Michael Gaigg: Über UI/UX Design » Good News http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:36:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Happy 3rd Anniversary http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/11/19/happy-3rd-anniversary/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/11/19/happy-3rd-anniversary/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:21:16 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1580 This is what encourages me to keep going - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :) Just in case you have missed it, here are some highlights, my personal favorites and some good advise from the past year.

Highlights from last year

Personal Favorites

Good Advise (for free ;) )

]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/11/19/happy-3rd-anniversary/feed/ 1 Use Kinect to navigate ArcGlobe http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/08/12/use-kinect-to-navigate-arcglobe/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/08/12/use-kinect-to-navigate-arcglobe/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:57:46 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1517 reported by Richie, Esri’s Applications Prototype Lab released a sample for ArcGlobe that allows users to navigate in three dimensions using a Kinect sensor and simple hand gestures. 2 thumbs up! ]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/08/12/use-kinect-to-navigate-arcglobe/feed/ 0 Welcoming Frank Garofalo to our UI Design Team http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/07/06/welcoming-frank-garofalo-to-our-ui-design-team/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/07/06/welcoming-frank-garofalo-to-our-ui-design-team/#comments Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:35:20 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1434 Frank Garofalo (LinkedIn or Twitter) joined our design team as a UI Engineer. Frank earned his Master of Science from Purdue University specializing in Computer Graphics Technology. In his previous job he worked as a UX Designer/Developer at Garmin International. I'm very excited seeing his User Experience skills being applied to designing map interfaces for Esri Professional Services now. Welcome on board!]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/07/06/welcoming-frank-garofalo-to-our-ui-design-team/feed/ 2 Firefox 5 available http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/21/firefox-5-available/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/21/firefox-5-available/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:42:05 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1407 Only 3 months after launching Firefox 4, Mozilla has the latest and greatest - according to Mashable also fastest - available for us to download: Firefox 5. To update to the latest Firefox, click on the “check for updates” button in the “About Firefox” menu. Visually very similar to v4, what are your first impressions?]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/21/firefox-5-available/feed/ 0 Free E-Book: GIS in the Cloud http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/17/free-e-book-gis-in-the-cloud/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/17/free-e-book-gis-in-the-cloud/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:25:12 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1380 Matt Artz blogs about Esri's latest release by Victoria Kouyoumjian, Esri’s IT Strategies Architect: "GIS in the Cloud: The New Age of Cloud Computing and Geographic Information Systems". Download: Download free e-book Topics covered in the e-book include:
  • What Is Cloud Computing?
  • Cloud Service Models
  • Cloud Benefits
  • Public versus Private Cloud
  • Risks in the Cloud
  • ArcGIS and the Cloud
]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/17/free-e-book-gis-in-the-cloud/feed/ 0 Welcoming Yiwei Ma to our UI Design Team http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/10/welcoming-yiwei-ma-to-our-ui-design-team/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/10/welcoming-yiwei-ma-to-our-ui-design-team/#comments Sat, 11 Jun 2011 06:05:20 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1343 Yiwei Ma (LinkedIn) joined our design team as a UI Engineer. He earned his master from the University of Michigan specializing in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and has a BS in Computer Science and a background in graphic design. I'm very excited knowing that we can now further improve our ability to designing map interfaces. Welcome on board!]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/06/10/welcoming-yiwei-ma-to-our-ui-design-team/feed/ 0 Esri Redistricting App on Frontpage of ArcNews (Spring 2011) http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/04/05/esri-redistricting-app-on-frontpage-of-arcnews-spring-2011/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/04/05/esri-redistricting-app-on-frontpage-of-arcnews-spring-2011/#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:41:44 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1214 Redistricting app featured on ArcNews, Spring 2011[/caption] It's always exciting to see your designs come to life but it's even cooler to be featured on the front page of a ArcNews Spring 2011, one of Esri's main publications. "Esri Redistricting is a Web-based solution for state and local governments, legislators, and advocacy groups to create political and geographic redistricting plans." The app is hosted by Esri and delivered as software-as-a-service through annual subscriptions (30 days free trial available).

Mockups in MS PowerPoint

From the beginning I had the feeling that this project would benefit from higher graphical fidelity (maps, charts, colors were important) so I decided to use Microsoft PowerPoint to communicate the designs. Using my wireframe stencils to draw the UI elements we iterated through multiple versions and approaches.

Main Lesson: Use slide master layout as background

[caption id="attachment_1216" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mockups in MS PowerPoint"]Mockups in MS PowerPoint[/caption] My biggest lesson was the need to create a new layout to the Slide Master which would serve as the background. This layout included the banner (logo, user information), the menu (ribbon) and the map area. Advantages:
  • Changes propagated to all slides (e.g. modify a label)
  • Easy manipulation of elements on top of static background
  • Remove source of errors (forgot to update a slide)
  • Cleaner in general ;)
]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2011/04/05/esri-redistricting-app-on-frontpage-of-arcnews-spring-2011/feed/ 0 Happy 2nd Anniversary! http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/10/14/happy-2nd-anniversary/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/10/14/happy-2nd-anniversary/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:30:52 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=1010 my second anniversary writing this blog I'm more excited hearing and talking with all of you. This is my time to say THANK YOU for following, participating and (hopefully) enjoying what I have to say. Please continue sending me your feedback and suggestions, that is the main reason I'm doing this and keeps me going. Thanks to all of you!
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter (yes, I finally got my head around it too).

Job Posting

We are still looking for a User Interface (UI) Engineer. If you think you fit into this position or know somebody that does, please send me your/his/her resume to mgaigg AT esri DOT com.

Highlights from last year

Personal Favorites

]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/10/14/happy-2nd-anniversary/feed/ 0 Back from Baby Break http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/06/18/back-from-baby-break/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/06/18/back-from-baby-break/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:46:40 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=732 Our son Sebastian[/caption] For everybody who has been wondering where I've been the last two months, my wife and I had a wonderful baby boy "Sebastian". He is our sunshine and we try to spend every minute with him, if we want or not ;) So many exciting things have been taking shape in the meantime and I really want to write about them again. Next to my daily work at ESRI and our child it's not always easy to find the time to collect and summarize my thoughts but your constant feedback and comments keep me going, thanks for your support and understanding. Stay tuned!]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/06/18/back-from-baby-break/feed/ 0 “Buzz this” for WordPress integration http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/02/18/buzz-this-for-wordpress-integration/ http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/02/18/buzz-this-for-wordpress-integration/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:28:02 +0000 Michael Gaigg http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/?p=643 Google Buzz[/caption] Christina Warren wrote a really nice blog entry on HOW TO: Integrate Google Buzz Into Your WordPress Blog, this will certainly get you started with your own buzz this icon/button. I installed Google Buzz Button plugin (by Internet Techies) that allows you to add a “Buzz This” button to each of your WordPress posts (download google buzz plugin). Yes, that's the nicely colored button right below these words - try it out, right here, right now ;)]]> http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2010/02/18/buzz-this-for-wordpress-integration/feed/ 0