Tumblr (3.0; @cadences)http://news.cadence.cc/<p><a href="http://zinnidesign.com">Anthony Zinni</a> was gracious enough to lend me a soapbox to talk about <em>Cadence & Slang</em> over at his design blog, Positive Space. <a href="http://www.positivespaceblog.com/archives/a-look-at-cadence-slang-by-nick-disabato/">My writeup is posted</a> right now, so you should go and check it out!</p> <p>I’ve also written up some more on <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nickd/cadence-and-slang-is-a-book-about-interaction-design/posts">my Kickstarter’s posts</a> about my writing process and heuristic usability.</p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/238132987http://news.cadence.cc/post/238132987Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:24:30 -0500<p>So we’re into November. I’ve stopped bugging you with daily reasons. Donations are about to top $4,000 - almost halfway there.</p> <p>But most notably, I’m starting to write in longer form over at <a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/">my Kickstarter project</a>. I just wrote a big post about everybody’s favorite topic: heuristic usability evaulation! You should <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nickd/cadence-and-slang-is-a-book-about-interaction-design/posts/3064">head over and check it out</a>.</p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/233451503http://news.cadence.cc/post/233451503Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:20:58 -0500<p>Already people have had their <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robinsloan/robin-writes-a-book-and-you-get-a-copy">novels</a>, <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hamburgereyes/hamburger-eyes-issue-013">contemporary photography</a>, <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattlunsford/help-us-save-our-office">shipping costs</a>, and <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fred/emoji-dick">absurd emoji translations</a> funded in full. In the grand scheme, <em>Cadence & Slang</em> is just one more data point in a long string of dreams come true of some really passionate individuals. I’m honored to be a part of it, and I harbor tremendous faith in what it’s done so far. If you could help by pledging your support, you’d make one random dude in Chicago who cares about something <em>a lot</em> - enough to publish an entire book about it - very, very happy.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/227095063http://news.cadence.cc/post/227095063Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:39:50 -0400<p>If you bought a $3 latte at Starbucks this morning, then you probably just wasted $2 to convey caffeine into your half-asleep body. I humbly implore you not to make the same mistake tomorrow morning. The minimum pledge amount is only $1. Every single dollar moves us closer to the goal, and tiny pledges build up really quickly.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/226019555http://news.cadence.cc/post/226019555Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:21:25 -0400<p>These days, many authors rely less on the conventional structures of publishing - shopping the manuscript around, subjecting themselves to editorial cuts, changing the book’s design to be branded better - and go it alone. Their works end up with more integrity, authenticity, and consistency as a result.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/225047131http://news.cadence.cc/post/225047131Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:53:37 -0400<p>If you’ve ever bought a Flip Video, pretty much anything from Apple or Nintendo in the past ten years, or any hardware or software that’s appeared to “just work” and get out of your way, then you believe in good design - and are voting for it with your wallet. If you’ve ever read John Maeda’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Laws-Simplicity-Design-Technology-Business/dp/0262134721">Laws of Simplicity</a> or Edward Tufte’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/096139210X">The Visual Display of Quantitative Information</a>, then you understand the value of simplicity in technology. All of these products are parts of a trend that <em>Cadence & Slang</em> discusses at length. Pledging to my book is a natural extension of your belief that good design sells, and should be supported.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/223972385http://news.cadence.cc/post/223972385Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:18:00 -0400<p>You’re part of this story, too. I’m posting excerpts from <em>Cadence & Slang</em> periodically, and solicit feedback. If you donate, you get in on this process, and can involve yourself as much as you’d like. It’s like Wikipedia, but for ranting about why the term “webinar” sucks.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/222858966http://news.cadence.cc/post/222858966Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:23:05 -0400<p>Interaction design is a tiny niche inside of another tiny niche. <em>Cadence & Slang</em> will publicize the goals of this group of people to broader masses, making good usability into something everyone could care about.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/221855030http://news.cadence.cc/post/221855030Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:04:47 -0400<p>You’re helping the limited and small production run of something that’s an exemplar of its internal principles. <em>Cadence & Slang</em> is an attempt to make a book as well-designed and usable as the products that it discusses.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/221094168http://news.cadence.cc/post/221094168Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:58:40 -0400<p>You’re giving new ideas about good design to your friends and colleagues. By pre-ordering <em>Cadence & Slang</em>, you enable the production cost of 1,000 copies.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/220192868http://news.cadence.cc/post/220192868Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:59:10 -0400<p>People who may not normally be exposed to good design could have their mind changed by <em>Cadence & Slang</em>. Wide distribution of the book increases the likelihood of its influencing contradictory viewpoints.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/219252248http://news.cadence.cc/post/219252248Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:34:13 -0400<p>I’ve begun posting some longer pieces to my Kickstarter project. One of these just went live about ten minutes ago. I’d love if you headed over and <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nickd/cadence-and-slang-is-a-book-about-interaction-design/posts/2587">checked it out</a>.</p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/218666601http://news.cadence.cc/post/218666601Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:29:59 -0400<p>For the most part, <em>Cadence & Slang</em> is accessible to anybody that has intermediate experience with technology. You don’t have to connect to your ISDN from your SCSI using an IDKFA to get it. You don’t have to work in IT to get it. You don’t have to be a software engineer to get it.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/218148660http://news.cadence.cc/post/218148660Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:58:28 -0400<p>So I was in San Francisco for the weekend, and true to expectation the list of reasons was totally derailed. Let’s play catch-up:</p> <p><strong>12.</strong> I have 5 years of experience, and I have a <a href="http://resume.nickd.org">portfolio</a> to back it up. In my off hours, I write reviews of any products that pique my interest at <a href="http://isee.whatyoudidthere.com">I see what you did there</a>.</p> <p><strong>13.</strong> Good interaction design has formed nearly every technological thing worth caring about in the past five years: the Wii, the iPhone, Firefox, and Windows 7 - to name only a few.</p> <p><strong>14.</strong> Since the beginning of this decade, entire software suites - OmniGraffle, Axure, and Microsoft Expression - have been built that are dedicated to creating good interactions.</p> <p><strong>15.</strong> The more time that you devote to design when developing a product, the happier your users will be. <em>Cadence & Slang</em> tells you how to start considering design from day zero.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/217210298http://news.cadence.cc/post/217210298Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:04:42 -0400<p>Built off reason #9, again: you aren’t giving money to some faceless international chain when you pledge. The money is going straight to help <em>one guy</em>. Kickstarter is all about deeply personal projects like this one, it’s about fulfilling our long-term dreams.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/213892496http://news.cadence.cc/post/213892496Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:16:18 -0400<p>I just struck this from an early part of the book, and it’s unlikely that it’ll find its way back in in any form. But I still want to get this out there, so posting it here seems like the best option. </p> <blockquote>Some people make semantic quibbles about the term “interaction design.” It used to be called “interface design” or “human-computer interaction.” Lately some people have called it “experience design.” All of these hit on about three-fifths of the spirit of the problem.<br/><br/>It makes sense to say that we’re designing experiences, but with what? Under what circumstances? When framed this way, where’s the line between interaction design and branding? And it makes sense to call it human-computer interaction, because that’s precisely what’s happening in the first place, but this fits the opposite end of the spectrum from “experience design.” Namely: <em>so what?</em> How do we integrate this into our lives? And while we’re clearly designing the interface, it feels oddly insufficient to omit people from the connotation of “interface design.”<br/><br/>So I grudgingly choose “interaction design.” While even that seems insufficient, it lies in-between all the other poles, casting glances backward. It finds a nice consensus between sometimes-opposed views, which is the point of an awful lot of interaction design in the first place.</blockquote>http://news.cadence.cc/post/213304130http://news.cadence.cc/post/213304130Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:48:00 -0400<p>Built off reason #9: keeping <em>Cadence & Slang</em> so independent helps make it more authentic and honest - and more distinctive than any reference work.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/213275880http://news.cadence.cc/post/213275880Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:13:59 -0400<p><em>Cadence & Slang</em> is independently published, but it isn’t amateur. Others are editing it and offering content suggestions as you read this. Managing every aspect of this operation by myself allows the work as much integrity and internal consistency as possible, while still keeping it accurate and useful.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/212014133http://news.cadence.cc/post/212014133Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:55:09 -0400<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krfmaiKYbz1qa17uko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>I forgot that I mailed a few copies of the draft outline to <em>Cadence & Slang</em> to our local bookstore <a href="http://www.quimbys.com">Quimby’s</a> months ago. Now they’re apparently on the shelf, on the zine rack towards the front of the store.</p> <p>Pretty neat; I guess I’m published now. You should head over and grab one!</p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/211599638http://news.cadence.cc/post/211599638Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:44:41 -0400<p>Many interaction design books are enormous textbooks that weigh you down. I’ve always been frustrated at how hard it is to carry some of them on the train. <em>Cadence & Slang</em> will be size DIN A5 (5.8”x8.3”). You can carry it with you and reference it anywhere.</p> <p><a href="http://nickd.org/x/cadence/"><strong>Pledge to Cadence & Slang today.</strong></a></p>http://news.cadence.cc/post/210995946http://news.cadence.cc/post/210995946Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:37:46 -0400