Kairos – the right things happening at the right time

Good writing is more than just saying what needs to be said. It’s all in how and when you say it.

Greek rhetoricians defined kairos as saying or doing the right thing at the right time. Clues to understanding kairos lie in its dual etymological roots: Weaving and archery. In weaving, kairos occurs in the instant at which the shuttle passes through an opening in the loom’s threads; this is the moment when all the threads come together to create the fabric. Similarly, on the web, the threads of technology, design, content, culture, and user science intertwine to form the fabric—or context—that swathes the opportune moment.

But what seizes the moment? That’s where the other etymological root of kairos, archery, sheds light. Something has to act like an arrow and—ZING!—hit the mark, with enough force to stick. For Greek rhetoricians, that something was spoken language. On the web, that something is written language.

As web professionals, we craft a context for the opportune moment. But we then need to aim at that context with words that zing. To do that, I believe we have much to learn from kairos.

Source: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/words-that-zing/

Save lives with good presentation of data

This is from a Malcolm Gladwell book, Blink, about how we process information and make decisions. I found this particular story a great example of how good presentation can simplify a problem down to the core issues and help with decision-making:

In the 1970s, an American cardiologist developed an algorithm for predicting heart attacks in patients coming in with chest pains. Doctors, he concluded, should combine ECG readings with 3 urgent risk factors according to his decision tree.

The point of chest pain prediction is to make sure patients who end up having major complications are assigned right away to the hospital units that can care for them.

A two year trial took place at the Cook County ED. Without the algorithm, doctors could pick out the at-risk patients between 75-89% of the time. The decision tree got it right more than 95% of the time.

Susan Cain: The power of introverts

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html

“In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.”

Preaching to the choir here, but thought you might like a listen. J

Information vs. Experience

Most of us here are old enough to relate to this article about web information vs web experience from 11 years ago. Some things still stick I think, but we’re getting able to overcome some of the old hurdles.

Interactive TV, for example –

We have come a long way indeed.

Device-agnostic, responsive web design

I avoided ‘responsive design’ at first cos it totally sounded like an old thing repackaged.
Now I’ve looked into it more, I can say confidently that yes – it totally is.

If you’ve been webdeving for the last few years – optimizing for different resolutions, building mobile version stylesheets, etc. – you’re already in at ground level.

‘Responsive’ is just the executive floor upstairs where you do less work to achieve the same effect.

http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2012/03/22/device-agnostic-approach-to-responsive-web-design/

http://www.html5rocks.com/en/mobile/responsivedesign/

Responsive web stuff essentially works by combining fluid css (eg. percentage widths) with css media queries (“are you a 320px mobile screen or a giant fuckoff BenQ?”) to make a site layout adjust and ‘optimise’ itself automagically in whatever environment. Which means you’re not up all night redoing different versions of things every time a pixel sneezes.

I’m new to this too, so if you find any interesting responsive web things, please feel free to share!

How to create a social media addict

“Frequently, social media platforms don’t provide the psychological incentives and rewards that encourage users to revisit, contribute knowledge, and thus cultivate the strength and relevance of the online community.”

How a user gets from n00b to pro in an online community:

Tl;dr – Answer the questions in the flowchart to appeal to that type of visitor.

Source: How to create active online communities (Australian Psychological Society)

What colour should you paint rooms?

Not always applicable where front end design is dictated by a style guide, but interesting nonetheless.

Tl;dr – Same old typical ‘colour meanings’ stuff. 🙂

Source: reddit

6 types of social media users

For those of you who use social media, which do you reckon you are? 🙂

Source: webgeekly.com

A kerning game

http://type.method.ac/

Kerning is the space between letters – “letter-spacing” for any CSS nerds.

There’s an art to getting kerning right in design. The aim is to achieve an even distribution between characters, but it’s not just about making all the spaces the same. The shape of the letter, way it’s slanted, serifs, etc. all affect the aesthetics. Maybe it’s better to say the aim is to achieve a harmonious distribution between letters.

Enjoy this game. Kern 10 words, post your score.

81/100

Design principles cheatsheet

A cheatsheet on design principles – good tidy summary of things to keep in mind when doing front-end stuff.

http://www.mendocino.edu/docs/graphics/design_principles.pdf

Admittedly, I’ve no context for this one. I was googling ‘eyeflow’ for some research and came across the PDF. Looks like it belongs a TAFE type of college.