My experience with project estimates and scope can be summed up by the following chart. Of course the actual chart has way more uphill bumps and a much longer tail. But basically, the project starts, then you realize you didn’t scope it out entirely. Then some progress happens and you…
Last night I was struggling with a problem that refused to budge. I was very confident in the beginning. Of course, Internet Explorer just refused to cooperate and Firefox was just fine. The problem kept going to a for while as a lost confidence. Right before I was about to…
I found this easy way to view generated source in IE. Type this in the browser: javascript:'<xmp>’ + window.document.body.outerHTML+ ‘</xmp>’ Why is Microsoft NOT building developer tools for IE? It’s making me sick. Firebug was made by one guy. Why can’t Microsoft make this seemingly simple thing? How about profiling?…
I often see technology out there that is solid, but lacking a tiny bit of the details from a UX perspective. Or I would like to extend it a little bit more for a UX reason. When that happens, every once in a while, someone tells me I am “complaining”…
I actually am having trouble finding a decent Design Pattern for a Tree. A tree is a critical user interface element and is being used more and more on applications. Since, I can’t find one, I am going to quickly summarize the pattern I proscribe. Let’s start with the EXT…
I am working on a page with a small bit of JavaScript written by someone else. They are in the Pre-jQUery era. It’s all old and crusty code that is hard to read. I think I could have made the same stuff in jQuery using about 5 lines. jQuery just…
I have been getting a little bit on a roll with the book. I got one chapter approved and another chapter written in first draft form. I like the style of it. I hope the publisher can get me an illustrator. There are tons of pictures and my reliance on…
I don’t know exactly why, but I made an Amazon.com Wishlist. I was writing my book and got to a stopping point and wanted to see what Amazon.com did for some UI thing. And I just said, “Well, I am here. Why not? Note: The content of this site is…
My bosses recently purchased an Ikea couch. I won’t go into all the details, but here is the salient point: The directions did not have a single word. All pictures. I liked it very much. It was international. I found the directions clear and concise. Good job. Interesting, there is…
Microsoft just released a new upgrade to their Maps site. (I still think its a horrible name, maps.microsoft.com would be smarter) Anyway, it’s a good upgrade. The bird’s eye view is so much better than anything Google Maps has to offer. The Google street view is interesting, but in reality,…
There is an old story that I like, but I can’t find it on the web. It goes something like this: This was back in the days of large servers with big vacuum tubes. A major server stopped working, causing panic in a large corporation. All work ground to a…
I added in more detail to my Email Template. It turns out that the box model on Microsoft Outlook 2007 is different than the box model in IE6 and 7. Specifically, when calculating the width of a TD cell, it can’t deal with padding on the same item. So I…
Although it was a rocky beginning, (see resolution) I have really fallen in love with EXT, specifically the 2.0 release (currently in beta.) The quality of the interaction design is top-notch. Jack Slocum has the extremely rare combination of talents including programming, visual design, interaction design and CSS. He is…
If Al Gore wins the Nobel prize, he should run for president. I am convinced that he would win. The country feels guilty about the 2000 election. We know Gore won, but we let it slide and let Bush take the prize. In hindsight, that was a really shitty decision. …