UXcrew

I finally released new case for Leica CL camera.

The new model has riveted strap lugs for user to hold the camera horizontally. It was designed to improve the previous risky stitched lug. The photo shows a broke off lug attachment from the previous model. Reported by DougFord on RFF.

Leica CL is a lovely small rangefinder camera. I always like to see it be protected in nice condition. Here are some CL glamor shots

By Lotari
Beautiful color and texture.

By JapanExposures. Amazing combination!

In June 2008, I start to design wrist strap to match my cases. My first attempt was a brown leather braided strap with string cord.

At the same time, I made a thin leather corded strap. It’s simpler and lighter than the braided version. I decided to work on this direction.

These were the formal wrist straps I made later.

Red tan color version

The black version, I call it “Coachwhip wrist strap”.

I released updated Coachwhip wrist strap in June 2009. Compare to the older version, the new strap has a small leather pad to protect the camera body from being scratched by the metal ring. The leather ring slides to reduce the strap opening which makes much comfortable and secure to hang the camera on wrist.

7月出差回来后给小洋拍的几张照片。用的是Noctilux现代版配Leica M2。抓拍小家伙的神态，没来得及用测光，完全是估光。由于用的是50度的RVP，再估光上计算有些误差，导致照片曝光不足。有些对不起Jun友情赠送的胶卷。

Noctilux真是颗沉重的镜头，配着小巧的M机身比例有些不协调。配大些的Epson R-D1倒是差不多。用了一段时间后感觉唯一不足的是镜头巨大但对焦环太窄，而且总是用不惯方形的收缩式遮光罩。

再添几张更早些时候用50mm Summilux v.2 拍的片子。我个人认为第二代版本的Summilux是性价比最高的莱卡快速标准镜头，全开光圈和Noctilux做对比也毫不逊色，较小的体积更适合平时携带使用。在特定的情况下出现的漩涡焦外虚化令照片很具有感染力。

See what’s in my mail box today.

It’s a Canon P body I bought from Antti who live in Sweden. The camera arrived within a week. Very well packed. I mounted a Leica 50mm Summicron on the body immediately. It’s such a nice old Japanese range finder camera. It works smoothly as it should.

Addition to that, I also received a wrist strap weeks ago from Gordy. It’s a black leather strap with red wrapping cord. I like it very much. It makes a perfect match with my Alpa 11el. It will be even better if I ordered a longer version. This one is a bit short.

Law 1: Reduce
The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

Law 2: Organize
Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

Law 3: Time
Savings in time feel like simplicity.

Law 4: Learn
Knowledge makes everything simpler.

Law 5: Differences
Simplicity and complexity need each other.

Law 6: Context
What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.

Law 7: Emotion
More emotions are better than less.

Law 8: Trust
In simplicity we trust.

Law 9: Failure
Some things can never be made simple.

Law 10: The One
Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

If you read posts on InfoDesign, there are some threads about simplicity and complexity.

“In Favour of Complexity”
“Simplicity in Your Mind”
“Simplicity: The Distribution of Complexity”
“The Complexity of Simplicity”
“The Beauty of Simplicity”
and many others…

The discussion on the topic of simplicity and complexity seems never end. People likes the complex sky with colorful cloud; driver likes to see the simple road sign; Apple designers can design iPod as simple as possible; but airplane engineers should never consider simplicity as their primary design goal. By this I mean there is no clear defination to tell us what we should do. Simplicity and complexity are both important in certain circumstance.

Here is the video by John Maeda about his simple life.

黑白的最初影像
Equipment: Ultrasonic scanner

05年11月女儿出生，几个月后开始烧器材。

7个月大开始能自己很精神的坐着了。
Camera: Minolta X700
Lens: Rokkor X 50/1.4 PG

睡着了，那种香甜是飘在空气里的。
Camera: Minolta X700
Lens: Rokkor X 50/1.4 PG

开始爬行
Camera: Minolta X700
Lens: Rokkor X 50/1.4 PG

高烧过后，脸上出了一些病毒疹。 Minolta rokkor 50/1.4， 便宜的器材也有不错的效果。
Camera: Minolta X700
Lens: Rokkor X 50/1.4 PG

一周岁抓周，女儿毫不犹豫的选择了锅铲。看来不会继承他老爸的衣钵了，不过以后能成一个厨师也是个不错的职业。
Camera:Sony P5

开始烧器材了，1.4进化到1.2了。
Camera: Minolta X700
Lens: Rokkor X 50/1.2

很严峻的眼神，面对各种相机已经比较习惯了。
Camera: Minolta 7sII

张大了就会调皮，女孩也不例外。真不知道她怎么自己搞成的这个姿势。最近没放少林寺啊。
Camera: Sony P5

正式告别了美能达器材，开始烧莱卡。老镜头的色彩和层次都相当不错。
Camera: Leica M3 SS
Lens: Summitar 50/2

拖把也是可以玩玩的。数码器材也升级了，
Camera: Canon 350D
Lens: 17-55 f/3.5

孩子很顽皮，见多了狗仔队就不能严肃对待摄影了。
Camera: Canon 350D
Lens: 17-55 f/3.5

吃饭认真的小孩总是讨人喜欢的。
Camera: Leica M3 SS
Lens: Summitar 50/2

懂事的孩子，2岁都不到就开始帮着洗衣服了。
Camera: Canon 350D
Lens: 17-55 f/3.5

进了新镜头
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: 35/2 v4

35mm/2 v4的 Bokeh和色彩是很有特点的，普通的富士200负片。
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: 35/2 v4

minmingg的 leica 50/2 DR 镜头出的片总是令人印象深刻，用loupe看DR拍的底片是很享受的。
Camera: Leica M3
Lens: 50/2 Dual Range

真正进入了烧器材器，leica 50/2现代版。如果单独看片，现代版的镜头还是相当不错的，但是和DR的片子有对比后就知道差别了。
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: 50/2 Pre ASPH

摆了个泰坦尼克的经典动作。
入手了rolleiflex 2.8D 一个价格平和表现不错的机器。有的时候有点疑惑，为什么2.8F会那么受追捧。
Camera: Rolleiflex 2.8D

到了该上幼儿园的年纪了，现在竟然去幼儿园都要面试，孩子也有压力。显然她对于未来也忧心忡忡。
Camera: Canon 5D
Lens: Canon 85/1.2L

感受到女儿送别的眼神，一天上班特别有精神。
Camera: Canon 5D
Lens: Canon 85/1.2L

Nikon S2 50/1.4 很金属感的老旁轴。Bokeh还有漩涡感，就是有点不能接受过分鲜艳的色彩。
Camera: Nikon S2
Lens: 50/1.4

女孩子都喜欢站在舞台的中心。
Camera: GRDII

既然已经烧到了莱卡也就不妨用用alpa试试，alpa11el 50/1.9 macro switar. 如果最后要留2个标头的话，我会选DR和这个50/1.9。如果只能留一个的话，考虑到配用的机身的因素和镜头本身的价格我还是会选择DR。
Camera: Alpa 11el
Lens: 50/1.9 macro switar

用了一段时间的M机身之后发觉其实Hexar RF相当好用。自动过片功能挺好用的，而且快门非常的轻。
Camera: Hexar RF
Lens: Leica 50/2 Rigid

女儿很认真的画了一张全家福，有点抽象，不过仔细看那个最大的还真跟我像。
Camera: Hexar RF
Lens: Leica 50/2 Rigid

几个礼拜前拍的，很高兴的和爸爸妈妈一起吃大娘水饺。
Camera: Hexar RF
Lens: Leica 50/2 Rigid

Axure is a tool for rapidly creating wireframes, prototypes and specifications for applications and web sites. I will start use this tool for early wireframe and simple prototyping.

The free trial is available on Axure.com

After user research, we all have to face large volumes of raw research data. How to turn those data into useful insights and gain deeper understanding of your audience always a topic for discussion. “One of the key objectives of user research is to identify themes or threads that are common across participants.” Steve Baty has listed ten patterns used in UX research for demonstrating a recurring theme, with data or objects appearing in a predictable manner.

• trends—A trend is the gradual, general progression of data up or down.
• repetitions—A repetition is a series of values that repeat themselves.
• cycles—A cycle is a regularly recurring series of data.
• feedback systems—A feedback system is a cycle that gets progressively bigger or smaller because of some influence.
• clusters—A cluster is a concentration of data or objects in one small area.
• gaps—A gap is an area in which there is an absence of data.
• pathways—A pathway is a sequential pattern of data.
• exponential growth—In exponential growth, there is a rapidly increasing rate of growth.
• diminishing returns—When there are diminishing returns, there is a gradually decreasing rate of growth.
• long tails—The Long Tail is a pattern that rises steeply at the start, falls sharply, then levels off over a large range of low values.

Read full article

Even we already know those patterns, to uncover them from research data still a daunting task. The author indicates that forms is a critical toolset for UX designers. There are other tools for illustrating patterns such as sketches, diagrams etc. By using these tools, we could successfully manipulate and visualize data; and identify and interpret patterns.

对“Long Tail” 总是一知半解，好在现在线上有了完整的中文译版。从头到尾的看了一遍后对这个长尾巴有了清晰的认知。

• 长尾（一）
• 长尾（二）
• 长尾（三）
• 长尾（四）
• 长尾（五）

也可以从Joyo上购买完整的“The Long Tail: How Endless Choice Is Creating Unlimited Demand” by Chris Anderson