Should usability testing of a competitor’s website be a part of your usability testing routine?
I was reading up on best practices on usability testing for websites and a recommendation was that get your participants to do usability testing on your competitors website as well as that would help you better understand how…
How to make a user feel secure when using an iframe for payments
I’ve got a site where it’s very difficult for me to add SSL, so I’m using a secure iframe on the payment page to collect credit card details.
Currently it’s set up to appear like it’s the same site. The only issue is that I …
How to make a user feel secure when using an iframe for payments
I’ve got a site where it’s very difficult for me to add SSL, so I’m using a secure iframe on the payment page to collect credit card details.
Currently it’s set up to appear like it’s the same site. The only issue is that I …
What’s the origin of the metaphor “cloud”?
Today we use the term “cloud” without thinking about it. We use it mainly in terms of storage online, far away and unreachable. We can’t plug in a USB memory in the cloud to download data. We plug the USB into our own computer, connect to the cloud and download, as if it was a local storage.
In the two great Wikipedia articles Cloud storage and File hosting service there are a lot of information on architecture, potential threats and costs, but nothing really on the origin of the word cloud.
Searching online you get a lot of answers of the meaning of cloud, some better than others. One of the more fun comes from Rebecca J. Rosen’s article Clouds: The Most Useful Metaphor of All Time?
. . . when engineers would map out all the various components of their networks, but then loosely sketch the unknown networks (like the Internet) theirs was hooked into. What does a rough blob of undefined nodes look like? A cloud. And, helpfully, clouds are something that take little skill to draw. It’s a squiggly line formed into a rough ellipse. Over time, clouds were adopted as the stand-in image for the part of a computer or telephone network outside one’s own.
However amusing, it still doesn’t answer the question – where did it come from? Who coined it? What’s the origin of the metaphor cloud?
What’s the origin of the metaphor “cloud”?
Today we use the term “cloud” without thinking about it. We use it mainly in terms of storage online, far away and unreachable. We can’t plug in a USB memory in the cloud to download data. We plug the USB into our own computer, connect to the cloud and download, as if it was a local storage.
In the two great Wikipedia articles Cloud storage and File hosting service there are a lot of information on architecture, potential threats and costs, but nothing really on the origin of the word cloud.
Searching online you get a lot of answers of the meaning of cloud, some better than others. One of the more fun comes from Rebecca J. Rosen’s article Clouds: The Most Useful Metaphor of All Time?
. . . when engineers would map out all the various components of their networks, but then loosely sketch the unknown networks (like the Internet) theirs was hooked into. What does a rough blob of undefined nodes look like? A cloud. And, helpfully, clouds are something that take little skill to draw. It’s a squiggly line formed into a rough ellipse. Over time, clouds were adopted as the stand-in image for the part of a computer or telephone network outside one’s own.
However amusing, it still doesn’t answer the question – where did it come from? Who coined it? What’s the origin of the metaphor cloud?
How to communicate web design mockup specifications to front-end developers?
Looking for best practices for communicating website design specifications to front-end developers for slicing.
Knowing that the developers will need more information than a visual representation of the design, I am looking…
When designing a responsive layout is it right to assume the iPad layout will be the same as the desktop?
When designing responsive layouts I tend to do 2 sets of wireframes. I design for both mobile and desktop and assume that the iPad will adopt the same layout as the desktop due to size. ( this is if the function of the iPad s…
How many UX designers does it take to NOT spoil a design?
Is there a rule of thumb for how many UX designers should be working together on a project? Factoring in things like the size of the project (e.g. number of functions/screens), timeline of the project, complexity of the user …
Security issues if not forcing a user to sign up
I’ve built a simple web app Flask.io that enables users to create and share to-do lists.
It doesn’t require sign up. This is an important differentiator. I don’t want to force the user to register for a tool they haven’t used yet.
How it…
Issues with Tabbed Layout
Larger View
Here’s a screenshot of something I’m currently working on. I decided to use tabs at the top because filling in the "Office Details" is just as important as the list of employees and because in the future it could exp…