I loved seeing this in the sidebar of someone’s weblog. Sure, it definitely has elements of a popularity contest, but it also contributes to that sense of mutual awareness that’s so lacking in weblogs. I have a vague sense of readership by going to the trouble of looking at site logs, but the audience can’t turn around and say “damn, this is a bigger audience than I thought”.

Working on my thesis last year, I considered how presence, impression management, feedback, and common ground all contribute and characterize the general feeling of connectedness (for lack of a better term) created in one-to-many systems like weblogs. Here’s a little one-page pdf showing related examples and design themes. As a framework, I feel like it’s a little fast and loose, but I’ve found it helpful on a lot of stuff I’ve designed since.

Microsoft just launched a new recruiting site focused on hiring designers of all stripes. It’s well done: informative, looks good, and plays up Microsoft as a company where designers are well-regarded and design is a core part of the product development process. Case studies, interviews, community news – it’s more substative and engaging than any recruiting effort I’ve seen.

Passed along from Kenneth, Usability Specialist at Macromedia and lover of Navarro Vineyards’ grape juice.