Archive for January, 2008

While browsing the archives at thinkvitamin.com I came across an article by Robert Hoekman Jr called Deliverables That Work: Design Description Documents.  In it he suggests combining use cases and wireframes or screenshot to make single design document.  I generally provided detailed notes about the behaviour of the interface as part of my wireframes, however I like his suggest of using usecases.

One of the advantages of usecases is that they detail the exceptions to the normal flow.  this is something that sometimes is missed when creating wireframes and results in the developer having to decide what to do as they come across issues.

The only issue I can see with this suggestion is that some times use cases can use multiple screens.  In these instances I would suggest integrating the use case with a flow diagram and linking from the diagram to the appropriate pages.

While playing around on the apple site I spotted a great little piece of functionality on the page used to configure a computer, the ‘most popular configorations’ control. I have long been a fan of the shopping experience within the apple store and particular like the page used to select options associated with a new computer (apart from the purchase process of the iphone which doesn’t integrate tariff selection).

The page allows the user to edit options regarding harddrive size, amount of memory etc. The options are initially set to a default configuration so if the user does not want to make changes can simply add the product to their basket. Users that want more memory or a bigger hard drive can simply select a different option using a radio button which clearly communicates the impact on price. What the ‘most popular configorations’ control does is allow the user to switch between the basic setup and the one most frequently selected by users. This changes multiple options in a single click providing a short cut, as well as suggesting a configuration that has been suitable for others.

It is fairly easy to see how this technique could be used on other sites where the user is required to configure products or packages. For example, when selecting the channels I want in my digital TV package I could be given links that select all the options applicable to someone that likes comedy or crime dramas.

CSS gallery 2.0, which can be found at www.css20.com, is a great resourse for anyone wanting design inspiration or examples of CSS techniques in practice.  It allows users to submit their sites and rate and comment on those submitted by others.  A nice concept and also provides users  with design and CSS news.  Unfortunately there is not an easy way to search for sites of a particular type at the moment, although perhaps they will add the ability to tag sites in future.