May 2007
Don’t Confuse the User
by 1 otherYou’re the team lead for developing the next killer app, and word is passed along that the marketing campaign is being built around the user-centric design of your new app. Unfortunately, no budget has been allocated to hire someone with...
The Evolving Web
by 1 otherSemantic Web. Web 3.0. The Intelligent Web. Whichever terminology you want to use, it's a vision for the Web in which information is given explicit meaning, making it easier for machines to automatically process and integrate said information. Currently,
Nice Reference Tool
by 1 otherThere I was the other day, skimming through the New York Times online when I mistakenly double clicked on a word (which is why I shouldn’t continually mess with my mouse settings, but that’s another post). The next thing I...
1 Picture == 1,000 Words
by 1 otherFor most of us, visual presentation has a greater immediate impact than text or numbers alone. Graphs are effectively used in presentations for that very reason: they quickly convey that Column A is larger than Column B, or that Line...
April 2007
#*&)#*$)# Software.
by 1 otherNothing is more frustrating than having your software beep at you when you’re trying to do something you *know* it can do, and you’re flummoxed as to why it’s resisting your every effort to continue on with your work. All...
Why User Research Matters
What if you brought in users to test your application and the final result was one big collective yawn. It’s not that the product wasn’t usable -- oh, maybe some minor tweaks to the presentation layer could improve things, but...
Do you know your SiteKey?
SiteKey is a system some sites (notably banking sites) use to prevent customers from logging into fraudulent sites dummied up to look like the actual sites. During registration (or updating an account if it was created pre-SiteKey), the user is...
Wait, how did I get here?
The importance of navigation is a given when designing a site. Design it poorly and it’ll have the same effect as having no navigation, i.e., leaving your users lost and confused and rendering your site useless. Taking the time to...
March 2007
Ideas for User Research
User Research isn't limited to sitting behind a glass window, nervously chomping on MMs while glaring at the hapless user who’s attempting to navigate through your next killer app. There are different types of user research that can be incorporated...
User Task Flows Help Developers:
Work out the Workflow. Making changes after a product is released is much more costly, and sometimes not even feasible, than identifying issues up front and solving the problem before coding begins. Documenting the user task flows during the design...
Installing Software? Nah, I have a Browser
Let me tell you about my day which, for most of you, will sound very familiar (the actions if not the details). When I came home, I was glad to see that not only had my Netflix DVD arrived, my...
February 2007
Ambient Signifiers
I recently came across Ross Howard’s essay on ambient signifiers, subtle design elements that give the user context. They work at a more subconscious level than overt signifiers; yet, even without a conscious effort from the user, their constant presenc
Web Accessibility is Good Business
Over the last few years, more and more basic services have been moving to the Web (banking, paying bills, canceling utilities, etc.) Whether the move is initiated as a cost-saving device or as a way to make the services more...
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