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Starting a UX Program: How do I build a strong case for a UX program at my University?

I have recently opened a dialog with the Dean and Department Chair of our Digital Media department regarding my University's lack of User Experience classes. I want to make a solid argument towards convincing them of their need to begin building a User Experience / Interaction Design emphasis in the Digital Media undergraduate program. Read more...

Answering questions about garbage

Robin Nagle, the anthropologist-in-residence for the New York City Department of Sanitation, gave an outstanding at Gel 2009 - watch her video. Robin recently fielded questions from New York Times readers on the NYT site, including... Read more...

PHP Login Form Part 1 [Video Tutorial]

For our second free weekly helping from the Think Vitamin Membership video library we Jim looks at how to create the perfect login form using PHP. Don’t forget to check out the video library for free videos as well as learning more about our new membership service. Read more...

In Defense Of Photoshop

  Waves of change are currently rippling through every aspect of the Web. The iPad and other mobile devices are changing the way we access the Internet, while HTML5 and CSS3 promise to change the way we develop it. However, another storm is brewing that threatens Photoshop’s throne as the application of choice for Web design. The battle suggests a fundamental shift in the design process from Photoshop to mark-up.A militia of designers have assembled to launch this coup. Read more...

Job: Amazing Digital Media Intern

We’re looking for an amazing Digital Media Intern for a paid, 3-month internship. Fast Forward Three Months… We’d like to thank you for doing a fantastic job as our Digital Media Intern. You’ve doubled the number of podcasts we’ve been publishing, making them sound better than ever. We were stunned at how quickly you learned our production process and the improvements you suggested. Your editing skills are stunningly sharp. Read more...

Around the Web: CSS3 Animations, Agile + UX, Processed Identity

Hey there! It’s Wednesday, so this mid-week roundup is devoted to all things business and development. Some links are newsworthy, some retweeted across Twitter, and others just meet our “awesomeness” requirement, and regardless we hope you’ll enjoy them. Without further delay: Start Experimenting With CSS3 Animations (via@leemunroe) Arggggh! Subterfuge. Read more...

Nuts & Bolts: Storage

Next up in the Nuts & Bolts series, I want to cover storage. There were a number of questions about our storage infrastructure after my new datacenter post asking about the Isilon storage cluster that is pictured. To set the stage, I’ll share some file statistics from Basecamp. On an average week day, there are around 100,000 files uploaded to Basecamp with an average file size that is currently 2MB for a total of about 200GB per day of uploaded content in Basecamp. Read more...

Product Blog update: Campfire for iPhone, Draft update, favicon/iPhone icons in Basecamp, etc.

Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog: Campfire Introducing Campfire for iPhone Ember officially became 37signals Campfire for iPhone (iTunes App Store link). As an added bonus, we’ve dropped the price from $9.99 to $0.00. Campfire for iPhone is free! Draft Draft for iPad updated to version 1.0.1 Draft, our iPad app that lets you quickly-sketch-and-share via email or Campfire, has been updated to 1.0.1. The update is now available in the App Store. Read more...

In defense of “making it up as you go along”

I confess – I’m for it. And I’ll go even further – I think “making it up as you go along” is one of the greatest, and most important processes of any age. No great explorer set out with a detailed set of explorer guidelines. They adjusted and discovered. No great inventor set out with a detailed set of inventor guidelines. They experimented and adapted. No great leader set out with a detailed set of leadership guidelines. Leaders point the way and rally followers when their faith fails. Read more...

barebone registration: is password repitition and captcha really essential?

If you design a barebone registration form which only requires email address and password as essentials can you omit the password repetition and captcha without too much technical trouble? I personally find password repetition a real pain. Read more...

Does highlighting the potential for discounts negatively impact on non-eligible customers?

I'm interested to know peoples opinions on this. Does clearly showing a voucher/coupon/discount code field within a quote or payment process negatively impact on the customer experience for people who don't qualify (e.g. don't have a coupon)? Personally if I see a discount code field in a form the first thing I do is search for a code. I recently had this with Pixelmator and saved £7. Read more...

VIDEO: SVA Dot Dot Dot Lectures: Jason Santa Maria…

SVA Dot Dot Dot Lectures: Jason Santa Maria on web vs. print. “These things might seem obvious, but they’re not the conversations we’re having. Read more...

Examples of useful but not usable

So when a website is usable but not useful its unlikely to ever get off the ground. Useful is what generates the interest, serves a need, scratches an itch. Often useful can do quite well without being usable. ecadamy.com always amazes me. It's very popular but the usability and user experience is not great. Read more...

Passing The Holy Milestone: How To Meet Deadlines

  For too many projects, there comes a time when every action taken, every decision and sacrifice made, is spurred on by pressure to finish. Tempers seem to shrink along with the available days, talk about “high standards” gives way to “good enough,” and people realize that deadlines are aptly named. During the last-minute crunch, someone may well wonder, how did it come to this? Could it have been prevented? Every Web project has deadlines. Read more...

PHP Basics: Installation [Video Tutorial]

It’s Wednesday and time for our first free weekly helping from the Think Vitamin Membership video library. Today Jim looks at getting started with the popular programming language PHP. In this 8 minute video he shows you how to install PHP and write your first lines of PHP code. Read more...

How customer experience killed the talking car

I'll always remember the day I saw the talking car. It was 1983, and I was a fifth-grader who was always eager to try out a new digital interface. (The videogame arcade at the mall was the main venue for that, one quarter at a time.) Today, it was something especially interesting. A friend's dad had just bought a new Chrysler with the latest technology: speech. The car was in the driveway when I got there. Read more...

Have you witnessed a UX/IxD fail recently?

This is the UX equivalent of the firehouse burning down. Please, allow me to rename my file for you...if you were human, I'd slap you in the mouth. Do you have any screenshots, stories, or videos of similar UX failures? (full image here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4027341/ux/Images/ixda-fail. Read more...

QUESTION: What could we be better at?

What could we be better at? Read more...

What's in a Name?

How confusion about terminology can disrupt projects, and 10 recommendations on how to avoid it. Every discipline has its own names, lingo, and jargon to talk about what they do and how they do it. The world of UX has its own jargon too, but a complicating factor is that UX professionals come from such different backgrounds that our jargon often doesn't match. Read more...

Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: TechSmith, Litmus, iData, and A Small Orange

Below: We’re getting so many submissions for our “Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud” series that it’s tough to find room to profile everyone. So here’s a roundup post featuring a quick look at several different companies that have $1M+ in revenues, didn’t take VC, and are profitable. Litmus Litmus is a tool for email marketers. It helps them test their email designs across a range of different email clients. Read more...

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