Simon's learning log

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Sarah Richards – Lighting fast content design webinar (12 Jan 2017)

12 January 2017 /

Brief notes

  • Intro to GDS etc
  • Content design – GDS-style
    • Moving away from subject experts to skilled writers
    • Targeting user needs – Discovery process
      • Gives you
        • language
        • architecture
        • tone
        • style
      • Research
      • Vocabulary
        • e.g. Forums, interviews, …
      • User stories
        • Leads to very targeted material
        • Good for shared understanding
        • What is being covered
        • what is not being covered
        • Should have
          • acceptance criteria
          • format
          • performance indicators
          • archive date (or review)
      • Designing with data
        • Gives you something better than opinions
        • Perspective and distance
        • also a chance to listen
        • forms the architecture of the content
    • Tricky conversations
      • Often, we talk at, not listening to
        • giving solutions
        • making arguments
      • “Looking at each other and thinking ‘you’re an alien'”
      • Crit sessions – encourage respectful and productive sessions
        • Rule 1: Everyone did the best job possible with the information they had at the time
        • Rule 2: Talk about the product only, not the person who created it
        • Rule 3: Constructive criticism only. “That’s crap” is unhelpful and unacceptable
        • Rule 4: No one has to defend a decision
        • “How are we as a team going to make this better?”
  • Reading psychology
    • People often say e.g. “older users do this…”
    • Reading is (basically) the same, worldwide, regardless of language
    • Reasons a page may be failing
      • Eyes skip across text & 10-15% is skipping back (regressive reading)
        • New terms lead to more regressive reading
        • Makes reader feel uncomfortable
        • Reduces …
  • Working together gives you
    • a better product
    • an easier life
  • Show, don’t tell

Tool for rotating in IE8 and other browsers

12 October 2016 /

I came across this for the Leadership Academy where we needed text to be rotated to match an image, and it had to work in IE8. It turned out to be a quick solution that worked across browsers.

http://www.boogdesign.com/examples/transforms/matrix-calculator.html

-ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Matrix(M11=0.99939083, M12=0.03489950, M21=-0.03489950, M22=0.99939083,sizingMethod='auto expand')";
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Matrix(M11=0.99939083, M12=0.03489950, M21=-0.03489950, M22=0.99939083,sizingMethod='auto expand');

-moz-transform:  matrix(0.99939083, -0.03489950, 0.03489950, 0.99939083, 0, 0);

-webkit-transform:  matrix(0.99939083, -0.03489950, 0.03489950, 0.99939083, 0, 0);

-o-transform:  matrix(0.99939083, -0.03489950, 0.03489950, 0.99939083, 0, 0);

Potential Tool: Pandoc

21 September 2016 /

Today, I came across a to-do item in Wunderlist from June 2014: Look up Pandoc

Obviously, I can’t remember what inspired that, but I bit and found at http://pandoc.org that it is a command line document processing and conversion tool. I don’t know why I might be using this, although it could be handy for content audits or otherwise automating the conversion of documents or extraction of texts.

I’m putting it here in the Plog as a way that might help me recall this when I need it.

11 March 2016 / 
function getAllJSON(query) {
// overcome SharePoint issue only returning up to 1000 items
// forms a queue of promises until result doesn't return data.d.__next
// returns the $.getJSON object enabling the promises
    function recurse(query, items) {
        return $.getJSON(query)
                    .then( function(data) {
                         if (data.d.__next) {
                               return recurse(data.d.__next, items.concat(data.d.results));
                         } else {
                               return items.concat(data.d.results);
                         }
                     });
     }
     return recurse(query, []);
}

Plog day 0002

29 October 2015 /

This morning I noticed I was in a very good mood while heading into the office. It’s possible that it was down to the fact I had a very engaged half hour reading more on Real Learning and tinkering around with things. 

I have reached the dizzy heights of page 32; more would have been done this evening if I hadn’t been listening to a webinar on advanced CV writing for contractors (organised through IPSE). The primary lesson was to think of one’s CV as a business case. I need to copy over images into my Evernote notes https://www.evernote.com/notelink/Login.action?targetUrl=%2Fshard%2Fs2%2Fnl%2F107347%2F918590ba-0700-43c3-bb90-1f681fd25f73%2F

Returning to Real Learning, I completed the Grit score test (or at least, one version).

I briefly was distracted by wanting to put a nice photo of my own into the blog – probably about to do this.

At work, I didn’t get much further making notes about the CSOM transaction, but they worked well. I need to resolve a problem where the page layout isn’t being changed when it should.

Then, I went onto Intranetters where Iain presented our work to the group. It was very well received. I need to reflect on that and the whole event.

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