pixel8 :: what makes great user experiences?

Brad Abrams, Group Program Manager for UI Framework and Services, sits down with Craig Shoemaker to discuss some of the origins of the .NET Framework and what's to come from Silverlight, ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET AJAX.

Fresh off the press from our MIX08 coverage we bring you a special show highlights from the keynote addresses. Along with what you get over at the MIX sessions page we also have interviews with Scott Guthrie and Guy Kawasaki.

Craig Shoemaker talks with co-founder and president of Adaptive Path Jesse James Garrett about his experiences in creating the Elements of User Experience, the Visual Vocabulary and coining the term "Ajax".

Ever wanted CSS-like control over your existing Windows Forms applications? Grant Hinkson, Director of Visual Design at Infragistics, shows us how it's possible with AppStylist.

Jeff Veen knows the secret of successful user experiences - and he's ready to share. Jeff is Design Manager at Google for the application division. Jeff helped bring web standards to Wired Magazine, helped shape Blogger and Flickr and was a founding member of Adaptive Path.

Markus Egger is the President and Chief Software Architect of EPS Software Corp. and the Publisher of CoDe Magazine. Markus talks to us about his experiences in creating Xiine, a service-oriented WPF document reader for books and magazines.

Senior Principal of Product Ideation and Design at Yahoo! Inc. and founder of LukeW Interface Designs Luke Wroblewski joins us to discuss how adding elements of constraint helps shape the design process. Luke also spends some time discussing the often-understated value of the HTML web form.

Learn how Rick Barraza, User Experience Architect from Cynergy Systems, creates a unique Microsoft Surface + "Minority Report" experience in WPF.

Jeffrey Zeldman frames version targeting with context and common sense. This is a standarista's tale of why version targeting is needed, how targeting should behave and what it means for the web of the future.

To continue the conversation surrounding version targeting we have an interview with Chris Wilson, Platform Architect for Internet Explorer. As someone who helps direct one of the most widely used pieces of software on the planet, Chris tells a browser maker’s tale of version targeting.

John Gossman, Microsoft Architect for WPF and Silverlight, discusses his experiences watching WPF mature into the powerful framework it is today. John tells us about the trials and tribulations of building Expression Blend on a primitive WPF platform. He also discusses the value of the Model View View Model design pattern and gives hints on the best way to learn WPF.

Peter Matuchniak from Technicolor takes us on a tour of the new system they are working on for sattelite cable networks to stream live video to the web via Silverlight.

This week we talk with WPF guru, Dr. WPF. The good Dr. delivers his insights on common misunderstandings in WPF along with a recommendation on one of the most important decisions you can make when building your applications. He also tells us about what he sees as being a true barrier for rapid WPF adoption. Remember though it's easy to get the answers you need... all you have to do is ask Dr. WPF!.

Jose Farjardo’s "Digg Mashup" demonstrates how end-to-end Silverlight development is possible. From the branded Silverlight install screen to some fresh design details this application is easy for n00bs and power users to use alike.

Adaptive Path’s Senior Interaction Designer Kim Lenox and Design Technologist Dan Harrelson share their experiences in how to think through the UX design process. Adaptive Path uses many tools to help guide their thinking like research-based design and injecting users directly in the design process.

Each day we all use everyday things to accomplish everyday tasks. For programmers our everyday tools are arrays, loops and OOP constructs. We all use them, but are we all aware of the performance implications? In his talk, The Performance of Everyday Things, Jeffery Richter asks the question, "Do you know what goes on under the hood in .NET?"

Customer experience expert and persona specialist Tamara Adlin wants to introduce you to "Mary Jo" and "Phillip". Using personas or "fake people" as development targets will focus your teams and allow you to only reveal what is most important to your customers.

Pete LePage is Product Manager of Internet Explorer Developer Division and he doesn’t want your web site to stink. Sharing from his talk given at TechEd 2008, Pete highlights 10 common web design mistakes and tells you how you can bypass the same blunders. Pete also tells us how future features of Internet Explorer will help your visitors leave your site with a smile.

Debugging guru John Robbins brings to life the saying, “you cannot debug what you cannot see.” John is generous with guidance and resources that illustrate why knowing a little about the .NET plumbing can go a long way. Highlighting the show is John’s account of how he helped find a very obscure bug in a complex multi-machine system. Don’t miss this one!