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.
Scale has to do with context.
If you have a map it helps to have scaled so you know how far things are from each other.
Example: Flying over a little waterfall, get closer, it's niagara falls.
Anticipate growth.
Reusable patterns. A formula you can use over and over as you grow. Big companies do this with stores (Mcdonalds, Starbucks).
Remove barriers.
Example: Ikea removed the cost barrier to getting well designed furniture.
Blogger re-design (this guy did that) was all about removing barriers.
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).
Re-design simplified the sign up process, no fancy questions just username, password, blog title, and what template to use.
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".
The hidden interface.
Simplicity is powerful. Only give people exactly what they need to achieve their goals.
iPhone keyboard is designed to scale because it's software based. People can even write 3rd party applications to change it.
Engage beginners and attract experts.
Appear simple at first and include advanced features for the advanced users who care to dig deeper.
New interaction patterns are good, the Wii for example (I disagree).
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.
Gmail has lots of keyboard shortcuts. Not everything has to be represented on screen.
Gas price signs as an example of scale. When it went over $1 everyone had to change signs.
Another way to scale, text in the browser changes size. What happens when you increase text size?
Layout in em so everything scales with the text... except images of course.
Google reader scales by using infinite scroll. I think he thinks no one else uses infinite scroll.
When you internationalize you have to think about longer text.
Leave an impression, make sure your product is remembered.
"A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures."
Every millisecond counts, pages must load quickly and clicks must be eliminated.
The more popular your site gets the more reliable you have to be, it gets expensive.
Scale, flexibility, accessibility.
End
Matt
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