The year’s worst tech trend: complexity

In 2011 the entire tech ecosystem descended toward entropy. Devices and services had a harder time playing together, and simply choosing what to use became an occasion for a flowchart. Some of the simplest tech questions — How should I send a text message to a friend? Which video phone service should I use? — are now hopelessly fraught.

There’s a big opportunity, in 2012 and beyond, for startups that attempt to solve the complexity problem.

Usability week ending August 7th

Friday, 5th August, 2:43 PM
@sugarsock content aware fill, woo hoo! #cs5

Friday, 5th August, 2:04 PM
Game mechanics a part of #design and #usability, takes understanding users wanting gratifying flow: http://j.mp/cJB4b0 #ux #gamification

Thursday, 4th August, 2:25 PM
Understanding how users learn can help us design experiences that support the user throughout the entire process: http://j.mp/oDUGly #ux

Wednesday, 3rd August, 5:05 PM
British government says #copyright over-regulates to the detriment of the UK, wants to make "format shifting" legal: http://j.mp/pwEdsO

Wednesday, 3rd August, 3:48 PM
Like Horseshoe crabs or those giant flies in the jungles of South America, fax machines have proven nearly unkillable: http://j.mp/qOtLw9

Tuesday, 2nd August, 1:23 PM
@sugarsock Yes http://t.co/ca7gW24 is a side project to make vid hosting simple. Thanks for checking it out. Let us know what you think.

Tuesday, 2nd August, 1:06 PM
@sugarsock Best luck with the talk. Do you have a little Flip video or Kodak Zi8 to record it? Post it on sugarsock.vive.ly!

Monday, 1st August, 11:54 PM
@sugarsock today mine was 39 days out of warranty. fell on stone, shattered face, they replaced free, in & out under 5 mins, & easy restore

Monday, 1st August, 11:49 PM
@sugarsock On ITVfest Hollywood theme, u wrote "not dressing"... "don't keep a lot of... clothing on". Twitter matching isn't too smart.

Monday, 1st August, 11:21 PM
@sugarsock I think, to be fair, both Nokia and Samsung make no-profit phones for pay-as-you-go services. But I like Apple's model better!

Monday, 1st August, 1:37 PM
What profits can look like when people love, and evangelize, your product's user experience: http://j.mp/rdGroN #iphone #stats

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending July 24th

Friday, 22nd July, 1:25 PM
Chosen is a fantastic #javascript plug-in for #jQuery and #Prototype to make long select boxes usable: http://j.mp/pULEaN #ux #ui

Wednesday, 20th July, 7:49 PM
Tom Anderson, MySpace founder, on whether Google will favor an algorithmic or user-controlled approach to your stream: http://j.mp/qYWDd6

Wednesday, 20th July, 1:07 PM
Picking apart the TechCrunch redesign with a user test: http://j.mp/oOkuHc #ux #design #usability

Monday, 18th July, 9:11 PM
The #iPhone Home Button shows how intuitive a single simple action can be if performed in context: http://j.mp/qf9s92 #ui

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending July 10th

Friday, 8th July, 6:17 PM
User testing in the wild -- when your user has never used a computer: http://j.mp/psldVH #usability #ux #testing

Thursday, 7th July, 7:37 PM
The inscrutability of Gmail Detailed Technical Info and Yahoo Error Code 15 http://post.ly/2M1dZ

Thursday, 7th July, 5:18 PM
How building a great admin #dashboard can lead to an amazing product: http://j.mp/p1Tv8i #ui #saas /via @MapleButter

Thursday, 7th July, 2:20 PM
YouTube gets finger friendly usability redesign: http://j.mp/pE7xJi #youtube #ux #ui #vod

Wednesday, 6th July, 3:23 PM
Thoughts on Google+ attracting users and influence through intuitive #usability: http://j.mp/qlUD4j #googleplus #ux #facebook

Tuesday, 5th July, 3:27 PM
Why the WSJ Mobile App gets such terrible customer reviews, and how to fix it: http://j.mp/mDmYMP #ux #design #iphone #usability

Tuesday, 5th July, 3:13 PM
The imprimatur of the creator/publisher/distributor/retailer is its reputation for selecting/producing works users enjoy: http://j.mp/lVXDtx

via twitter.com/terretta

The inscrutability of Gmail Detailed Technical Info and Yahoo Error Code 15

I'm fascinated by the usability decisions of the web giants. With their volumes of users, effects of even the tiniest change can become the stuff of usability buzz. But sometimes their messaging has me scratching my head, wondering if the total lack of useful information must be deliberate. Perhaps it is purposely devoid of helpfulness as a way to brush users off without making them irate: "Oh, I got Error Code 15? Well, what are you gonna do..." 

Today Gmail ran into an issue while I was checking mail, and offered me a closer look at the problem:


I'm technical.  I like detailed info.  What the heck, let's try that Show Detailed Technical Info link...


Gee, thanks, Google.  Thoughtful of you to let me hide Numeric Code: 7 again, too.

Maybe Google should take some cues from the Yahoo experience.  Here's an "unexpected, temporary problem" that I "stumbled upon" while using Yahoo Mail this morning:


The problem did persist, so I contacted support about Error Code 15, but then Yahoo wasn't sure if they really wanted to hear about it:


I decided on not letting them know.  A couple hours later, I tried again, and found myself much further along:


Well, I've gotten from Error Code 15 to Temporary error: 14. But at least it's only temporary.

Usability week ending June 5th

Friday, 3rd June, 10:37 PM
Using dominance, influence, steadiness, conscientiousness (DISC) to create #usability #personas from the Smurfs: http://j.mp/lPJwiO #ux #ia

Thursday, 2nd June, 11:08 PM
#iPad succeeds because it has eliminated #complexity, not because it covered up complexity with a touch-based shell: http://j.mp/lrEqI1 #ux

Tuesday, 31st May, 11:54 PM
#Personalization channels people into echo chamber feedback loops, or “filter bubbles”, of their own predilections: http://j.mp/iLBUmV #ux

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending May 15th

Friday, 13th May, 8:09 PM
#Google Music Beta wants to let users access music anywhere, anytime. Sadly, it’s just not that easy: http://j.mp/jZS35N #ux #usability

Thursday, 12th May, 7:44 AM
Jakob Nielsen -- "Mobile screens are so small that it's a sin to waste space": http://j.mp/iTmVJ8 #ui #ux #design

Wednesday, 11th May, 9:32 PM
Great products and services depend on their users having great experiences. #Social #design aims to explain the why: http://j.mp/ielzoy #ux

Monday, 9th May, 10:58 PM
So how does an engineer get from poetic floating seaweed to a building that can withstand a magnitude-9.0 earthquake?: http://j.mp/j1xHrO

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending May 1st

Friday, 29th April, 7:52 PM
Talking about web sites from a #usability standpoint, we often overlook the most important piece--content: http://j.mp/myBvea #ux

Thursday, 28th April, 8:56 AM
What makes a cool URI? A cool URI is one which does not change. Inventor of web shares how to make one: http://j.mp/iOWGeB

Wednesday, 27th April, 11:01 AM
Your taste is why your work disappoints you: http://j.mp/dNE18D #design

Tuesday, 26th April, 11:10 PM
@Siouxsie212 hi, yes, I spent a lot of springs, summers, and falls there.

Tuesday, 26th April, 11:00 PM
"How Good Designers Think" -- Harvard Business Review: http://j.mp/fNHghR #design #UX #usability

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending April 17th

Friday, 15th April, 12:11 PM
I love fonts, and Google Web Fonts just keep getting better. Free to use, hosted by Google: http://j.mp/h98YKf #font #design

Friday, 15th April, 9:13 AM
Fascinating #usability testing results from the latest desktop Linux, Ubuntu Unity. Thinking like new users is hard: http://j.mp/f3kfda #ux

Wednesday, 13th April, 8:15 AM
Loads of hidden or little-known features of #Mac OS X. I didn't know about 'proxy icons' or 'pbcopy': http://j.mp/dIwykl #tip

Tuesday, 12th April, 3:34 PM
Details matter -- lessons from reality on the #iPhone tab bar user experience: http://j.mp/fGcUcw

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending April 10th

Friday, 8th April, 11:06 AM
Media's ageing audiences: Peggy Sue got old - The Economist http://post.ly/1rwsS

Thursday, 7th April, 3:47 PM
Truth is, predicting the future accurately is pretty tough: http://j.mp/dWePaq #iphone #android #wp7

Thursday, 7th April, 1:10 PM
Users to Developers -- "If you are going to change a standard UI behavior, you better have good reason for it.": http://j.mp/fKKDkS #ux

Wednesday, 6th April, 8:33 AM
11 fundamental guidelines for e-commerce checkout #usability--we saw 430% lift using similar ideas on our store platform: http://j.mp/eaKR8T

Tuesday, 5th April, 11:24 AM
Apple founder Steve Wozniak says tablets are PCs for 'normal people', Steve Job's goal from day one http://post.ly/1r2tf

Monday, 4th April, 12:54 PM
Make the web easy to read -- standard font sizes, active white space, good line height, contrast, no text images: http://j.mp/f1sjbt #ux #ui

via twitter.com/terretta