Video posted: Web Apps with Jared Spool

The video from our last WebPub meeting is now online at TechTV and iTunes. Due to some technical difficulties the recording starts a few seconds in to Jared’s presentation, however I’m sure you’ll find the content extremely enjoyable! Many thanks to the MIT HyperStudio and IS&T for sponsoring the podcast.

Here’s the summary of the topic covered:

Web Apps: The Collision of Design and Business with Jared Spool
Who has the best practices for web app design and what do they do to make world-class applications? Jared will share the latest research in the techniques and methodologies that can make a huge difference.

Access Oriented Web Design with Scott Jehl

“Access-Oriented Web Design” is an approach for safely applying progressive enhancement in websites and applications so they deliver an accessible and functional experience to the widest audience possible.

Web design guru Scott Jehl from Boston’s The Filament Group discussed “Access-Oriented Web Design: Building highly-interactive web apps that work for everyone” at our April 2009 WebPub presentation.  Scott specializes in website design and development, is a member of the jQuery and jQuery UI design teams, and runs WriteMaps, an application for planning websites. We learned a great deal about access oriented web design, and Scott has graciously provided us with his presentation slides from the session.

Webinar: 7 Killer Steps to Generating Big, Fat, Hairy Design Ideas

MIT IS&T and the Publishing Services Bureau invite you to join us for a webinar called 7 Killer Steps to Generating Big, Fat, Hairy Design Ideas. The webinar is being presented by HOW magazine.

Date: February 26, 2009
Time: 4-5 p.m.
Location: N42 Demo Center; no registration required
For those unable to attend, presentation files will be available to download after the webinar.

Description:

Are your ideas flimsy? Do you feel like your ideas scamper away in the dark and hide the moment you share them? Are you jealous of those rocking few who seem to come up with big, fat, hairy ideas? The kind of ideas that are uttered alongside angelic voices while beams of light fall from the heavens? Good, because Reign Creative Director and “Caffeine for the Creative Mind” author Stefan Mumaw has the seven-step plan for learning how to generate monster ideas. Don’t settle for routine thoughts and stale solutions; crank up your ideation and learn how to boost the quantity and quality of your concepts.

Stefan will share real-world examples from his own experience as well as the perspectives of some of the biggest idea-makers in the industry, delving head first into the techniques and methods that can train you to produce the hairiest of ideas.

You’ll find out:

• What ‘Creative Training’ can do to pump up your flabby ideator
• How the biggest ideas hide behind the smallest questions
• How laying on the floor can make ideas reach the roof
• The benefits of assembling your own creative posse
• How play can be work, and vice versa
• How what you can reach right now may be all you need to trigger an idea torrent

Web Forms: Layouts Done Right

From LukeW Interface Designs comes this handy guide for laying out forms. He explains when and why to use vertical labels, left or right justified horizontal labels, backgrounds, content separation and actions.

…not all Web applications use forms consistently. Variations in the alignment of input fields, their respective labels, calls to action, and their surrounding visual elements can support or impair different aspects of user behavior.

Thanks to Michael Dutton of IS&T’s Usability Lab for this post idea!