Naming Things

A talk about the role of naming and semantics in code, usability, and more. Presented at Refresh Chicago, January 25, 2012.

Transcript

1. This is a talk by David Demaree The name of this talk is NAMING THINGS Refresh Chicago • January 25, 2012
2. There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation and NAMING THINGS http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TwoHardThings.html
5. pipe
6. pipe cigar
8. pipes? pipes! pipes pipes?
10. font
11. font the metal type character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface font a digital file containing the character set for a particular variation of a typeface font the database object representing a particular font file
12. font the word most commonly used by our customers to refer to a whole typeface
13. “Hey, did you get that font thing figured out?”
14. font typeface family superfamily font weight style variation
15. font typeface family superfamily = All Gothams or Gotham Narrow = Gotham Narrow = All Gothams
16. font font font font = All Gothams = Gotham Narrow = Gotham Narrow Bold = Font.find(‘gotham-narrow-bold’) CUSTOMER A CUSTOMER B TYPE DESIGNER TYPEKIT ENGINEER
17. USER INTERFACE “font” refers to typefaces
18. COMMUNICATIONS “fonts” refers to typefaces or type in general typefaces usually preferred over font or family
19. BEHIND THE SCENES TypekitFontFamily FamilyChoice FontVariation FontFile a typeface on Typekit.com a typeface added to a Kit a weight or style of a family the actual font file for a variation
20. TypekitFontFamily Browse::Family FontFamily Family a typeface on Typekit.com metadata for our new browsing UI a presenter for font/family data, no longer actively used see above
21. # It's called Family instead of Font so that # we can potentially reserve the name Font for # the current FontVariation. Naming is hard. class Family # ... end ACTUAL CODE COMMENT FROM THE TYPEKIT.COM RAILS APP
22. @families.each do |family| # What kind of family is this? family.class #=> Browse::FamilyCardPresenter?!?!?! end
24. fonts or families fonts or licenses my fonts? purchased or licensed THE SEMANTICS OF LICENSING
25. My Licenses My Web Licenses My Fonts Purchased Licenses Fonts I’ve Purchased Purchased Fonts
26. Naming things = Domain modeling
28. WHAT’S IN A NAME? GOOD
29. descriptive accessible clear consistent GOOD NAMES ARE
30. vague obscure ambiguous contradictory BAD NAMES ARE
31. NAMING IS ALWAYS a compromise vag obsc ambig contrad riptive essible lear sistent
32. Pro applications tend to sacrifice simple, intuitive naming for RAW POWER
33. How are these things di erent?
35. Hard for newcomers Extremely versatile for those trained in the system O ers more freedom to the user to define their own model but and
36. THE GREATEST DOMAIN MODEL OF ALL TIME (according to David)
38. Events Faces Places Photos grouped by time Photos grouped by people in them Photos grouped by where iPhoto’s library is automatically grouped into
39. Events Faces Places = When? = Who? = Where?
40. Natural Intuitive Unambiguous Simple
41. Tags + semantics
42. Typical tagging systems Users apply various words to describe a thing No framework for knowing what the words mean No guarantee of internal consistency Crystal Light National Aerobics Championship Opening #videos #funny #80s #wtf #rofl http://youtube.com/watch?v=ozoTzkCeO-A
43. Semantic tagging systems Users associate a thing with specific other things Tags aren’t just abstract names, they provide context Built-in mental model for organizing and finding information Crystal Light National Aerobics Championship Opening http://youtube.com/watch?v=ozoTzkCeO-A Kind: Video When: 1980s Genre: Vintage TV #wtf #rofl Like
45. Naming things = Branding
46. JAKOB NIELSEN’S GUIDELINES FOR NAMING Supplement made-up words with known words Supplement brand names with generic terms Learn to recognize and avoid internal jargon
48. The product’s name is OINK Things you post on Oink are OINKS The act of posting an Oink on Oink is OINKING or TO OINK
49. Making a phone call = calling Posting a tweet on Twitter = tweeting Posting an oink on Oink = oinking
50. oinking rating reviewing posting MAKES SENSE ONLY WITHIN THIS APP MAKE SENSE IN A BROADER CONTEXT NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE NEEDED CLEARER AS TO INTENT
51. “oink” “tweet” VS.
52. Use invented or recontextualized words with caution
53. Stream Circles Hangouts Incoming +1’s New from friends Groups Video chat New from… ? Like GOOGLE+
54. NEW NEW TWITTER How are Connect and Discover di erent? How am I not Connecting or Discovering on the Home page?
55. TOO REDUCTIVE Home Connect Discover Timeline Who to follow Local trends Interactions Mentions Who to follow Stories Trends Activity
56. THANKS! ddemaree@gmail.com @ddemaree on Twitter http://demaree.me
57. Q&A