Hi Bloug-listers, you've not heard much from me for most of the past year.
Why?  It's not that I haven't been blogging; go here and you'll see that
I've been busy enough.  No, I've not sent out postings to this list
because... well, I kinda forgot.  No good reason, really.  I just got out of
the habit, and have been relying on RSS and Twitter (@louisrosenfeld) to get
out the word.

D'uh.  Not too smart.  A few of you have asked me, in kinder terms, WTF?

And so, starting today, I'll start emailing my blog postings once more.
Thanks for sticking with me.  And happy September y'all!

---
*
September 13, 2009:  Disaster Planning for the IA Community *(
http://clop.in/Ps8XGB)*

*It's been a year since the financial meltdown. And it's got me wondering:
how hard have information architects been hit?

I have plenty of anecdotal information, but really, I don't feel confident
in saying that this has or hasn't been a disaster for the IA community. But
it's clearly been a disaster for the many, many individual information
architects and fellow travelers that have lost their sources of income.
Which gets me thinking: *how might we work as a community to blunt, if not
avert, professional disasters large and small?*

Some ill-formed ideas follow; while you have a look, consider what you might
need if and when you lose your job or consulting work. I know you'll come up
with better ideas than these:

    - *Misery loves company.* We need to know that we're not alone in our
    situations, especially if it's one of those "large disasters". Facebook,
    LinkedIn and other social networks provide us with venues where we can
    inform people we know and trust about our situations. But they're not
    IA-specific; would it be useful to have such a venue? Would it be reasonable
    and practical to share the news and ask for help on the IAI-members list? If
    so, we'd probably need a "what happens on this list stays on this list"
    policy a la UTEST. Or maybe we'd need a separate "SOS Forum" altogether?
    - *How bad it is it out there?* To scope the extent of the effects of an
    economic downturn, it might be useful for someone—say, the IAI—to take the
    pulse of the community on a regular basis. Perhaps a repeatable survey
    driven by metrics for successful employment would do the trick. Of course,
    these results will need to be shared and compared longitudinally. (BTW,
    given that IAI board members are usually pretty senior, they might be
    otherwise somewhat insulated from what's happening in the trenches, so such
    a survey might be helpful to them as well.)
    - *Send a care package* Getting a job or finding contracting gigs is
    never simple, nor is it exactly rocket science. But when you've just had the
    rug pulled out from under you, it's all too easy to feel overwhelmed. To
    help, it might not be too hard for groups like the IAI to assemble a "care
    package" of useful resources in one handy place that can be zipped to those
    in need. It could include:
       - Links to job boards, mentoring programs, and volunteering
       opportunities (volunteering is one of the best things you can do when you
       have time on your hands).
       - Information on how to polish your resume and portfolio, and tips on
       how to sell IA/UX/whatever (and, by extension, yourself).
       - Links to relevant groups and networking opportunities in LinkedIn,
       FaceBook, as well as where and when local groups meet.
       - Reminders to remember to shower regularly, shave occasionally, and
       turn off the tube generally.
    - *Keeping the lights on.* I've always been skeptical of having
    associations like the IAI offer health insurance. And, believe it or not,
    here in the US we're actually allowed to continue funding our own health
    plans for some time after being laid off. But perhaps group insurance and
    other programs and services that help us maintain such basics as good health
    are worth reconsidering? Or heck, perhaps microloans a la Kiva?

This is just a start, and though I call out the IAI, this is obviously
relevant to other UXers and more. In any case, what would you need if a
professional disaster befell you?

PERMALINK/COMMENTS:  http://clop.in/Ps8XGB


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

*April 15, 2009:  Visiting London and Hamburg in May
*

I have a pretty insane travel schedule next month. I'll be in Hamburg May
15-19, and London from May 19-21.
MJ<http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisrosenfeld/2879362960/>won't talk
to me,
Iris<http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisrosenfeld/3443578700/in/photostream/>pout\
s,
and little
Nate<http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisrosenfeld/3246515698/in/set-7215760572246\
3660/>spits
up on me whenever the subject comes up. Plus I'll be working hard all
day on my birthday (May 20). So, EuroUXers, please make it worth my while by
showing up at one of my talks. I thank you, my family thanks you.

Here's the schedule:

    - *May 16:* I'll be keynoting the Deutsche IA
Konferenz<http://www.iakonferenz.org/de/2009/splash2009.html>.
    I'm looking forward to catching up with the other speakers, including *Peter
    Van Dijck*, *Peter Bogaards*, and *Andrea Resmini*.
    - *May 18:* I teach my day-long Enterprise Information Architecture
    Seminar <http://louisrosenfeld.com/eia/> for the first time in Europe
    since 2003. *Jim Kalbach* will be teaching two very interesting workshops
    on ethnography and personas the next two days; we'll both be hosted
by *Karen
    Lindemann* of Netflow <http://netflow-lindemann.de/>, one of the hubs of
    user experience in Germany. Registration details are
here<http://www.uxworkshops.com/>;
    the early bird deadline is April 30.
    - *May 20:* I teach my day-long Site Search Analytics
Workshop<http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa/>for the first time in Europe.
(Yes, the
    book <http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/searchanalytics/> really
*is*coming along).
    *Steve Krug* teaches his Discount Usability Workshop the next day. Steve
    and I will be hosted by the absolutely wonderful people at
Etre<http://etre.com/>,
    and teach at the ICA, which I hear is quite a nice venue. Registration and
    more information is
here<http://events.etre.com/events/2009/etre-get-together/>.
    And the early registration deadline is coming up very soon: April 20.

My warmed-over corpse will then try to make it to its first UPA in early
June.


BLOUG PERMALINK:
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2009/04/visiting_london_and_hamburg\
_in.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

*February 10, 2009:  Engagement and stakeholding. And steak.*

Yesterday morning I was lugging a suitcase homeward, still bleary from a
red-eye flight from Vancouver, where I'd attended the
interaction'09<http://interaction09.ixda.org/>conference. Although I
felt like hell, clearly I looked like a giant of
industry, or at least a man of reasonable means, as I was approached by a
fellow who asked me, "Hey, chief, want to buy some steaks?"

Raw steak. On Seventh Avenue. In the morning. Oh well, you've gotta admire
the entrepreneurial instinct, however misplaced.

But the funny thing was that I'd just been thinking about steaks. Well, to
be honest, stakes, as in stakeholding. At the conference, I'd been
explaining the Rosenfeld Media <http://rosenfeldmedia.com/> publishing model
to a dozen or so prospective authors. I kept returning to the words
"engagement" and "stakeholding". I explained that one of our major goals is
to engage with all sorts of people—practitioners, influencers, subject
matter experts, and more—so that they'd have a stake in each book. More
engagement from more stakeholders during the creation of the product leads
to a better product.

That our goal, but isn't it yours too?

Whatever type of work we're doing, and whatever terms we use to describe it,
when it comes to our hoped-for outcomes, aren't we all trying to get beyond
experience, interaction, and design? Aren't we trying to create artifacts
that ultimately engage? Isn't that the secret sauce?

For example, at the conference, I was talking with a couple of the
interaction design field's strongest advocates. I think they're doing
wonderful things, and the conference was fantastic. But the term
interaction: well, interactions happen, one way or another. And they can be
good, or not so good. But it's a dry term, almost too objective.

But engagement seems to have a much higher degree of implicit value. People
don't typically engage with things the don't like. When they engage, they've
acquired a sense of stake in whatever they're using, and there's a true
dialogue between user and system and the people behind the system.
Engagement means blurring the lines between user and provider, as the
implicit dialogue leads to all players enjoying a stake in a shared system
(or experience).

Thinking in terms of engagement, rather than experience, architecture, or
interactions, has opened all sorts of doors for me, whether I'm consulting,
publishing, or whatever. I look at every potential relationship between
people involved in an experience, and ask "How we engage better?" and "How
can they have a stake in what we're doing?" To me, that's much richer than
asking how we can help users interact better, or help them find better, or
entertain them better, or anything else.

So please pardon me if, during our next conversation, I keep repeating the
terms "engagement" and "stakeholding". It just feels right. Moreso than any
other term, even "user experience".

What do you think?


PS To all you vegetarians out there, please pardon the red meat reference;
it's just difficult not to share some of the odd occurrences that happen
along Brooklyn's Seventh Avenue.


PERMALINK:
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2009/02/engagement_and_stakeholding\
_an.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

January 20, 2009:  IA Summit program now available

And then there were ten:  check out the fantastic
program<http://iasummit.org/2009/program/>assembled for the 2009 IA
Summit (yes, our tenth!).  It takes place in
Memphis (home to Elvis and ancient Greeks), March 20-22;
pre-conferences<http://iasummit.org/2009/program/pre-con/>are March
18-19.   See you there.


PERMALINK:  http://tinyurl.com/8eyhhv


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

*January 15, 2009:  UX webinars galore*

We've just announced five new Future Practice user experience
webinars<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/announcements/2009/01/five_new_future_pra\
ctice_webin.php>("we"
being Smart
Experience <http://smartexperience.org/> and Rosenfeld
Media<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/>).
Great practical topics, great presenters (*Christian Rohrer, Bill Scott,
Kristina Halvorson, Ginny Redish, *and *John Ferrara*).  More coming; this
will be a monthly thing.  Check them out and register
here<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/webinars/>
.


PERMALINK

http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/announcements/2009/01/five_new_future_practice_web\
in.php


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

*December 1, 2008:  Noodling (socially)...*

...with creating Rosenfeld Media <http://rosenfeldmedia.com/> groups for
both
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Rosenfeld-Media-books-and-webin\
ars/38066698559?ref=nf>and
LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1404987&trk=anet_ug_grppro>
.

Now don't get me wrong. Apples and oranges. I really love both services. And
*Christina <http://www.eleganthack.com/>,* who's now at LinkedIn. They'd
better be paying her really, really well.

But it's definitely easier to get going virally in Facebook. About 70 fans
in about four hours, and a few helpful comments. In fact, the process of
figuring out how to get it set up was aided quite a bit by a few of my 200
plus Facebook friends.

In LinkedIn, I have about 500 contacts. But, um, they're not *friends.* At
least they don't feel that way. Sure, it's a business network, but I don't
feel like there's anyone I can turn to for help. And it's far, far harder to
invite those contacts to join.

Both services have their respective benefits. Sometimes a tighter, more
restrictive network has its purposes. And it's far too early to make a
judgment here. But I figured out how to get things going pretty quickly with
the Facebook group. I'm still grappling with the LinkedIn group.

Some help here?

If you want to kick the tires on either or both, here you go: RM
LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1404987&trk=anet_ug_grppro>,
RM
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Rosenfeld-Media-books-and-webin\
ars/38066698559?ref=nf>
.

*PERMALINK*

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/12/noodling_socially.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

*November 20, 2008: Remote user research book*

**I'm pretty jazzed that Rosenfeld Media <http://rosenfeldmedia.com/> has
signed a new book: *Remote Research* by *Nate Bolt* and *Tony
Tulathimutte.*I'm convinced that more and more user research will be
done remotely in the
coming years, and we really need a book—*this book*—to guide us. Here's the
full announcement:

We've been working on getting Nate Bolt and Tony Tulathimutte to write a
book on remote user research for a couple years now. Through their work at Bolt
| Peters <http://boltpeters.com/>, purveyors of Ethnio <http://ethnio.com/>,
a remote research service, they've become experts at leveraging new
technologies to study users in their native habitats.

Well, we've finally succeeded, and *Remote Research* is now officially a
Rosenfeld Media book-in-progress site! We're quite excited by their
proposal; you can get a taste of what they'll cover from its full
description<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/remote-research/info/description/>an\
d
tentative table
of
contents<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/remote-research/info/table_of_contents/\
>
.

Aside from visiting the site<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/remote-research/>,
you can also keep up with their progress by subscribing to their site's RSS
feed <http://feeds.rosenfeldmedia.com/remote_research>. Or if you prefer,
you can just sign up to be
notified<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/remote-research/info/publication_notifi\
cation/>when
the book goes on sale.

PERMALINK

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/11/remote_user_research_book.h\
tml


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

November 17, 2008:  More mental models


Just published *Victor Lombardi's*
interview<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/announcements/2008/11/future_practice_in\
terview_indi.php>with
*Indi Young* on the cutting edge of mental models.   Obviously we're doing
this to crassly promote our upcoming
webinar<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/webinars/mental-models/>with
Indi.   But hey, we did include a 20% discount on the page.

If you've already read Indi's
book<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/>,
you'll see from reading the interview that the webinar takes mental models
beyond what she covered in the book.  And if you haven't, well, the
registration fee includes a copy of the book—and you should have more than
enough time to read it before December 11.


PERMALINK

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/11/more_mental_models.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

November 14, 2008:  Resolution for 2009: UX Book Salon tour


Even though the Christmas decorations are just starting to appear here in
Brooklyn, it's not too soon to make a New Year's Resolution.

When I started Rosenfeld Media <http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/>, I set up a
few brown bag lunches with groups of designers and researchers from a few
local UX firms.  I was looking to learn more about what our target audience
liked and didn't like about the design of the books they used for their
work. I asked them to bring their own books to the discussion.  The
resulting show and tell discussions were fantastically useful, and had a
significant impact on the designs of both our digital and paperback
editions.  (Notes on these discussions
here<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/announcements/2006/03/more_on_what_makes_for_\
a_good_1.php>
.)

Just as important, these discussions provided an outlet for some intense,
passionate discussions about UX books, their designs, and their topics.  UX
pros' pent-up feelings clearly needed to be expressed, and it was
enlightening for everyone involved.

Unfortunately, once Rosenfeld Media started actually producing
books<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/>,
I got side-tracked by details of promoting, selling, and distributing them.
Bad, Lou, bad.  A publisher should always be meeting with and talking with
his community.  And a UX publisher?  Only more so, obviously.

So, starting next year, *I resolve to organize informal UX Book Salons on a
monthly basis.*  The goal of these meetings will be to raise consciousness
about the books we use as UX professionals.  Books are products—information
systems, really—that we rarely look at critically.  We shouldn't take their
design—or their topics—for granted.  So this will be your opportunity to
sound off about what works for you and what doesn't, what topics you'd like
to know more about, and what authors really matter.  I'll even give away
some Rosenfeld Media books at each salon to sweeten the deal.

These salons will take place in two venues:   the conferences I'll be
attending (see the "Where I'll Be" list on my blog's main
page<http://louisrosenfeld.com/>)
and, during the months I get to stay home, at various New York City UX
firms.  For the latter, I'll plan these in advance and if they're open to
the public, I'll announce them here on Bloug and on the Rosenfeld
Media site<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/>
.

At conferences, I'll be organizing the salons in a somewhat impromptu way,
using guerrilla techniques like Twitter to get the word out.  (This worked
extremely well earlier this year when we wanted to get a
conversation<http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/im_grateful.ht\
ml>going
about
*Kevin Cheng's* book topic <http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/comics/>.)
Follow me in Twitter (louisrosenfeld) to find out when and where.

I really think that this is the right thing to do. It'll certainly help me
as a publisher, but more importantly, it might help make us all better, more
critical consumers of the books that help us do our work.

I hope you'll join me in one of these discussions next year if you're in the
neighborhood.  Happy new year!


PERMALINK

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/11/resolution_for_2009_ux_book\
_sa.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

November 9, 2008:  Luke on the future of web form design

This past weekend I
interviewed<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/announcements/2008/11/an_interview_wit\
h_luke_wroblew.php>
*Luke Wroblewski* about gradual engagement and other issues at the cutting
edge of web form design.  He'll be covering this topic in great detail
during his webinar
<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/webinars/webforms/>(coming up this
Thursday, November 13).  Check out the
interview<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/announcements/2008/11/an_interview_with_\
luke_wroblew.php>and
snag a 20% discount off the registration fee.

PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/11/luke_on_the_future_of_web_f\
orm.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

October 29, 2008:  Now publishing... webinars!


For a year or two—even before Rosenfeld Media
<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/>actually had published a book—I've been
wanting to extend our scope to
webinars. It seems like such a natural complement to book publishing. Books
alone are, well, books. Books and webinars? Now you're talking *content
ecosystem.* Authors who've assembled content for their books have at least
one webinar in them. Some topics don't merit book treatment, but definitely
make sense as webinars. And when we're not sure, we can test topics (and
people) out with the webinar format before committing to a book, which is
far more expensive to produce.

This ecosystem discussion is, not surprisingly, very publisher-centric. But
what do customers get out of webinars? That's still very much an open
question. And personally, I've had mixed reactions to webinars, both as a
customer and as a speaker.

But I'm optimistic. Not only is the technology becoming far better and
cheaper, but let's face it: travel is becoming prohibitively expensive.
Webinars may be the "poor man's conference," but these days there are a lot
of poor men (and women) out there who want to improve their design skills.

That's why Rosenfeld Media is collaborating with *Victor Lombardi's* Smart
Experience <http://smartexperience.org/> to produce a new series of UX
webinars. The Future Practice
series<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/webinars/>will tackle the cutting
edge of modern UX practice.

Our first two webinars presenters just happen our first two authors;
following are the dates and their topics. Use code *LBRWBNR* for 20% off
your ticket when you register at the Rosenfeld Media
site<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/webinars/>:


    - November 13 (1-2pm EST): *Modern Web Form Design* with Luke Wroblewski.
    [details
<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/webinars/webforms/>/register<http://rosenfeldmedi\
a.com/checkout/?&ns=addcart&ccp0--prodaddtocart--ref=Web%20Form%20Design%20Webin\
ar>
    ]
    - December 11 (1-2pm EST): *Using Mental Models for Tactics and
Strategy*with Indi Young. [
    details
<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/webinars/mental-models/>/register<http://rosenfel\
dmedia.com/checkout/?&ns=addcart&ccp0--prodaddtocart--ref=Mental%20Models%20Webi\
nar>
    ]

I'm really pleased to be working directly with Victor, my colleague, friend,
and neighbor here in Brooklyn. And hats off to *Jared Spool,* who's provided
both inspiration and advice. No one does virtual
seminars<http://www.uie.com/events/virtual_seminars/>better than UIE,
though we hope to come close.

Above I mentioned that the success of webinars has a lot to do with
technology costs coming down and travel costs going up. But I think there's
one more important factor: the user experience of attending a webinar is
improving, slowly but surely. Victor and I know that the webinar experience
can and should be better, and darn it, we're going to try our best. What
would you suggest we keep in mind as we develop our webinar series? We'd
love your advice!


PERMALINK

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/10/now_publishing_webinars.htm\
l


CRASS AND COMMERCIAL

Lou's last workshop of the year:  *Site Search Analytics for a Better User
Experience* (November 11 in Washington, DC).  Details and registration:
http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa/


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

October 2, 2008:  Interviewed by E-consultancy


E-consultancy <http://www.e-consultancy.com/> just interviewed
me<http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/366388/q-a-lou-rosenfeld-on-site-searc\
h-analytics.html>about
one of my favorite topics, site search analytics.   Many thanks to
*Richard Maven* for the excellent questions.   In my last answer, I let slip
some big news on the site search analytics
book<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/searchanalytics/>front; more
on that soon...


PERMALINK

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/10/interviewed_by_econsultantc\
y.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

September 9, 2008:  Discount for An Event Apart


One of the nicest things about moving in New York has been getting to
know *Jeffrey
Zeldman* of *A List Apart <http://alistapart.com/>/Designing with Web
Standards<http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Web-Standards-Jeffrey-Zeldman/dp/03213\
85551/>
/*Happy Cog <http://happycog.com/> fame. I spoke at his conference, An Event
Apart ("the design conference for people who make websites"), a year or so
ago, and it was a wonderfully-produced event. AEA takes
place<http://aneventapart.com/events/2008/chicago>once more this year,
in Chicago October 13-14 (just before
*Steve Krug* and I do our
thing<http://louisrosenfeld.com/presentations/seminars/site_search_analytics/>th\
ere
on October 16-17).

Jeffrey's kindly offering a special discount to Friends of Steve and Lou;
just use the discount code AEASKLR when you register and you'll save $100
off the registration price. Thanks Jeffrey!

While we're on the subject of events: lookit all the wonderful
places<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/events/>Rosenfeld Media authors
are speaking at during the next few months... You'll
see some more discounts listed there too.


PERMALINK

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/09/discount_for_an_event_apart\
.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

August 27, 2008:  Fall workshops in Chicago and Washington, DC


*Steve Krug* and I are at it again.  We'll be teaching our new workshops
this fall in Chicago (October 16/17) and Washington, DC (November 11/12).
We're offering discounts for early registration, for groups of three or
more, and for signing up for both days.  More info
here<http://louisrosenfeld.com/presentations/seminars/site_search_analytics/>
.

I must say, it's been fun to assemble an entirely new workshop (I just
started teaching this one in the spring).  When you teach the same class for
many years, like my old enterprise IA seminar, it tends to get overloaded
and difficult to squeeze into one day.  I centered the new one from the
start around hands-on exercises and discussion.  Of course, it's still hard
to squeeze into one day.  But so far the evaluations have been good.  Many
say it's one of those topics that they didn't realize they needed to know
about, and are now glad that they do.  Not that I'm biased...

Anyway, I hope to see you there this fall.

PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/08/fall_workshops_in_chicago_a\
nd.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

August 20, 2008:  Must... kill...


I've long advocated for banning the term
"redesign"<http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/the_redesign_mus\
t_die_talk.html>from
design discussions.  (Crazy me, but I just think it's a good idea to
keep clear of time-boxed projects that are ill-conceived and ultimately a
waste of effort and money.)  I think terms like "refine" and "tune" do a far
better job of describing what we should be doing: instituting ongoing
processes that help our sites evolve in response to a multitude of changing
variables.

I hate to sound like a fascist, but I think "build community" ought to be
the next one we throw on the pyre.  Dunno, maybe I've read too many RFPs of
late, but what the hell is it supposed to mean?  Is it truly achievable?  Is
it even a good idea?  How many organizations really want a community on
their hands to repeatedly feed, burp, and diaper?  I think what we mean is
that we want to "better engage with more people".  But until we find a
replacement term, can we just bite our tongues instead of using this
ridiculous, meaningless phrase?

PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/08/must_kill.html

CRASS AND COMMERCIAL
10% off Rosenfeld Media books with this discount code:  BLOUG.  Go to
http://rosenfeldmedia.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

July 29, 2008:  Another book signing:  Nathan Shedroff on sustainable design


I'll once again plagiarize my
announcement<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/announcements/2008/07/new_book_signin\
g_nathan_shedro.php>over
at the Rosenfeld Media site. But first:
*Nathan Shedroff* is a truly outstanding person. And there's really no
design topic that's more important than sustainability. Wow. I. Am.
Thrilled.

OK, here's the announcement:

Four years ago, *Peter Morville* rolled out the user experience
honeycomb<http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php>,
with its seven facets of UX. Since then, there's been something of a cottage
industry of suggesting new facets (all of which, unfortunately, throw off
the geometry of Peter's elegant hexagon).

Perhaps it's time to consider adding yet another facet:
*sustainability.*What and how we design has implications, especially
when our designs are
ultimately fabricated, transported, and physically consumed. In this time of
post-peak oil and environmental worries, designers have an even greater
responsibility to consider how our work impacts our planet.

That's why Rosenfeld Media will be publishing *Nathan Shedroff's* newest
book, *"Design is the
Problem<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/sustainable-design/>:
The Future of Design Must be Sustainable".* It's a bit of a departure for
us—this is not a practical UX "method" book—but if it helps all of us to
bake sustainability into our design processes, it might be the most
practical topic we could ever cover.

It's also an opportunity to work with Nathan, who continues to make amazing
contributions<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/sustainable-design/author/biograph\
y/>to
the field. His energy is boundless, and his passion for sustainability
is
humbling. We can't wait for his book to arrive!

Want to find out when the book is available (and receive a discount to
boot)? Sign up for a publication
notification<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/sustainable-design/info/publication\
_notification/>.
You can engage with Nathan and learn more about the topic at his
book-in-progress
site <http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/sustainable-design/>, and keep up with
the book's progress by subscribing to the site's RSS
feed<http://feeds.rosenfeldmedia.com/sustainable-design/>
.

BLOUG PERMALINK:
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/07/another_book_signing_nathan\
_sh.html


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July 15, 2008:  New RM book signing:  Kevin Cheng on comics


I'm quite excited about this one.  In the interests of efficiency, I'll just
steal the announcement from the Rosenfeld Media site:

Many in the user experience world are become quite familiar with *Kevin
Cheng's* wit and perspective through OK/Cancel <http://www.ok-cancel.com/>,
the brilliant comic strip he co-creates with *Tom Chi* (more about Kevin
here <http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/comics/author/biography/>.) Now
we'll get to delve further into Kevin's creative mind: he's agreed to write
*See What I Mean <http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/comics/>: How to Use
Comics to Communicate Ideas* for Rosenfeld
Media<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/>.
Kevin and I have been bouncing around this book idea for years, and I'm
thrilled that we'll have an opportunity to work together.

Many recognize that comics are a powerful design tool, but assume they need
to be artists to create comics. Through his workshops Kevin has been
disproving that assumption for years, and now his book will do the same for
a wider audience. See What I Mean will teach anyone, regardless of drawing
ability, how to use comics to communicate design concepts effectively.

Like all Rosenfeld Media books, Kevin's begins with a book-in-progress
site<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/comics/>where he'll share his
ideas as they develop, and where we hope you'll do the
same. We invite you to engage in Kevin's writing process; this is your
opportunity to shape what we believe will be a mainstay on every designer's
bookshelf for years to come. You can also keep up with the book's progress
by subscribing to its RSS
feed<http://feeds.rosenfeldmedia.com/comicstocommunicateideas/>
.
PERMALINK
http://tinyurl.com/5jvq8p


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June 10, 2008:  One of these things is not...


McCain's web team must have since been shamed into fixing their site's
information architecture, because "Golf Gear" is no longer one of its
four main tabs. But there's a screen grab [1] over at Talking Points
Memo...


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/06/one_of_these_things_is_not.\
html

LINKS
[1] http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/198945.php

May 27, 2008:  Questions for IA/IM vendors


Occasionally I help my clients find consulting firms for information
architecture and information management projects. Here's how I help:

    - Establish an overall hiring process
    - Develop RFPs
    - Assemble an initial list of potential vendors
    - Review proposals
    - Develop short list selection criteria
    - Come up with (and ask) questions for the interviews of short list
    candidates
    - Develop systems for evaluating proposals and presentations

Because I'm such a swell guy, *I've decided to share a general set of
interview questions below.* Hopefully some Bloug readers might find these
helpful to consider when hiring a vendor. Chime in with others you think
should be added...


  *Your company*

    - Please give us the "elevator pitch" for your company.
    - What makes your company different?
    - How long have you been in business?
    - How has your company evolved (e.g., staff, service offerings)?
    - Has your company used a different name in the past?
    - Where is your headquarters?
    - Where will the team assigned to us will be based?

*Your people*

    - How many consultants are employed by your company?
    - What is your likely team configuration for our project?
       - Team size
       - Mix of permanent versus contractors
       - Mix of full-time versus part-time
       - Job types/skill sets
    - Do you know who specifically will be assigned to our team? Can you
    share their biographies? If not, why not?
    - How long have they worked together?
    - Will you need to bring on additional staff for our project? Do you
    already have those staff identified? Have you worked with them before?

*Your past work*

    - Describe a project that the team has worked on that's similar to ours
    (in terms of industry, technologies, etc.).
    - What were the key take-aways from that project?
    - What would you have done differently?

*Our project*

    - What appeals to you about working with us?
    - What appeals to you about this project in particular?
    - Which aspects of this project will be the most challenging for you?
    - Which aspects of this project will be the most challenging for us?
    - What should we be doing now to prepare for this project?

*How will you tackle our project?*

    - Would you walk us through the methodology you're likely to use?
    - Which aspects of your methodology are particularly unique to your
    company?
    - If we had a much larger budget, what would you do differently in terms
    of methodology?

*What will the outcome be?*

    - What would the product/deliverables ultimately be?
    - Would it be possible to show us a sample?
    - At the end of the project, where will we be?
       - What would the likely next steps be?
       - Would you be the logical vendor to continue with? If not, what type
       of company would you recommend?
       - Do you have established relationships/partnerships with other
       companies? Which ones?

*How should your work be evaluated?*

    - What metrics should be used to evaluate this project's success?
    - Have we missed any important ones in our RFP?

*Working together*

    - Will your team have a single point of contact?
    - Who will be your team's project manager? How much of their job will be
    dedicated to managing our project?
    - Should one of our own people also allocate time to project management?
    - What is the best way to communicate with you (e.g., email, phone)?
    - What one thing makes for a successful client/consultant relationship?


BLOUG PERMALINK & COMMENTS
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/05/questions_for_iaim_vendors.\
html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

May 13, 2008:  Come be happy


Steve Krug and I are in Chicago this week to teach our day-long
workshops [1] (me on Thursday, and Steve on Friday).  Roundarch [2]
has kindly agreed to sponsor and organize a happy hour in concert with
our visit. It takes place Thursday, May 15, from 6:00pm-8:00pm at the
Elephant & Castle Pub (185 N. Wabash Avenue).  Come by for drinks,
complementary pub grub, and socializing. RSVP to rwankovsky [at]
roundarch.com; hope to see you there!


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/05/come_be_happy.html

LINKS
[1] http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa
[2] http://roundarch.com/

May 8, 2008:  Book testing: how we did it


Joshua Kaufman of UXmatters interviewed [1] Liz Danzico and me about
Rosenfeld Media, specifically addressing how we determined book
features and tested our designs.  We describe a bit of the "show and
tell" approach we used for identifying features, and a bit about the
task analysis we did for the print and digital edition designs.  It's
a nice short read; Joshua and Pabini Gabriel-Petit, UXmatters'
editor-in-chief, did a great job.

Speaking of books, I think we'll have sold 1,000 copies of Luke
Wroblewski's Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks by tomorrow.
That's not bad, considering it launched Monday!  I wish I could take
credit as some sort of guru of book promo, but it ultimately comes
down to an excellent author and excellent content.  Unfortunately,
we're also experiencing all sorts of glitches with our shopping cart
that are keeping me up way too late, but when your systems are
suddenly hit by 20 times the normal activity, I guess stuff is bound
to happen.


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/05/book_testing_how_we_did_it.\
html

LINKS
[1] http://uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000285.php
[2] http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/webforms/

CRASS AND COMMERCIAL
There are still some seats open for my last spring workshop, in
Chicago on May 15.  My new workshop is on using site search analytics
to diagnose and address problems with content, navigation, metadata,
and search performance.  It sounds like a narrow topic, but so far
attendees are telling me that 1) they were surprised at how useful it
is and 2) they'd wished it was two days long, rather than one.  More
here:  http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa

April 30, 2008:  The Redesign Must Die talk


Just on my way home from an enjoyable visit to the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Tim Offenstein and friends put on
a great event [1].  Sick (again; WTF?), exhausted, but happy.  And
happy to report that I should have a new book [2] to go on sale later
this week.

But enough of that; here are the slides [3].  Much better with
animation, but I had to upload a PDF, as the PPT was too large for
SlideShare.  Email me if you want the full 59Mb PPT.  And thanks to
everyone who made suggestions; it was a fun keynote to give (and
hopefully to sit through).


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/the_redesign_must_die_talk.\
html

LINKS
[1] http://www.webmasters.uiuc.edu/forum/2008/index.htm
[2] http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/webforms/
[3] http://www.slideshare.net/lrosenfeld/redesign-must-die-381947/

April 28, 2008:  Tales from Redesignland


On Wednesday I'll be keynoting the University of Illinois' 9th Annual
Webmaster Forum. [1]  The theme of the event is redesign, and for me,
redesign boils down to two four-letter words.  Double trouble.
Redesigns are counterproductive; not surprisingly, my talk will be
titled "Redesign Must Die".

So Judy Matthews' timing couldn't have been better when she pointed me
to Tales from Redesignland [2], a fantastically funny (and apropos)
new blog about the travails of those pushing the redesign rock up the
academic mountain.  Cool.  Now I don't need to prep; I can just read
Redesignland's cartoons out loud.  I hope this guy manages to hold on
to enough shreds of his sanity to keep producing this excellent blog.
Highly recommended.


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/tales_from_redesignland.htm\
l

LINKS
[1] http://www.webmasters.uiuc.edu/forum/2008/index.htm
[2] http://redesignland.blogspot.com/

CRASS AND COMMERCIAL
One more Site Search Analytics for a Better User Experience workshop
this spring (Chicago, May 15):  http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa

April 25, 2008:  Updated workshop slides


Just posted an updated set of the slides for my site search analytics
workshop [1].  Feel free to download them [2] from SlideShare.  I'll
be teaching it once more this spring, in Chicago on May 15; come join
us for the day.


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/updated_workshop_slides.htm\
l

LINKS
[1] http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa
[2]
http://www.slideshare.net/lrosenfeld/site-search-analytics-workshop-presentation

CRASS AND COMMERCIAL
Luke Wroblewski's "Web Form Design:  Filling in the Blanks" should go
on sale May 1; sign up here to be notified:
http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/webforms/info/publication_notification/

April 24, 2008:  Bug tracking for government


Just got back from a few days in the Bay Area.  Incredibly packed
trip, immensely enjoyable nonetheless.  The coolest idea from the
visit:  Mike Kunavsky told me about ParkScan.org [1], a
"...community-initiated, web-based reporting system that tracks
maintenance conditions in San Francisco's parks and playgrounds."
More from their site:

"Community members' observations, once reported via our web-based
form, are sent electronically to the appropriate city departments for
action.  A tracking number is assigned to each report, and the
responsible department is notified.  Dangerous conditions are acted on
immediately, and general maintenance issues are handled in short
order.  Capital repairs are scheduled as budgets permit."

Wow.  Underfunded government entity, meet concerned citizens.
Citizens supply data to the system, which routes it to the appropriate
officials.  (Meaning the appropriate official only has to be located
once, rather than by each citizen.)  Patterns and trends appear,
enabling the officials to prioritize their efforts and budgets.

Man, I love this concept.  Of course, squeaky wheel citizens will be
the ones who are frequent Internet users.  Which doesn't describe
low-income citizens.  Who happen to be the ones whose parks are in the
worst shape.  Hmm, I see a problem here.

Nonetheless, as someone who really wants to see governments succeed in
serving citizens, I can see approaches like this making a big
difference.

Government 2.0, anyone?


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/bug_tracking_for_government\
.html

LINK
[1] http://parkscan.org/

April 17, 2008:  Chicago early bird registration is April 18


The Steve and Lou tour's last spring stop is Chicago, May 15-16, and
the early registration deadline is tomorrow.  Register [1] by then to
receive a $100 discount off each day-long workshop.

I'll be teaching my new workshop, "Site Search Analytics for a Better
User Experience" [1], and Steve Krug's new workshop, "Don't Make Me
Think: The Discount Usability Testing Workshop" [2], takes place the
next day.

We'll be joining in a happy hour the evening of May 15, sponsored by
Roundarch's Chicago office [3].  Details forthcoming; hope to see you
in Chicago next month!


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/chicago_early_bird_registra\
tio.html

LINKS
[1] http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa
[2] http://www.sensible.com/workshops.html
[3] http://www.roundarch.com/

April 16, 2008:  I'm grateful


Anyone who's followed my blog over the past seven (!) years knows that
I'm always promoting the IA Summit. [1]  It was my baby at its
inception, but it's gotten better every year.  As a strapping nine
year-old, it's clearly enjoyed some great parenting along the way.
Many thanks to Richard Dalton, Dick Hill, and the rest of the
committee for another outstanding event.

But this year something extra special happened.  Amid the sessions,
networking, socializing and such, I encountered some completely
unexpected generosity.

Kevin Cheng and I have been discussing his writing a Rosenfeld Media
[2] book for some time.  His proposal is about done, and I'm dying to
publish the book. But Kevin's nothing if not careful and diligent; on
the first day of the Summit, he told me he wanted to get a little more
input on a few points before finalizing his proposal. I suggested we
convene a few interested people— maybe five?—and see what they
thought.

A day later, after some tweeting and some gentle arm-twisting, nearly
twenty people were seated around a few tables, ready to talk comics
and user experience design. And that we did; not for the half hour I'd
hoped for, but for over two hours. Incredible. It's not like they had
nothing else to do. I still can't quite believe it.

Everyone contributed. It was a polite discussion, but it was
punctuated by passionate interjections and plenty of joking. Dan
Willis went into auto-facilitation mode, really helping things along.

Why do we need companies and hierarchies? With another hour or two,
this ad hoc collective could probably have figured out what to do
about global warming.

I want to acknowledge those who donated their time and ideas; I'm in
awe and thank you deeply:
     * Stephen Anderson
     * Mario Bourque
     * Lorelei Brown
     * Whitney Hess
     * Kaleem Khan
     * Livia Labate
     * Jess McMullin
     * Matthew Milan
     * Danny Muller
     * Greg Nudelman
     * Adam Polanski
     * Dave Sturtz
     * Russ Unger
     * Dan Willis
     * Stuart Woods

I hope I'm not forgetting anyone; please let me know if I did! Thanks
again (sniff); you guys rock.


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/im_grateful.html

LINKS
[1] http://iasummit.org
[2] http://rosenfeldmedia.com

CRASS AND COMMERCIAL
"Site Search Analytics for a Better User Experience":  my 4/22
Sunnyvale workshop is SOLD OUT!  But there are seats open for my 5/15
Chicago workshop, and early registration doesn't end until this
Friday.  Learn more and register here:  http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa

April 15, 2008:  Early and Earley

The early registration for Steve Krug's and my May 15/16 Chicago
workshops (site search analytics, do-it-yourself usability) is this
Friday (April 18).  Last chance to save $100 per workshop, last stop
on our spring road trip; details here [1].

And on Thursday (April 17), I'll participate in Seth Earley's Search
Solutions conference call series, making a very short presentation on
(you guessed it) site search analytics. No charge to listen in;
details here [2].


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/early_and_earley.html

LINKS
[1] http://louisrosenfeld.com/ssa
[2] http://www.earley.com/Searchjumpstart2008.asp

CRASS AND COMMERCIAL
Got a lot of good feedback at last weekend's IA Summit on Indi Young's
"Mental Models," and it continues to sell quite well.  Take 10% by
using discount code BLOUG01MM at the Rosenfeld Media site:
http://rosenfeldmedia.com

April 11, 2008: Discount to attend An Event Apart

After months of intense negotiation, Louis Rosenfeld LLC's legal department
has just completed an agreement with the good folks at An Event Apart to
provide you, loyal Bloug readers, with a very nice discount for this year's
conferences. These are fabulously-produced events, with excellent speakers
(including Rosenfeld Media authors like *Luke Wroblewski* and even, um, me)
in three great locations (Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago). I really
enjoyed my experience at An Event Apart, and I hope you will too:

*AN EVENT APART PRESENTS THE BLOUG DISCOUNT*

An Event Apart <http://www.aneventapart.com/>, the design conference "for
people who make websites," announces a special discount exclusively for
attendees of Louis Rosenfeld's workshops—or anyone smart enough to get on
this mailing list, whether you've attended a workshop or not.

Save $200 off An Event Apart's Boston, San Francisco, or Chicago shows with
discount code *AEASKLR*.

With its focus on web standards, best practices, and design inspiration, An
Event Apart is the perfect complement to Lou's IA workshops.

In 14 sessions over two 9.5 hour days, you'll learn directly from the
leaders in modern web design. Each monster, two-day An Event Apart learning
session features 12 of your favorite web design authors. It's like bringing
your bookshelf to life.

*SAVE THE DATE! BOSTON, SF, AND CHICAGO*

The discount applies to three An Event Apart conferences this year:

    - Boston: June 23/24
    - San Francisco: August 18/19
    - Chicago: October 13/14

A conference pass, including admission to all sessions, snacks and lunch on
both days, access to all social events, and a bag of swag, is regularly
$995.

But with special discount code *AEASKLR,* it's just $795 when you register
before the early bird expires. (If you register for any show *after* the
early bird discount expires, you still save $100—just $895.)

Registration is now open at https://store.aneventapart.com/ and seating is
limited, first-come, first-served.


PERMALINK

http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/discount_to_attend_an_event\
_ap.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

April 10, 2008:  IA Summits past and present

As so many of us head to Miami for the ninth (!) Information
Architecture Summit [1], a couple of souvenirs from #8 showed up:
video interviews of a whole mess of information architects by Jorge
Arango in Boxes and Arrows magazine [2], and by Valerie Kelly of Kent
State's Information Architecture and Knowledge Management program. [3]
  Check them out here [4] and here [5]; and say hello if you'll be in
Miami!


PERMALINK
http://louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/2008/04/ia_summits_past_and_present\
.html

LINKS
[1] http://iasummit.org/2008/
[2] http://www.boxesandarrows.com/
[3] http://iakm.kent.edu/
[4] http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/meet-your-peers
[5] http://iakm.kent.edu/iavideos.html

CRASS AND COMMERCIAL
Luke Wroblewski's book, "Web Form Design:  Filling the Blanks," will
go on sale in early May.  Want to be informed when it's available?
Let us know here:
http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/webforms/info/publication_notification/