Usability week ending July 17th

Friday, 15th July, 5:27 PM
Developer attention to #Android has dwindled significantly over first and second quarters of 2011: http://j.mp/nFecuF #stats #ios

Friday, 15th July, 5:24 PM
How web designers can handle the variety of #font weights available in professional quality web fonts: http://j.mp/oDAEJU #css #typography

Friday, 15th July, 5:21 PM
Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and many other online companies are using game developers' techniques to keep you coming back: http://j.mp/qiUV4A

Wednesday, 13th July, 11:36 AM
Functionality, #gamification, and feedback loops -- using evidence, relevance, consequence, and action for #UX #design: http://j.mp/rrYm91

Tuesday, 12th July, 7:03 PM
“This is how ‘Planet of the Apes’ truly began. First you give the apes #copyright, then they take over the world.”: http://j.mp/rnDfdO #law

Tuesday, 12th July, 6:01 PM
20 yrs before #sparklines took off, Edward Tufte developed a different type of data visualization, the #slopegraph: http://j.mp/oeIt00 #ia

Tuesday, 12th July, 6:00 PM
A mid-2011 survey of wireframing and prototyping tools, some offline, some online: http://j.mp/qwxeGo #ia

Monday, 11th July, 3:32 PM
What not to do -- some of the *worst* pieces of #design ever done (plastic clamshell packaging tops the list): http://j.mp/q34mWl #ux

via twitter.com/terretta

Improving Contacts management for Google+ Circles

"People not yet using Google+" defaults to all your Gmail Contacts.  This is a two-fold problem:

1) Gmail defaults to adding contacts for anyone you interact with.  I had 1500 spurious contacts (newsletters, web service email endpoints, e-commerce sites, etc) to weed through.  I couldn't easily find my actual friends.  

2) There's no way to say "Don't recommend these contacts to me any more", meaning, if I tried to "Find friends" to import a small list, they'd just be mingled into those 1500 useless addresses.

3) There's no link to your Google Contacts to manage who is showing here.

Solutions:

1a) Provide a way to dismiss or not show people.

- or -

1b) Consider supporting a "Show in Google Plus" group in Google Contacts.

2) If doing a "Find friends", have the imported group shown w/o the previous noise.  (e.g., add a "People last imported (77)" tab, or a Sort By: Last Updated)

3) Under "more" menu, or somewhere more prominent such as after the "still share with them via email" phrase, add a Contacts link so I can get to and manage my contacts.

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 July 3rd

Friday, 1st July, 4:36 PM
#Android "freeloaders" don't believe in paying for content; #Apple customers an "ideal paying demographic": http://j.mp/jrZvWs

Thursday, 30th June, 11:41 AM
Demystifying #Android screen densities, learning fundamentals of Android #design patterns, taking #screenshots: http://j.mp/kHMjcl

Wednesday, 29th June, 1:05 PM
How sausage is made -- a detailed IA, UX, and UI design case study, on designing GitHub for Mac: http://j.mp/iT6key

Tuesday, 28th June, 6:32 PM
The new #Google experience is founded on 3 key #design principles: focus, elasticity and effortlessness: http://j.mp/mE7PYk #ux

Tuesday, 28th June, 6:02 PM
Why we share what interests us -- rethinking real-life sharing for the web at http://plus.google.com -- video: http://j.mp/m7toYf #ux

Tuesday, 28th June, 3:15 PM
#Google Swiffy converts #Flash #SWF files to #HTML5. Repurpose Flash content for devices like iPhone w/o Flash player: http://j.mp/m11zgs

Monday, 27th June, 10:23 PM
Invent your *own* category… "consumers are not interested in form factors that deviate from the benchmark set by Apple": http://j.mp/kbZNjZ

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending June 26th

Friday, 24th June, 12:09 PM
If you exclude Facebook from the rest of the Web, minutes of use shrank by 9% from March 2010 to March 2011: http://j.mp/klRnSG #socialweb

Friday, 24th June, 11:05 AM
How to be an easy read -- making type look interesting: http://j.mp/lnRj3j #ux #ui #webdesign

Wednesday, 22nd June, 6:41 PM
A "portent of doom" for anyone that relies on multiple #cookies for tracking, customer service, analytics, advertising: http://j.mp/m8ctqc

Tuesday, 21st June, 2:32 PM
Users are making a transition from using the "mobile web" to spending more of their daily time in #mobile #apps: http://j.mp/im0m2l #stats

Tuesday, 21st June, 12:03 PM
Learn something new -- escape your search engine "Filter Bubble": http://dontbubble.us/

Monday, 20th June, 9:56 AM
When personalization goes too far--Google reminds users to "Call Dad", makes users angry: http://j.mp/mhrhbq

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending June 19th

Saturday, 18th June, 6:44 PM
Why does #Google keep giving me buttons that don’t do anything for me, the user? Serving engineering vs. user experience: http://j.mp/misq8X

Saturday, 18th June, 6:31 PM
Social content discovery is broken, but Instapaper could fix it and save itself from Apple in the process: http://j.mp/jiXpSq #socialweb

Saturday, 18th June, 1:31 PM
The world needs more weird people who know how things work and who love to figure it all out: http://j.mp/iQJjoH

Wednesday, 15th June, 9:44 PM
Look out for big differences between what a study’s aggregate "heatmap" suggests, and what the data really shows: http://j.mp/jALZ0V #ia

Wednesday, 15th June, 6:48 AM
Content discovery on the internet is broken, presuming interest in the same articles “liked” by my “friends”: http://j.mp/jiXpSq

Tuesday, 14th June, 6:52 PM
#Startups should have less features than competitors. If you have more features, you’re probably doing it wrong: http://j.mp/iM1YMx

Monday, 13th June, 7:34 PM
Amazon living by new digital rules, where you satisfy your customer’s need regardless of whose platform they are on: http://j.mp/j6sE34 #ux

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending June 12th

Saturday, 11th June, 10:56 AM
How to find iPad or iPhone device ID (UDID) when stuck on iOS 5 beta update: http://j.mp/lOAF21 #ipad #iphone #guid #udid #beta #ios #tip

Friday, 10th June, 11:17 PM
Why the new task UI in Taskrabbit has great behavioral design: http://j.mp/kH8LO7 #ux #ui #ia

Thursday, 9th June, 6:46 PM
Try "persuasive design" to change attitudes or behaviors of users through #persuasion and social influence: http://j.mp/kV1641 #design #ux

Thursday, 9th June, 5:58 PM
Google adds indexing support for rel="author" HTML tag property, to track and rank content creators: http://j.mp/kMHpuF #google #seo #ia

Wednesday, 8th June, 8:17 PM
You can’t convince a smoker to quit smoking. They need to just decide they’ll do it. It's the same for UX: http://j.mp/lmKhbU #ux

Wednesday, 8th June, 6:55 AM
UI testing suggests ways for #iPad app-makers to make their #apps more intuitive and ergonomic for users: http://j.mp/jPZVoX #ui #ux

Tuesday, 7th June, 5:59 PM
Forget #social... Build a tool which people find useful immediately: http://j.mp/lgZDIc #ux #startup #mvp

Tuesday, 7th June, 8:37 AM
On 1 Aug 2011, #Google will discontinue support for Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, and Safari 3: http://j.mp/l5cY8D #ux #browser

Tuesday, 7th June, 12:05 AM
#Apple has taken a better approach to #cloud #sync by focusing on its fundamental benefit to users--simplicity: http://j.mp/mfeRcW #ux

via twitter.com/terretta

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