All UI/GUI designers out there...

Hi ,
All over the net there are loads of discussion boards for verious technical
languages and hot discussions on everything from 'how to predict future by the
way the gold fish swims.' to 'what MIGHT happen if NASA discovers life in
mars'.... but, not even one was found dedicated to UI designing and other
information design science. So, Along with a few friends, we have founded a
discussion board - www.idtalks.com, meant to serve as a hangout for all
information designers out there.

idTalks is all about Information Design. Now, What will qualify as Information
Design? To name a few - Technical Writing, Creative Writing, GUI Designing, Web
Designing/Development, Brand building etc.

idtalks a new-born so, obvously its not bustling with activity. Actually,
there are only a few members and no discussions as of now. But, I am working
hard to build a strong user base. I am trying to invite a lot of experts and
professionals in the field and bring them together into one place. This is to
invite you to the world of idTalks. Feel free to sign in and help the forum
grow. I need you to help bring together a community that is so widespread and
yet very much obscure. I also need your help to spread news around about this
forum.

Do let me know of any doubts regarding this.

Thank you.
Uday.

udayms wrote:

not even one was found dedicated to UI designing

It's not a discussion board and it hasn't been updated for quite a
while, but I still like
http://digilander.libero.it/chiediloapippo/Engineering/iarchitect/shame.htm


Gary

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 06:33:55 +0000 (UTC), "udayms"
<webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote:

Hi ,
All over the net there are loads of discussion boards for verious technical
languages and hot discussions on everything from 'how to predict future by the
way the gold fish swims.' to 'what MIGHT happen if NASA discovers life in
mars'.... but, not even one was found dedicated to UI designing and other
information design science. So, Along with a few friends, we have founded a
discussion board - www.idtalks.com, meant to serve as a hangout for all
information designers out there.

idTalks is all about Information Design. Now, What will qualify as Information
Design? To name a few - Technical Writing, Creative Writing, GUI Designing, Web
Designing/Development, Brand building etc.

idtalks a new-born so, obvously its not bustling with activity. Actually,
there are only a few members and no discussions as of now. But, I am working
hard to build a strong user base. I am trying to invite a lot of experts and
professionals in the field and bring them together into one place. This is to
invite you to the world of idTalks. Feel free to sign in and help the forum
grow. I need you to help bring together a community that is so widespread and
yet very much obscure. I also need your help to spread news around about this
forum.

Do let me know of any doubts regarding this.

Thank you.
Uday.

http://www.stc.org/

for one of the professional organizations that covers these issues

http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/

for the grandaddy-of-them-all discussion list on these issues

Win
--
Win Day, Multimedia Developer
Words Plus
http://www.wordsplus.net
winday (AT) NOSPAMwordsplus (DOT) net

Hi guys!
I checked out Interface hall of shame. Thats a very good site. I checked out
their review on Quick Time. Now, thats what I would call a real critical
analysis of the UI. Its was too good. Actually, with idtalks.com, I had
something similar in mind.

I am already a member of raycomm. Raycomm covers TWriting like no other. But,
Information Design is not just limited to UI design and Tech Writing. ID deals
with every aspect of product starting frmo techwriting to branding of the
product through and also marketing and selling of the product/service.

In ID, one service is always dependant / related to another. Like for example
a good technical writer might be able to develop good content,but the
illustrations/layout etc have to be done by a graphics guy.. Without one, the
other does not give out a perfect deliverible.

Getting my point? That was the purpose of idtalks.com.. to bring together all
the people who were providing different services under ID. But, unfortunately,
I am finding it extremely difficult to bring professionals to the board. No one
is bothering to stay at idtalks since there is very little activity. But, I am
still hopeful.

Getting my point? That was the purpose of idtalks.com.. to bring together
all
the people who were providing different services under ID. But,
unfortunately,
I am finding it extremely difficult to bring professionals to the board.
No one
is bothering to stay at idtalks since there is very little activity. But,
I am
still hopeful.

A few suggestions:

What *is* 'idTalks'? You explained it in your post, but the site says little
as to what it actually is. How about a tagline across the top? idTalks...the
Forum for Information Designers. Add that to your TITLE tag as well for
Google to pick up on.

Your logo has no alt text...there's no way for google to see it. Add some
alt text (including that tage line) and then wrap your logo in H1 tags to
help google find it.

As for your categories, they're really broad. Not bad if you can get a
dedicated group of ID folks in the forums, but of the ID folks I know, not
many are working on Branding or Creative Writing. The categories are all
fairly distinct disciplines, so you're going to really have to find a wide
variety of folks to populate the various subjects.

Finally, you need to seed the forum. Find some buddies to start some
conversations. A blank forum is a catch-22. No one will post if they don't
see any existing posts...but there won't be any existing posts if no one
posts.

Good luck!

-Darrel

Hi Darrel,
Thanx for the feedback. Thats the first valid set of comments I have recieved
on th site. Each of your point is correct and I will work on them. I am very
happy that you showed the patience to visit the site and evaluate. Thanx friend.

When idtalks.com was registered, we had considered intellitalks.net as the
domain name. It was meant to be a discussion board for all intelligent
discussions etc. But, then we didnt want to lose focus. We came to the idea of
such board only because we couldnt find one of its kind truly dedicated to ID.
Thats the reeason I have kept the categories to miinimum. Besides, I have no
idea about the audience I will be getting. So, I just put up a few categories
to start with and hoped to change/add categories as per user feedback from the
board.

Your point about the activity in board is 110% correct. The difficult thing is
to get people start a discussion and go on with it. I am getting an average Hit
rate of around 410/day. I believe that is a good hit rate for a 3 weeks old
site. But, I was not able to get anyone to register on the site. As you said, I
guess when people visit the board and find no activity they dont bother to
waste their time registering.

Anyway, I have not lost hope. I shall make the changes as per your suggestions
and try to start up some discussions so that activity on the board gets
running. Also, You are most invited to our family. When you get time, do drop
in and join us.

Thanx once again. Buddy.

We came to the idea of
such board only because we couldnt find one of its kind truly dedicated to
ID.

I can't think of any forums for ID off the top of my head either. There are
a few mailing list (Chi-Web being one of them).

http://boxesandarrows.com/ is a blog with comments focusing on IA

Your point about the activity in board is 110% correct. The difficult
thing is
to get people start a discussion and go on with it. I am getting an
average Hit
rate of around 410/day. I believe that is a good hit rate for a 3 weeks
old
site. But, I was not able to get anyone to register on the site. As you
said, I
guess when people visit the board and find no activity they dont bother to
waste their time registering.

It also helps to allow anonymous posting. A lot of people (well, myself, at
least) will post a few times on a forum to get the feel for it. If I like
it, I then go ahead and sign up for it.

Anyway, I have not lost hope. I shall make the changes as per your
suggestions
and try to start up some discussions so that activity on the board gets
running. Also, You are most invited to our family. When you get time, do
drop
in and join us.

I'll keep an eye on it! ;o)

-Darrel

You might want to take a look at
http://www.boxesandarrows.com
for a site that covers ID. They do have a facility for discussing posted
articles but it is not a message board as such.

--
James M. Shook
http://www.jshook.com

You might want to take a look at
http://www.boxesandarrows.com
for a site that covers ID. They do have a facility for discussing posted
articles but it is not a message board as such.


Hi James. Thanx for the link. I shall check it out.


I can't think of any forums for ID off the top of my head either. There are
a few mailing list (Chi-Web being one of them).
http://boxesandarrows.com/ is a blog with comments focusing on IA


Hi Darrel, I shall check it out. James has also prescribed the same place. So,
i guess it must be really good. Anyway, I try hang around there.


It also helps to allow anonymous posting. A lot of people (well, myself, at
least) will post a few times on a forum to get the feel for it. If I like
it, I then go ahead and sign up for it.


Hey, idtalks already permits that. You can post a message to any forum as a
gues. Just click on New topic and post. It wont ask you register. As I said,
idtalks is about being of help to people. So, No restriction in giving and
acquiring informatiuon. .. Anybody can post. Anybody can read.


I'll keep an eye on it! ;o)


Sure, Anytime dude.... As I said, there doors always open.