What Came First? A Chicken and Egg Conundrum

Me, How I Got Here, and iPhone UI Design

Normal Modes is growing, and I’m yet another new employee. I’m Libby, the new user experience designer, and I’m old-school.

I’ve been working in web design since I graduated in December ’95. Back then, my university offered only HTML and CGI classes, which I shunned. I was an English major!… read more

Eye Tracking Heatmap Gallery: A Preview & Discussion of UI Considerations

Over the past month I’ve toiled away on a special project:  a gallery of 51 simulated eye tracking heatmaps featuring the homepages of popular websites.  The heatmaps cover a variety of industries including travel, consumer retail, media, government &… read more

Decision Analysis: Killing Elements in UI Designs

A general principle for all user interface design is to go through all of your design elements and remove them one at a time. If the design works as well without a certain design element, kill it.

- Jakob Nielsen

A mighty fine compliment: “Did you design this for me?”

“I love this site,” says Yeakel as she clicks through bar charts of her family’s energy use. “I called PPL and said, ‘Did you design this for me?’ Because I’m one of these people who love to know where my dollars [are] going and how can I save.”

How fabulous.… read more