August 12, 2004
Information Design Watch
From Dynamic Diagrams
Consultants in Visual Logic
In This Issue:
INFORMATION DESIGN
- Extracting Data from User Forums
- Google Style
VISUAL EXPLANATION
- Information Density and the David Rumsey Map Collection
- Update: The Tube as Template
DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
- "Do not touch the blue 'E!'"
DYNAMIC DIAGRAMS NEWS
- Optima Health Relaunches Web Site
- CFA Institute Updates Online Bookstore
INFORMATION DESIGN
Extracting Data from User Forums
Edmunds.com's user forums contain more than 2.5 million messages and 100,000 car reviews. To extract meaning from this wealth of commentary, questions, and answers, Edmunds.com is analyzing the data with Attensity Corporation's PowerDrill software. PowerDrill is notable for its use of sentence diagramming to identify the actors, actions and objects in unstructured text:
"[In beta tests] Edmunds.com was able to analyze trend information from conversations on the forums, including shopping and dealer behavior, re-occurring issues, and concerns which can also be used to predict future behavior."
Tools such as PowerDrill that turn free form text into relational data may cause Web developers to take a new look at how they utilize forums, feedback forms, Web logs and free-form content spaces.
Google Style
With the rollout of Yahoo's and MSN's new search page, we created this simple presentation to show them in Google context:
VISUAL EXPLANATION
Information Density and the David Rumsey Map Collection
A common problem of digital media is its relatively low information density compared to print publications. Maps can be an especially rich way to present information, but online versions are often reduced to multiple bitmaps of equal simplicity (consider
Yahoo Maps or
Mapquest, for example).
The David Rumsey Map Collection manages its library of high resolution scans with powerful compression software and the use of the Insight® browser, an Internet application designed specifically for the browsing of images as oppposed to text.
While one might consider alternative presentation methods that fit more seamlessly with standard browsers, the Insight® technology offers an example of a fully customized approach that is worthy of examination.
We recently came across another example of the London Underground map as design template. In this case it is repurposed as "A subway map of cancer pathways":
DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
"Do not touch the blue 'E!'"
For the first time since beating out Netscape, Internet Explorer is losing marketshare:
"No one is forecasting the demise of Internet Explorer, but the most recent data from WebSideStory show that of visits to Web sites the firm tracks, the number made using Explorer declined 1.3 percent from early June to mid-July. At the same time, use of other browsers - Firefox and Opera in particular - rose."
The key impetus for ordinary users to seek out a different browser appears to be dissatisfaction with pop-up advertisements. Download speed and security concerns also play a role.
DYNAMIC DIAGRAMS NEWS
Optima Health Relaunches Web Site
Optima Health has rolled out the newest version of their Web site with an information architecture and interface design created by Dynamic Diagrams. Based upon a careful examination of user constituencies, the redesigned site allows a user to self-select a role upon entry and, if appropriate, sign in to gain access to personalized content and features. The result is a streamlined and customized user experience.
CFA Institute Updates Online Bookstore
CFA Institute's online bookstore has a new interface based on our designs and analysis. Starting with a usability study of the old interface, we developed a list of recommended improvements and diagrammed a more efficient process. We tested our proposed design with CFA Institute members and revised it to achieve a more welcoming and much more usable interface.
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