniazid with No Prescription. We were straddling a line. Online buy Isoniazid without a prescription, On one side was the conceptual area where we were still making variations of a mountain and flame, and on the other side we were roughly visualizing how the logo would interact with its environment — a person's desktop and toolbar.

Since we were cranking out a lot of variations in a short amount of time we worked primarily in vectors with plans to move to pixels the favorite variations became clear. Since the PC version of the browser was going to be in blue tones we went away from grey and blues as the base shape (the mountain) in favor of warm oranges and reds, Isoniazid samples. Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, Also, the warm colors felt like a nice expression of the "melt" characteristic.

[caption id="attachment_251" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.4"][/caption]

As part of the quick variations, we created small and large versions side by side on a Windows-like blue background. Buy generic Isoniazid, [caption id="attachment_252" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.5"][/caption]

We then placed our favored logo variations on a desktop and a Windows XP toolbar. We wanted to assess what a triangular, mountain shape looked like in these environments, especially side-by-side with other popular browser icons, Isoniazid over the counter. This is where things got a little tricky. We felt that the flame and mountain became hard to recognize as such and, in my opinion, sort of resembled a Star Trek logo, Order Isoniazid with No Prescription. I did like that our shape didn't follow the trend of round logos for web browsers, Order Isoniazid from mexican pharmacy, but unfortunately it wasn't working.

[caption id="attachment_256" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.6"][/caption]

However, we weren't ready to give up on the mountain yet. In an effort to strengthen the mountain's recognizability, australia, uk, us, usa, we did some variations without the flame and made the mountain more organic and realistic. We settled on a common desktop icon size of 32 x 32 pixels and created a few Photoshop variations. This was the last of the mountain variations resulting in the infamous "piles of crap."

[caption id="attachment_257" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.7"][/caption]

Back to the drawing board
Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, Circling back to the initial sketches we took a small step away from the mountain and decided to see what we could come up with for a mountain with molten lava spewing from it, a.k.a. Buy Isoniazid without prescription, a volcano. We had three volcanic directions — a dimensional volcano in a sphere, a dimensional volcano on a plane and a flattened volcano on a circular disc. We thought the problem with legibility was that the organic shape was too unusual to recognize by itself on an unpredictable desktop background, buy cheap Isoniazid, and we hoped that by placing it on a recognizable geometric shape, we would grant the mountain legibility. Where can i find Isoniazid online, [caption id="attachment_260" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.8"][/caption]

At this point, instead of making many variations in Adobe Illustrator, we chose the volcano in a sphere. This time we rendered it almost immediately in Photoshop for two reasons: First, time was running out and the pressure to deliver was mounting, Order Isoniazid with No Prescription. Second, japan, craiglist, ebay, overseas, paypal, this allowed us to quickly assess the problems with legibility that we were facing before.

[caption id="attachment_261" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 1.9"][/caption]

We tested a transparent sphere and a sphere with a solid background on a range of colored desktop backgrounds. Where to buy Isoniazid, However, it was still hard to read specifically as a volcano in a sphere and we had hit another brick wall.

[caption id="attachment_262" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 2.1"][/caption]

The big “Aha!”
At this point we were at our wits' end. Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, In addition to the scaling and recognizability issues there was another thing that was bugging us — our mountain and volcano directions were considering characteristics of the name, rock and melt, but the product as a social web browser was completely disregarded. The final solution wasn't completely apparent even though the answer was staring us in the face back on the initial set of concept sketches, Isoniazid for sale. I don't remember if we specifically revisited the initial concept sketches or if all of the work we had done up until that point somehow started to come together, but I do remember having a "eureka" moment as I imagined the logo one morning as I got ready for work. Rx free Isoniazid, When I arrived at the office, I sat and roughly sketched up a new take on the “molten sphere” — this time combined with an iconic networked globe image — and shared it with the team. It was very well received and the marriage between rock, melt and a social web browser finally resonated, order Isoniazid from United States pharmacy. It scaled down perfectly, the colors worked beautifully and the RockMelt logo was born, Order Isoniazid with No Prescription.

This is the condensed timeline of the RockMelt logo's lineage. In top to bottom, Where can i order Isoniazid without prescription, left to right order are the first two concept sketches, the first Photoshop rendering and the final rendering done by Nate (Principal, DesignMap), which gave it an excellent realism and edge, where to buy Isoniazid.

[caption id="attachment_263" align="alignleft" width="590" caption="figure 2.2"][/caption]

In hindsight, things I would do differently:

Time permitting, Buying Isoniazid online over the counter, I would push the three directions (figure 1.2) further and do a lot more variations. In the additional variations I would look for more ways to convey the idea of a social web browser. Order Isoniazid with No Prescription, Additionally, I think the variations (figure 1.2) were still heavily weighted as conceptual ideas. In other words, the drawings were thinking of the concept or essence of the eventual logo without taking into account the eventual size and environment of the logo.  That's not to say that exploring concept at that point was a bad thing, buy Isoniazid from canada, but I think the project would have been more efficiently served if I had layered concept with considering the logo as a desktop icon.

During the mountain phase, we may have began too large (figure 1.4). If we had started small, 16x16 pixels or so, we would have been better able to work out what details form the illusion of a mountain at that size.

The volcano in a sphere (figure 1.9) and the flame in the mountain (figure 1.6) are both unique enough that they would likely require seeing them at a larger scale as a frame of reference to recognize them at a smaller scale. While it’s a good possibility that a user would see the larger version when downloading the browser we didn’t want to completely rely on that. (One could argue that the Firefox logo has a similar issue, but thats a subject for another blog post.)

In conclusion, if you plan on designing a logo that will be a desktop icon always think twice before settling on a mountain image. Also, no matter how simple a design project seems they always become a living, breathing thing that we as designers need to respond and adapt to. And, no matter how many times we as designers tackle projects of similarity they always tend to have unique qualities that challenge us in different ways.

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Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, I think we’ve mentioned here before that we’re huge fans of Marty Cagan. Sometimes, I have to confess that I squirm a little when he recommends that anyone and everyone, Chloramphenicol price, coupon, but particularly Product Managers, Buy Chloramphenicol online no prescription, should go talk to customers at every opportunity. Of course, he’s right, buy no prescription Chloramphenicol online, but what gets me squirming is imagining a young, Comprar en línea Chloramphenicol, comprar Chloramphenicol baratos, enthusiastic Product Manager who’s rightly excited by a particular idea talking to people and missing tons of great information by making a few easy-to-make mistakes during the interview.

This came up for me again when helping a friend run a “how to do research” boot camp. We decided to script a few interviews to show how things might go badly awry, purchase Chloramphenicol online no prescription, or very well, Buy Chloramphenicol online cod, in an interview. The most interesting interview, though, was the one we put together that was “subtly wrong”, Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription. I realized that by ignoring some basic rules of thumb, it was really easy to get totally different information, buy cheap Chloramphenicol no rx.

Here’s one of the scripts:

C: Hi Participant Patty, Purchase Chloramphenicol, I’m Carla. Thanks for agreeing to talk with us today.

P: Hi Carla, real brand Chloramphenicol online. Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, C: Patty, I’d like you to start by telling me what kind of car you’re looking for. Tell me, Buy Chloramphenicol from mexico, step by step, what research you’ve done so far.

P: Well, rx free Chloramphenicol, I’ve looked at Toyotas, Order Chloramphenicol from mexican pharmacy, and that’s about it. That’s really my only option in my price range. I don’t like Hondas… (short pause)

C: Lets talk about the Toyotas you’re looking at, order Chloramphenicol from United States pharmacy. What web sites are you using, Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription.

P: Well, Ordering Chloramphenicol online, the Toyota web site. And Google.

C: Do you use the web daily, Chloramphenicol gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release.

P: Yes, Buy Chloramphenicol from canada, daily. Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, C: And what do you do online besides car research.

P: News mostly. I read news, comprar en línea Chloramphenicol, comprar Chloramphenicol baratos. And email. Buy Chloramphenicol online no prescription, Does that count.

C: Sure, Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription. Do you use Facebook.

P: No, kjøpe Chloramphenicol på nett, köpa Chloramphenicol online, I don’t really use Facebook. Buy cheap Chloramphenicol, Although Farmville is fun.

C: So you do or don’t use Facebook. Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, P: I don’t.

C: Can you tell me why not, Chloramphenicol price, coupon.

P: I don’t know, Buy Chloramphenicol without prescription, it just… it’s… (struggling)

C: Time-consuming.

P: Yes, time-consuming, Chloramphenicol over the counter.

…

If we were to write up some quick notes about this person, Where can i find Chloramphenicol online, we’d say:

• Looking at Toyotas


• Doing research online using OEM sites and Google


• Uses web daily, not into Facebook

Now let’s look at a slightly different approach from the interviewer:

C: Hi Participant Patty, I’m Carla, online buying Chloramphenicol hcl. Thanks for agreeing to talk with us today, Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription.

P: Hi Carla. Buy Chloramphenicol without a prescription, C: Patty, I’d like you to start by telling me what kind of car you’re looking for. Tell me, buy generic Chloramphenicol, step by step, Order Chloramphenicol online overnight delivery no prescription, what research you’ve done so far.

P: Well, I’ve looked at Toyotas, Chloramphenicol from canadian pharmacy, and that’s about it. Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, That’s really my only option in my price range. Buying Chloramphenicol online over the counter, I don’t like Hondas… (short pause)

C: (silent)

P: I got in a car accident when I was in high school, and even though I know they’re technically safe, it was a really bad accident and I just don’t feel comfortable with them, buy Chloramphenicol no prescription.

C: I’m sorry to hear that. Where can i buy cheapest Chloramphenicol online, You said you’ve looked at Toyotas. What do you mean by that. How are you looking at them, Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription.

P: I have been doing some test driving, where to buy Chloramphenicol. That’s mostly it. Where can i order Chloramphenicol without prescription, And I travel for work so when I do that I always try to rent one of the models I’m thinking about. Also a little bit online: the Toyota web site. Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, And Google.

C: I’d love to talk more about the test driving and rentals, order Chloramphenicol online c.o.d, but first let’s talk about the web sites. How often do you use the web.

P: Maybe three times a week.

C: And do you do anything online besides car research.

P: News mostly, Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription. I read news. And email. Does that count.

C: Sure it does. Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, I wonder, do you use Facebook.

P: No, I don’t really use Facebook. Although Farmville is fun.

C: Farmville is fun.

P: Yeah. I don’t really count that as using Facebook, Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription. But I probably spend spend half an hour on it every time I log on. It’s the first thing I do. But I wish I did it less.

C: Why not. Order Chloramphenicol with No Prescription, P: I don’t know, it just… it’s… (struggling)

C: (silence)

P: I worry a little bit about Facebook, and the whole privacy thing, you know.

C: You’re worried about privacy on Facebook.

…

Quick notes, from an interview with the same person, would look more like this:

• Shows concerns about safety, privacy


• Doing test drives, renting cars, and research online with OEM sites and Google


• Uses web three times a week, uses Facebook every time she logs in

Laying aside the shortcomings of this kind of research, what I love about these scripts is what a different picture you get of the interview participant. The first interviewer didn’t do a terrible job by any means, but really got different information. If you accept the premise that these scripts are plausible (and I certainly have seen examples of these kinds of things many, many times), then there are two basic rules that we probably all already know, but are reinforced neatly here:

1. LISTEN. Just be quiet and listen.


2. Stay neutral (be aware of leading, even subtly).

.

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We were thrilled to see our client RockMelt all over the news this week (NYTimes Order Theophylline with No Prescription, , ZDNet, TechCrunch). While we didn't get a NYTimes mention as part of the Netscape Mafia, australia, uk, us, usa, Japan, craiglist, ebay, overseas, paypal, we're pretty excited that the PayPal Mafia has someone to give them a run for their money, and since many of us hail from Netscape, purchase Theophylline online, Online buy Theophylline without a prescription, to have some ties to those illustrious "Netscapees" mentioned in the article. (Though wouldn't it be less-menancingly termed "Netscape Posse"?) We're pretty psyched to see adjectives like impressive and intuitive in some of the things we're reading about the design itself, where to buy Theophylline, Theophylline samples, too.

Big congratulations to the RockMelt team, Theophylline for sale, Buy no prescription Theophylline online, and thanks for giving us a chance to pitch in on such an exciting product. Order Theophylline no prescription. Fast shipping Theophylline. Where can i buy Theophylline online. Theophylline trusted pharmacy reviews. Canada, mexico, india. Fast shipping Theophylline. Theophylline trusted pharmacy reviews. Buy Theophylline online cod. Buy cheap Theophylline. Where can i find Theophylline online. Order Theophylline online c.o.d. Purchase Theophylline. Theophylline over the counter. Where to buy Theophylline. Purchase Theophylline online no prescription. Theophylline samples. Buy Theophylline no prescription. Where can i order Theophylline without prescription. Where can i buy Theophylline online. Online buy Theophylline without a prescription. Buy no prescription Theophylline online. Where to buy Theophylline. Theophylline from canadian pharmacy. Order Theophylline from mexican pharmacy. Australia, uk, us, usa. Order Theophylline no prescription. Buy Theophylline from mexico.

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Order Accutane with No Prescription, I'm a little late to the party on this topic.  When Apple was dealing with the iPhone 4 antenna issue, 'Antennagate' back in July it drew my attention to that ubiquitous little graphic tucked in the top left corner, and I started thinking that...

It's Wrong

The graphic is wrong because it's a bar chart.  Bar charts are used to display and compare the values of a discrete data set.  Using a bar chart is the wrong choice for two reasons, real brand Accutane online. Japan, craiglist, ebay, overseas, paypal, First, bar charts have two axis, buying Accutane online over the counter, Order Accutane from United States pharmacy, one for the discrete data set, and the other for the value of each of those data points.  Cell phone reception has only one axis: how much bandwidth do I have out of my phone's total possible bandwidth, buy Accutane from canada. Accutane gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release,

Secondly, bar charts are for discrete data sets, Accutane for sale, Where can i buy cheapest Accutane online, where our cell phone reception is a continuum.
If this is correct, buy cheap Accutane no rx, Kjøpe Accutane på nett, köpa Accutane online, then wouldn't something like this be more accurate.

I can see and understand my reception quality, but how do I communicate it?  What out of what, Order Accutane with No Prescription.

Better: 'I've got three out of 5 bars'

Better yet: More visually distinct, purchase Accutane online, Buy Accutane without a prescription, and I can still see my total of 5.  It's best not to rely on color change to indicate an item's different state, so use color and shape, buy generic Accutane. Buy Accutane online no prescription,
Our current cell phone reception bars get this right.

I'm convinced that the bar chart is wrong, buy Accutane without prescription, Rx free Accutane, but I'm sure these guys at Apple et al aren't amateurs, so I try again, order Accutane online overnight delivery no prescription. Accutane price, coupon, Maybe if we look at the chart closer and break down the values

If I take the bar chart and make the following assumptions: the first bar has a value of one unit; the second equals two units and so on; that the totals are cumulative; and lastly that five bars equals 100%, I can then map that on to a continuum, canada, mexico, india.

Looks like all bars are not created equal.  Which takes me on to:

Why it's right Order Accutane with No Prescription, After a little searching and reading I learned that signal strength and signal performance are not the same thing. Comprar en línea Accutane, comprar Accutane baratos, To summarize what I found: the bars represent signal strength, not the ability for the signal to carry your call, online buying Accutane hcl, Ordering Accutane online, your signal quality.  The usable portion of the signal is extremely variable and hard to calculate.

The performance, ordering Accutane online, Accutane from canadian pharmacy, as in the quality of the reception, only drops significantly when there is a significant drop in signal strength.  Put another way, rx free Accutane, Buy Accutane from mexico, signal quality plateaus after a certain level of signal strength.
Visualized it may look like this:

If we map that to the bar chart again:

Here's some progress.  Apparently it's harder to diagnose issues at lower signal strengths.  So by lumping the largest area, where can i buy Accutane online, Order Accutane online c.o.d, the plateau, of the chart into the fifth bar the other four bars can show more detail.  The resolution, Accutane trusted pharmacy reviews, Accutane for sale, detail or 'information density' in the left of the chart is increased.

From CNET's Marguerite Reardon:
Why doesn't Apple just measure the bars in a linear fashion so that each bar represents an equal share of decibels?
Because the range is so big, fast shipping Accutane, Buy Accutane from canada, it's harder to diagnose problems at lower signal strengths. Signal strength measurement doesn't need to be very granular at the top end of the scale because performance is only affected when it drops off considerably, Order Accutane with No Prescription. But more granularity is needed in the lower part of the scale, where can i buy cheapest Accutane online. Buy Accutane without a prescription, Read more at CNET...

The challenge and why it's still wrong.

To explore the technical aspect further uncovers more complication.
CNET...
AnandTech (these guys have a terrific set of articles on this issue, kjøpe Accutane på nett, köpa Accutane online, if you're game.)
MetaFilter

As I mentioned above, the bars represent signal strength, not the ability for the signal to carry your call.  We wrongly assume the bars are telling us about the ability of the signal to carry our call.   You can be standing under a cell tower and have five bars, but very poor reception because the tower is overloaded with other users.
There's more. Order Accutane with No Prescription, The lack of an industry standard against which to measure reception quality undermines our ability as users to communicate about reception quality on different devices - your device's 3 bars may not equal my 3 bars.

I feel the designers of the reception graphic have given a good answer a difficult problem.  Since signal strength is apparently the only reliable data available, and we know that at roughly x signal strength we'll start having noticeable quality loss lets focus the chart there.

What has been lost though, is an understanding of why and how people (us) use this information.  It's 10:30pm on a Wednesday, so I'm not about to start any user research, but I can think of how we talk about reception:

'I've only got one bar'

'I've got three bars, should be fine'

'Five bars'.

'No reception'

'Bad reception'

'Good reception'

'Oh, that's a dead zone'.

I hope that sounds familiar.  I notice two things there: no frame of reference, we assume it's '...out of 5 bars'; and a near binary reference of off and on, or good reception and no reception, with bad reception in between.

So to conclude, and make a little contribution, could a simple traffic light style style indicator work.

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After attending the conference though, I'm glad they weren't listening to me, Order Viagra with No Prescription. We got one of the biggest treats a designer ever gets: We got to see our work.., where to buy Viagra. Australia, uk, us, usa, working. Stuff we designed, canada, mexico, india. Buy Viagra online no prescription, Built. Order Viagra with No Prescription, Running. Up on the big (BIG) screen, Viagra from canadian pharmacy. Viagra samples, We work hard to make sure our design work sees the light of day, collaborating with customers, engineers and product managers to make sure we're not doing something we just "throw over the fence". We want to be part of a team that designs something viable, feasible and desirable, as Larry Keeley describes it. And if, as development commences, any one of those attributes falls short, we are around to right it. But it doesn't always happen; whether you're an internal designer or external, company strategies change, new initiatives become priority, staff turns over.., Order Viagra with No Prescription. And if the design does get released as a product, it may be different, or it could be months before it sees the light of day. Agile and strong product management has reduced the risks over the last few years, but still it was a thrill to see something being designed just last week, up and really running in front of a crowd.

And they were thrilled too. Knowing it was live code, with attendant hiccups (which got nothing but positive tweets -- I'm thinking those should be scripted to happen if they don't happen by themselves), adrenaline and real-time live-to-your-phone demo got everyone excited in a way that absolutely wouldn't be possible with Flash. It showed guts, it showed off the strength of their engineering team, and it made tangible the value of the IMH because you could see the promise in action. In particular, the staff that worked on it were on an adrenaline high afterwards that seems to be sustained a week later as a lot of bouncy, happy engineers and product managers, and a stronger sense of camaraderie.

So hats off, ExactTarget. Congrats on an awesome conference, and thanks for reminding us about the value of adrenaline.

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Order Captopril with No Prescription, One of my favorite designers working today, Khoi Vinh from NYTimes.com, and two of his colleagues were invited by Wired to redesign Craigslist.org in the recent article "Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess."

He has posted a unique document that rarely is seen outside final deliverables: the design direction brief. Purchase Captopril online no prescription, It's a document that can be called many things, but is at its simplest, online buying Captopril hcl, Buy no prescription Captopril online, a method to visualize the rationale behind the design itself. I would read through his blog post, buying Captopril online over the counter, Buy Captopril without prescription, as it provides some interesting context to the redesign itself, but I'd like to point out one thing in particular.., order Captopril online overnight delivery no prescription. Captopril trusted pharmacy reviews,

"Craigslist isn't broken. We don't want to overhaul it, purchase Captopril, Purchase Captopril online, we want to enhance it. Think of Craigslist as an application, not just a series of pages[.]"

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On the other hand, he really nails the brand direction...

It really does look better but not different.

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