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Duncan Stephen

Human-centred decisions

Photo of Duncan Stephen

Year: 2014

Article — 10 December 2014 — 394 words

PNG versus SVG

Technology — Web

Flags of Papua New Guinea and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

For years the debate has raged on. Which image file format is better: PNG or SVG? The Commonwealth Games gave us the chance to find out.

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Article — 13 November 2014 — 780 words

Am I alone in thinking email doesn’t need to be fixed?

User experience — Web

Inbox logo

Inbox is Google’s latest attempt to rethink email. But why make the world’s most popular communication platform more complicated?

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Article — 10 November 2014 — 809 words

The annual redesign

Personal — Web

Website redesign

Every year, at around this time of year, I get an urge to scratch that itch. I have to redesign my website. This year the visuals are jazzier. But the code behind the scenes is making me cringe.

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Article — 9 July 2014 — 1,074 words

Wales holiday highlights

Personal — Travel — Walking

Llanddwyn old lighthouse

Stories and photographs from my holiday to Wales last month.

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Article — 7 May 2014 — 591 words

Walking for the sake of it

Personal — Walking

You don’t need to have a purpose to walk. The physical and mental health benefits are manifest. My daily walk is as important to me as brushing my teeth.

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Article — 16 April 2014 — 225 words

Web designers need to have an invisible hand

Economics — User experience — Web

Why user-centred design is like a trade.

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Article — 23 March 2014 — 1,293 words

Can web design really learn from brutalist architecture?

Architecture — User experience — Web

As a web designer with an interest in brutalist architecture, I was fascinated to read an article about what web designers can learn from brutalism. But perhaps instead of taking inspiration, perhaps the lessons are in what web designers should avoid.

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Article — 14 March 2014 — 259 words

Website launch: Study at St Andrews

User experience — Web

Work: Study at St Andrews website

Study at St Andrews screenshot

For the past 12 months, I have been working on the new Study at St Andrews website, a full replacement for the webpages aimed at prospective students of the University of St Andrews.

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Article — 12 March 2014 — 617 words

The web at 25

Web

Web at 25 logo

The world wide web has more birthdays than the Queen. But it’s well worth celebrating — and protecting.

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Article — 8 March 2014 — 618 words

Iceland adventures part 6: New Year’s Eve in Reykjavik

Personal — Travel

New Year's Eve in Reykjavik

Bars are not open before midnight at new year in Reykjavik. But that didn’t stop it from being the best new year’s experience I have ever had.

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Article — 6 February 2014 — 1,318 words

Iceland adventures part 5: restaurants, bars and beer

Personal — Travel

Reykjavik architecture

It is true that Iceland can be an expensive place to eat out. And their beer is not always great. But with care, you can get around both issues.

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Article — 31 January 2014 — 798 words

Iceland adventures part 4: architecture

Architecture — Personal — Travel

Harpa

There is some interesting architecture in Iceland. Here are some buildings that particularly caught my eye on my recent trip there.

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