Julie Ohri (SEP Alum)

Recent Articles

POP for Prototyping

Do you POP?  Maybe you should.  It’s a free prototyping app, currently available for iPhone but soon to be released for Android. POP is a super simple way to capture your wonderful pencil scratchings electronically and create a semi-functional wireframe that you can share with others. POP uses the camera on your phone (or existing […]
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JDRF, Diabetes and SEP

SEP is a corporate sponsor of a charity that is very close to home. As a person with type 1 diabetes (T1D), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is helping me. Here are a few quick facts about T1D: It was originally known as Juvenile Diabetes because it was thought that it only affected children. […]
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Passwords, P@55w0rD$, Schmasswords

I have too many passwords.  I admit that I don’t always use a unique password on websites that I rate low on my ‘do I care if I get hacked’ radar.  And, unless forced, I’m terrible at remembering to change them from time to time.  On the plus side, I don’t keep passwords on post-it […]
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Plain language

“Every word that is unnecessary only pours over the side of a brimming mind.” – Cicero This is the basis of Plain Language.  The goal is to write documents (emails, web pages, manuals, proposals, etc) in an everyday language, without waffle, jargon, or ambiguity, so that the reader can easily find and understand the information […]
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writing user help – Madcap Flare

Flare is a single-source content authoring and publishing application.  I have used it quite a bit in the last two years to create the help documentation and online support for my current assignment. What Flare seems to do best is allow you to publish different views of the same document for various users.  For example, […]
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a shift in thinking?

Is it just me, or is there a lot more emphasis on usability lately?  Not just software, everything. My time is valuable, I don’t want to waste it with mouse-clicks.  I don’t want to waste it by pulling on a push-door.  I don’t want to waste it by spending 10 minutes figuring out which of […]
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happy Star Wars day!

May the 4th be with you.
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designing for the fairer sex

I was reading this interesting design article in Fast Company a while back.  It’s pointing out a recent shift in some companies to specifically take into account the ways in which women might use a product.  Here are the main points: Emphasize benefits over features.  Don’t be so darned technical all the time, tout why […]
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bad interfaces

Scott Adams (the Dilbert guy) has an excellent post on bad interfaces of everyday things.  I do want to add that I have the same double-switch for lights and garbage disposal and am about as successful with it as he was.  http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/bad_interfaces
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