Maunderings of a Digital Self
The latest fad in user onboarding has been adding a bot or pseudo-bot to chat and interact with users, called a “Conversational UI.” I say fad because it’s getting a lot of attention and attempts right now — it may well be a useful tool for the arsenal, but I’ll be happy when it’s out of vogue and is “just another tool.”
My grumbling aside, there’s some useful articles over at A List Apart about it, if you care to learn more:
I put the (ADD WORD LATER) in Procrastination! by Bonnie Burton, guest blogging over at Wil Wheaton’s blog.
A friendly reminder that we all procrastinate sometimes.
Over on her site, Jessica Abel has a series of articles going discussing creativity, and getting out from under your idea debt (I like the term):
The Pain With No Name by Abby Covert over at A List Apart, talking about Information Architecture (IA), an aspect of UX that often gets overlooked, but is (imho) hugely important as we get more and more overwhelmed with information throughout our lives.
7 Things I Did to Reboot My Life by Wil Wheaton. It’s a good read, and resonates a lot. Something I should be doing myself, I imagine.
Last autumn, A List Apart had some posts discussing mental health. The Couch Cone of Silence is a good read discussing an important topic (namely, how to be respectful of friends and coworkers who are dealing with some mental/emotional issues).
Why Learning to Code is So Damn Hard over at Viking Code School. Nice article discussing the different phases of learning to code, and how to deal with each.
I usually wipe out somewhere in phase 2 or rarely phase 3, which is why I like to say I can read/figure out a fair number of languages, but not write them. Next time I take a stab at learning to program, I’ll try to bear this info in mind.
Balancing Line Length And Font Size In Responsive Web Design. Nice article about readability online, for more than just responsive designs.
How Reddit Ranking Algorithms Work — nice breakdown of the hows and whys of how Reddit ranks based on likes, dislikes, and activity, for both posts and comments. Pretty cool if you’re interested in social computing and how to surface content.
While I’m not making it to the talks, I’m still super excited to be attending XOXO this year. (And yes, this means I’ll be in Portland this weekend if you want to come say hi!)