Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

Ralph Lengler and Martin J. Eppler have written about Visualization Methods in www.visual-literacy.org (2007).

This is a highly visual page and difficult to quote from. There are some 100 Visualization Methods identified, classified and illustrated (with pop-ups), all laid out in a classic periodic Table of Elements style.

Methods cover visualization of:-

• Data,
• Information,
• Concepts,
• Strategies,
• Metaphors and
• Compound forms

providing either

• Process views or
• Structure views

Methods are classified as either providing

• Overview,
• Detail, or
  
• Overview AND Detail

illustrating

• Convergent or
• Divergent thinking

Very creative and information rich.

The Seven Deadly Sins of AJAX Application Development

Scott Robinson has written about "The Seven Deadly Sins of AJAX Application Development" in "ZDNET Builder-AU" on 20-Apr-2007. To quote:-

The AJAX bandwagon is a good place to be. It takes you to faster, more efficient, more dynamic apps. But it also has pitfalls all its own.
(Actually 14 'sins' - 7 'lesser' and 7 'deadly')

1. Misuse of the Back Button


2. Not telling the user what's happening


3. Neglecting Links


4. Trading content control for page control


5. Killing spiders


6. Producing unspeakable text


7. Not letting the JavaScript-challenged user know what's going on.

(The 'deadly' sins).

1. Letting memory leak


2. Not knowing what "asynchronous" means


3. Keeping the server in the dark


4. Getting lazy with GET


5. Not accounting for data type


6. Some apps just don't know when to shut up


7. Keep your JavaScript out of your DOM

The BBC's Fifteen Web Principles

Tomski has written about "The BBC's Fifteen Web Principles" in www.tomski.com on 6th Jan.2007. To quote:-

We developed these as part of the BBC2.0 project. I've been meaning to publish them for a while since they were signed off by the BBC board.

1. Build web products that meet audience needs:


2. The very best websites do one thing really, really well:


3. Do not attempt to do everything yourselves:


4. Fall forward, fast:


5. Treat the entire web as a creative canvas:


6. The web is a conversation. Join in:


7. Any website is only as good as its worst page:


8. Make sure all your content can be linked to, forever.


9. Remember your granny won't ever use “Second Life”:


10. Maximise routes to content:


11. Consistent design and navigation needn't mean one-size-fits-all:


12. Accessibility is not an optional extra:


13. Let people paste your content on the walls of their virtual homes:


14. Link to discussions on the web, don't host them:


15. Personalisation should be unobtrusive, elegant and transparent:

Good to great intranet

Toby Ward has written about Intranet Quality in "IntranetBlog.com" on Thu 11 Jan 2007 . To quote:-

What is the difference between a good intranet and a great intranet? What do you do to get to great?

There is no simple answer. In fact, using the Prescient Digital Media intranet methodology of rating and scoring an intranet out of 10, I estimate that to advance a 6 out of 10 intranet to an 8 out of 10 requires twice the effort and much more intelligent thinking.

Build a carousel with JavaScript

Chris Duckett has written about "Build a carousel with JavaScript" in "builder.au" on 19-Oct-2006. To quote:-

Flash can be make Web sites look pretty but for one reason or another not everyone has the player installed on the client browser. If you or your users are one of those poor unfortunates that has a 64-bit linux distro or you just hate having animations on your Web page, then you are forced to go without flash.

In this article we'll show you how to build a more usable carousel in JavaScript instead of Flash.