Tuesday reads

Each Tuesday this year, I’m going to share some of the things I’ve been reading which I have been inspired by or learnt from.

“MENU” is better than the hamburger icon – so one test shows. Would be good to see more research on this.

Good UI – 38 suggestions for improving a user’s experience when visiting your website. I’ve come across this before, but it’s worth revisiting regularly.

Understanding Web Design – Luke Wroblewski’s notes from Jeffery Zeldman’s talk. I’ve often used the metaphor that web design is like architecture:

“[Web design] is more like architecture (people take over the space and make it their own). Web design is the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity. Web designs are like buildings. Many are similar but differ in the details.”

The Beginner’s Guide to SEO – fantastic article I’ll be referring people to.

Switching from solely the internet, to thinking about the internet and time: Twitter I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down: Learning to live on the net.

And, even more on the topic of time, this New Yorker article is worth reading slowly over a cup of coffee: This Old Man: Life in the Nineties. In fact, I’d like to re-read it and soak in its reflections.

Also noted: A Simple Exercise to Increase Well-Being and Lower Depression:

“Every night for the next week, set aside ten minutes before you go to sleep. Write down three things that went well today and why they went well. You may use a journal or your computer to write about the events, but it is important that you have a physical record of what you wrote. The three things need not be earthshaking in importance (“My husband picked up my favorite ice cream for dessert on the way home from work today”), but they can be important (“My sister just gave birth to a healthy baby boy”).

Next to each positive event, answer the question “Why did this happen?” For example, if you wrote that your husband picked up ice cream, write “because my husband is really thoughtful sometimes” or “because I remembered to call him from work and remind him to stop by the grocery store.” Or if you wrote, “My sister just gave birth to a healthy baby boy,” you might pick as the cause … “She did everything right during her pregnancy.”

Writing about why the positive events in your life happened may seem awkward at first, but please stick with it for one week. It will get easier.”