The best interface is no interface

What is good API design? « Inviting Epiphany Some say that API design is one of the hardest things in programming. A few even go as far as to say you should have at least 10 years of experience to even attempt it. While I think this process can be sped up almost an order of magnitude by good mentorship, at one time or another we’ve all suffered under the API of an inexperienced programmer. Though, this does raise the question: what exactly is it about building libraries that can take up to 10 years to learn? I was lucky in that I got a strict API education early on. His philosophy, which was never explicitly stated, I call 90-9-.9. Finally, there’s the unmentioned .1% who you’ll never make happy because they’re mistaken about the capabilities of your product. A great example of this is Atalasoft’s barcode product. When I first saw this it seemed like bad design. Now, for the past two years I’ve been in charge of the APIs at Bayard Rock, a completely different kind of company. So, what is good API design?

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30 Useful Infographics for Web Designers Typically when it comes to learning something new within web design you have to refer to either the accompanied detailed documentation, the read-me or, if you are lucky, to a quick reference cheatsheet. Each of these options are really useful, but none have the ability to give you a super-easy method to quickly understand what is going on like a well designed and eye-pleasing infographic. So, do you want to learn something new today? Why not have a look at the 30 fantastic web design related infographics we have for you below. The Growing Importance of Mobile Website Optimization Source WTF is HTML5 and Why We Should Care? Source What Beautiful HTML Code Looks Like Source JavaScript Framework Popularity Source CSS Infographic – Interesting Facts and History Source Quick Look into CSS3 Properties Source Interactive Git Cheatsheet Source The History of Programming Languages Source The Evolution of the Web (Interactive) Source Web Accessibility for Designers Source Online Testing Essentials Source Source Source

10 TED Talks That Will Change the Way You Communicate August 1st, 2012 By: Alvina Lopez Even the most eloquent of public and private speakers could always stand to tweak their communication skills just a little bit. After all, the ability to convey feelings and facts stands as essential to keeping the human species rolling along. Elizabeth Lesser: Take "the Other" to lunch: If communications with people on opposite sides of political, cultural, religious and other common divides so often proves extremely problematic, try Elizabeth Lesser’s simple-but-effective approach. Joan Halifax’s Buddhism and extensive work providing care and comfort to dying individuals in various institutions offers her an intense glimpse at how small, compassionate gestures bring almost supernova levels of light to one person’s world.

41 Female Founders Every Entrepreneur Should Know Women comprise 47% of the U.S. workforce, but just 25% of the STEM workforce. While the tech sector has a reputation of being occupied by white males, women are making a go at careers in STEM fields. The success of prominent female leaders such as Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer are bringing more attention to women in the tech sphere. Alexa von Tobel, CEO and Founder, LearnVest Von Tobel dropped out of Harvard Business School to launch LearnVest after winning an Astia business plan competition. Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Founder and Chairman, Joyus Singh Cassidy founded Joyus, a video-based ecommerce site that helps customers discover their new favorite things in apparel, beauty and lifestyle. Laura Fitton, Founder, oneforty Laura Fitton was one of the first to realize that Twitter could be leveraged for marketing. Olga Vidisheva, Founder, Shoptiques A Y-Combinator and Harvard Business School alum, Vidisheva launched Shoptiques as a new way to shop online.

Is Interaction Design a dead-end job? I think the issue is that Interaction Design is more a SKILL than a position. Face it, anyone can learn Photoshop, Flash, and Dreamweaver, but it takes someone with some knowledge of Interaction Design to make a good layout of a web site or interface. What needs to happen is that Interaction Design becomes more the way of a skill, a talent that's added on to an already there position. I guess I see it as more of a craft than a skill or a job. Great subject--it's healthy to stir up things from time to time! While I agree that developers (and marketing) are getting better about not making products terrible, that is different than intentionally crafting a UI or an experience. Hi Tim, A few days b4 I heard this story about Bill Moggridge I wrote this: I think it relates directly to your piece and to what Bill is saying (who I met w/ at the end of March to discuss a new IxD Masters program and get very good feedback on which has led me very confused about the statement.

Eight Brilliant Minds on the Future of Online Education - Eric Hellweg - Our Editors by Eric Hellweg | 12:12 PM January 29, 2013 The advent of massively open online classes (MOOCs) is the single most important technological development of the millennium so far. I say this for two main reasons. First, for the enormously transformative impact MOOCs can have on literally billions of people in the world. Second, for the equally disruptive effect MOOCs will inevitably have on the global education industry. While at Davos, I was fortunate to attend an amazing panel — my favorite of the conference — with a murderer’s row of speakers. Why this disruption is happening: Peter Thiel, partner, Founders Fund “In the United States, students don’t get their money’s worth. “You have to ask yourself, ‘What is the nature of education as a good?’ Where we are in the evolution of this change: Daphne Koller, founder of Coursera “We’re at 2.4 million students now. Raphael Reif, president of MIT “We manage this transition very carefully. What’s next in this space?