Dispatches From The Internets

Voice User Interface Design: New Solutions to Old Problems

Excellent overview of the current state of voice UX (or headless UX as I often call it). Choice quotes:

[T]he voice user experiences consumers are learning to use today are usually FAR from conversational. We are still in early days.

and

VUIs are life-changing for those who can’t easily adapt themselves for traditional computer use.

Start thinking about this stuff now!

Why iterative development is vital to a successful personalised customer experience

“Treat personalisation as progressive enhancement,” Chris recommends. “Start with good content and a good information architecture that works for all of your audiences. Then start with basic personalisation and build up from there.”

Obama’s White House webmaster says we should cut Trump’s team some slack

It’s easy to get upset when we feel like the things we care dearly about—accessibility, translations, etc.—don’t seem to register with others. But appearances can be deceiving, as Tom Cochran—a former director of digital for the White House—points out with respect to the changes to WhiteHouse.gov:

It’s no secret that my political allegiances lie with Obama’s administration, but I can be very objective with this. First off, I think that the media is reading a little too much into the digital transition. You have to think of it in terms of moving into an apartment: The previous tenant moves out, and a new tenant moves in. When the previous tenant moves out, he or she will take his or her possessions, furniture, and paintings, and the new tenant comes in and starts over and hangs their stuff up wherever they want to. Someone who had been in that apartment before would go in and say, “Whoa, wait, where did the couch go? There used to be a couch here.” Well, yeah—but there’s a completely new tenant in here.

Zero UI: Designing for Screenless Interactions

Excellent piece from Andrew Smyk:

We are starting to live our daily lives in the post screen world. The advent of smart and contextually aware devices have changed how we interact with content. Data is a snapshot of our contextual connectivity to our physical and digital environments. Designers will need to build screen-less experiences that leverage data and algorithms to create value for users.

Any Advice on Moving From Octopress to Jekyll?

Next Tuesday I’m planning to take the day to do a little refresh on this site. The largest part of that effort will be moving this project off of Octopress to Jekyll. I’m not expecting it to be a huge challenge—Jekyll underpins Octopress anyway—but I’m sure there are some gotchas I should look out for. If you’ve made the leap yourself in the past and have any advice or recommended reading, please leave a comment or Web Mention.