Erin St. Pierre: September 2009 Archives

AIGA recently put up a great case study on the redesigned NPR.org website.  Take a look at the full article, as well as additional views of the site's UX process and before & after shots:

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/case-study-npr-org

Editor's note: On July 27, 2009, National Public Radio (NPR) relaunched the website www.npr.org through the efforts of its in-house design team and interactive agency
Schematic. The following case study was written at AIGA's request and
coordinated by Sarah Zimmerman. Please contact the editor if you would also like to provide a case study.

A Seattle startup company wants to help!  Take a look at the article below from TechFlash.com. 

Gist looks to help Web users manage information overload

After about a year in private beta, Gist today plans to open up its online information management service to the public.

The offering -- which will remain free for now -- allows users to aggregate information flowing through various social networks, email programs and news sources. That means a sales person, real estate professional or journalist for example could prepare for an important meeting by locating all of the Tweets, email messages or recent news stories about key contacts.

"The user gains all of this insight from all of those different places and essentially spends no time to do it," explained Gist Chief Executive T.A. McCann. "We think that is pretty revolutionary in a lot of ways."

About 10,000 people have been testing the product, with McCann saying that they've incorporated a number of features based on the user feedback. McCann said the tool is mostly being used by people to organize their days, prepare for important meetings or find information from key contacts.

In a way, McCann said Gist is kind of like having the equivalent of a great executive assistant.

Gist -- which also is announcing integration with Salesforce.com -- isn't the only company thinking about this problem.

As we've pointed out, Google is positioning to attack information overload with Google Wave. Xobni is looking to help people better manage email messages. And Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz addressed the issue in her recent interview with CNBC, saying the next big thing on the Internet will be tools to help people manage their information intake in a more efficient manner.

"When you get up in the morning you gotta have your life a little bit organized," she said. That's also the pitch of Gist, with McCann saying that one of the key ways people have been using the service is to prepare for their days.

In May, Gist raised $6.75 million from Foundry Group, Vulcan Capital and others.

Seattle design studio Design Commission, put together this site of their favorite Seattle Architects.

http://seattlearchitectslist.com/firms/54-Domestic-Architecture

The site itself is nice and simple, but the content is pretty awesome.  Check out the Domestic Architecture page.  My husband works for as the finisher for Domestic Furniture.  Like those green stools above?  Yep, me too.