Usability week ending March 13th

Saturday, 12th March, 5:14 PM
The exceptional home page is not a bulletin board, it's a demo-showroom: http://j.mp/gNwUj9 #ia

Saturday, 12th March, 12:02 PM
A well-designed #UX is consistent, forgiving, rewarding; #Nokia's user experience was inconsistent, unforgiving, hostile: http://j.mp/fZCygF

Thursday, 10th March, 9:17 PM
@kiwi_app Can I set my own j.mp key yet in a Kiwi app I pay for?

Thursday, 10th March, 9:16 PM
@sugarsock Haven't tried Sword and Soldiers. Liked Fieldrunners, also Spirits, Trainyard, and World of Goo. Angry Birds felt tedious!

Thursday, 10th March, 10:39 AM
Why hover menus are a #usability disaster -- and not just because users can't hover on an iPad: http://j.mp/eWA40n #ux #ui

Thursday, 10th March, 8:59 AM
Reserve your connect.me username: http://cxt.me/am5w3A #connectme

Wednesday, 9th March, 1:46 PM
World's shortest guide to #SEO: http://j.mp/h5JMBj

Wednesday, 9th March, 8:19 AM
FTC puts patent trolls -- sorry, patent assertion entities -- on notice: http://j.mp/f4vUry #patent #patents

Tuesday, 8th March, 3:55 PM
Why is Angry Birds' interface so engaging that users cannot stop interacting with it? A cognitive teardown of #UX: http://j.mp/f68z1Q

Tuesday, 8th March, 10:35 AM
Five key principles to fostering better conversations in your site's #comments section: http://j.mp/fUsBKr #ia #ux

Monday, 7th March, 4:16 PM
Deciding on a tablet by comparing specs? You've missed the point: http://j.mp/dJB8Tf #ipad #xoom #ux #ipad2

Monday, 7th March, 1:34 PM
The first step towards real “unbundling” is to put the viewer at the center of audience building: http://j.mp/eXD4w0 #vod #ux

Monday, 7th March, 1:32 PM
Where are the app experiences befitting the iPad and its hardware capabilities?: http://j.mp/eSC4Dv #ux

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending February 20th

Friday, 18th February, 12:42 PM
The Experience Economy -- it a focus on good experiences causing America to generate less material wealth?: http://j.mp/h5bBZp #ux

Thursday, 17th February, 2:18 PM
Less I in UI makes users adopt plan-based behavior, smarter solution paths, and better declarative knowledge: http://j.mp/gTeaMe #ui #ia

Wednesday, 16th February, 10:22 AM
I have seen the future and I am opposed — Don Norman http://post.ly/1d5vM

Monday, 14th February, 4:31 PM
The trend away from “hard-edged science” to systems “where predictability is tempered by a heavy dose of randomness”: http://j.mp/dNhZlA

Monday, 14th February, 4:23 PM
To make sure you meet user expectations: do user research, review competitor sites, follow usability guidelines: http://j.mp/hBhRgp #ux

Monday, 14th February, 4:22 PM
Embrace #iPad virtual physicality--an invisible spine defined its edges, signaling content just a swipe away: http://j.mp/gTxHHl #ui

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending February 13th

Thursday, 10th February, 5:28 PM
Involve decision makers and implementers in #UX to give them understanding of the issues and incentive to fix: http://j.mp/g0KDgG

Thursday, 10th February, 7:57 AM
No part of dynamic AJAXy magic requires beating the Web to a bloody pulp with a sharp-edged hashbang. So stop it.: http://j.mp/guN3Fe

Wednesday, 9th February, 4:55 PM
When technical good intentions go wrong -- how Gawker and Lifehacker broke their websites with JavaScript and hash-bangs: http://j.mp/g4xylU

Tuesday, 8th February, 10:59 AM
A definitive guide to Landing Page Best Practices -- with infographics: http://j.mp/fnGNRX #ppc #adwords

Monday, 7th February, 11:43 AM
VOD UI designers take note: families don't want lean-forward involvement from a lean-back medium: http://j.mp/gk6bYq #ux #tv #vod #ui

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending February 6th

Friday, 4th February, 9:40 AM
Force yourself outside your zone for unbiased external perspectives to explain their world, hold a mirror to yours: http://j.mp/hjIQaG

Thursday, 3rd February, 11:07 PM
Reviewing #wireframe mockup applications Balsamiq, Mockingbird, and MockFlow: http://j.mp/gntyv2 #ia

Thursday, 3rd February, 11:01 PM
You don't need to build features requested by your customers to make them happy: http://j.mp/gjV2gI

Wednesday, 2nd February, 5:08 PM
TUAW's first impressions of iPad newspaper "The Daily" UI and navigation: http://j.mp/g7oQ74 #ux #ui #ipad #tuaw

Wednesday, 2nd February, 5:05 PM
"Today marks the day that a content company made a significant change to embrace truly new ways to deliver the news": http://j.mp/gt3y9t

Monday, 31st January, 12:05 PM
How Steve Jobs and #Apple managed to beat the tech titans of Japan by playing their game, only better: http://j.mp/h30Jro #simplicity #zen

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending December 5th

Friday, 3rd December, 4:09 PM
The Design of Everyday Things--theory of how people behave when working with everyday objects, and guidelines to follow: http://j.mp/gXJPxv

Thursday, 2nd December, 2:11 PM
Is simplicity a bad design goal?: http://j.mp/fyGPqb #ux #design #ui

Wednesday, 1st December, 1:50 PM
Trust, crowd empowerment, transparency and co-management of life activity, are the new master concepts for success: http://j.mp/eS0iNC #ux

Monday, 29th November, 5:52 PM
How A/B testing a splash page and sign up button earned Obama an extra $60M in fund raising: http://j.mp/gF525L #webdesign #ux

Monday, 29th November, 10:11 AM
5 of the best new user experiences of 2010--most interesting, useful, and innovative, expanding #ux expectations: http://j.mp/eWHqgn

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending November 7th

Thursday, 4th November, 1:30 PM
Web designers, keep your page sizes down. It’s for your own (and your users') good: http://j.mp/9QDkjV #ux #performance

Thursday, 4th November, 12:58 PM
Best practices for combining #typefaces in a #design, as well as some blunders to avoid: http://j.mp/bffnUQ #fonts #typography #webdesign

Monday, 1st November, 11:40 AM
Users pay close attention to photos with relevant information, ignore fluffy pictures used for looks: http://j.mp/cjLqtw #ia #ui

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending October 24th

Friday, 22nd October, 9:23 AM
Attention to detail in making a page transition "come alive": http://j.mp/ajAyvV #ux #ui

Thursday, 21st October, 5:41 PM
For type rendering, browser layout engines defer to the operating system’s text rendering engine. What you should test: http://j.mp/cUDBFg

Wednesday, 20th October, 8:27 PM
WP7 typography doesn't serve user needs. Instead it is about its designer self. Good design is self-effacing: http://j.mp/cnOfNO #wp7

Tuesday, 19th October, 6:28 PM
Kill off sign-up forms through gradual engagement, web services, and communication tools: http://j.mp/b2EsLp #ia #ux

Monday, 18th October, 7:56 AM
Lessons of open standards vs proprietary platforms are being forgotten as designers scramble to create novelty UIs: http://j.mp/9vwa0N #ui

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending October 17th

Friday, 15th October, 5:11 PM
How much weight does your senior management give to right-brained ideas, like delight, amazement, intuition, and joy? http://j.mp/diW5gs #ux

Thursday, 14th October, 8:15 AM
Arrange #labels any way that seems harmonious to you. Test with users. Make changes. Repeat until it works: http://j.mp/9i5dWI #ui #ia #ux

Wednesday, 13th October, 11:04 PM
@Runnnner Logitech thinks you'll pay $130 *extra* to get even more buttons for the Revue: http://j.mp/b5GUd9 #googletv

Wednesday, 13th October, 8:04 AM
You can’t control reactions on the Web. All you can do is cover your ass by being transparent and stoic: http://j.mp/cUC9C7 #gaplogo

Monday, 11th October, 5:42 PM
"Focus on what really matters: making users happy as fast as you can, and helping them as much as you can": http://j.mp/avKHfq #ux

via twitter.com/terretta

How Star Trek artists imagined usability 23 years ago

“Complexity should be abstracted, synthesized down to the simplest possible interface for instant gratification, with the shortest possible learning curve—that is the wave of the future.”
via arstechnica.com

Michael Okuda's and Gene Roddenberry's emphasis on ease of use as driving factor behind technology made their devices seem prescient. I enjoyed this Ars Technica discussion of Star Trek's PADD versus today's iPad, and what happens when the software defines how the device can be used.

Interestingly, Okuda notes part of his emphasis on simplicity originally came from budget constraints. This is another example of my theory that price vs performance need not be a trade off. By aiming for simplicity and elegance instead, technologists can achieve higher performance at a lower cost.