Aarron Walter » Podcasts

The Web Ahead Episode 10: On Human Connection

Aarron — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:18:52 +0000

I had a lovely time chatting with @JenSimmons, host of The Web Ahead podcast on the @5by5 network. We talked about interface design, working in design teams, and the joy and pain of critical feedback. Have a listen, won’t you?

Listen to The Web Ahead, Episode 10

Beyond Usability on The Big Web Show

Aarron — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:57:10 +0000

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dan Benjamin and Jeffrey Zeldman on The Big Web Show about findability, web standards, usability, and emotional design. Have a listen, won’t you?

watch the video | download on iTunes

The HTML5 Video Battle

Aarron — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:31:47 +0000

Dan Benjamin – host of The Conversation podcast – talks with Christina Warren of Mashable and Nilay Patel of Engadget to discuss the issues surrounding h.264 and how the HTML5 video battles will shake out.

h.what? – The Conversation podcast

Jason Beaird Guest Lecture at The Art Institute of Atlanta

Aarron — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:48:29 +0000

Recently Jason Beaird, author of SitePoint’s all time best selling book The Principles of Beautiful Web Design, recently visited my User-Centered Interface Design class at The Art Institute of Atlanta to share some design wisdom. Jason’s design talent and amiable personality are present in his book, making it as fun as it is interesting to read.

Jason’s talk drew upon the core design principles he discusses in his book, and provided students with some practical advice on what to expect in an agency environment. After the talk Jason joined a class critique of a redesign project students had been working on. I think students were a little nervous about being critiqued by the guy who wrote a best selling book on design, but once they realized how down to earth Jason is, they gained their confidence back.

Below you’ll find a podcast of the talk along with Jason’s slide deck for your learning pleasure.

Jason Beaird’s Guest Lecture Podcast | Jason Beaird’s Presentation Slides

Guest Talk on Findability at Macquarium

Aarron — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:53:30 +0000

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the folks at Macquarium, an award wining interactive design firm located in downtown Atlanta, GA. They do amazing work, and are cool people to boot. The title of my talk was Findability: the Common Thread, and it explored how Findability touches each step of the project lifecycle. With an audience filled with diverse talents in Information Architecture, development, design, copywriting, photography, Usability, Accessibility and project management, my goal was to provide everyone a relevant perspective on the topic and how it relates to the work they do everyday. Findability is the common thread in which all members of a professional web team share responsibility, and can ultimately help drive more traffic to a site, help people find what they were looking for once they‚Äôve arrived, and bring them back again. The net result of an effective Findability initiative is increased ROI (title: return on investment) for the client, and a broader dissemination of their message.

Here are the slides and audio from the talk, which are also archived in the resources section.

Slides | Podcast

I’m currently working on a book for New Riders titled Building Findable Web Sites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond that, as the title suggests, looks at Findability solutions from the developer’s perspective, providing code examples, and best practices. It will be released in February of 2008.

Interview With Bill Flitter, Co-Founder of Pheedo.com

Aarron — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:06:29 +0000

This past quarter I taught a class called Findability at The Art Institute of Atlanta, in which we explored practical strategies for how to build web sites that are findable, and will draw traffic back. You can take a look at some of the student projects that have come from this course in the teaching section of this site.

Bill Flitter, the co-founder of Pheedo gave an online interview for the class that fit nicely with our course conversations. Pheedo provides a number of RSS advertising services, delivering ads that are relevant to the content they accompany. Bill shared some interesting observations about how advertising in RSS offers a more personal and unique experience for consumers, and advertisers alike. Bill spoke via Skype, which was recorded and can be downloaded below.

Bill Flitter Interview Podcast

Jonathan Snook Guest Lecture at The Art Institute of Atlanta

Aarron — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:20:30 +0000

Jonathan Snook, who recently spoke via Skype to my User-Centered Interface Design class at The Art Institute of Atlanta, exemplifies the traits we work to instill in our students. Jonathan is a renaissance web designer who understands aesthetic principles as well as he understands web application development, project planning, and interface design. There are few such people in the industry that can bridge the divide between each facet of the web world, but Jonathan does it with grace, skill and humility.

Jonathan shared some interesting case studies of the design process of a client web application, and the design evolution of his own blog. Whether you are a design veteran or a novice, there is always much to be learned from an inside glimpse into another designer’s process. Jonathan’s slides and the podcast of his lecture are listed below for your learning pleasure.

Jonathan Snook’s Guest Lecture Podcast | Jonathan Snook’s Presentation Slides

Mark Boulton on Design

Aarron — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:14:57 +0000

Mark Boulton recently spoke via Skype to my User-Centered Interface Design class at The Art Institute of Atlanta on the principles of design as they apply to the web, and his experience in the industry. Mark has made a name for himself in the web industry as a typographer, designer, and a skilled writer on these topics. He’s perhaps best known for his insightful, self-published series of articles entitled 5 Simple Steps, which explores core design topics such as the grid, and typography, and will soon be spun into a PDF book of the same name. Perhaps you have seen some of his other articles on A List Part and Vitamin. Mark brings together two traits in his work that rarely mingle, brilliant design talent, and humility that seems to keep him learning and sharing his wealth of knowledge.

Mark recently spoke at South by Southwest in two panels, one with Khoi Vinh about grid systems, and the other with Richard Rutter about web typography. I recommend keeping an eye on the SXSW podcast page for the release of these lectures, as they were some of the best of the year, in my humble opinion.

Mark mentioned two important books when he spoke to my class that have guided him in his design work. For understanding grid systems, he recommends Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Muller – Brockmann, and for understanding typography he recommends the appropriately named Typography by Emil Ruder. Here’s Mark’s lecture podcast presented February 28, 2007.

Mark Boulton’s podcast lecture on designing for the web

Discussing Interface Design With Robert Hoekman Jr.

Aarron — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:28:12 +0000

On February 26th, 2007, Robert Hoekman Jr., author of Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design, spoke to my User Centered Interface Design class at The Art Institute of Atlanta via Skype. The topic of our conversation was Robert’s current work as an Interaction Designer and Usability Specialist, and his task-centric design approach that, instead of focusing on nebulous personas, focus on how tasks are performed. Once a task is fully understood, the knowledge can be extrapolated to any demographic.

Robert’s lecture was recorded and is released here along with the slides for your listening and learning pleasure.

Robert Hoekman Jr. Lecture | Robert Hoekman Jr. Slides

Jen Gordon Guest Lecture Podcast

Aarron — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 14:45:15 +0000

Designer, business owner, and Art Institute of Atlanta alumnus Jen Gordon spoke to my User-Centered Interface Design class Wednesday February 14 about her design process, and what it is like to run a small web design company. Jen’s a smart designer, and she shared a number of her secrets for working with clients, finding design inspiration, trusting her instincts, and researching projects. You can listen to her lecture in this podcast: Jen Gordon Guest Lecture Podcast.

Building a Listening Library of Web Design Podcasts

Aarron — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 15:06:15 +0000

I’m ceaselessly amazed at the volumes of free podcasts one can get featuring top industry experts explaining all of the most critical topics of the web industry with eloquence and detail. Many major web conferences have begun providing podcasts and downloadable presentation slide decks to the general public. You just need to know where to find them. If you read the blogs of your favorite designers and developers, you’re likely to stumble across links to conference podcasts and slides. Aside from conferences, you can also find a host of other podcasts exploring all aspects of web design and development. Below I’ve assembled an extensive list of podcasts I have found exceptionally valuable, and can help you build your own listening library.

Conferences

@Media Conference: many great speakers talking about important topics. Available in audio or video format
d.Construct Conference: Put on by Clear:Left, great speakers like Jeremy Keith and Jeffrey Veen. Podcast
South By Southwest Conference: Perhaps the most significant conference in our industry, their podcast features some interesting speakers. Podcast
Web Direction South: This conference took place in Sydney, Australia and featured Jeremy Keith, Andy Clarke, and Thomas Vander Wal. Many of the presentation slide decks are available to download in addition to the podcasts. Podcast.
Webmaster Jam Sessions: Cameron Moll’s “Essential Web Skills” is a must listen. Also featuring Eric Meyer, and Andy Budd among others. Podcast
Web Essentials: Though the conference podcasts have gone MIA, Jeff Veen’s presentations are still available. The presentations are entitled “Beyond Usability: Designing the Complete User Experience” and “Designing for Web 2.0“
The Future of Web Apps: Put on annually by Carson Workshops, this short conference explores the world of web application development, which has become one of the hottest topics on the web in the past two years. Speakers include Kevin Rose, Mike Arrington, David Hanimeier Hanson, Shaun Inman, and Tantek ?áelick among others. Summit 1 Podcast | Summit 1 Presentations | Summit 2 Podcasts | Summit 2 Presentations

Web Design and Development

Boag World: Professionally produced by Paul Boag, covering a wide array of topics for the novice to mid-level designer as well as budding developers. Podcast
Web 2.0 Show: Though a bit on the “Wayne’s World” side of production and professionalism, this podcast features an amazing line up of interviews with every major player in the industry. Podcast
Vitamin: Produced by Carson Workshops, good interviews, great topics. Podcast
The Practical Web Design Podcast: Also produced by Paul Boag of Boag World, this podcast is an extension of the print magazine of the same name. Though the magazine will no longer be printed, the podcast will live on. Podcast
Web Standards With Imagination: Created by Yahoo! developer and JavaScript guru Dustin Diaz. He publishes both a podcast and a screencast
Audible Ajax: With exceptionally knowledgeable hosts from Ajaxian.com and professional production values, this podcast, though infrequent, is a great way to become acquainted with Ajax and Dom scripting issues. Podcast
AIGA Podcast: Though infrequent in releases, the AIGA podcast features interviews with some great designers. Podcast
Pro PHP Podcast: Not for the faint of heart, this podcast is for knowledgeable developers but has a lot of detailed information about PHP development. Podcast
The UI Design Podcast: Podcasts from a University of Michigan course on UI Design. Podcast
Web Standards Group Podcast: Podcasts of meetings of this highly influential organization advocating Web Standards. Podcast
Web Axe: One of the few podcasts focusing solely on Accessibility, this podcast offers advice on accessibility techniques as well as interviews with experts in the field. Podcast
JavaScript Workshop: Not a podcast, but they’ve created a list of some of their favorite JavaScript podcasts that are filled with great speakers

Moving Towards Accessible Development

Aarron — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 14:14:37 +0000

Recently I’ve been talking a bit with my students about the role of accessibility in their internships/jobs in the web world, and many have said that their employers don’t see a lot of value in it for their site. I found that a bit surprising as so many evangelists have been actively promoting the benefits (a broader audience, search engine optimization, increased support for PDAs/phone display, usability conveniences for all) and ease of writing accessible code. As a teacher of Interactive Design, I have some power to change this thinking by teaching my students the value of accessibility and how to build it into their projects. Below is a bit of an accessibility round up of a few useful tools, articles, sites, and informative podcasts about the topic that may help inform/convince you about the importance of accessibility.

Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance, a great book from the Friends of Ed with a host of authors who are authoritative on the subject of accessibility. This book has everything you need to know to get started on accessible web design.
Zeldman on Accessibility: Zeldman does a great job of presenting and counter arguing the major complaints you’ll hear when you bring up the topic of accessibility with you boss. My favorite quote from this presentation: “Google is the biggest blind user on the web”
Accessify.com tools and wizards for building accessible forms, tables, popup windows, and more. These tools are awesome!!
Ajax and Screen Readers: When Can it Work? Although web standards are being rapidly adopted by modern browsers today, many screen reader manufacturers have yet to jump on the band wagon. Subsequently, there are no solid solutions for how linearized pages in a screen reader can inform a user when the page has been updated by Ajax. If the reader has passed the area where Ajax will post a response, the browser will never notify the reader of the new content. James Edwards exposes the real issues with Ajax and accessibility in this article.
Patrick H. Lauke of the Web Standards Project interviewed on Web Axe podcast. Lauke is a brilliant guy who is championing the cause to get screen reader manufacturers on board with web standards. He has some great observations in this podcast including how Flash can actually fill some accessibility needs! You may also want to check out the main Web Axe site and podcast.
Paul Boag of Boagworld.com has a number of podcasts on the topic of accessibility: Understanding Accessibility Guidelines, Pragmatic Accessibility, Web Accessibility
It’s no surprise that A List Apart has a host of wonderful articles that explore the big picture and intimate details of accessible web design
Adobe has a resource center with articles, templates, and other stuff to help you develop accessible content using Flash, Dreamweaver and the rest of their software.
Dive Into Accessibility is a wonderful site with clear explanations of what accessibility is, what it can do for you and your users, and how to build accessible content.
Now that you are on board with accessibility, how the hell do you “sell” it to your clients or boss?
Validate your pages against accessibility guidelines at Bobby Watchfire or Cynthia Says. You can validate against WCAG or Section 508 receiving a priority 1, 2, or 3 seal of approval.
Joe Clark, ~~a member of the Web Standards Project~~, is one of the top evangelists of web accessibility, and his site has some great information on the subject. You may also be interested in what he has to say about the WCAG 2.0 guidelines.

Nine Skills That Separate Good and Great Designers

Aarron — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 00:14:16 +0000

Cameron Moll gave a great presentation to the Webmaster Jam Session in September in Dallas, Texas entitled Nine Skills That Separate Good and Great Designers. His presentation is filled with great observations about how to think of design as problem solving rather than making attractive things, and is great for budding web desginers. His examples illustrating each of his points find connections both within and outside of the web world, but always creatively support his key ideas. A podcast and PDF of his presentation are available for download. I advise following along in the presentation as you listen to the podcast as the images are important to the talk.

The Webmaster Jam Session conference had a number of speakers worth listening to including Andy Budd, and Eric Meyer. Podcasts of all talks can be downloaded, but the production quality is spotty on some.

Web Directions South '06 Podcasts

Aarron — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 14:57:52 +0000

Web Directions South, a recent conference held in Sydney Australia September 28 and 29, is now releasing presentation slides and podcasts of the learning sessions conducted by some bright people in the web world. Speakers include: Jeremy Keith, Andy Clarke, Kevin Yank, and many others. The podcasts are being released incrementally, but you can subscribe to receive them automatically when they become available. The topics of discussion are wide ranging including Information Architecture, recent technological trends, and the like.

Future of Web Apps Podcasts

Aarron — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:05:07 +0000

Carson Workshops, the creators of Think Vitamin, puts on short conferences examining hot topics in the Web world featuring a host of luminaries speaking about the various facets of their topic. They often post podcasts of each talk, and their recent The Future of Web Apps Summit is the latest in that series. Kevin Rose, Jeff Veen, and Tantek ?áelik are just a few of the big names who spoke at the recent conference, and all of this knowledge is free for your listening pleasure. The topics cover UI design, the business of building and selling your web application, development practices, APIs, and more.

You can download each talk individually or subscribe to their RSS feed to get them all at once.

Interviews With Sage Designers

Aarron — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:23:17 +0000

Picking up from my previous post about Hillman Curtis’s video interviews with great designers, here are some great podcast and streaming interviews with some talented designers who share insights about their creative process. All of these designers are talented at developing visual representations of concepts. Pop these interviews on your iPod for a nice little design lesson on the go.