Recent posts in my Articles Category

March 4, 2010

The Winter Olympics online review: Part 1

The opening post in a series looking at online newspaper coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics from around the world.

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Published by Martin Belam on March 4, 2010 | No Comments

January 5, 2010

The UX of moving house...with a pregnant spouse: Part 1

Last year my wife and I bought a house for the first time. She was heavily pregnant during the process, and so I did much more of the leg-work that I'd usually expect to. Naturally, I tried to do everything online, and document the good and the bad about the information architecture and user experience as I went along. This is the first of a series of posts based on a presentation of my findings, which I originally gave at 'London IA in the pub' in October 2009.

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Published by Martin Belam on January 5, 2010 | 5 Comments

November 30, 2009

Africa in the FIFA World Cup: Part 1 - The thirties

Africa in the FIFA World Cup
A series of posts looking at the history of African teams appearing in the World Cup, from Egypt in 1934 to South Africa hosting in 2010.

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Published by Martin Belam on November 30, 2009 | No Comments

September 14, 2009

'Linked Data and the future of journalism' - part 1

Linked data and the future of journalism
I recently appeared on a panel debating linked data and journalism. Here is a transcript of what I said.

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Published by Martin Belam on September 14, 2009 | 3 Comments

August 13, 2009

Interview with Martin Belam: Part 1 - Internet and intranet navigation trends

News and Information Architecture
A series of video clips of me being interviewed by Ben Veasey about the news industry and information architecture.

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Published by Martin Belam on August 13, 2009 | 2 Comments

July 28, 2009

Social media unplugged: Part 1 - Digg and StumbleUpon

Social media unplugged
A series of posts looking at the user experience of social bookmarking sites when people first visit them via clicking an icon.

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Published by Martin Belam on July 28, 2009 | 3 Comments

July 20, 2009

The tyranny of chronology: Part 1 - From year-by-year to minute-by-minute

The tyranny of chronology
Martin Belam's presentation at the News Innovation London conference, looking at the development of news from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to the digital formats of the future.

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Published by Martin Belam on July 20, 2009 | No Comments

July 2, 2009

Activate 09 at The Guardian: Notes and take-away quotes - Part 1

The Guardian's Activate 09
A series of posts with my notes and take-away quotes from the Activate 09 Summit.

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Published by Martin Belam on July 2, 2009 | 1 Comment

June 24, 2009

How major publishers are using social media to drive traffic - Part 1

How major publishers are using social media to drive traffic
An article based on my presentation at May's International Social Media Summit.

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Published by Martin Belam on June 24, 2009 | 5 Comments

April 22, 2009

London IA Mini Conference review - Part 1

On Monday night The Guardian hosted the first London IA Mini Conference, and yesterday I published an extended version of my presentation on the night: "Introducing Information Architecture at The Guardian" Photo by Nizam Here is the first part of my notes from the rest of the evening after I'd spoken. "Agile UX" - Cennydd Bowles Cennydd was ambitiously trying to pull off what looked like a 45 minute presentation in 10 minutes, and managed it impressively. He was looking...
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Published by Martin Belam on April 22, 2009 | 2 Comments

April 21, 2009

"Introducing Information Architecture at The Guardian"

"Introducing Information Architecture at The Guardian"
My presentation at the recent London IA Mini Conference explains my role as Information Architect at guardian.co.uk

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Published by Martin Belam on April 21, 2009 | 4 Comments

March 25, 2009

Web search at the BBC: Part 1 - The beginning is the end is the beginning

"A key part of BBCi's mission has always been to offer a trusted guide to the Web. Over the years we've helped thousands of people to use the Internet through our WebWise training and through our WebGuide to the best sites on the Web. Now, with 80 per cent of those asked believing that current search engines could be better, according to a recent NOP survey, BBCi is developing its role as a trusted guide by launching BBCi Search...
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Published by Martin Belam on March 25, 2009 | 3 Comments

March 18, 2009

"Stacks, Readers, Staff" - Building the British Library

I was at a fascinating British Library event last week called "A building for now and the future: the British Library after 10 years". It was a look back at the torturous process by which the new building came to be built. In fact, prior to this government's woeful recent IT record, building the British Library was the text-book example of how not to run a public sector procurement project. Photo courtesy of stevecadman Architect Sir Colin St. John 'Sandy'...
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Published by Martin Belam on March 18, 2009 | 1 Comment

February 16, 2009

The BBC's "Points Of View" online culture clash - Part 1

I've been watching with interest the way that the BBC has been trying to discuss future developments for their interactive online services like blogs and messageboards in an open way. However, rather than make the process smoother, they have managed to get the collective back of the Points Of View messageboard up, and Jemima Kiss picked up on the story in the Guardian. Seeing how events then unfolded is a very interesting study in group dynamics online. A BBC Points...
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Published by Martin Belam on February 16, 2009 | 10 Comments

February 9, 2009

Wireframing the front page: Part 1 - The "homepage"

I've been giving a lot of thought to the way that people navigate through newspaper websites, and it has made me consider the different functions that the homepage and the front page serve. Navigation, for example, is mostly redundant on the printed front page. Occasionally a paper might have something like "Turn to Page 7" to link to the continuation of a story, or a promo for the sports section, but generally the front page functions to sell one major...
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Published by Martin Belam on February 9, 2009 | 2 Comments

January 29, 2009

Navigating newspapers: Part 1 - We are what we label


Navigation teaser

Navigating Newspapers
I'm publishing a new 5 part series looking at the global navigation of the UK's most popular newspaper websites

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Published by Martin Belam on January 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

January 7, 2009

Local search: Using site search in regional press websites - Part 1

Since the end of November I have been publishing a rather loose collection of articles looking at some of the features of the UK's leading regional newspaper sites. I've picked 20 sites that represent the print papers with the largest circulation, and cover the major publishing groups. So far I've looked at the provision of online video, local news RSS feeds and their subscriber numbers, and the spread of social bookmarking links through the sites. Today I'm starting a...
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Published by Martin Belam on January 7, 2009 | No Comments

December 10, 2008

Thoughts, notes and quotes from the Online Information 2008 Seminars: Part 1

Last week I was at the Online Information Exhibition in Olympia, representing my role as a contributing editor for FUMSI at the FreePint stand. It also meant I got a chance to wander around lots of the stalls, and to attend quite a few sessions for the 5-track free seminar programme that takes place away from the main Online Information presentation programme. Although it is very much the younger sibling of the event, the seminars nevertheless had a series...
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Published by Martin Belam on December 10, 2008 | 3 Comments

October 29, 2008

Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google: Getting site search right - Part 1

Over the course of the next couple of weeks I want to present an expanded version of the presentation I gave at the 2008 Euro IA Summit in Amsterdam at the end of September. There I was talking about "Taking the 'Ooh' out of Google" and getting site search right for news. Over this series of posts I hope to show how you can use additional information about content that Google can't get access to to make your site...
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Published by Martin Belam on October 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

September 30, 2008

Take-away facts and quotes from the 2008 Euro IA Summit in Amsterdam - Part 1

Over the weekend I've been in Amsterdam attending the 2008 European Information Architecture Summit. It was held at the Tuschinski Theatre, which was a simply amazing venue. Despite a couple of schedule clashes - including missing a much anticipated presentation by Deanna Marbeck and Silver Oliver because it coincided with my own session - I got to see a great selection of presentations. Here are some of my take-away facts and quotes from the morning of day one. Keynote...
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Published by Martin Belam on September 30, 2008 | No Comments

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