career development - How do you best present yourself in a UX job interview?

We have had great questions and answers around looking for and interviewing a UX candidate, but I would like to know about the other side of the table as I have an interview coming up and this would be my first interview around presenting my UX qualifications.

In the past I would mostly show them my design, and talk about it. But, UX is so much more complex than that.

What are the key points I should convey to a potential employer about my UX qualifications

Answer

Here are some tips:

• 1. Know your self: Identify your core UX skills. You may be specilized in one or more of the following: concept design, interaction design, information architecture, graphic design depending on your school of training.IF you haven't already read Jessee James Garrett's 'The Elements of User Experience' and review the digram articulating the areas and elements within the field. It helps framing your skills, and pointing out 'this is what I do really well, and this is also what I can do'.


• 2. Understand their POV of UX: Different interviewers have different perception or understanding of UX as a field. Your skills may map to their job description, or they may be expecting additional skills e.g. CSS, javascript, etc. Be prepared to articulate your understanding and POV on UX.


• 3. Present yourself using a portfolio: In this tell a story. Here are some tips on selling your UX skills:
  
  

technique - How to create suspense in a very short story?

I wrote a short story (900-1000 words) about a character presenting some election process and at the end, we learn that

he got elected.

The problem that I have is that the suspense in that story lasts about as long as you needed to hover over the spoiler part.

For the future, I am wondering what techniques I could use to keep the conclusion somewhat a surprise, or at least make it less certain?

I thought about adding some red herrings, but due to the length of the story, it isn't very simple without losing myself.

terminology - Spec-work vs pro-bono?

What is the difference between spec work and pro-bono?

I have always considered pro-bono work to be a form of spec-work, but I notice that the AIGA position states:

Yet not all unpaid design work is considered “spec work.” In fact, unpaid work may take a number of forms:

...

• Pro bono work: volunteer work done “for the public good”

Is this a generally accepted position? If so, what differentiates work "for the public good" vs work "for the portfolio" (or any other typical justification for spec-work)?

Answer

Yes. That's generally the accepted difference.

Pro Bono, meaning "for public good" would be along the lines of designing posters for an anti-drug campaign in schools. Or Anti-smoking literature for non-profit groups like the American Outreach Association (which don't actually sell a product or service).

Essentially, if the project is geared towards helping anyone viewing it rather than simply generating sales, leads, or customers/clients then I consider it pro bono.

I'd have no problem designing a brochure for free to help keep children off crack. I would charge for a brochure advertising a rehab facility to keep children off crack. The difference being the rehab facility makes money from the advertising, even if they are a non-profit entity, they still gain funds directly from the design work.

Spec Work = Someone makes money at some point
Spec work is generally about acquiring something. The business gains either a name, customer, phone number, lead, money, website traffic, or some other tangible resource which they can then use to further their own goals. Spec work asks the viewer to take action in terms of "sign up", "call", "e-mail" and then supply some personal information.

Pro Bono = no one profits at any point
Pro Bono work is not about acquiring anything. The work ends up simply floating about the universe educating or informing but not directly pointing viewers to any one resource or asking for anything in return. Pro Bono work seeks to improve the education or lives of its viewers without any direct return.

And it's important to remember that simply because a business is classified as "non-profit" that doesn't mean they don't make money. Non-profit projects are not immediately seen as pro bono to me.

VaR for FX forwards

I am trying to figure out some of the commonly used approaches to deal with FX forwards (in a currency portfolio containing spots, forwards and swaps) that would allow me to calculate the one day VaR for the portfolio. I currently only have spot prices in my historic dataset. Any insight into this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Answer

You need to isolate the risk factors that impact your forward contract, which is your spot fx rate, and the two rates of each currency that underlies the forward contract. You therefore need to estimate the VaRs of each of those risk factors. You also need the correlations between the underlying risk factors.

For example, a forward to buy USD in exchange for Japanese yen breaks down to the following risk factors :

• USDJPY spot rate


• USD rate


• Yen rate

You also need:

• The VaR of each of the above risk factors


• The correlation between the above risk factors

Take a look at the following which explains in very simple terms the basic concept: VaR of Forward Foreign Currency Contract

Be careful, I find VaR a very flawed concept because it forces you to make tons of very shady assumptions, starting with the currency interest rates (in the past those were based on interbank lending rates which we all know were rigged).

Edit: Also, VaR does not capture counter party risk that arises from entering into an agreement with another party that exhibits risk of default. Keeping a big picture in mind never hurts: If you entered into forward agreements to hedge exposure to the underlying then it depends on how your risk department is setup: Most desks value forward agreements like any other asset on a daily basis, some corporates do not do such because the sole reason of the forwards is to lock in prices for future delivery and hence they do not interpret daily fluctuations in the forwards as a risk component.

high frequency - How to calculate historical intraday volatility?

Sorry for what must be a beginner question, but when I went to write code I realized I didn't understand exactly how historical volatility, or statistical volatility, is defined. Wikipedia tells me "volatility is the standard deviation of the instrument's logarithmic returns", and logarithmic return is defined as $\ln\left(\frac{V_f}{V_i}\right)$, where $V_f$ is closing price and $V_i$ is opening price.

If I want to calculate the volatility of a minute bar, from the raw ticks, do I just use the first and last tick in that minute? If I use first and last ticks in the minute (i.e. bar open/close), I will have a single logarithmic return, so s.d. of that one value will be 0. In an answer to this question, the intraday volatility chart is described as U-shaped. Exactly what sums do I need to do to generate that intraday volatility chart from the day's ticks?

In R terms, is logarithmic return:

#x is xts object containing ticks
r = na.omit( lag(x)/x )
lnr = log(r)

Background: I have a stream of ticks, and as I turn them into minute (and higher period) bars (using R's xts module) I also calculate the mean and s.d. Is the standard financial measure of volatility different from standard deviation? If not, can one be derived from the other?

If the above definition of volatility is correct, my answer (based on eyeballing the plots, and on running cor) seems to be that they are really quite different; I'm still chewing over how that gels with the answers here.

Answer

The expression you have is fine. But more generally, for the intraday volatility, I don't think there "the correct definition". More like, whatever works in the given context. I found the following notes by Almgren pretty useful:

http://cims.nyu.edu/~almgren/timeseries/notes7.pdf

editing - I'm an editor who generally uses Word to communicate changes with my authors. Is Adobe's InCopy better for this task?

For all of my editing work I'm currently using Microsoft Word. But I've heard a bit about Adobe's InCopy being good for editing and publishing. Is it really better? What makes it better than Word?

Answer

I think to some extent the question is moot. I don't think it really matters what software is BETTER (and you can get into endless debates about that from proponents of all different products), it matters what's Industry Standard. And MS Word is still absolutely the industry standard, in my experience. All serious writers have and use MS Word, all serious editors have and use MS Word, etc.

I just checked the price for InCopy, and it looks like it costs about $250. If you want to use it yourself, for in-house work, I think it might be an interesting experiment, but I don't think it's realistic to expect everyone you work with to buy their own copy, at that price. Not when everybody's already paid for their copies of MS Word.

ETA: As a writer, I'd be unimpressed if my editor expected me to not only buy, but also spend the time learning to use a brand new piece of software. I want to WRITE, not play around with my computer.

creative writing - Avoiding spectacle creep

It's common in stories for spectacle to build over time. Each story arc, the stakes get higher, the drama gets more intense, the villains get more dangerous, and so on. For a story with a fixed endpoint, that's fine. So long I know where I'm going, it's just a matter of pacing the spectacle increase.

But for an ongoing story, that poses a challenge, particularly in a genre where the stakes start high. The superhero saves the city, then the world, then the universe, then the multiverse, then defeats every villain from every universe simultaneously while blindfolded and in a full body cast, and then what? How can I lower the stakes from there (or ideally, much earlier) without the audience getting bored?

How can I tell an ongoing story without falling victim to spectacle creep?

Answer

There are more things you can do with stakes than escalate ad nauseam.

First, you can vary the threat. For example, Buffy jokes more than once about "saving the world again". The difference comes from saving the world from different things; a new threat might require a new approach, pose a tougher challenge than the previous threat, etc.

Second, there might be personal stakes in addition to the "save the world" stakes: save the world without letting mum find out my secret identity, save the world and my lover whom the Big Bad has put in danger to distract me, save the world from my best friend who's gone crazy. (All from Buffy again, since I've already started with that example).

Third, once in a while, you can lower the stakes. How about helping a single person who's stuck in an abusive relationship? Or not letting any baddies interfere with a friend's wedding?

Fourth, your hero might get de-powered. They suffered a serious wound in the final battle of one story, so in the next story, they're still recovering, and it hinders their ability to deal with the threat of the day. Or they're going through some emotional stuff. Or last time they got fined for damage to buildings, roads, etc., so now they need to save the world without wreaking half a city in the process. Done too often, this trope becomes annoying (as do most others), but once in a while - it adds interest, not only by making the challenge more challenging, but also by showing the hero as not all-powerful. The audience's sense of danger to the hero increases, everything becomes more tense and more exciting.

forms - Should we allow special characters or numbers in name field?

I need a generic validation for first and last name field that will be used everywhere. Currently I'm using:

/^[A-Za-z]?[A-Za-z ]*$/

designers - What do I do when I quote a price for a design but the client keeps asking for revisions and redesigns?

I'm a freelance graphic designer, so mostly, my pricing and what not is pretty casual and I don't work 24/7 as I have other things to take care of, so when I quote someone, I figure out how long it will take me roughly and also take into account how difficult it might be. I give them the price, get a deposit and start work. I usually tell them that the odd revision or two is included.

BUT...

In the situation that I'm asking about, I always seem to get people who are really specific on what they want, which is brilliant; it seems nice and simple and I know exactly what I'm doing. But then as the job progresses and I send them samples, they begin to change their mind, they request way more revisions/redesigns that I ever expected etc. Now, I'm fine with this, as obviously I'm happy to work with them until they are happy with their product but when I mention that it's been more work than they initially stated they almost always get angry and lash out (via email) at how I'm not holding up my end of the bargain.

I always feel awful asking for more money and I almost never get more/they cancel altogether and I'm left with nothing, usually not even the (tiny) deposit that I stated was non refundable (to protect myself from exactly this...)

What is the best way of wording something (anything) initially, whereby this might not happen as much. Or am I just being too polite?

Answer

Stefan has several excellent points, which I'll echo and expand upon:

• Write up a contract. You don't start anything without a contract. It took me over a week to write my first contract, but that baby is as detailed and iron-clad as I could make it, and now I can slice-and-dice and adapt it to future jobs. The AIGA has a ridiculously detailed sample contract you can use to start with: http://www.aiga.org/standard-agreement/


• In that contract you spell out precisely what you are doing for the client. Be repetitive to the point where you feel silly, because it will save your butt later.


• As part of that contract, you specify what amount of money is due when: deposit of $X or Y%, $X or Y% upon Milepost 1, $X or Y% upon Milepost 2, remaining $X or last 10% when client signs off on final product. You want to leave a little at the end so that the client feels like they can still command your attention, but not so much that if you had to walk away it would ruin your bank account. I like 10% as my wiggle room.


• You include N rounds of revisions. (I usually have three.) You specify "after N rounds of revisions, any additional revisions will be billed at $X per hour." That gives them warning right up front that if they want to go 'round the mulberry bush, you'll be happy to accommodate them, but they'll be paying for it.


• As part of this process, when they send you the first revision, you IMMEDIATELY respond with, "Thank you, I am in receipt of your email with blah blah revision. Per our contract, this is the first round of revisions to this project." Now, it's up to you what constitutes "a round of revisions." It can be "one large design change," it can be "one hour of little revisions over and over," whatever. But have an idea in mind BEFORE you open the file.


• You do the same with the second round. At the third round, you respond, "I just want to remind you before I start that this is your last round of revisions allotted in our contract. After this, subsequent changes will be billed on a per-hour basis and invoiced [weekly]."


• Include a Kill Fee or a cancellation fee. The idea is that you always get paid for your time and effort, no matter where they stop in the process. You can pro-rate it to an hourly cost from the last pay milestone to the cancellation point. That will also give them pause.



• Don't be shy about asking for money. If you're a professional, act like one. Would your plumber be shy about sending you a bill? You are a professional providing a service. It's not your fault if they don't like the service; you still had to do the work. Of course you want them to be happy, but you also need to pay your grocery bill.

Basically, don't do more work than you agreed to before they agree to pay you for it. When you're reaching your estimate, STOP and tell them so.

Adobe Illustrator: Unable to apply Grain-Effect to Gradient

(This question is related to another investigation into visual techniques using gradients and noise-filters: Research: Grainy/Noisy Gradient)

I am trying to apply a Grain-Effect (Effect -> Texture -> Grain) to a shape with a gradient as its fill color. Although this has worked with other shapes and gradients before, here the Grain-Effect somehow is not displayed the way it usually is. It is basically not visible, the shape remains filled with a smooth gradient. Take a look at these screenshots to see what I am referring to (in this example, Shape A refers to all the other shapes of my current project on which the effect has worked without any problems).

1. Shape A and B before the application of the effect (+ their respective gradient-settings):

(Gradient Shape A)

(Gradient Shape B)

2. Grain-Effect settings while adding the effect to A/B:

(Adding the effect to Shape A)

(Adding the effect to Shape B)

2.2 Closer look at Grain-Effect on Shape B:

A closer look at the shape while applying the effect reveals that some grain/noise particles are somehow still added to the shape's fill.

2.3 Shape A and B after the application of the effect:

Does anyone know why this shape/gradient is behaving this way? I would like to be able to apply the Grain-Effect to it just the way I'm doing it to my other shapes, i.e. Shape A in the example above.

What are good resources to get fantasy names?

I have trouble coming up with fantasy names. I've used random name generators but they weren't very helpful. Is there a website that would have fantasy names or Norse, or Celtic names?

Chicago- Paraphrasing a whole page from Author into 1 paragraph- what is the citation?

In a technical paper I am writing, I am taking a whole page of information and condensing it into a paragraph. I am using a mix of the authors words and my own. My question is can I cite the end of the paragraph and just state in the footnote that all the above is from page 124 of this author and I do not take credit for the information.

I would have rewritten it totally but this author's writing of this information cannot be rewritten given the nature of the info. It also saves having a whole paragraph from having 8 footnotes. This is all in chicago style. Is the following okay?

Example: Sentence 1 Sentence 2 Sentence 3 .. .. ..footnote 1

Footnote 1: author, title, page, paragraph is a slightly briefer summary of the abstract construction of x given by y. The paragraph is in a large part paraphrasing y and should not be taken as my own developed account.

Is this kosher?

adobe photoshop - Remove substracted paths from shape layers and combine into one shape layer

I'm creating a wi-fi icon in Photoshop, using three circles and subtracted paths.

Now I need to remove the subtracted area and combine the three shape layers into one shape layer without rasterizing.

This is what I want to do:

How can I do it?

Answer

Finally I managed it myself.

There is a combine Button in the toolbar you can see once clicked the path direction tool. Select the layer and click combine, That's it.

position - Button positioning for Negative, Neutral and Positive actions

I'm in the process of putting together a style guide for a web application, in particular, a section about buttons (it's visual weight, position and labelling).

I'm almost there, I've done a lot of research on various articles and blogs, and have come to the decision to place Positive action buttons on the right, and Negative/Neutral buttons on the left.

But I'm not sure how to handle situations where you may have a combination on all three types.

Here's an example.

What is the best method? I'm leaning towards B, for the reasons that the user is less likely to accidentally hit the Negative (Reject) option, when going for the Positive (Approve). Hitting the Neutral (Cancel - which in this contrived example would close a dialog box) by mistake wouldn't be that big of a deal.

However, having such a gap between the Negative action might mean that it is missed. The eyes also have a larger area to scan.

Can somebody please help me out on this?

Answer

Approve and Reject are a corresponding pair of actions, while Cancel is "something different"--the choice to not take any action after all.

Therefore, I would prefer option A or C.

I find B confusing, since it appears to imply Approve and Cancel are closely related, while Reject is not. At a glance, one might think "Cancel" is the opposite of Approve based on the placement and accidentally hit that rather than Reject.

I think a logical arrangement of actions is the most important for avoiding mistakes. As long as the buttons are adequately sized, mentally misreading the options seems a more likely source of error than accidentally hitting the wrong part of the screen.

notification - How Do I Avoid Users Becoming Numb to Warnings?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because it's bitten me in the behind a few times.

Think of the Windows User Account Control in Windows Vista (and to a lesser extent Windows 7). The idea is that when something that can break your machine happens (like malware trying to install or opening a system folder), the UAC pops up and makes sure that you're aware of what's going on.

As a power user, I get the UAC control a lot. To the point where I automatically dismiss it. So the one time where it could have saved me (a website was hacked and was installing a virus on my machine) I automatically clicked yes.

Another scenario on the Xbox, you get a lot of "are you sure you want to do this" prompts. Again I automatically accept those.

Well there was one time that I accepted it without thinking then saw "this will wipe your profile saves on all attached storage, do you really want to do this" as the dialog I just accepted went away. With the net result being that I lost a year's worth of game saves from my Xbox. Boxers in Fight Night, Racers in Need for Speed, Fully powered up warriors (and 60 hours of gameplay) in Blue Dragon were all gone because I had become so inundated with "are you sure" prompts that by the time I really needed to pay attention, I had been indoctrinated to ignore them (like how everyone automatically clicks accept on the EULA and Terms of Service dialogs).

Is it a matter of crying wolf? Or is there something more to it. How do I keep the user aware of important events without innundating them?

Answer

Mostly it’s crying wolf. Ninety-nine percent of the time the user selects the command, that’s exactly what they mean to do, so they very quickly get in the habit of smacking the OK button without more than a glance at the message. Designers don’t help the situation often providing vague, incomplete, or jargony messages, so that if users do take the time to actually read them, they don’t get any helpful information to decide if they really should proceed or not. Instead, users are rewarded with just getting past them as fast as they can.

As for solutions:

Use warnings as little as possible. They should only appear for truly exceptional situations. If normal use of your app results in a message box, then your UI is wrong.

• 
  

  Rely more on making it clear what will happen before the user selects the command (e.g., clear labels in user’s language, dangerous controls spaced away from common controls). If deleting a profile also deletes saved games, then the screen should graphically show that a profile includes the saved games.

  
  



• 
  

  Make it possible to reverse any action at least as easily as it is to commit it. This can be through an Undo feature. If it’s easy to revert, you don’t need a warning. Don't delete the profile. Recycle it.

  
  


• 
  

  Make dangerous commands less dangerous so they don’t need a warning. Maybe you don’t want Select All to have the Ctrl-A accelerator in your app if users rarely need to select all and it can lead to accidentally deleting an entire document. Can we make it so that deleting a profile does not delete any saved games? Can we make deleting a saved game a separate operation?

  
  

Make the warning effective with a single glance. Even if you do it right and only have warnings when they are really necessary, users click-OK reflexes are so well-trained from other apps, you still have to assume they’re going to look at you warning only long enough to see how to get past it. You want to maximize the chance they get the key elements of the warning despite the users’ training.

• 
  
  

  The text should be as terse (but complete) as possible. Don’t say: “You are about to delete your profile for Boxer Craig Crusher, which will delete all saved games associated with this profile. Are you sure you really want to do this?” Say “Delete Craig Crusher and his saved games?”

  
  


• 
  

  Label the execution button with the action to commit (e.g., “Delete”), not simply “OK” or “Yes.” At least you can count on users looking at the button, and if they meant to hit “Copy,” they’ll see they’re wrong.

  
  


• 
  

  Consider giving each message a unique icon or picture to represent the consequences. A clear picture can be processed with a glance. Show graphically what will happen (e.g., Craig Crusher dissolving away). If what’s being affected can't be shown in its entirety parent window, then show it in the message box.

  
  

See my answer to Verification of Consequences for an example. I’ve more on dealing with the plague of message boxes at Of Dialogs and Detritus.

icons - How to represent level of difficulty while selecting a game?

I am working on a menu to select from various (3) game variants shown from top to bottom, each variant offering different difficulty levels.

The difficulty will be selected by swiping (touch input mobile) on one variant to left or right.

Now I am stuck how to indicate the difficulty level graphically as I want to avoid labels such as easy/medium/... I have a bar display in mind, which will show stacked bars, each bar representing a higher level still being able to show max. difficulty level. Stacked bars also will only work if arranged vertically (not to mix up with progress indication).

So what are other options to show a difficulty level on limited screen space?

Answer

How about each button showing a different number of daggers/guns/bombs? One for easy, two for medium and three for hard. The actual weapon/icon would depend on the context of your game.

Or, if you don't have a lot of room have a different weapon/icon for each level.

Obviously this only works if your game involves combat of some kind.

As always icons don't have to be representative as long as their meaning can be easily discovered and they are distinct from each other.

How can you create a preview window for seamless tile editing in photoshop

Here's an example: https://youtu.be/ooo51ZRgU_4?t=351

I want to be able to just save the image on the right which will update the picture on the left. This could be done with smart objects I guess, but that's not the case in the Jazza's video. I'm baffled.

I know there are some other solutions, but I want it to work just like in the video. Pressing save updates the image on the left.

For those looking for similar solutions: Pyxel Edit has similar kind of functionality and it's the best.

Answer

Here is a way to work on seamless tiles using Smart Objects.

Let's say that we want to do a 16x16 px tile. We only really need to see it repeated 3x3 times to check if the pattern works so we'll stick to that for this example, but you can of course make it as large as you want.

• Create a 48x48 px document.


• Create a new layer and fill a 16x16 px rectangle in the top left corner.


• Select the layer, right-click and Convert to Smart Object.


• Use Move Tool while holding down Alt to drag eight copies of the Smart Object filling up the document.


• All of the copied Smart Objects are references to the same original Smart Object, so now you can double-click the thumbnail of any of them to start editing a single tile in a separate window.


• Set up the split screen with Window > Arrange > 2-up Vertical and you are good to go! Whenever you save the Smart Object, the main document will update.

adobe illustrator - Is there a way to add all colors used into the swatches panel?

Sometimes, when inspiration hits me, I start designing a document using multiple colors. Or I use the Blend tool to create a smooth set of colors for me to work with.

But it always happens that eventually, I need to start matching my colors and keeping better track of them, which I usually do with the Swatches panel.

But I always end up clicking an object/path, dragging the color from the color picker into the swatches panel and then repeating for all the colors I want to keep.

Is there a way for me to just have the Swatches panel add all the current colors in the document or layer or from a selected group?

Answer

Select the group of objects you want to grab the colors from and click the New Color Group button on the Swatches pane. Make sure the Selected Artwork option is selected, and you'll get a new color group with all the colors from that selection.

adobe illustrator - How to avoid black background when dealing with transparent vectors

I have a heart graphic I am working with in Adobe illustrator. It has transparent properties in it and looks to be mainly made up of mesh layers.

I keep finding transparency in illustrator a challenge. This heart graphic is transparent but when you remove the background you can see the mesh transparent parts as "black".

This particular design will go on a promotional t-shirt. But if i want to export it as a png, or if i sent this file to the printers like this with the black background parts.. Is that normal? How do i do so without the black part showing?

I included some pics below to give you a better idea.

Thanks for any help!

Answer

This kind of image probably must be rasterized before printing onto a cloth. It's too complex to be silk screened or plotted.

Obviously you want the cloth to be visible just like the blue was in your first image. The clouds are wanted as partially transparent white on the canvas.

My suggestion:

Ask, does the print process accept partial transparency to make the cloth partially visible and what is the right file format to deliver the image with transparency

Let's assume the right format is a PNG24 with alpha. Be sure that you also know the pixel dimensions.

=> Make a full white image with the wanted pixel dimensions. Extend the black to cover fully the white area. Use your black-white shape as the opacity mask or alpha channel. Export as PNG with no background.

Chek the transparency in a raster image editor before sending to the printer

It's possible that you must use some own half-toning to create the illusion of the transparency. The printer surely tells, if you ask.

NOTE: Nothing replaces the asking, so at first contact to the printer and get the proper data.

How to make a file

If you want to make a file in Photoshop, you probably do not want to delete the black areas and print the rest, because the non-whiteness should be partially transparent white. No grey areas are wanted. This is true assuming your blue image to be the wanted result on blue canvas.

1. 
   
   

   Make an empty RGB image with the wanted pixel dimensions

   
   


2. 
   

   Place your shapes (sorry, I have only the screenshot with your mesh) as pixels, fill the empty area with black. Now you have:

   
   

3. Make a white layer, copy the BW layer to the layer mask of the white layer, create below all a colored test layer which simulates the canvas. Hide the original BW layer. Then you have:

You might want to edit the edges and the general contrast of the transparency. You can brush a little more black or white to the mask of the white layer. You can also select the layer mask icon and adjust the curves. That affects radically on the steepness of the transparency:

When you are happy, hide all other layers but the white one with the layer mask and save as PNG.

Test the transparency opening the PNG.

NOTE: the need of the PNG is not sure before asking. As well the printer can want a PDF, SVG or an Ai file.

In vector domain you also should get rid of the black. Unfortunately I haven't the vector version and there are nothing visible of the used blending and transparency modes so I cannot give any receipe.

What is the drawing style called that is used in the RSA Animate lectures?

What is the drawing style called that is used in the RSA Animate lectures?

See some videos here: http://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL39BF9545D740ECFF

I don't think they are standard caricatures, but I have seen similar styles elsewhere, but I can't remember where and I am not sure what to search on to see more of the style.

Answer

The RSA Animate videos are created by CognativeMedia using ydraw.

This style of is often referred to as "animated vignettes" named after "animated narrative vignette," an instructional technology used in education.

An animated narrative vignette (ANV) is an instructional technology used to motivate and facilitate role-playing, problem solving, and discussion. Teachers develop the ANVs to present in class or in online training. Students might also create them in experiential learning exercises. They provide computer animation representations of teachable situations that encourage critical thinking and may also provide an instrument for assessing attitudes and behaviors. Vignettes have been used to teach mathematics and science, management skills, problem solving, and character education.

interaction design - Plus & Minus button position for selecting number of passengers?

We're having a discussion in the studio as to the position of the plus & minus buttons in this UI element. I feel that you naturally look to the right to 'increase' or 'move forward', although I have seen plus positioned to the left in other instances.

What are your thoughts on this?

text - Adobe illustrator: symmetrical editing of card indices (A, K, Q, J, etc.)

I have a set of playing cards in FXG format serving as asset for a Flex card game.

However the indices of the cards are in English language: A, K, Q, J and my game is in a different language.

My question is - how can I replace the indices in a clever way, i.e. so that the new indices are aligned symmetrically and I don't have to spend hours rotating and aligning them?

Below is a screenshot of what I have, the indices are on separate layers already and I can select them by clicking the "circles" in the layers menu:

For the screenshot above: I need to replace the both "A"s by my own indices.

Answer

An easy method.. via Symbols.

Type your new character.

Select the new character with the Selection Tool (Black Arrow) and drag it to the Symbols Panel. Your character will now appear to be a box, not live text.

Copy, rotate, and position the symbol so it overlays both areas as you want.

When you need to update the letter, double-click the symbol in the Symbol Panel. Alter the text, and hit the ESC key twice.

All instances of the Symbol will be updated to reflect the change.

Be certain the type is center aligned when you create it. It will make alignment of the later characters easier. If you don't center-align the initial character, subsequent symbol edits will cause the characters to move out of alignment.

UI design for multiple attribute based filtering

I have a movie dataset. The dataset contains movie's attributes like title, actors, directors, imdb rating etc. I am working on a web app which enables user to apply filters on the dataset. For eg the user can filter movies on any attribute of movie:

• Actor = Leonardo Dicaprio Or,


• Genre = horror

And on any combination of these attributes:

• Actor = Leonardo Di Caprio AND Genre = horror AND imdb rating > 7 OR tomato meter >85 %

So,there can be any dynamic combination of these filters.

My question is how do I let users define these dynamic filters? Do you have some example sites doing this in awesome way ?

buttons - "New" vs. "Create"

For buttons that initiate some content creation interaction, which label is better: "New X" or "Create X"? Are there specific uses that in which one is better than the other?

Answer

Ok I might be on to something:

• "New" is good for buttons that take the user to a clean "canvas", where the user can add his content.


• "Create" is good for buttons that "submit" the user's content or input (either into a database or to some public platform).

In other words, "New" doesn't suggest that you're actually creating anything. It just sets the stage for creation. "Create" suggests that you're done and ready to turn your temporary work into a permanent object.

So, if you want to create a new Word Document, "New file" or just "New" are good, because the action gives the user a clean canvas. If, however, you've just completed a registration form, "Create" works better, because it submits the user's input into the database and creates a new object.

Illustrator: How to exclude textured strokes (Chalkboard effect)

I'm trying to create a lettering with chalkboard effect in order to print it on a chalkboard mug. However, most tutorials I found for Adobe Illustrator recommend applying a textured stroke to the text. (One of the charcoal effect brushes)

Now I would like to exclude the stroke (with texture) from the text itself. However, I can't really figure out how to do that without throwing away the charcoal texture as well.

Here's an example: The red part should be excluded from the text. Using a certain color is not an option since we don't know the exact background color and we're only allowed to use 2 colors.

Thank you!

Answer

I'm assuming that your text is not live text, but already expanded, or outline created.

1. Select the text objet, and press expand to change it into a group of shapes.


2. Right-click and click on Ungroup, or press CTRL + SHIFT + G.


3. Repeat 2 another two times.


4. Carefully select only the red outlines and white text of one letter. Careful! there are some elements left over that might interfere with the following steps.

5. Press CTRL+SHIFT+F9 to open the Pathfinder window, and click on the Minus Front button.

You've now finished one letter! Repeat those steps on the rest of letters , and you're done.

cs6 - How to access the rotate by angle functionality of Illustrator's Rotate Tool

I read that when I select the Rotate Tool (R) in Illustrator CS6 then Alt + Click on a point to select the rotational reference, a dialog should popup prompting for an angle. When I did that nothing happened.

Is there supposed to be a popup dialogue, or is this a bug? How do I make it appear if there is one?

I am trying to follow a tutorial and got stuck on this step.

website design - HTML buttons vs hyperlinks for navigation

When creating an overall site style guide, how do you determine when a button or a hyperlink should be for something other than navigation?

I see many time with the heavy usage of jQuery and AJAX, hyperlinks do more than just navigation. Is it bad design to use them for something other than navigation?

Answer

In general, users expect links to link and command buttons to command. That is, links navigate, presenting new content without changing the underlying data objects or their relations or positions. Buttons change these things, performing creation, deletion, association, conversion, duplication, etc. An easy rule-of-thumb is if the most terse caption for the control is a noun (e.g., Home, Products, Site Map), then use a link. If the caption is a verb (e.g., Update, Submit, Delete, Purchase), then use a button.

However, you are correct that recently links have been used in place of command buttons in various web sites and even some style guides endorse this. In fact, links have been used in place of just about every other control (e.g., radio buttons, tabs, checkboxes). Furthermore, in thick-client desktop apps, buttons may navigate, especially in older apps that originated before the web (and links) was commonly used. I believe this confuses users and we really should use distinct-looking controls for distinct functions. Both web apps and desktop apps should clearly distinguish between navigation and commands by using links and buttons respectively. Navigating is significantly distinct than commands because:

• 
  

  Users easily revert navigation by clicking Back or closing the window. It’s always a “safe” action. Commands frequently cannot be reverted in a web app. If commands can be reverted, it’s through an Undo feature, which involves a different user response than Back or Close.

  
  


• 
  

  In desktop apps, users don’t have to save after navigating. Saving is frequently necessary after a command.

  
  


• 
  

  Commands provide different feedback that is often more subtle than navigation. It’s generally apparent when the user is presented with new content. Commands may show the change in the content, but often no change is apparent (e.g., for Copy or Save). Web apps often resort to confirmation pages (which doesn’t count as navigation in my book).

  
  
  

For these reasons, it helps the user to have distinct controls for navigation and commands, and fortunately user expectations for buttons and links make this easy. However, continued use of links for commands (and buttons for navigation) undermine these expectations, and soon we’ll lose this opportunity.

Graphically distinguishing navigation and commands afford us powerful ways to communicate with our users. For example if Contact Us is a link, then it displays a list of addresses and phone numbers (I’d label it “Contact Us” rather than the more terse “Contacts” since “Contact Us” is such a common convention, users scan for it specifically in menus). In contrast, if Contact Us is a button, then it takes users to a form where they can directly submit questions or comments (the button caption should have an ellipsis to indicate more information is required for the command).

I agree that command buttons tend to be bigger and uglier than links, especially when you have to have a lot of them in the same window, which is typical for web apps that lack an object-selection-action interface or pull-down command menus. However, the solution is to develop lightweight version of the appropriate controls, not recruit another control with a totally different user expectations. Such lightweight controls may technically be links, but they should look like the control they’re imitating. For example, a lightweight “button” can be a linked image of a small shaded rectangle with a center-aligned caption.

There is a gray area in navigation/command distinction which we should sort out. I recommend the following until the appropriate research can be conducted:

Use links for:

• 
  

  Loading a page of content

  
  
  


• 
  

  Loading dynamically generated content.

  
  


• 
  

  Loading content to part of a page if no other option is tenable (e.g., a tab).

  
  


• 
  

  Navigating between pages of a wizard (in contrast to traditional desktop wizards that use buttons).

  
  

Use command buttons for:

• 
  

  Actions that change or apply the underlying content or data objects.

  
  


• 
  

  Actions that affect the view of the content if no other option is tenable.

  
  


• 
  
  

  Execution of a dialog’s commands, including the Finish action of a wizard.

  
  


• 
  

  Canceling of a dialog, assuming canceling resets the dialogs parameters to the default or previous values.

  
  

Use a command button with an ellipsis at the end of the caption to access a dialog.

Even more details, if you can believe it, at http://www.zuschlogin.com/?p=18.

forms - How best to show a document preview

I have a fairly basic web form that gathers information such as name, address, description, yada, yada. I have to do a rewrite and so am wondering what the best practice currently is to show a preview? Right now, you click "save and preview" and go to the next page to see a preview. I can think of other methods, such as showing the preview in a pane on the same screen as the form, or show the preview in a popup window or an overlay.

What is the recommended best user experience to display a preview after completing a form that is used to generate a final document?

Diacritics in InDesign for beginners

We have Turkish text that we have to layout Universe 65 Bold. This works for most letters, but not for ğ and a few others.
In Universe LT 45 Light it works.
Now, I went into Word to check out the characterset and neither Bold nor Light actually contains this letter. It is in Arial or in Times.
So we came up with the assumption, that it is a ligature.

And we did enable and disable Ligatures in InDesign for that section, but no change. Now we run out of ideas? What are we doing wrong or what did we miss? How can I create a character like this in InDesign for a new Font?

Answer

It's not a ligature, it's a character, which is why turning ligatures on and off won't help.

You should have the breve character (Unicode 02D8), though. You can create the character using a standard g and the breve, then kerning the breve back over the g. This is a general solution that works for any diacritics that are missing as full characters in a given font.

Set up a GREP style that looks for the g+breve combination and applies the appropriate kerning value (actually, in this case, you assign tracking). As they say in Facebook, "It's complicated."

• 
  

  Set up a Character Style that applies the appropriate tracking so that the breve sits directly over the g.

  
  


• 
  

  In your paragraph style, set up a GREP style with this code: g(?=˘) and applies your special Character Style.

  
  

Any time you now enter the g followed by a breve, the tracking will be applied automatically.

The code uses a Positive Lookahead (the "(?=˘)" part) to find a g followed by a ˘ then applies the Character Style. Geeky stuff, but a godsend when you need it.

ab testing - What are the best A/B tools?

I have a few pages to A/B test, and I am looking for the best tools to use for this? Is there a "standard" or favorite industry tool?

Answer

Google offers a free AB tester callled Website Optimizer

Tone and directness in email

Hello guys I'm sending a prospective email to a venue, regarding an event that I want to organise. But I'm unsure of my approach in firstly asking the question (it sounds out of place), and just the general tone of the email. The email is as follows:-

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is _________________ and I'm contacting you on behalf of [brand], a microblogging platform and social networking website which allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog.

Through brand exclusivity, discounts and freebies, we aim to engage our target market and attract them to our e-commerce store, and we feel your venue is perfectly aligned geographically and functionally to fulfil this.

With this in mind, are there any renting vacancies available in June 2014? If so, could we please speak to a representative to submit our full business proposal?

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your prompt and favourable reply. If you have any questions regarding this enquiry please contact me at _____________ or by email at contact@example.com

Yours Faithfully,
Andrew

Answer

You sound like you're trying to seduce them -- all you want to know is whether they have availability for a booking of their facility.

Honestly, if I got an email like that I'd say "No" just based on my assessment that you're trying to be my best friend, not engage in a business transaction.

Dear Sir,

I represent ...., and we are looking for a venue for an event in [insert time period]. We would need the following facilities:

...

Can you please confirm what availability you have in this period that would be suitable, and a rate guide.

Regards, ...

adobe illustrator - Automatically make various multiple stroke colour the same as various underlying fill colours.

I have auto traced a photograph in illustrator - its got thousands of vectors once I expand it and illustrator has converted each of them to a filled colour - I want to now trace the edges of them with a grungy brush but using the underlying fill colour. Where in illustrator can I stroke or outline these fills using the underlying colour - surely this is something that the program automatically does?

I've found this script online but don't know how to implement it. I'm new to this so any help appreciated. Many thanks.

James

var idoc = app.activeDocument;  
var sel = idoc.selection;  


for (i=0; i    var ipath = sel[i];  
    ipath.stroked = true;  
    ipath.strokeColor = ipath.fillColor;  
}  

How to add a shadow border to an image in GIMP

I prepared a square and a triangle in Gimp but I am unable to get a shadow around it. I want it exactly like the image below.

I tried with filter --> lights and shadow --> Drop shadow but it casts a shadow on one side only. In addition on one side there is too much shadow. I was unable to make a shadow on all sides (i.e. completely around the square).

I saw a similar question here, but it is for Photoshop. I don't have Photoshop.

I checked whether the same procedures exist in Gimp, but couldn't find them. I only started Gimp a few days back. Can someone please tell me how to achieve this in Gimp?

Answer

The setting for the Filter - Lights and Shadow - Drop Shadow tool to achieve a shadow around a selected object are as follows:

• Offset X: how much the shadow moves to the right


• Offset Y: how much the shadow moves down


• Blur radius: how "thick" the shadow will be


• Color: Pick a color to be used for the shadow


• Opacity: Transparency ("darkness") of the shadow (100: full opaque / 0: invisible)

With the settings above I made a grey shadow around the blue box:

Motivation of the singular perturbation solution formulation for local volatility model

I am puzzled by the motivation of the particular choice of the (singular) perturbation method used in Equivalent Black Volatilities. Equation (A.6a) sets $$\epsilon:= A(K)\ll 1.$$ What is the motivation for this setting? I find it surprising that $A(K)$ is to be infinitesimal. However, at later expansion in Equation (A.9a), $A(K)$ seems to be treated independently from $\epsilon$ which is $A(K)$ itself. Moreover, Equation (A.9b) seems to assume $A'(K)$ and $A''(K)$ to be infinitesimal as well, if $\nu_1$ and $\nu_2$ are to be finite. This setting seems to be rather contrived.

What is going on?

This local volatility analysis is referenced in the paper Managing Smile Risk on the SABR model.

Answer

In fact, this is a confusion caused by a sloppy notation. The rigorous version of the setup should be $$A(K)\rightarrow \epsilon A(K).$$ Then we let $x:=\frac{f-K}\epsilon$. The rest is the usual singular perturbation operation.

Date picker subtleties: Input year by using numeric keys

We are developing a date picker and have run into a problem related to interpretation of user input.

Suppose you have a date picker as the one in the picture below and the user is to change the year by using the numeric keys.

Obviously a year (until far future) is four digits. However, a lot of users are used to a procedure such as this using the numeric keys:

"dd" [tab] "mm" [tab] "yy" [tab/leave]

That is, inputting only 2 digits to indicate the year. My question is thus:

• What is the most reasonable behaviour to accommodate such a scenario?

Our tentative approach is this:

• 00 <= "yy" <= 29 is assumed to mean 2000 (lower bound) and 2029 (upper bound)


• 30 <= "yy" <= 99 is assumed to mean 1930 (lower bound) and 1999 (upper bound)

But what if the user enters "yyy" and leaves the input field - how is that supposed to be interpreted?

In this case our approach is not change anything until a fourth digit is entered. That is:

• "1" -> 2001


• "9" -> 2019


• "7" -> 2019


• "8" -> 1978

If a fifth digit is entered the process starts over according to the rules described in the topmost unordered list above.

Any thoughts on this will be appreciated.

options - Implied dividend estimation

I am looking at two different ways of estimating the expected / implied dividends from market data.

1. Dividend futures

I know that this asset class is not very liquid and might not be representative enough. However, assuming that I have prices which are good enough, how could I estimate the implied divided from the contract price?

For instance, if I have an exchange traded contract whose settlement is the sum of actual dividends paid during 2013, could I just take the current contract price and capitalize it up to the settlement date in order to obtain the implied dividend for 2013?

EDIT: Example added for illustration purposes:

On 05 july 2013, the quoted prices for Santander Dividend Futures are:

• 2013 contract; Maturity 20 Dec 2013; Price: 0.58


• 2014 contract; Maturity 19 Dec 2014; Price: 0.41


• 2015 contract; Maturity 18 Dec 2015; Price: 0.32

For simplicity assume that:

• Each contract is linked to the sum of all dividends paid during the corresponding calendar year.


• Appropriate risk free rates for each contract are: 0,1%; 0,3%; 0,5%.

If I want to estimate the total amount of implied dividends for each year, could these figures be obtained as:

$$ D_{2013}=0.58e^{(0,001*0.46)}=0.5802 $$ $$ D_{2014}=0.41e^{(0,003*1.46)}=0.4118 $$ $$ D_{2015}=0.32e^{(0,005*2.45)}=0.3240 $$ Or am I missing something?

2. Index / single-stock futures

Alternatively, if I wanted to estimate the dividend yield for a stock, what are the limitations of calculating the implied yield directly from the market prices as:

$$ F=S_0e^{(r-q)T} \; \; \; \; \; \Rightarrow \; \; \; \; \; q = \frac{rT-\ln{\frac{F}{S_0}}}{T} $$

I guess there must be certain shortcomings with this aprroach, since usually the synthetic forward is obtained through the put-call parity instead of using the futures prices.

Thanks in advance!

Hyperlink the verb or the noun?

I'm telling users to get something and where they can get it. Should I hyperlink the action or the destination? Which of the following would be easier for the user to parse and execute?

You need to upgrade the app from the Android Market.

Or

You need to upgrade the app from the Android Market.

A third option would be to hyperlink everything. But the more you hyperlink, the less scannable something is. Too much text would be shouting for attention, right?

You need to upgrade the app from the Android Market.

Answer

It's a good idea to think of the link — marked in bold in your post — as the main focus of the sentence. It's what's most important. So if you want the user to focus on the concept of "Android market" that should be the link — if the user should focus on the concept of "upgrading", that should be the link.

A good test for this is capitalizing the words you want to link, which makes it obvious what you want the user to think about.

You need to UPGRADE THE APP from the Android Market.

You need to upgrade the app from the ANDROID MARKET.

It seems to me that the first option is the best.

Of course, I am not suggesting that you capitalize your text on your website — only use this method as a test during dev for you to look at the words and see how you react to the copy. Then, type your link as desired (lower caps, etc).

Graphic Design Copyrights

I have few questions regarding the copyright of the vector images I create.

1. 
   

   Can an individual (not a Company) hire me as a "Work-For-Hire" Agreement?

   
   


2. 
   

   If it's written in the Agreement that any work I make shall be transferred in his propriety (along with the copyright), can he later sell, comercialize and do whatever he wants with the graphics?

   
   


3. 
   
   

   I assume I'm not allowed to re-use the graphics I make since they are under work-for-hire agreement?

   
   

Thank you!

Vector pasting in wrong spot / Font Lab and Illustrator

I built out some shapes to test out a font icon idea.

I drew them in Illustrator. I set my art-board to pt at 1000 x 1000.

I filled the objects and moved the ruler so that 0 was the baseline.

From Font Lab studio, I went to file > font-setup > Metrics and Dimentions: I have changed the Ascender, x height, and caps height all to 1000 and the descender to 0. I'm just making shapes so I figured I didn't need to deal with those. >Apply -

So then I copy and paste from Illustrator to Font Lab.

The glyph seems to be placed properly - except that it is about 1000 pt below where it should be.

To trouble shoot, I fooled around with all of the numbers in the Font Lab key dimentions again and I moved the baseline in Illustrator all over the place to see if I could get a change to happen. I could not. Here is a picture. Any help would be great!

In illustrator: base at zero.

In Fontlab: base at -1000 basically.

Answer

I can't tell from your description if you followed the full FontLab set-up procedure for Illustrator. Looks like you missed a couple of steps.

In Illustrator:

• Edit > Preferences > Units & Undo or Units & Display Performance: Change all units to points (1 point is equal to 1 unit in TypeTool).


• Preferences > Files & Clipboard: Disable PDF, enable AICB and select Preserve Paths.


• Preferences > Guides & Grid: Gridline every 10 pt and Subdivisions 10.


• Set the width of the document in points to be the double of the UPM size of your font (e.g. 2000 pt for a 1000 UPM font).


• Set the height of the document to be the same as UPM size — Descender (e.g. 1000 — (-263) = 1263 pt).


• Select Window > Info, View > Show Rulers, View > Snap to Grid.


• Disable View > Guides > Lock Guides.


• Optionally select View > Show Grid.


• Position a guide at the height that has the same (positive) value as the (negative) descender of your font (e.g. 263 in our example).



• Position a guideline and position it at 0.


• Position the origin point to where the two guidelines cross.


• Drag guidelines to the positions of your ascender, x-height, and caps height.

mean - R code for Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process

Can any one help me with some R code to run Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process?

Answer

The code of Euler Maruyama simulation method is pretty simple (nu is long run mean, lambda is mean reversion speed):

ornstein_uhlenbeck <- function(T,n,nu,lambda,sigma,x0){
  dw  <- rnorm(n, 0, sqrt(T/n))

  dt  <- T/n
  x <- c(x0)
  for (i in 2:(n+1)) {
    x[i]  <-  x[i-1] + lambda*(nu-x[i-1])*dt + sigma*dw[i-1]
  }
  return(x);
}

technique - How do you write a Stack Exchange answer?

Over my years on StackExchange I've come to view answering SE questions as its own, highly specialized writing subgenre, with its own demands, and its own ideal format. By trial and error, and observation of highly upvoted answers, and of answers that I personally find useful, I've created my own standardized format for answering StackExchange questions --one that I have found productive across all the SE sites I participate upon. In addition to reliably garnering me votes, mastering this technique has also taught me useful things about writing in general, particularly persuasive writing.

I will provide my own answer below, but I'm also interested in hearing from other StackExchange members about how they write StackExchange answers, as well as if and how they vary their format for different sites.

fiction - How to start a book off?

I have been working on my book (on and off...) for about 6 months. I have a good bit planned out with the plot, story line, and characters. I even have a small idea on how to start the story but somehow it never seems to be right.... So is there a certain place I should start my story? Way before the life changing events? Presently where the main character is and then just do backflashes? Please help!

plot - How To Develop A Character For A Character-Driven Story?

What is essential for a character-driven story - except, obviously, appearance?

client relations - Customer Requests (Sometimes) Drive Me Bonkers!

Like lots of you, I do freelance graphic design and content creation (copywriting and traditional artwork, some photography) and generally I have no issue with customer requests and/or complaints, or 'reasonable' artwork changes. HOWEVER...

SOMETIMES my customers make requests/demands that are the very essence of bad-to-horrible design. I acquiesce, but not very happily, and at such times try to remember that ultimately, the customer is always right, at least (and maybe especially?) in those areas that concern what they want for the job.

Still, I have to ask myself, is the customer always right? After all, aren't I the artist, and the one they hired for expertise in such matters?

How did the artisans of the Renaissance deal with this situation? (And what version of Adobe did they use way back then, anyway?)

adobe illustrator - Rulers and Grids relationships

I know that a similar questions were asked, but I did not see any answer that solves the issue -

Can we reset the rulers to show us ticks values every 10 point and not those that can be divided by 6?

I failed to adjust rulers to grid no matter what I performed (double click in the left upper corner or zeroing via dragging to any desired point.

Sometimes I need the rulers and grid to match...

The main part of question - Can we match grid lines and rulers perfectly as grids are just continues of rulers ticks?

Illustrator CS6. Any new solution? What I miss?

UPDATE after the answer by Scott - now it is near to be perfect

Answer

Try setting the rulers to something metric, which is based on increments of 10, such as centimeters, millimeters, etc.

Or, alter your grid settings to be divisible by 6. Pixels (or points) will never divide well by 10 since they use increments of 6 as the base.
_{(Even though pixels technically have no size)}

Uploading CSV/Excel data, present mapping functionality or download the schema?

With this question assume the users understand CSV/Excel.

I am looking for the most usable approach for importing data (5-15 rows) into an application.

1. 
   
   

   Is it better to let the users download an Excel/CSV template, populate then upload?

   
   

   or

   
   


2. 
   

   Is it better to let the users upload whatever Excel/CSV they have and allow mapping functionality?

   
   

   or

   
   


3. Tell me a better way.

My thoughts are they you usually give the users some-kind of confirmation on what to import, so why not just go ahead with the mapping functionality and kill two birds with one stone?

Answer

You could tell them what columns are expected and have a button to download a blank file for convenience (#1) or let them create / use their own file.

Once the file is uploaded, if the column names don't already match, you could provide the mapping functionality (#2).

An experienced user might already have the file with the right column names and could skip both steps.

monte carlo - How to simulate a jump-diffusion process?

I would like to price Asian and Digital options under Merton's jump-diffusion model. To that end, I will have to simulate from a jump diffusion process.

In general, the stock price process is given by $$S(t) = S(0)e^{(r-q-\omega)t+X(t)},$$ where $\omega$ is the drift term that makes the discounted stock price process a martingale and where $X(t) = \sigma W(t)+\sum_{i=1}^{N(t)} Y_i$ is a jump-diffusion process. The process $N(t)$ is a Poisson process with intensity $\lambda$ and the jump sizes $Y_i$ are iid Normally distributed $Y_i \sim N(\mu, \delta^2)$.

So, the issue here is the simulation of $X(t)$. I would like to simulate $X(t)$ as follows: first, I construct a grid $[0,T]$ with grid step size $\Delta t = 1/252$ (number of trading days in one year). I now want to compute $X$ on this grid stepwise. Therefore: $$X_{n\Delta t} = X_{(n-1) \Delta t}+\sigma \sqrt{\Delta t} \epsilon_n + p_n,$$ where $\epsilon_n$ are standard normal random variables (easy to simulate in Matlab) and where $p_n$ are Compound Poisson random variables independent of $\epsilon_n$. The question is, how to simulate from these $p_n$?

I was thinking to write a compound Poisson generator myself:

function [p] = CPoissonGenerator(mu,delta,lambda,dt,rows,columns)
   N = poissrnd((1/lambda)*dt,rows,columns);
   Y = normrnd(mu,delta,1,N);
   cP = cumsum([0,Y]);
   p = cP(end);
end

However, I do not know how to generate a matrix of Poisson random variables without using a loop in the above code? This can be very time consuming. Furthermore, I'm not sure if the program is correct. Is there a better way to do this?

scrolling - Drag n drop on touch devices

I notice that touch apps rarely make use of the "drag n drop" (dnd) idiom, and instead dragging is almost always used for scrolling.

Is there a reason for this? Is it confusing or "wrong" to use dnd on touch? What about where scrolling is also required: can they be mixed effectively?

Answer

I think there are several reasons for it.

1. First and foremost, it is tricky to do if you already have scrolling implemented. It is possible to do, but it would require solutions like lists where you can scroll in one direction (say, vertical), and then use the other direction to 'detach' the item from the list, after which you can drag it in any direction. That is not a trivial action to do, to learn, or (off topic here) to implement.


2. Lots of touch interfaces have been geared towards small screens. Drag & drop often doesn't make sense on those screens, as it usually works by showing two or more containers of items you can drag & drop items between. However, these small screens are usually designed in a way that there only is one such container visible at any time. Still, on tablets or other larger-screen touch enabled systems, it could be used.

Inkscape - Center Drawing to Page via Command Line/Terminal

Is there a way to center the whole drawing to the page in Inkscape with just a Terminal command? I need to do this for a couple hundred images. Manually, you do this by hitting "CTRL+A", "CTRL+ALT+H", "CTRL+ALT+T".

Halfway through writing this question, I figured it out. I'll post the answer.

choices - Alternative to excessive number of tabs and multi-line tab rows

I was asked to implement a layout into our current design. The original design contained 5 tabs/radio buttons that would specify what type of form to display. What the "tabs" do is basically change which form fields are visible.

But what used to be 5 radio buttons now became a set of 13 tabs (see scary diagram below). This made my head hurt. I don't believe tabs are the best approach to this problem. What the "tabs" do is change which form fields are visible. I was also instructed that the tabs should be displayed in two lines. I dislike tabs, even more so if they are in two lines. Multi-line tab sets are very confusing.

What would be the most friendly way of allowing the user to chose the type of form to display? Dropdown/select is a possibility, but all choices should be visible at all times.

The horror:

The horror in two rows:

Answer

I'm going to go ahead and answer myself with a possible solution. Maybe we don't want to show all options? It's likely that many types are not that popular for some reason, so we could show the most popular types in the front row, or maybe the ones used most recentely.

Are Custom Cursors a Good Idea in Most Desktop Applications?

A lot of people I've talked to seem to be divided on this issue. When you're working on some kind of desktop application, is it generally a better idea to have it use the default system cursor? Or is using a custom cursor still okay.

Are there any particular benefits/drawbacks to either choice?

Answer

Custom cursors suit custom actions.

For example in some 3D interactive interface, (CAD, games, etc) then custom cursors are going to help immensely, but if you're providing a similar level and style of interaction to the rest of the desktop or to other applications on the same platform then it makes sense to make use of the familiarity of system cursors and carry those through into your own application to aid the learning process.

If the system cursors can be improved upon to make the learning process even easier for a particular action, then that would seem to make sense also, but typically that's not a likely scenario for interaction with simple controls anyway.

futures - Theoretical limits for contango and backwardation

What do you think would be the theoretical limit for contango? What about backwardation?

This was asked in an interview. I am still not so sure about the answer.

spec work - On which crowdsourced design site have you the best experience?

I'm looking to have a couple logos and website designs done. I've had some great local designers, but each one has moved or gone else where so I keep having to look for new designers. My thought and realization in the last couple days is to go to a crowdsourced design site like crowdspring.com or mycroburst.com.

Both of these sites look good, but I'm wondering what else is out there? Are there better ones and how have your experiences been them?

Alpha Transparency Remove Background Photoshop

Is there any way in Photoshop to remove a background color from an image, when some of the background is behind a transparent object.

So far, I've tried using masks and channels but have not made any progress. I want to make the background transparent, so that the bottle and 'ink' can be put onto a white background colour.

Many thanks in advance, any help would be much appreciated.

Answer

There's no automated way to set a color as transparent.

However, try Select > Color Range and choose "Yellows" from the drop down menu. Then create a layer mask based on that selection. You get some decent results.

It's not perfect. But it's then a matter of adjusting levels on the mask a bit and correcting for the color halos, just general refining.

Mask created after color range selection.... (no refinement)

filtering - Effectiveness of numbers showing the amount of items related to each single filter

I am looking for some evidence concerning the effectiveness of numbers showing the amount of items related to each single filter. I mean the ones you can usually find on the right of each filter, within brackets. Does this piece of info add any value to experience?

As a user a would say it can stimulate or destabilize expectation, due the fact if I am looking for specific item I would be delighted to perceive I will have a great bunch of possibilities or I would start thinking about another seller/supplier in case of scarcity.

Thanks.

color - Illustrator > Recolor Artwork: How to manually choose the replacement colours from swatch groups?

Below is Illustrator's "Recolor Artwork" window. I've chosen to recolour (yes, I'm British) using one of my swatch groups. Notice that the first source colour is replaced with the first swatch group colour which is near black and which I don't particularly want. I want to manually choose another swatch but can't seem to figure out how...

I've tried every combination I can find in the dialog and the most immediate solution I've found is to enter the swatches numbers in the sliders. There's a "randomise" swatch order button so I would think there must also be a way to choose them manually.

Answer

Double-click the little black color box (or any of the boxes) under the New column in the center of the window. This will bring up the Color Picker, from there you can click the Color Swatches button and select the swatch you want to use.

Yes it would be nice if drag and drop worked, but it doesn't.

feedback - How to convince a user to fill out a survey

I am working on a project that provides a service (landscaping) to members of the community. When the work for that client is finished we always encourage the client to go to our website to fill out a survey to review the work that we have done.

The problem that we have been having is simply that we are only getting around 20% of the customers to fill out a survey, and only about 10% of those have anything useful on them.

In the past we have tried to convince customers to give use feedback on these surveys by offering a sort of e-coupon sent to their email. This only generated about 20% more surveys with only 5% being useful and the rest being something like "Good service guys".

My question is, how do I convince customers to fill out our surveys, and fill them out with useful comments? Do we need to offer a coupon again, but only for "useful" surveys (how do you judge something like that)? Or should we offer a certain % off their final payment? Or are there others ways of convincing a customer to fill one out?

Answer

Are you asking users to fill in text boxes and write long narratives? If so, this is a high commitment task. Instead, make answering your survey a low commitment task by:

1. Shortening the length of the survey overall--could you limit it to one or two questions, varying questions by user? This would increase participation overall and you could still get all of your questions answered.


2. Making each question quick and easy to answer--instead of asking users to describe something, give them a description and ask them to agree/disagree on a Likert scale (e.g., 1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree).


3. Providing an optional open field at the end (e.g., Anything else we should know?) for freeform answers.

adobe photoshop - How can I convert my raster design to vector for print?

I am self taught on Photoshop CS6 and my problem is that I typeset fonts for a logo and sent them to the printer for stationary printing. However, they ask me for a vector file not bitmap. How do I convert my artwork and fonts to vector from a raster design?

How to save a 32 bit png with alpha channel (transparency) in Photoshop?

I want to use an image as an application launcher icon for my android application.

The android guidelines specify an image for the launcher icon must be a 32 bit PNG image.

Please explain the steps necessary to create a 32 bit png file with alpha.

Or share a video link showing these steps, if any.

mobile application - Would users understand splitting an Android app's functionality by permission?

Say I'm developing an app for Android tablets that supports offline use, such as a mail or Usenet client. As far as I can tell, most tablets are Wi-Fi-only, and the user is likely to be away from Wi-Fi for several minutes to several hours at a time. For example, a user might be a passenger on public transit and not be carrying a smartphone with a tethering plan. How can I please both non-technical users who want functionality and technical users who are sensitive about what apps can do to intrude on their privacy?

In case the reader has been spoiled by always-on Internet connections over the past decade, here's a refresher of how offline functionality works: An offline user might read messages that have already been downloaded and compose new messages that go into an outbox. When an Internet connection becomes available, the user expects the app to "sync": wake up, send all messages in the outbox, and download new messages that have become available. Then the user can go offline again and work with those messages.

Some users want opportunistic sync whenever the device discovers that a connection has become available behavior. But other users might think the ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE permission or especially the READ_CONTACTS permission is too intrusive on the user's privacy and would refuse to download an app that requests this permission.

"Need my address book? [Expletive] off."
--epine

And I'm told permissions can't be made optional in Android prior to Marshmallow; only hardware feature requirements can be made optional. And on Android, network state isn't considered an optional hardware feature.

An answer to "Is it possible to have 'optional' permissions in Android?" recommends splitting an app's functionality into several apps listed on Google Play Store:

• "FooMail" is the core app, with only INTERNET permission. If only this app is installed, the app would still run with its own contacts and let the user request a sync within the app. All features are usable except completing "To" with outside contacts and automatic sync.


• "FooMail: Contacts" uses READ_CONTACTS to query the system-wide contacts to complete the "To:" field in mail.


• "FooMail: Background Sync" creates a background service that uses the ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE permission to discover when the Internet connection has become available and request a sync if background data is enabled system-wide.


• "FooMail: Sync on Device Start" creates a background service that uses the RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED permission to discover when the device has finished starting and request a sync if background data is enabled system-wide. This way, even if the device's battery completely discharges or an OTA system update has been installed, the user is notified that new messages are available for offline reading once the device is turned on again. It might be prudent to combine this plug-in with Background Sync.

Once the apps are installed, all the UI would be in "FooMail", and the "plug-in" apps would act as services that communicate with "FooMail". Privacy-sensitive users would install only "FooMail", and they would sync manually by opening the app and pulling down the list of messages. Users who want additional functionality would install the core app and all plug-ins, and the setting to enable a feature present in a plug-in would direct the user to the plug-in's page on Google Play Store. How easily would users understand an app's functionality being split into several entries on Google Play Store? If not easily, then what's the best way to accommodate both non-technical users and privacy-sensitive users?

mobile - Horizontal or vertical swiping?

I am currently working on an app and came across the following. Let's say we are making a table with whatever data (music as example) to use on a mobile device. What will the user like more swiping horizontal or vertical? To be more clear when you have your device in portrait what is more liked swiping from left to right (horizontal) or from up to the bottom (vertical)? What is in general more easy to do with your finger? I personally like the horizontal more, but this is maybe just an opinion.

I am not looking for an answer what is easier to code or how to code it. I am just interested in what is more liked among the users of mobile devices (maybe there has been a research on this, love to see it ;) ). And I am interested in what is better for your finger (maybe it does not matter or maybe it does).

Answer

From Nielsen:

Desktop websites have a strong guideline to avoid horizontal scrolling. But for touch-screens, horizontal swipes are often fine. Indeed, mobile-device users typically expect to horizontally swipe their way through a carousel.

There's also this research from Poynter showing a similar trend:

iPad users have an overwhelming instinct to swipe horizontally through a full screen photo gallery, regardless of portrait or landscape orientation.

And this research from UX movement to further support this.

However, note that most of these references involve photos or photo galleries. Yet, they clearly show that horizontal swipe is definitely something to consider.

I personally feel that Gestalt law of continuity could be more of a major player here:

Oriented units or groups tend to be integrated into perceptual wholes if they are aligned with each other. The principle applies in the same way for elements arranged along lines as well as for patterns built from corresponding lines themselves.

In the following example, the line of continuity is horizontal, so such arrangement call for horizontal swipe:

The line of continuity in the next example (a typical table layout) is vertical, calling for a vertical swipe:

The following example has no clear line of continuity. The research above suggests horizontal swiping is preferred: