Description: How do you design a site for 100 users? How about ten thousand? Or ten million? Can a design adapt for audiences that vary in size and interest? How do you scale upward and outward, welcoming throngs of new users as the web grows? Looking at examples of scale and design from the real world, we’ll draw parallels with the web, and spot practical lessons to be learned.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:30:44 PM
Scale has to do with context.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:36:45 PM
If you have a map it helps to have scaled so you know how far things are from each other.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:38:19 PM
Example: Flying over a little waterfall, get closer, it's niagara falls.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:38:59 PM
Anticipate growth.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:41:35 PM
Reusable patterns. A formula you can use over and over as you grow. Big companies do this with stores (Mcdonalds, Starbucks).
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:43:07 PM
Remove barriers.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:47:23 PM
Example: Ikea removed the cost barrier to getting well designed furniture.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:47:46 PM
Blogger re-design (this guy did that) was all about removing barriers.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:48:50 PM
They realized the sign up rate was low due to a complex sign up process. People were also coming to the site and not knowing what a blog was (back in the day, a Wednesday).
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:50:18 PM
Re-design simplified the sign up process, no fancy questions just username, password, blog title, and what template to use.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:51:51 PM
Delight the eye without distracting the mind. At Google they want users to feel comfortable, make then feel the product is reliable, make it easy to "make their own".
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:53:21 PM
The hidden interface.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:54:45 PM
Simplicity is powerful. Only give people exactly what they need to achieve their goals.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:55:04 PM
iPhone keyboard is designed to scale because it's software based. People can even write 3rd party applications to change it.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:59:01 PM
Engage beginners and attract experts.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:59:16 PM
Appear simple at first and include advanced features for the advanced users who care to dig deeper.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 6:59:43 PM
New interaction patterns are good, the Wii for example (I disagree).
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:03:24 PM
Showing Google docs as a good example. Less buttons, options hidden in drop downs. I think it's supposed to look like Word... It's nothing new.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:04:33 PM
Gmail has lots of keyboard shortcuts. Not everything has to be represented on screen.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:05:04 PM
Gas price signs as an example of scale. When it went over $1 everyone had to change signs.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:06:04 PM
Another way to scale, text in the browser changes size. What happens when you increase text size?
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:07:20 PM
Layout in em so everything scales with the text... except images of course.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:10:04 PM
Google reader scales by using infinite scroll. I think he thinks no one else uses infinite scroll.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:11:13 PM
When you internationalize you have to think about longer text.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:19:56 PM
Leave an impression, make sure your product is remembered.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:20:37 PM
"A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures."
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:21:08 PM
Every millisecond counts, pages must load quickly and clicks must be eliminated.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:21:39 PM
The more popular your site gets the more reliable you have to be, it gets expensive.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:24:44 PM
Scale, flexibility, accessibility.
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:28:32 PM
End
by Matt McCausland at 6/23/2008 7:28:35 PM