With or Without Web (conventions)

by December 11, 2004

Conventions arise when a certain volume of design and usage is met. Are we there yet? It depends on whom you ask.

“I’m starting to believe that there is no such thing as affordance or even convention in the UI world. We talk about different repeatable and patternable elements and this does add value to a UI, but I believe that in order for UIs to truly be conversational we need to wait a generation or two.”–David Heller

Disconnected

Thirteen families. Two weeks. Zero Internet.: That was the premise for this research study. And the qualitative and quantitative results proved that in this day and age, living without the Internet is nearly impossible for many consumers. Feelings of loss, frustration and disconnection were just a few of the results. Check out the research presentation and watch clips from real peoples' video diaries."

Always Connected

Always Online: When three days without a word is an eternity For a generation accustomed to near-instantaneous keeping in touch - primarily via instant messaging, cell phones and e-mail - Rainie's complaint doesn't seem so far-fetched, especially since she and her generational peers are perfectly comfortable roaming in a social sphere where real face-to-face encounters take a backseat to cyber contact.

Always Online: When information access is so easy, truth can be elusive When students do research online these days, many educators worry, those are often about the only steps they take. If they can avoid a trip to the library at all, many students gladly will.