shelley-ann.com: musings in exploring design + business » tools http://shelley-ann.com Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:00:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The future of user-centered design? http://shelley-ann.com/2009/09/the-future-of-user-centered-design/ http://shelley-ann.com/2009/09/the-future-of-user-centered-design/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:59:07 +0000 Shelley http://shelley-ann.com/?p=868 Since I usually have to explain what I do I was curious how often people search for the term user-centered design using Google. Well the results using Google Insights for Search were actually rather disturbing. It suggests that interest peaked in 2004 and is steadily declining.

Well despite what big man Google has to say I don’t buy it. People are more interested than ever in making products or services that don’t suck. User-centered design can help do that.



]]> http://shelley-ann.com/2009/09/the-future-of-user-centered-design/feed/ 0 What is MindMapping? http://shelley-ann.com/2009/08/what-is-mindmapping/ http://shelley-ann.com/2009/08/what-is-mindmapping/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:59:30 +0000 Shelley http://shelley-ann.com/?p=216 Quite simply it is an organizational thinking tool. I find them helpful in getting information out of my head and for information gathering. I sometimes use mindmaps in meetings to take notes as well. But more often than not I use it to solve problems and plan. There are several ways to do mindmaps: you can draw it by hand or you can use software. I do both.

Below is an excerpt from Tony Buzan’s book How to Mind Map: The Ultimate Thinking Tool That Will Change Your Life

Just like a road map, a Mind Map will:

  • Give an overview of a large subject or area
  • Enable you to plan routes or to make choices, and will let you know where you are going and where you have been
  • Gather together large amounts of data in one place
  • Encourage problem solving by allowing you to see new creative pathways
  • Be enjoyable to look at, read, muse over and remember

Mind Maps are also brilliant route-maps for the memory, allowing you to organize facts and thoughts in such a way that your brain’s natural way of working is engaged right from the start. This means that remembering and recalling information later is far easier and more reliable than when using traditional note-taking techniques.

What do you need to Make a Mind Map?

Because Mind Maps are so easy to do and so natural, the ingredients for your “Mind Map Recipe” are very few:

  1. Blank unlined paper
  2. Colored pens and pencils
  3. Your brain
  4. Your imagination!

For examples of hand drawn Mind Maps head over to Tony Buzan’s Mind Map Gallery



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