July 2009

Potential Dessert, or just Potential?

Submitted by Marli Mesibov on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 10:24
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Ideas Worth Spreading is one of my all time favorite websites and sources of inspiration, and I hope to share many of the thought provoking, interesting, and occasionally world-changing 20-minutes-or-less lessons as I come across them.  Yesterday I came across Don't Eat the Marshmallow... Yet, by Joachim de Posada.

Video: 

Contextual (User-Centered) Design

Submitted by Robin Brandenburg on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 00:53
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The Contextual Design methodology, developed by Karen Holtzblatt and Hugh Beyer, is a customer-centered design process which uses extensive field data as the foundation for understanding users’ needs, tasks, intents, and processes in order to design products that meet both users’ and business’ needs.

Mashable on Internet Explorer 6

Submitted by Nate Prouty on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:48
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Mashable has a great article on Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) - and why it must be stopped. Our goal to provide innovative solutions depends greatly on the tools we have and the limitations imposed by platforms to which we choose to deliver. As more and more major players on the web drop support for IE6 (YouTube and Facebook included), the IE6 browser becomes less and less relevant. The time spent focusing on IE6-only issues continually takes away from valuable resource and development time of more innovative and creative features allowed by more modern browsers.
 

Harry Potter and the Reading Revolution

Submitted by Marli Mesibov on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:24
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I remember the first time I ever saw a Harry Potter book.  I was in a book store in upstate New York, and my mother was pushing me to find my "Beach Book" - something funny, something silly, something different from my usual reading material.  She picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and said "this looks like fun - and you love magic!"  I didn't find out it was part of a series for another two years.

K-12 Technology Landscape

Submitted by Robin Brandenburg on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 23:44
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I enjoy exploring how technology is being used in K-12 classrooms. To view a presentation I recently created, go to: http://prezi.com/130172/

More Than Problem Solvers

Submitted by Alissa Jones on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 14:06
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It is often said that graphic designers are problem solvers. The client has a problem and graphic designers are to find the solution, but is that really the best description for designers? The term problem solver could really apply to many occupations. When you have a leaky roof, you call a roofer to fix the leak. When you feel sick, a doctor will make you well again. When you need a package to travel across the country and arrive tomorrow, a delivery service will solve your problem. The term “problem solver” for graphic designers seems too general.