tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85263691455808647752024-02-06T23:13:32.340-03:00Intelligent DesignCreating the world around us: products, packaging, retail design, land use, marketing, the web, writing, presentations...Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-71704762588245230992014-04-10T10:12:00.000-03:002014-04-10T10:12:12.665-03:00Uncomfortable DesignTwentyTwoWords has a fun set of pictures of creatively terrible products:
<a href="http://twentytwowords.com/inventing-worst-designed-products-imaginable-just-fun-10-pics/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Designing the least user friendly products imaginable just for fun [10 pics]">Designing the least user friendly products imaginable just for fun </a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-83494899793898730242014-03-15T22:03:00.001-03:002014-03-15T22:03:59.787-03:00PowerPointlessSlate has a fun slideshow on bad PowerPoint: <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/03/powerpoint_in_higher_education_is_ruining_teaching.html">PowerPointless</a>.<br />
<br />
"The ostensible purpose of a slideshow is provide illuminating visual aids or illustrate an important quote, rule, or formula: Only problem is <b>this almost <i>never</i> happens</b>." <br />
<br />
<br />Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-69755164651046934202013-08-16T11:35:00.001-03:002013-08-16T11:35:42.074-03:00Teach yourself designFast Company has an article on <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3015726/dialed/dont-love-your-job-teach-yourself-a-new-one">learning to be a designer</a>. <br />
<br />
Karen X Cheng writes about her experience learning to be a professional designer and provides a great list of suggested resources:<br /><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong>Step One: Learn to See</strong><br />
<h3>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="First_I_learned_how_to_draw"></a></h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">1. Learn to draw.</span><br />
Get the book <em>You Can Draw in 30 Days</em> and practice for half an hour every day for a month.<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">2. Graphic design theory.</span><br />
<em>Picture This</em> taught the foundations of graphic design (color, typography, and designing with a grid).<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">3. Basics in user experience.</span><br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0465067107/ref%3Dsr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371607869&sr=1-1&keywords=the+design+of+everyday+things" target="_blank">The Design of Everyday Things</a></em><br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref%3Dsr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371607999&sr=1-1&keywords=don%27t+make+me+think" target="_blank">Don’t Make Me Think!</a></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="I_learned_how_to_write">4. Learn to write.</a></span><br />
Your
job as a designer is not just to make pretty pictures -- you must be a
good communicator. <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/1400064287/ref%3Dsr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371608230&sr=1-1&keywords=made+to+stick" target="_blank">Made to Stick</a></em> will teach you how to suck in your readers.<br />
<a href="http://voiceandtone.com/" target="_blank">Voice and Tone</a> is a website full of great examples of how to talk to users.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="I_learned_to_kill_my_work">5. Learn to kill your work.</a></span><br />
This is the hardest step. <br />
Be prepared to kill everything you make. <br />
Listen. Really listen. Don’t argue. If you ask someone for feedback,
they’re doing you a favor by giving you their time and attention. Don’t
repay the favor by arguing with them. Instead of arguing, thank them and
ask questions. Decide later whether you want to incorporate their
feedback.<br />
<br />
<strong>Step Two: Tools.</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="I_learned_Illustrator">1. Illustrator.</a><br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Illustrator-CS6-Classroom-Book/dp/032182248X/ref%3Dsr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371608559&sr=1-1&keywords=adobe+illustrator+classroom+in+a+book" target="_blank">Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book</a></em>--<br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vector-Basic-Training-Systematic-Precision/dp/0321749596/ref%3Dsr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371608619&sr=1-1&keywords=Vector+basic+training" target="_blank">Vector Basic Training</a></em><br />
<a href="http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/text-effects/creating-an-environmentally-friendly-green-type-treatment/" target="_blank">logo</a> <br />
<a href="http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-create-a-landscape-wallpaper-for-your-desktop/" target="_blank">scenic landscape</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="I_learned_Photoshop">2. Photoshop.</a><br />
<a href="http://psd.tutsplus.com/" target="_blank">PSDTuts</a> <br />
Photoshop tutorial <a href="http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/interface-tutorials/mobile-ui-how-to-redesign-the-spendometer-iphone-app-part-1/" target="_blank">to make an iPhone app</a>.<br />
Photoshop tutorial <a href="http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/basics-create-a-clean-magazine-blog-theme-day-1-design/" target="_blank">to create a website mockup.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Step Three: specialties.</strong><br />
<br />
1. Logo Design.<br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Logo-Design-Love-Creating-Identities/dp/0321660765/ref%3Dsr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371614766&sr=8-1&keywords=logo+design+love" target="_blank">Logo Design Love</a></em>.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Brand-Identity-Essential-Branding/dp/1118099206/ref%3Dsr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371615083&sr=1-1&keywords=designing+brand+identity" target="_blank"><em>Designing Brand Identity</em></a><br />
2. Mobile app design
<a href="http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/interface-tutorials/mobile-ui-how-to-redesign-the-spendometer-iphone-app-part-1/" target="_blank">tutorial</a> <br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tapworthy-Designing-Great-iPhone-Apps/dp/1449381650/ref%3Dsr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371619592&sr=8-1&keywords=tapworthy" target="_blank">Tapworthy</a></em>.<br />
3. Web design.<br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref%3Dsr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371615719&sr=8-1&keywords=don%27t+make+me+think" target="_blank">Don’t Make Me Think</a></em> <br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Beautiful-Web-Design/dp/098057689X/ref%3Dsr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371615763&sr=1-1&keywords=principles+of+beautiful+web+design" target="_blank"> The Principles of Beautiful Web Design</a></em><br />
<a href="http://www.siteinspire.com/" target="_blank">SiteInspire</a>.<br />
<br />
<strong>Step Four: portfolio</strong><br />
<ul>
<li><span>Find poorly designed websites and redesign them.</span></li>
<li><span>Join a team at <a href="http://startupweekend.org/" target="_blank">Startup Weekend</a> and be a designer on a weekend project.</span></li>
<li><span>Enter a <a href="http://99designs.com/" target="_blank">99 designs contest</a> to practice designing to a brief.</span></li>
<li><span>Do the graphic design exercises in the <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Workshop-Challenges-Sharpen-Design/dp/1600617972/ref%3Dsr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371616567&sr=8-1&keywords=creative+workshop" target="_blank">Creative Workshop</a></em> book.</span></li>
<li><span>Find a local nonprofit and offer to design for free.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<strong>Step Five: Get a job as a designer.</strong></blockquote>
<br />
The whole article is worth reading. <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3015726/dialed/dont-love-your-job-teach-yourself-a-new-one">http://www.fastcompany.com/3015726/dialed/dont-love-your-job-teach-yourself-a-new-one </a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-81111146652900633442013-03-23T15:09:00.000-03:002013-03-23T15:09:12.305-03:00Seven Lessons for PresentationsMarta Kagan writes on <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34274/7-Lessons-From-the-World-s-Most-Captivating-Presenters-SlideShare.aspx">7 Lessons From the World's Most Captivating Presenters</a>. Drawing insights from the presentations of Steve Jobs, Gary Vaynerchuck, and <span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">Scott Harrison, she uses specific examples (picture and slideshare presentations) to illustrate the following lessons:</span><br />
<span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">1. Start with paper, not PowerPoint</span></li>
<li><span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">2. Tell your story in three acts</span></li>
<li><span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">3. A picture is worth 1000 words</span></li>
<li><span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">4. Emotions get our attention</span></li>
<li><span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">5. Use plain English</span></li>
<li><span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">6. Ditch the bullet points</span></li>
<li><span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">7. Rehearse like crazy</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body">It's a relatively long post, but easy to skim, and well-worth the effort. </span><br />
<span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body"><br /></span>
<span class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text" id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body"><br /></span>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-22077963382600970892012-10-19T09:46:00.000-02:002013-03-23T15:13:21.103-03:00Design for crowdsKrystal D'Costa writes on <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/2012/10/17/the-story-of-grand-central-station-and-the-taming-of-crowd/">The Story of Grand Central Station and the Taming of the Crowd</a> for Scientific American.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Each of these changes was meant to remind the people that they were
indeed individuals despite their place in the Crowd, and as individuals
they still had social roles and responsibilities to fulfill. Moreover,
these changes <i>synchronized</i> the Crowd by putting people through
the same paces at the same points. But perhaps the most significant
change would come from the architectural firm Warren and Wetmore. A
deadly collision in 1902 preceded public demand for an even safer, more
accessible terminal. Warren and Wetmore won the bid for reconstruction,
and the plan they produced included galleries, which added yet another
transition area but, more importantly, rendered the Crowd into a
spectacle.</blockquote>
<br />Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-34009139802833158912012-06-29T19:50:00.002-03:002012-06-29T19:50:41.652-03:00Housing designPolis writes on <a href="http://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/06/elements.html">Urban Housing Design</a>, identifying these seven important elements:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>1. Proximity </b><br />
"Internal proximity can make a community feel sheltered..."<br />
<br />
<b>2. Enclosure</b><br />
"...courtyards are more enclosed than fenceless yards, creating interior space without ceilings..."<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>3. Scale</b><br />
"Smaller buildings tend to be associated with comfort..."<br />
<br />
<b>4. Accessibility</b><br />
"Amenities include public transportation, shopping areas, kindergartens, parks and libraries." <br />
<br />
<b>5. Materials</b><br />
"Certain materials hold up especially well over time, from visual and/or
structural perspectives, and they are not always the most expensive."<br />
<br />
<b>6. Additions</b><br />
"...trees, parking lots, benches, playgrounds and sports facilities — serve as shared resources..."<br />
<br />
<b>7. Style</b><br />
"Structural variations and details can add visual interest or aversion."</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Read the post at:<br />
<a href="http://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/06/elements.html">http://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/06/elements.html</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-3534703705164108492012-06-27T11:33:00.001-03:002012-06-27T11:33:31.598-03:00Remote design<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/design/2012/06/the_history_of_the_remote_control_why_are_they_so_awful_.html">Slate</a> magazine writes on the history of the remote control and awful design.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There's an excess of buttons ... —92 of them, to be exact,
arranged on my nightstand in rubbery rows, seven different colors'
worth, with overlapping labels that range in tone from clear and
aggressive ("POWER," "FREEZE") to meek and mysterious ("SUR," "NAVI").
Following the model of <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040607.html" target="_blank">usability expert Jakob Nielsen</a>,
I counted up the buttons I've actually pressed—not the ones I've
pressed most often, but the ones I've pressed, period. The number was
34. I had a surplus of nearly five dozen.</blockquote>
...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So why should my television, a simple device that's not so interactive,
spread so much clutter and confusion? Imagine if there were a separate
door for each shelf of your refrigerator, and each of those doors had
its own combination lock. That's the state of the modern entertainment
center, and the hand-held devices we use to manipulate it. The remote
control was supposed to make life easier, but instead it's led us into a
labyrinth of bad design. How did we get here, and where are we going?</blockquote>
<br />
Read the whole article at:<br />
<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/design/2012/06/the_history_of_the_remote_control_why_are_they_so_awful_.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/life/design/2012/06/the_history_of_the_remote_control_why_are_they_so_awful_.html</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-87257091734649007682012-06-24T13:08:00.000-03:002012-06-24T13:08:19.906-03:00Retail seduction<a href="http://lifehacker.com/5918780/how-apple-and-other-retailers-subtly-seduce-you-in-their-stores">Lifehacker</a> reports on several recent articles on store design.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
From the pleasant music to the choice of floor tiles, retail stores are
cleverly designed to do one thing: make you spend money. Here are some
of the marketing tactics you should know about so you can shop with a
clear head.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/06/14/why-the-new-macbook-pro-is-tilted-70-degrees-in-an-apple-store/">How the Apple Store gets customers to touch the machines (and why</a>) (from a Forbes article.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/family-money/5-subliminal-pricetag-tricks-1330615262252/">Pricing gimmicks</a> (from Smart Money)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.menshealth.com/fiscally-fit-man/credit-card-zombie">Defend yourself from manipulative marketing tactics</a> (from Men's Health.)<br />
<br />
Read the whole post at <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5918780/how-apple-and-other-retailers-subtly-seduce-you-in-their-stores">http://lifehacker.com/5918780/how-apple-and-other-retailers-subtly-seduce-you-in-their-stores</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-83434136806274383562012-06-21T20:34:00.001-03:002012-06-24T13:08:47.762-03:00Better bottlesSlate magazine writes on more environmentally-friendly <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/operations/2012/06/poland_spring_s_new_bottles_why_are_they_so_thin_and_flimsy_.html">plastic bottles</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="text parbase section">
<div class="text">
The differences aren’t merely aesthetic. Making the 2005 bottle
required 14.6 grams of resin. The 2012 bottle uses only 9.2 grams of
resin. (Plastic is a general term describing a moldable material. The
plastic in many water and soft drink bottles is made of PET—a specific
type of resin.) “We used to go through 600 million pounds of resin each
year,” says Jeffery. “Today, even though we’re making more bottles
because the business has grown, we use 400 million pounds of resin.”</div>
</div>
<div class="text parbase section">
<div class="text">
That’s less material waste (and, by the way, note the smaller label
on the 2012 bottle, which conserves paper). It also leads to less energy
waste. The resin for each bottle starts out shaped like a test tube,
before a machine heats it and blows in air to stretch it out. With less
resin in each bottle, it takes less heat and air to stretch the bottle
into shape. “That’s an immediate 10 percent energy savings on the bottle
itself,” says Jeffery. And the company’s machines produce 1,200 bottles
every minute.</div>
</div>
The lighter weight of the finished bottles also reduces the carbon footprint of the trucks that transport them.</blockquote>
<br />
Read the whole article at:<br />
<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/operations/2012/06/poland_spring_s_new_bottles_why_are_they_so_thin_and_flimsy_.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/business/operations/2012/06/poland_spring_s_new_bottles_why_are_they_so_thin_and_flimsy_.html </a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-22351581102528411572012-06-11T11:55:00.000-03:002012-06-11T11:55:02.055-03:00Web typograhySimon Pascal Klein
writes on the <a href="http://klepas.org/top-10-does-and-donts-of-web-typography/#notebook">Top 10 dos and don’ts of Web Typography</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1. Apply no more than three typefaces per design (or page)<br />
2. Set headlines large and invitingly, at the top of the page<br />
3. Size body copy 14px+<br />
4. Ensure a good text to background contrast<br />
5. Apply stress and emphasis discreetly<br />
6. Do not set continuous text in full capitals<br />
7. Give the type space to breathe; set ample measures and leading<br />
8. Be wary of fonts not designed for screen use<br />
9. Ensure webfont assets are subsetted and cached<br />
10. Don’t use Comic Sans
</blockquote>
<br />
Read more at the <a href="http://klepas.org/top-10-does-and-donts-of-web-typography/#notebook">original</a> article.Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-57332600394413725082012-05-27T10:55:00.000-03:002012-05-27T10:55:08.674-03:00Design before plasticWired reports on <a href="http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/05/what-common-objects-used-to-be-made-of/">What Common Objects Used to Be Made Of</a>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Plastic is so new, Freinkel began, that among all the objects preserved
in the sunken Titanic, none are synthetic plastic, because there was
hardly any available in 1912."<br />
<br />
<br />
“Looking for new markets, the marketers discovered
disposability—disposable cups for drink vending machines, disposable
diapers (“Said to be responsible for the baby boom“), Bic lighters, soda
bottles, medical syringes, and the infinite market of packaging.
Americans consume 300 pounds of plastic a year. The variety of plastics
we use are a problem for recycling, because they have to be sorted by
hand." </blockquote>
<br />
The short article summarizes a talk by <a href="http://susanfreinkel.com/site/">Susan Freinkel</a>.Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-21020808762325558652012-04-10T08:59:00.004-03:002012-04-10T09:26:58.718-03:00Xerox, Apple, and InnovationMalcolm Gladwell on <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/16/110516fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all">Creation Myth: Xerox PARC, Apple, and the truth about innovation</a> in the <span style="font-style:italic;">New Yorker</span><br /><br />Xerox is famous in tech circles for inventing the personal computer but failing to successfully market it. Gladwell explores this story and shows that Xerox did profit from its PC research by inventing the laser printer. <br /><br />The whole article is definitely worth reading. Here are couple of quotes to get started:<br /><blockquote><br /> “Jobs went to Xerox PARC on a Wednesday or a Thursday, and I saw him on the Friday afternoon,” Hovey recalled. “I had a series of ideas that I wanted to bounce off him, and I barely got two words out of my mouth when he said, ‘No, no, no, you’ve got to do a mouse.’ I was, like, ‘What’s a mouse?’ I didn’t have a clue. So he explains it, and he says, ‘You know, [the Xerox mouse] is a mouse that cost three hundred dollars to build and it breaks within two weeks. Here’s your design spec: Our mouse needs to be manufacturable for less than fifteen bucks. It needs to not fail for a couple of years, and I want to be able to use it on Formica and my bluejeans.’</blockquote><br /><br /><blockquote>The difference between direct and indirect manipulation—between three buttons and one button, three hundred dollars and fifteen dollars, and a roller ball supported by ball bearings and a free-rolling ball—is not trivial. It is the difference between something intended for experts, which is what Xerox PARC had in mind, and something that’s appropriate for a mass audience, which is what Apple had in mind.</blockquote><br /><br />Read the whole article at <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/16/110516fa_fact_gladwell">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/16/110516fa_fact_gladwell</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-81062846940884629442012-03-30T09:10:00.003-03:002012-03-30T09:18:21.353-03:00Five Common PowerPoint MistakesBrad Phipps posted on the <a href="http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11244.aspx">The Five Most Common PowerPoint Mistakes</a><br /><blockquote><br />1. Too Many Slides<br />2. Too Many Words<br />3. Pointless animations<br />4. Not Enough Graphics<br />5. Complicated Visuals</blockquote><br /><br />Read the post at <a href="http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11244.aspx">http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11244.aspx</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-20153439714150828672012-03-03T16:25:00.002-02:002012-03-03T16:34:58.456-02:00The Curious History of “Tribal” PrintsSlate Magazine writes on <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/03/african_fabric_where_do_tribal_prints_really_come_from_.single.html">The Curious History of “Tribal” Prints</a>: How the Dutch peddle Indonesian-inspired designs to West Africa. It presents an interesting history on the origin of currently fashionable "tribal" prints. <br /><br /><blockquote>"In the meantime, Europeans were hard at work figuring out how to manufacture their own versions of batik, with the intention of flooding the market in Indonesia with cheaper, machine-made versions of the cloths (the handmade versions were labor-intensive and expensive). Finally, at the end of the 19th century, a Belgian printer developed a method for applying resin to both sides of a cotton cloth, and the machine-made wax-print fabric was born.<br /><br />But there was a problem: The machine-made version of these cloths developed a crackling effect—a series of small lines, dots, and imperfections where the resin cracked and dye seeped through—that didn’t appeal to Indonesian batik purists. In need of a market for the new textiles, the Dutch turned to West Africa. As it turned out, West Africans were actually partial to these imperfections: They appreciated the fact that no two bolts of cloth were identical. The West African fondness for this effect was so pronounced that Dutch wax manufacturers still program those imperfections into the printing process today, long after the actual mechanical limitation has been resolved."</blockquote>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-45266561511966364422012-01-29T11:49:00.004-02:002012-03-03T16:36:09.894-02:00Why clothing sizes make no senseJulia Felsenthal writes in Slate Magazine on <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/01/clothing_sizes_getting_bigger_why_our_sizing_system_makes_no_sense_.single.html">A Size 2 Is a Size 2 Is a Size 8</a>.<br /><br /><blockquote>The ASTM recommendations have evolved over time to accommodate a very real trend: vanity sizing. Women don’t want to know their real size, so manufacturers re-label bigger sizes with smaller numbers. In 1958, for example, a size 8 corresponded with a bust of 31 inches, a waist of 23.5 inches and a hip girth of 32.5 inches. In ASTM’s 2008 standards, a size 8 had increased by five to six inches in each of those three measurements, becoming the rough equivalent of a size 14 or 16 in 1958. We can see size inflation happening over shorter time spans as well; a size 2 in the 2011 ASTM standard falls between a 1995 standard size 4 and 6. (This may also explain why smaller sizes are constantly invented. The 1958 standard listed 8 as its smallest size. The 1995 ASTM standard listed a size 2. In 2011, ASTM lists a standard for size 00.)</blockquote><br /><br /><blockquote><br />[...] a private organization called the Textile Clothing Technology Corporation conducted the first widespread study of American women’s bodies since O’Brien and Shelton, called SizeUSA. They installed body scanners at 13 different locations across the country and, over the course of about a month, scanned the bodies of almost 11,000 people between the ages of 18 and 80. The main finding, says Boorady, who was involved with the study, is that people are bigger than ever. The study also distinguished five to seven distinct body shapes for women, as opposed to the single hourglass ideal that has long determined the proportions of clothing (and which only 8 percent of American women have). Boorady says the results mean “it would be extremely difficult to come up with a single sizing system.” </blockquote><br /><blockquote>[...] in 1986, the Times reported on manufacturers’ resistance to the development of ASTM standards. “The Laura Ashley woman is different from the Liz Claiborne woman, who is different from the woman whom Calvin Klein envisions,” opined the article’s author, who then quoted a designer saying, “Fit is a type of identity.” <br />There is something to this. My sense of brand loyalty is as much about the way a designer’s clothes fit as how they look. I [Ms Felsenthal] do pretty well with J.Crew sweaters, Urban Outfitters jeans, and Frye boots—because those have become, after years of trial and error, my brands. If these companies suddenly changed their sizes to adhere to some synthetic average of the American female form, I’d feel annoyed—even indignant.</blockquote><br /><br />The article is an interesting introduction to an intriguing topic, one that combines design, statistics, economics, business, and psychology.Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-70194716267258796472012-01-05T12:13:00.002-02:002012-01-05T12:17:17.590-02:00WebThe Oatmeal presents "<a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/shopping_cart">How to make your shopping cart suck less</a>" Vulgarly amusing advice on design.Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-22143119327571165132011-12-22T15:55:00.003-02:002011-12-24T14:07:31.886-02:00What not to askSometimes the secret of successful design is to not include a feature. Boing-Boing reports on a company that increased its sales by $300 million by removing its user log-in feature.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://boingboing.net/2011/08/05/300-million-button-making-customers-create-logins-to-buy-cost-etailer-300myear.html ">http://boingboing.net/2011/08/05/300-million-button-making-customers-create-logins-to-buy-cost-etailer-300myear.html </a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-59736573502307435662011-11-15T11:10:00.003-02:002011-11-15T11:29:38.473-02:00Iterating good designRob Beschizza writing for <a href="http://boingboing.net/2011/11/14/what-the-vaio-z-says-about-son.html">Boing-Boing</a> contrasts Sony's and Apple's approaches to solving design problems.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Misunderstanding Apple</span><br /><br /><blockquote>"At a recent event I attended, someone involved in marketing said that Apple's success is founded on it creating substantially new designs every year to keep everyone keeping up. In his view, Apple ownership is about getting the latest thing to impress people."<br /><br />"It's weird that a company under such constant scrutiny is misunderstood like this, often by people who have been watching it for years. Isn't it obvious that Apple rarely changes its designs?"<br /><br />"I imagine that Apple is delighted to see rivals convinced that every year's model is different to the last one; talk about a reality distortion field. Companies like Dell and HP will chance across good design every so often, but companies like Sony make good designs then abandon them intentionally because they're blind to their own good design choices."<br /><br />"... Sony rarely iterates, even when it's onto something good. Everything is a one-off. It treats a billion-dollar business the way a microbrewery treats ales with silly names."<br /><br />"Apple isn't the only company that persists with a good design, either. If you want an ultraportable laptop that's Windows or Linux-friendly which works better than the Z and isn't outrageously expensive, look no further than the Lenovo X series."</blockquote><br /><br /><br /><br />His essay is illustrated with great comparison photos:<br />"Check out these two iMacs. The one on the left is from 2007, and the other is the latest model. They're more than four years apart. Here's the first and the latest iPod. While they're not identical, bear in mind that nine years passed in the interval... Here's a Mac from 1984 and one from 1994. Though Apple made all sorts of other desktop towers and pizza boxes in this period, this popular design saw more than a decade of refinement." See them at <a href="http://boingboing.net/2011/11/14/what-the-vaio-z-says-about-son.html">http://boingboing.net/2011/11/14/what-the-vaio-z-says-about-son.html</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-12745197201223529822011-08-30T11:13:00.003-03:002011-08-30T11:31:21.040-03:00Websites that leave a bad taste in your mouthSlate Magazine on <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2301228/pagenum/all/">Why are restaurant websites so horrifically bad?</a>
<br /><blockquote>Over the last few weeks I've spent countless hours, now lost forever, plumbing the depths of restaurant Web hell. I also spoke to several industry experts about the reasons behind all these maliciously poorly designed pages. I heard several theories for why restaurant sites are so bad—that they can't afford to pay for good designers, that they don't understand what people want from a site, and that they don't really care what's on their site. But the best answer I found was this: Restaurant sites are the product of restaurant culture. These nightmarish websites were spawned by restaurateurs who mistakenly believe they can control the online world the same way they lord over a restaurant. "In restaurants, the expertise is in the kitchen and in hospitality in general," says Eng San Kho, a partner at the New York design firm Love and War, which has created several unusually great restaurant sites (more on those in a bit). "People in restaurants have a sense that they want to create an entertainment experience online—that's why disco music starts, that's why Flash slideshows open. They think they can still play the host even here online."</blockquote>
<br />The article illustrates its points with great links to expensive websites that may satisfy a chef's ego but don't work for the customer. The <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2301228/">whole article</a> is well worth reading.
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<br />Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-63633798910138327532011-08-17T17:24:00.003-03:002011-08-17T17:31:12.190-03:00Watch designDavid Pogue writes on <a href="http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/how-to-build-a-usable-watch/">How to Build a Usable Watch </a>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Good interface design is darned hard:</span>
<br /><blockquote>"Your inclination is to stuff a lot of features into your product — “hey, that’ll make it sell, right?” And yet every feature has to go somewhere. It has to fit on some screen, in some menu, under some keystroke. So the more you stuff in, the more difficult to use your product becomes, and the less pleasure it will bring your customers.
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<br />I had recently bought my daughter a $9 digital watch from Wal-Mart. It had three buttons. You were supposed to be able to perform all of the watch’s functions using only these three buttons: set the time, set an alarm, turn the alarm on and off, start and stop the stopwatch, record lap times, and so on.
<br />
<br />It was, as you can guess, a disastrous user interface. Every button wound up performing multiple functions. Double-press. Press-and-hold. Press two at once. There’s no possible way you could master it without the 3-by-3 inch sheet of instructions in 2-point type."</blockquote>
<br />
<br />Read his students' suggested design improvements at:
<br /><a href="http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/how-to-build-a-usable-watch/">http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/how-to-build-a-usable-watch/</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-72455477342645407352010-12-15T08:00:00.000-02:002010-12-15T08:00:01.006-02:00What you say isn't what I hear"We think direct written and verbal communication is clear and accurate and efficient. It is none of those," <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/12/you-will-be-misunderstood.html">writes Seth Godin</a>. The implication: "Plan on being misunderstood. Repeat yourself. When in doubt, repeat yourself."Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-53551670299633967372010-12-14T15:36:00.000-02:002010-12-14T15:42:28.862-02:00Getting Lost in BuildingsDonald Norman <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0465067107/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292348333&sr=1-1">wrote</a> about designers who can't figure out why users can't use the products they've designed. Boing Boing <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/23/designing-buildings.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29">reports </a>on a study by psychologists on why users get lost in award-winning buildings:<br /><blockquote>"Architects, on the other hand, may be among the class of people with very strong spatial skills, because their craft requires numerous spatial transformations, such as needing to envision 3D space from 2D depictions. One unanticipated consequence of such abilities is that they may not be very good at taking the perspective of a user with poorer spatial skills, and therefore may not be able to fully anticipate where users may have navigational difficulties within their buildings."</blockquote>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-68233044061533401922010-12-14T15:07:00.003-02:002010-12-14T15:26:36.474-02:00PowerPoint and Cognitive ScienceGood design is more than making things pretty; good design communicates. IO9 posted on <a href="http://io9.com/357063/how-cognitive-science-can-improve-your-powerpoint-presentations">How Cognitive Science Can Improve Your PowerPoint Presentations</a> based on a lecture by Stephen M. Kosslyn, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195320697/downandoutint-20">Clear and to the Point:</a> 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations.<br /><br />Here's an overview:<br /><blockquote>1. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Goldilocks Rule</span>: present the "just right" amount of data. Never include more information than your audience needs in a visual image.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Rudolph Rule</span>: make information stand out and highlight important details — the way Rudolph the reindeer's red nose stood out from the other reindeers'. If you're presenting a piece of relevant data in a list, why not make the data of interest a different color from the list? Or circle it in red?<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Rule of Four</span> is a simple but powerful tool: the brain can generally hold only four pieces of visual information simultaneously. So don't ever present your audience with more than four things at once.<br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Birds of a Feather Rule</span> is another good rule for how to organize information when you want to show things in groups. "</blockquote><br />The examples in the <a href="http://io9.com/357063/how-cognitive-science-can-improve-your-powerpoint-presentations">original post</a> are worth reading.<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://boingboing.net/2008/02/22/cognitive-science-vs.html#previouspost">Boing Boing</a>.Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-59104009164704311462010-10-21T20:19:00.004-02:002010-10-21T20:28:25.887-02:00Egg drop<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMfSLsUFx1dg_10i34U5wq42OBuuv4ukGaMOUgzj-jNddvGqPQC2MZV1WWWFSSdOYb7LLpBtBtGG5th2goCwfSbY8fkIz66gikl-l4D4h_qtAfk1B14FQbLxnm40dCDldgYkEgjMTR6g/s1600/egg1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMfSLsUFx1dg_10i34U5wq42OBuuv4ukGaMOUgzj-jNddvGqPQC2MZV1WWWFSSdOYb7LLpBtBtGG5th2goCwfSbY8fkIz66gikl-l4D4h_qtAfk1B14FQbLxnm40dCDldgYkEgjMTR6g/s400/egg1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530629491994236178" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBNXhpx63-O-_YQzarU00FG5xKzmphB2J-YBYvkwFHI3ixUULLlIRk7_mCAqf3_9CnqATAQrRkyJiXMTpRlrd0PT7yZgxX4z7VX-ziQerOQBvmg6cKjaL7Tgqxn6CXMePrr8vK4UQYok/s1600/egg5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBNXhpx63-O-_YQzarU00FG5xKzmphB2J-YBYvkwFHI3ixUULLlIRk7_mCAqf3_9CnqATAQrRkyJiXMTpRlrd0PT7yZgxX4z7VX-ziQerOQBvmg6cKjaL7Tgqxn6CXMePrr8vK4UQYok/s400/egg5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530629336693572530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpne0qsqgVXAMvLD5cPO20hIYZxmMWF4doYJFhyphenhyphen5jgiZPjsVIHKA6NiQxJs_ZSgN87IxsBQiK5cSXHhyxHC93De_1tcUHEJnonkdhK0XzrVBgE-oH2d3vF1EPxgTXx6slEfBJ9MWJhj8E/s1600/egg6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 369px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpne0qsqgVXAMvLD5cPO20hIYZxmMWF4doYJFhyphenhyphen5jgiZPjsVIHKA6NiQxJs_ZSgN87IxsBQiK5cSXHhyxHC93De_1tcUHEJnonkdhK0XzrVBgE-oH2d3vF1EPxgTXx6slEfBJ9MWJhj8E/s400/egg6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530628730847184658" /></a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526369145580864775.post-21209442935400271842010-09-18T08:44:00.007-03:002010-09-20T12:14:38.323-03:00First day of class<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDOUJmuT2jg5XwEUJyJU4dbor7hhk2VyhZmke8qEqoIP2hTK0Sord7pGGKv_R-5W6Q_wvg9WFa01uU6IuQCiS_y2bqjpSXWR8YPiCwM3nEzt8PEOSxpyIah0VLkK0Dpg88ZI6Qo0j90A/s1600/chair1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 316px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDOUJmuT2jg5XwEUJyJU4dbor7hhk2VyhZmke8qEqoIP2hTK0Sord7pGGKv_R-5W6Q_wvg9WFa01uU6IuQCiS_y2bqjpSXWR8YPiCwM3nEzt8PEOSxpyIah0VLkK0Dpg88ZI6Qo0j90A/s400/chair1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518219005882245634" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxmfO2ToAPMYASCkfqiJ4JHHD85IUow_342ne3UPYXpet6i3zvcWMExlRtX62fzCcwyRKCGlrjE-LBvrg4nMy1a8q4yJfi5-9Ftw4OeWsFUK4bLob9c-_eBrP67WWShhuzyGixuHJVHo/s1600/chair2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 377px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxmfO2ToAPMYASCkfqiJ4JHHD85IUow_342ne3UPYXpet6i3zvcWMExlRtX62fzCcwyRKCGlrjE-LBvrg4nMy1a8q4yJfi5-9Ftw4OeWsFUK4bLob9c-_eBrP67WWShhuzyGixuHJVHo/s400/chair2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518218799461775922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7hHqd3euJlk6gtG7RMLi5xWMYFMfaLARhxe9iJ2QmCJOJe45hNY0dyvaS23YuTpooT8tdLImPODcjQp6ZyooSKKksQ2GtDSyHkMz6zK-1Ri3QOYfYt0406CZYwKZ1x24os4odgcluMQ/s1600/chair3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 394px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7hHqd3euJlk6gtG7RMLi5xWMYFMfaLARhxe9iJ2QmCJOJe45hNY0dyvaS23YuTpooT8tdLImPODcjQp6ZyooSKKksQ2GtDSyHkMz6zK-1Ri3QOYfYt0406CZYwKZ1x24os4odgcluMQ/s400/chair3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518218364645852434" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxDtE5nyCPjjOTxxYcLihlx9ljdncg6-qKGvGGGgzIfgBpSvAaIIfJaUCPWSB4Rw9c4vggCEk0X-TWMT1PZNeTfZlxI30vXZUdcHuI9rWTUZGVfAdBSGjii4GJ6y3ubbFvDFvmRMjILs/s1600/chair4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 362px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxDtE5nyCPjjOTxxYcLihlx9ljdncg6-qKGvGGGgzIfgBpSvAaIIfJaUCPWSB4Rw9c4vggCEk0X-TWMT1PZNeTfZlxI30vXZUdcHuI9rWTUZGVfAdBSGjii4GJ6y3ubbFvDFvmRMjILs/s400/chair4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518218271254298834" /></a><br /><br />Our characteristics for evaluating a product:<br /><blockquote>1. comfort<br />2. durability<br />3. price<br />4. appearance<br />5. needs<br />6. stability<br />7. weight<br />8. efficient to produce<br />9. size<br />10. age<br />11. fit<br />12. material<br />13. reputation<br />14. type of use</blockquote><br /><br />If you're interested you can see <a href="http://kalamazoodesign.blogspot.com/2009/09/design-characteristics.html">last year's list</a>Chuck Stullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16764698108162760118noreply@blogger.com0