Usability
Windows and Microsoft.com Usability
I really feel for the people who get put in the middle of a mess like this email from Bill Gates. It’s a somewhat amusing read coming from the world’s richest man and the leader of the largest software company in the world, criticizing his own products.
The email is an overview of his frustration while [...]
OpenID, my new favorite thing!
I’ve had an OpenID for nearly 2 months now, and I have to say I’m really enjoying the ease and simplicity it offers.
From the OpenID Wikipedia page:
OpenID is a shared identity service, which allows Internet users to log on to many different web sites using a single digital identity, eliminating the need for a [...]
Usability (and organizational) Problems with the 2010 US Census
The US Census Bureau is getting ready to conduct the 2010 Census, the population count that will be used to calculate congressional districts and funding. The trouble is, they have usability problems with the handheld computers they were planning to use, in addition to the organizational communication issues you may expect from a government [...]
QWERTY vs Dvorak: Settled?
Turns out that the oft-quoted “market choosing an inferior technology” and “training trumping usability” story of the QWERTY keyboard versus the Dvorak keyboard layouts may not be as clear cut as some (including me) have thought.
This article points out some of the background research and it’s flaws… I guess it still isn’t clear which [...]
A few new things to share…
Todd Wilkens from Adaptive Path starts out with a very interesting “idealist” perspective post, and generates an amusing (and very interesting/informative) discussion/flame war in the comments about “usability being a path to failure”.
Here’s a nice/simple overview video of Greg Verdino on BusinessWeek talking about social media becoming a great equalizer between large and small businesses. [...]
One Sheeters: Information Architecture
I love this concept of a one page overview of a complex idea/process/step. Over at IAOneSheeters.com, they have 3 (so far) examples covering the basics of Wireframes, Heuristic Evaluations and Usability Testing. They are great for sharing with business people or other team members that don’t have an information architecture background… [...]
Do you use design personas?
An good Ad Age article on some large companies using design personas.
Alan Cooper’s great book The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity is really where you want to start reading up on personas and goal-directed design in general.
Also, Boxes and Arrows [...]
