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12 universal lessons from the Collections team

Here are some lessons on being productive and starting a company the team from the new OS X app “Collections” team has learned from their first 6 months working. Check out the link to read them.

UX is not UI

Erik Flowers made a post on his website to try to convey the difference between UX and UI in order for designers to make better products. One thing to like about his post is this simple and effective guide to implementing a killer UI:

1. We presume the problem has been identified through the user/market/persona research.
2. User flows and stories are made, then trashed, then made again, then iterated on until the problem flow is clear.
3. With an ideas of ways to solve the problem, some rapid experiments are carried out to validate the assumptions with the personas.
4. Some IA work is done to break out the product/site into the logical areas and hierarchies.
5. Various wireframes and sketches are drawn to start to organize where things could go on the screen.
6. With all the preceding research material and UX work, now mockups with UI included can be made with confidence.
7. With mockups and a UI designed, they be user tested and iterated on through some prototypes or experiments.
8. After the mockups have been vetted a bit, it’s now time to code up the interface – UI Design!
9. Once the usability of the UI has been honed, you can move it on to production, the place that people usually think of as the singular UI.

Be sure to read the whole post at the link.

How to write for the web

I’ve been a writer all my life. And I’m not talking poetry in some diary, but real, published work. The boom of online content — most of which is written for free — has led to a decline in overall quality. You do, after all, get what you pay for. As a former journalist and current online content editor, I have a few old school pointers for the horde of people generating content for the Web. Take it or leave it. But if you leave it, you will continue to suck.

Don’t bury the lede: You need to tell people what you’re writing about and why (the “lede” and, yes, it’s spelled that way) up front, like in the first graph. You may think your writing voice is so funny that people will stick with you for three graphs until you get to your point. You’re wrong. And if you can’t get to your point out of the gate, you need to go back and re-outline your piece, which leads me to my next point.

Outline your piece: Outlining or, at the very least, creating a rough draft of your piece before you write the actual post helps you organize your thoughts in a concise manner which will make your reader stay with you. Speaking of concise…

Be concise: The Internet is different than the printed word. Readers online expect to get in and get out fast. There are still people who enjoy long form journalism, but they read the paper.

Don’t start with a question: This applies to all non-fiction writing — journalism, online review, science papers, everything. Your story should answer a question without it being asked. And if they’re reading it, you don’t need to ask. Similarly…

Don’t start with a quote: Kicking of your piece with a quote from Melville won’t make it seem any better. In fact, it’s pompous. Don’t make Melville the expert in your story. You are the expert. And while we’re at it, don’t start with a quote from anyone you interviewed. Your subject shouldn’t set the tone of your piece. You should.

Nobody starts out a rock star: You may think you have biting wit and a unique tone, but a good, well-written story will gain more attention than any joke you can insert. Make sure you’ve created quality content before punching it up with humor. On that note…

Avoid clichés: If you’ve ever heard anyone else say it, don’t use it. I can’t tell you how fast the “I threw up in my mouth a little” bit got old, but I clocked it at about a week. Jokes and other witticism are best when they’re original. When they’re not original, they’re just taking up space.

Proofread, then proofread again: Seriously. The Web is not a throwaway medium. If you use “there” when you meant “their,” it chips away at your credibility. And in most cases it’s out there forever, like that photo of you blackout drunk on the floor with the family dog.

by David Vienna