Attention Trade-off between Two Types of User Contributions: Effects of Pinterest-Style Infinite Scroll Layouts on Creating Original Sharing and Appreciating Others’ Sharing

User contributions are critical to social commerce sites. Prior studies mainly examined motivational factors influencing user contributions. In the current study, we examine effects of interface layouts on user contributions, from the perspective of attention allocation. We also distinguish between the two types of user contributions: creating original sharing and appreciating others’ sharing. Since attention is a limited resource, we argue that interface layouts may lead to attention trade-off between the two types of user contributions. Leveraging an opportunity of a popular social commerce site’s transformation to Pinterest-style infinite scrolling layouts, we collected panel data. Empirical findings show that the new layouts design has opposite effects on the two types of user contribution: a positive effect on users’ appreciation of others’ sharing, but a negative effect on users’ original sharing. Some user characteristics moderate the effects. The findings yield important implications for research and websites design practice

A Comparative Analysis of Supportive Navigation on Movie Recommenders

This literature review covers the research and thought process that went into making a solution for the infinite scrolling problem faced in streaming services such as Netflix. Using the data collected, we have come to the conclusion that an alternate layout can somewhat alleviate the problems it takes in navigating a list of movies. We also found out by a comparative analysis that some layouts, the circular one in particular, is advantageous in certain settings making it an ideal candidate for a movie recommender system.Comment: This was an extensive survey and prototyping we did to purpose and alternative user interface for movie recommender systems like Netfli

Top 10 Law School Home Pages of 2012

For a fourth consecutive year, every website home page of every ABA-accredited law school is evaluated and ranked based on objective criteria. The goal is to identify well-executed sites adopting best practices. For the 2012 report, twenty-six elements are evaluated across these three categories: Design Patterns and Metadata, Accessibility and Validation, & Marketing and Communications. For 2012, there are four new elements, two prior elements have been combined, and one element was dropped. For 2012, forty-six schools now use the HTML5 doctype, which is up from thirteen in 2011 and just one in 2010. Eighteen schools achieve perfect scores in an adjusted web accessibility evaluation, which is a slight increase over previous years. One of the new elements awards points for use of Responsive Web Design practices, which is a page layout method that shifts the order and number of elements on a page, based on the screen size displaying the content. Our survey discovered fourteen home pages using responsive web design. As has been the case since this annual study launched in 2009, there is still no objective way to account for good taste. For interpreting these results, please decide for yourself whether any home page is greater or less than the sum of its evaluated elements

Beyond the Feed and Board: Holistic Principles for Expressive Web Curation

We develop holistic principles for expressive web curation through the iterative design and study of a new medium and system, IdeaMâché. Web curation is the process of gathering and assembling content into online exhibits. The linear organization of the feed - e.g., Facebook and Twitter - and board - e.g., Pinterest - constrains authors in expressing themselves. We conducted a field study of IdeaMâché with 472 undergraduate student users. Quantitative, qualitative, and visual data show how students expressed themselves and developed ideas. Interaction logs show how students utilized expressive operations. We analyze students' creative works with ideation metrics of curation. Interviews expose users' underlying motivations and experiences. Visual data is compelling. While iteratively designing IdeaMâché features in conjunction with the mixed methods data, we derive holistic design principles for media and systems supporting expressive web curation: direct clipping with context, diverse and heterogeneous media, freeform non-linear medium of assemblage, multi-scale organization, sketching as annotation, and novice-friendly direct manipulation command selection and parameter adjustment

Top Ten Law School Home Pages of 2012

For the fourth consecutive year, we try to identify law school home pages that are well-executed and adopt best practices. We evaluated all ABA-accredited home pages based on objective criteria. The attempt is to find the best-designed, best-performing sites

Redefining editorial experience: user experience & user interface design in digital publications

The publishing industry is facing a transition era, where the development of new digital technologies has led people to adopt new reading habits, where every day is less common to receive content in a piece of printed paper, and more and more common to do it through a screen. Digital publications have been present for a while, facing constant changes, so this theoretical-practical research aims to explore their transition, what they have done, and what are they doing to respond to their readers’ needs. Emphasized in digital magazines, the objective is to understand them from its roots, analyzing concepts related to editorial design and through theory and the work of designers who redefined the concept of publications on the screens. This theoretical part is complemented with the study of two areas of design that are related to the development of digital products: user experience and user interface. The two case studies presented, Wired and The New Yorker magazines explore what magazines that have lead the market in terms of innovation and design have done in recent years and how are they facing today’s challenges. In addition, in this critical analysis exploration, topics such as their online strategy, design of their apps, and their activity in social networks are explored. The practical project developed, seeks to apply the concepts explored in the theoretical part of the research, in order to respond to the needs of a cultural magazine of Mexico, La Tempestad. Through a survey, the reading habits of the target audience are analyzed to understand what readers are looking for and create a solution that is appropriate for them. A graphic proposal of a digital magazine in the form of an application is presented, with interactions, design, and navigational tools the app seeks to create a unique experience with their readers

Mixed Reality Interiors: Exploring Augmented Reality Immersive Space Planning Design Archetypes for the Creation of Interior Spatial Volume 3D User Interfaces

Augmented reality is an increasingly relevant medium of interaction and media reception with the advances in user worn or hand-held input/output technologies endowing perception of the digital nested within and reactive to the native physical. Our interior spaces are becoming the media interface and this emergence affords designers the opportunity to delve further into crafting an aesthetics for the medium. Beyond having the virtual assets and applications in correct registration with the real-world environment, critical topics are addressed such as the compositional roles of virtual and physical design features including their purpose, modulation, interaction potentials and implementation into varying indoor settings. Examining and formulating methodologies for mixed reality interior 3D UI schemes derived from the convergence of digital media and interior design disciplines comprise the scope of this design research endeavor. A holistic approach is investigated to produce a framework for augmented reality 3D user interface interiors through research and development of pattern language systems for the balanced blending of complimentary digital and physical design elements. These foundational attributes serve in the creation, organization and exploration of interactive possibilities and implications of these hybrid futuristic spatial interface layouts.M.S., Digital Media -- Drexel University, 201

Back to the drawing board? : exploring process drawing and pathways to drawing participation in higher education for graphic design students

“I can’t draw”. “Idon’tdraw.” While facilitating my first brainstorming session with undergraduate Visual Communication, Designstudents at Western Sydney University (WSU), I was struck by the absence of any drawing activity in the classroom. Technological innovations have significantly reduced the role of drawing in the design process since the mid-eighties; however, research confirms sketching, or indeed any form of hand-eye coordination provides valuable cognitive and communication functions in the creative process. The ambiguous nature of a freehand sketch allows for creative interpretation, encourages ‘fluency’ and iteration, and provides a ‘thinking trail’ for evaluation. The physical act of drawing can also aid concentration and memory. Many professional designers recognise process drawing as a vital ingredient in their creative thinking processes and those of new graduates. Through a literature review and reflection on my creative practices, this thesis identifies the benefits of process drawing to think, create, communicate and collaboratein the design process. So, if drawing is so useful, why don’t design students use rough sketches and thumbnails in the classroom?Through a practice-led enquiry, I reflect on observations made as both “insider” and “outsider” within my communities of practice. As a professional design practitioner, visual artist, teacher and researcher, I investigate the role and value of process drawing in the twenty-first-century classroom.The attitudes, behaviours and ‘designerly’practices of WSU design students are explored through a multiple-choiceWhy draw?questionnaireconducted over six years.The interviews and group discussions with final-year, high achievingWSU designstudents help clarify the creative thinking practicesof these participants and identify possible barriers to wider drawing participation. The observations,interpretation of theliterature and questionnaire and interview findings underpin the studio exploration into possible pathways to foster drawing participationin the classroom. ASpeed Squigglingactivity was designed to demonstrate the value of drawing and to encouragedivergent thinking, iteration, creative flow, and design thinking skills. APre-and Post-Why draw?questionnaire was collected from second-year WSU Design students before and after theSpeed Squigglingtrial. An analysis of students’ written and visual responses explores the effectiveness of this kind of drawing activity to encourage and foster drawing participation.Back to the drawing board?adds to the critical discourse in drawing research and design education that argues process drawing has an important role to play in the twenty-first century classroom and should continue to be clarified, demonstrated and encouraged in design education

Visualizing a Woman’s Journey Through the Old Testament Prophetic Books: Improving Female Study Methods Through Visual Supplementation

Christians are often less likely to read the Old Testament prophetic literature compared to other books in Scripture. This poses a problem within the Church for Biblical literacy and understanding Scripture as one complete narrative that points to Christ. The aim of this research was to discover what causes a struggle for Christian women understanding the prophetic literature, why Old Testament prophetic literature is important for women to study, and the best methods for communicating this information to a female audience. The following research questions were asked: 1. What is the standard perspective of an average Christian when studying Old Testament prophetic literature? 2. Why are the Old Testament prophetic books difficult to understand? 3. How does understanding the biblical definition of “prophet” assist in approaching prophetic literature with confidence? 4. Why does Old Testament prophetic literature matter to Christians under the New Covenant? 5. What resources already exist in teaching women Old Testament prophetic literature? Is there a gap in these resources that needs to be filled? 6. How does a resource best illuminate and explain a complex topic? 7. What makes content memorable and eye-catching to a female audience? After researching these questions through a literature review, visual analyses, and content analyses, a solution was created to enhance study methods for women who desire to read the prophetic books of the Old Testament. A handbook was designed, with the target audience of women in mind, to lead women through important things to know when approaching the more difficult prophetic books. Research revealed how the design of the handbook directly impacts cognition and study methods; therefore, the handbook was designed according to that research to make maximum impact. In conclusion, this handbook is a way to solve the problem of Christian women not reading the prophetic literature of the Old Testament