I think it's worth posting some ongoing musings on the web app design process as compared to the print design process.

Designing for the web has quite a different set of requirements. I like that you have to constantly think about the structure - where the user goes, how they get there, what they find when they are there and how they get back.
i think that the style and presentation are an additional layer on that, but decisions made about styling can have a direct impact on the method of interaction . . .

There seem to be 4 main part of the process

• aim and concept
• structure (which will modifiy aim)
• styling (which must understand the limitations of the structure)
• construction (coding - html, css, javascript)

the most logical place for overall direction of the design process would seem to lie at the structure/architecture level - because the site would need to retain it's structural integrity.

All the other areas require leads who are experts, and can respond to the requirements of the other parts of the process.

It's interesting that it is a somewhat more concrete process (than print). It is possible to build a working dummy more easily, because the medium you work in is the medium it is likely to be delivered on - and you can emulate the interactions quite easily (even if you can't code them - - - Keynote is working out well for me!) and see the holes, hone the process.

I must hone these thoughts at some point, but for now - post and be damned!

Great quote, about ideas and their execution

Be An Executioner

It's so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas. (People who want me to sign an nda to tell me the simplest idea.)

To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.

Explanation:

Awful idea = -1
Weak idea = 1
So-so idea = 5
Good idea = 10
Great idea = 15
Brilliant idea = 20
No execution = $1
Weak execution = $1000
So-so execution = $10,000
Good execution = $100,000
Great execution = $1,000,000
Brilliant execution = $10,000,000
To make a business, you need to multiply the two.

The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20. The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000.

That's why I don't want to hear people's ideas. I'm not interested until I see their execution.

Derek Sivers, president and programmer, CD Baby and HostBab

Quoted from Getting Real by 37 Signals

Guardian staff briefing

What are those tombstones on stage all about?

Reflections on the Mirror

There has been a long wait to see what Cases i Associats will do in their redesign of the Daily Mirror, and finally we begin to see it. At first glance one might be forgiven for thinking nothing's changed, but the brief, as I've been told was never to radically change the style of the paper.
Turning a few pages and looking more closely, it is clear that there are a lot of changes in the detail and typography. An attractive tailed sans font has been introduced for headlines, and the folios have had a rethink. The folio strap is usd for links as well.
Sport has the biggest transformation, which makes it feel bright and exciting but at the same time far more structured.
I will add to this with some pictures when I have the time, but for now, congratulations to Chico, Jennifer, Toni and anyone else on an excellent job. Case without looking like Cases, and the Mirror looking like the Mirror but brought up to date.

The word Apple starts with app

At a glance Apple's March 6 event yesterday seemed a bit techy, lowkey and it probably won't get a mention in much of the press, but I'm quietly excited about  Apple's launch of the tools to build applications for the iPhone . . . but not only that, also a store for buying applications - directly onto your iPhone. The iPhone is a fantastic little package, and runs a great platform (iPhone OSX), now there are great tools for making applications, and a great way of distributing, and for the user getting your apps . . I think Jason from 37 signals could have a point, they have all the ingredients for dominating the coming period of mobile computing - including an allilance with microsoft. And as long as Apple manages to build up the range of apps and sales during this the down part of the economic cycle, they could shoot out the other end like a rocket!

What we saw today was the beginning of two-decades of mobile domination by Apple. What Microsoft and Windows was to the desktop, Apple and Touch will be to mobile
Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)

Tragedy on the final holiday

That man, who's world was falling apart and he flipped, threw his son and daughter and himself off the balcony. He was just a man. Its
frightening what people can do. How isolated we can feel, and that
there is no-one to turn to. What an awful fact to live with. For the
mother and for him. Its awful.
But its also a tragedy that there will be little attempt to understand
the pressures that lead to something like this happening, how
alienated we are. Such fear of reflecting.

Rossellini's Green porno

My good friend Isabella Rossellini (that's a lie for starters, I heard her speak at the BFI, and spoke to her briefly when she signed a copy of her book for me) is bringing out eight short films for Mobile phones, called "Green Porno". Wired spoke to the director, Jody Shapiro, who says that the name Green Porno is designed to get more traffic. The Wired article is interesting, but if you want to see a bit of what it looks like, der Spiegel has a few stills from the film. She has some interesting insights into the intimacy of mobile devices, and film-making in the BBC clip above.

There will be more artists making work for this small canvas, and I think this is a very exciting landmark!

So a beautiful crazy sexy fly played by Isabella? . . .

In each episode, Rossellini assumes the role of the male insect. "Seeing Isabella Rossellini mount a housefly from behind while smiling at the camera," Shapiro remarked, "I can't imagine many people would have ever thought they’d see that."

From Wired