We have a vision for 1 million new people moving into this city. How does design thinking work into this process? What are our hopes and dreams for Portland, and how can we build our city to realize them?

“In the Round: Collective Leadership” was the title of PDXplore #2, part of PNCA’s ongoing Idea Studios. From 6-9 Pm on July 22nd, some of the most active members of Portland’s community attended what would be an important first step in creating a lasting dialog for the intentional and mindful development of Portland’s maturing land and cityscapes.

The panel featured 10 members mayor-elect Sam Adams, Metro president David Bragdon, Hillsboro mayor Tom Hughes, Portland planning director Gil Kelley, and City of Gresham executive manager Alice Rouyere”.

The purpose of the panel was to bring clarity to the relationship between planning and design, while making the needs of a growing population known to important civic leadership. The idea was create a safe space for Elected Officials and Designers to speak about the challenges facing Portland and their vision for the future.

Read the rest of this entry »

Aside from developers, visitors will be accessing your site to learn about your product, or to download/demo it, because they were referred to it from another source.  The second type of user is here to grab the app, install it, and fly out.

Never make your users search for a demo or dowload button. Lead them through the steps they should be taking to get to the information they need.

Developers who come to your site will tolerate small links to source code, but the average visitor will not. If they have issues with the app, they’ll run back for support. Make sure they can find it! If not, they’ll try looking for help from other sources such as blogs and forums. If you provide a support forum, they’ll be more likely to stay on your page while looking for help, and you’ll be able to better understand your users through their comments.

Provide an experience flow that gives the user immediate direction from the first step onto the page. A series of later steps that are given to the user exactly when needed. It should be fun for them - as easy as a dot-to-dot. At the end, they should have a clear picture of the services your product gives, or they should have already downloaded and begun to use it. The user should not see or care about step two until step one has been completed.

Case Study: PicLens Firefox Plugin Landing Page.

With dark grey backgrounds, and cheery, pastel colors, this site has great readability. Yellow (the natural color of attention) used sparingly, and with extreme care. Grey is neutral, much better than black. Light blue could be <h3>, pink <h2>, and yellow <h1>. The download button is light blue, massive, and somewhat three dimensional, allowing it to pop right out of the page. It’s like oil painting with attention.

The website knows that the user has Firefox installed, and that Firefox’s pop-up blocker script will interrupt the download process. PicLens handles this issue brilliantly by drawing the user to the top of the screen with a trip of text with a  yellow background to direct the user’s attention to the problem area, and how to solve it.

Overall, the website is arranged like a good piece of art. The focal point is chosen to be the Firefox logo, then the install, and then the Demo. Everything runs 1-2-3. Just like a dot-to-dot. I had a great user experience while installing the program, and I enjoyed using it. Kudos to the B2C team that created the PicLens page.

Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Christopher Alexander. Really widely applicable philosophy. Every architecture student is taught this, but hey are taught that it is very difficult to put these concepts into play, because it contradicts the institutional structures of architecture, because architects plan places beforehand in a very modular way.

Pattern Language

Christopher Alexander, an architect and author, coined the term pattern language. He used it to refer to common problems of civil and architectural design, from how cities should be laid out to where windows should be placed in a room. The idea was initially popularized in his book A Pattern Language.

Alexander’s book The Timeless Way of Building describes what he means by pattern language and how it applies to the design and construction of buildings and towns. However, the system has been used in many fields of design, from designing computer programs to designing a classroom curriculum.

The Oregon Experiment - his third book.