The Synthetic Librarian » Information Architecture http://syntheticlibrarian.com The Synthetic Approach to Information Discovery Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:10:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 An easy CSS recipe for multi-column lists http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2008/02/21/an-easy-css-recipe-for-multi-column-lists http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2008/02/21/an-easy-css-recipe-for-multi-column-lists#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:07:30 +0000 Cloned Milkmen http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2008/02/21/an-easy-css-recipe-for-multi-column-lists li { min-width: 25%; float: left; } /* This will clear the floating in standards compliant browers... might not work in IE */ .fourColumns:after { display: block; content: '&nbsp;'; clear: both; } </style> <ol class="fourColumns"> <li>An item [...]]]> Here is a CSS recipe to display any ordered or unordered list in multiple columns.


<style>
.fourColumns > li {
min-width: 25%;
float: left;
}
/* This will clear the floating in standards compliant browers... might not work in IE */
.fourColumns:after {
display: block;
content: '&nbsp;';
clear: both;
}
</style>
<ol class="fourColumns">
<li>An item </li>
<li>Another item </li>
<li>A different item</li>
<li>Item four </li>
<li>etc </li>
<li>An itme </li>
<li>An item </li>
<li>Another item </li>
<li>A different item</li>
<li>Item four </li>
<li>etc </li>
<li>An itme </li>
<li>An item </li>
<li>Another item </li>
<li>A different item</li>
<li>Item four </li>
<li>etc </li>
<li>An itme </li>
</ol>

That all becomes

  1. An item
  2. An item
  3. Another item
  4. A different item
  5. Item four
  6. etc
  7. An itme
  8. An item
  9. An item
  10. An item
  11. Another item
  12. A different item
  13. Item four
  14. etc
  15. An itme
  16. An item
  17. An item
  18. An item
  19. Another item
  20. A different item
  21. Item four
  22. etc
  23. An itme
  24. An item
  25. An item
  26. An item
  27. Another item
  28. A different item
  29. Item four
  30. etc
  31. An itme
  32. An item
]]> http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2008/02/21/an-easy-css-recipe-for-multi-column-lists/feed 3 A Visual Map of Top-level Domain Names http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2007/10/02/a-visual-map-of-top-level-domain-names http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2007/10/02/a-visual-map-of-top-level-domain-names#comments Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:14:06 +0000 Cloned Milkmen http://paranoidagnostic.net/2007/10/02/a-visual-map-of-top-level-domain-names Byte Level Research sells two very cool looking maps of Internet TLDs (Top-level Domains). The maps show the two-letter country codes (e.g. ‘.ca’, ‘.ru’, ‘.uk’) for the countries of the world, which each code shown on a geographical map over the country it represents. The map also includes an index that maps the country codes to actual country names for handy reference.

map of DNS TLDs

]]> http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2007/10/02/a-visual-map-of-top-level-domain-names/feed 0 What Does User-Centered Design Mean? http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2007/09/27/what-does-user-centered-design-mean http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2007/09/27/what-does-user-centered-design-mean#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:12:57 +0000 Cloned Milkmen http://paranoidagnostic.net/2007/09/27/what-does-user-centered-design-mean I recently heard a fellow student ask a good question: “What exactly does ‘user-centered’ design?” The also asked, “Everything is designed for users so how could something not be user-centered?”

Wow, that is a great question! One of my favorite answers to this question comes from the book “The Psychology of Everyday Things” (P.O.E.T.) by Donald A. Norman. Norman says that user-centered design is “a philosophy based on the needs and interests of the user, with an emphasis on making products usable and understandable.” (ch. 7, p. 188)

Norman further states that

Design should:

  • Make it easy to determine what actions are possible at any moment (make use of constraints).
  • Make things visible, including the conceptual model of the system.
  • Make it easy to evaluate the current state of the system.
  • Follow natural mappings between intentions and the required actions; between actions and the resulting effect; and between the information that is visible and the interpretation of the system state.

In other words, make sure that (1) the user can figure out what to do, and (2) the user can tell what is going on.

  • Norman, D. A. (1988). The Psychology of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books.

The Psychology of Everyday Things is available from:

Note: The Psychology of Everyday Things was reprinted under the title The Design of Everyday Things. I am quoting page numbers from the 2004 edition but I believe they are the same regardless of title.

]]> http://syntheticlibrarian.com/2007/09/27/what-does-user-centered-design-mean/feed 0