Usability week ending January 24th

Friday, 22nd January, 6:29 PM
To see beyond today’s limits of the web, all we need to do is see what is needed. What's next in #web #design: http://j.mp/6HNHNu #ia #ux

Thursday, 21st January, 4:40 PM
People are confused by symbols with too many or too few details, but recognize UI elements somewhere in the middle: http://j.mp/6YrAAg #ui

Wednesday, 20th January, 11:55 AM
For pleasant usability, ensure a consistent continuous flow of design ideas in your entire software house: http://j.mp/5bn1jJ #ux #ui #ia

Tuesday, 19th January, 2:33 PM
#Design in the computing biz is too often confused with #technology, something entirely different: http://j.mp/4yIBpT #ux #ui #pc #mac

Tuesday, 19th January, 8:18 AM
For consumer web apps today, #design matters more than technology. You can't just engineer any more: http://j.mp/4OBnaN #ux #ui

Monday, 18th January, 6:55 PM
Choose usable UI components based on key principles of affordance and intuitiveness: http://j.mp/4tTGGL #ux #ui #usability

via twitter.com/terretta

Pet peeve: sites rejecting valid email addresses

Several of the large email providers support "plus addressing", using your username plus a label (e.g., username+label@gmail.com) to help you keep track of who you're giving an address to and help you sort your email. Here's a Google post on plus addressing.

Unfortunately, many email validation routines are naive, and won't accept the plus sign. That's to be expected from Bank of America's IT department. It's a surprise when it happens at Amazon.

For a better discussion of using the + symbol to help filter Gmail, see Gmail Tips - The Complete Collection.

SkypeOut "Start Conference" Usability

It's a great to be able to start a SkypeOut conference by just adding the participants. Just be sure nobody you're calling has more than one phone number.

And no, there's no tool tip or mouse-over telling you the number, and dragging the window wider doesn't reveal a number column. The app knows it's a phone number as shown by the icon, so putting the actual number in parentheses after the name would be a quick fix.

Usability week ending January 17th

Friday, 15th January, 11:03 PM
Use diagramming tools to "hand-sketch" #wireframes for faster expression of ideas, perception of fluidity: http://j.mp/7imLg4 #ia #ui

Thursday, 14th January, 11:41 AM
Shopping for bedsheets–how hard could it be? A survey of challenges in #ecommerce #usability: http://j.mp/4HRnfY #ux

Wednesday, 13th January, 4:12 PM
As the virtual and the ambient are integrated into our lives, we can start to live in more minimalist environments: http://j.mp/8JqlRh #ux

Tuesday, 12th January, 11:38 PM
Don't use words that suck all the meaning out. Language is how we know each other: http://j.mp/83h0ut #marketing #language #usability

Monday, 11th January, 9:25 PM
If your personality could be translated into a typeface, what type are you? http://j.mp/8Y5PrV #font #design #personality #quiz #typography

Monday, 11th January, 5:02 PM
Droid doesn't. Have touchscreen accuracy, that is... http://post.ly/IAru

via twitter.com/terretta

Droid's touchscreen can't keep your intentions straight

Touchscreen accuracy of the iPhone is much better than that of Verizon's Droid or Google Nexus One. When you're trying to tap a link, chances are you're going to be successful on the iPhone, and not on Android phones.

iPhones showed straight lines in tests with both light and medium finger pressure, while the Android phones showed zig-zag wavy lines across the screen.

"On inferior touchscreens, it's basically impossible to draw straight lines. Instead, the lines look jagged or zig-zag, no matter how slowly you go, because the sensor size is too big, the touch-sampling rate is too low, and/or the algorithms that convert gestures into images are too non-linear to faithfully represent user inputs. This is important because quick keyboard use and light flicks on the screen really push the limits of the touch panel's ability to sense."
via tuaw.com

Once again, comparing phones "feature for feature" doesn't tell the whole story.

Apple's uncompromising commitment to usability drives their engineering choices in ways that might not be obvious to engineers or even consumers seeing an ad, but are painfully obvious after you've experienced how the thing should work.

Usability week ending January 10th

Friday, 8th January, 5:53 PM
5 steps to designing and building social experiences: http://j.mp/53Sxnt #ux #ui #ia #userexperience #socialmedia

Thursday, 7th January, 10:46 AM
“Oh,” he said, “so this is how a touchscreen is supposed to work.” A #usability test of 10 phones: http://j.mp/5BbuwV #ux #ui #iphone #nokia

Wednesday, 6th January, 10:37 AM
Ambient user experience--design applied to the context in which users get things done while using a website: http://j.mp/7Bl7sZ #ux #ui #ia

Tuesday, 5th January, 4:26 PM
RT @brandon_wirtz: Really smart people -- Brandon Wirtz, Robert Scoble, and SEO: http://j.mp/5UR4Dg

Tuesday, 5th January, 11:13 AM
The "of course factor" at the heart of every great design: http://j.mp/6a86uW #userexperience #ux #ui #design

Monday, 4th January, 3:57 PM
Well-designed tech should build on familiar, emphasize simplicity, do wishful things well, offer better experience: http://j.mp/6c6u2X #ux

Monday, 4th January, 10:30 AM
Use the powerful design pattern "More Like This" to make search results nav quick, easy, and intuitive: http://j.mp/5XRD2j #ux #ui #ia

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending January 3rd

Thursday, 31st December, 8:36 AM
Secret to beautiful #UI #design is realism--2D objects on-screen appear to be 3D thanks to cues from real life: http://j.mp/7F6ILT

Wednesday, 30th December, 11:06 AM
There are seven buttons: http://j.mp/60kSgk (#minimalism #ia #ux #ui #design #simplicity #elegance #apple #mce)

Tuesday, 29th December, 1:23 PM
Top 10 reasons Santa is a great designer: http://j.mp/6D3ju6 #ux #ui #santa #christmas #design

Monday, 28th December, 11:40 AM
Organic tools simplify digital design -- examples of beautiful pen and paper sketches of website prototypes: http://j.mp/8HBhHi #ux #ui

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending December 27th

Thursday, 24th December, 9:37 AM
A website’s design should begin where it’s going to live: in the browser. Make your mockup in markup: http://j.mp/5JF7VX #ui #css #html

Wednesday, 23rd December, 1:48 PM
UI development is the hard part. And it’s not the last step, it’s the first step: http://j.mp/7jS3j7 #ux #usability #linux #osx

Tuesday, 22nd December, 3:12 PM
User experience / usability analysis of the Business Breakfast. Cliff Notes version: have the oatmeal. http://j.mp/5GgKWX

Monday, 21st December, 2:31 PM
When simplicity wins over features -- Philips DirectLife versus the Fitbit: http://j.mp/7gujfk #usability #ux

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending December 20th

Friday, 18th December, 1:38 PM
Information aesthetics -- two videos visualizing a day in New York Times web traffic from 15 web servers' users: http://j.mp/6OgMtO #ia

Thursday, 17th December, 5:31 PM
Marketing tricks built into menus—how something as simple as typography drives you to or away from a $39 steak: http://j.mp/6bwnIv #ux #ia

Wednesday, 16th December, 4:16 PM
I can't read white on white text while your design loads. Using a background image in your CSS? Set backup colors! http://j.mp/6A7UmL

Wednesday, 16th December, 9:40 AM
Target WebKit. Mobile Internet outpacing desktop adoption, "Apple has 2 or 3 year lead" says Morgan Stanley: http://j.mp/5OOISr #ux #ui

Tuesday, 15th December, 11:24 AM
Is your blogging still "usable"? Tell stories with passion, share researched insights, engage with your community: http://j.mp/8thKcL #ux

Monday, 14th December, 1:24 PM
When spending $100 million on an ad campaign ( http://j.mp/879TGl ) about "you", find out first how users experience it: http://j.mp/5VBEGE

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending December 13th

Friday, 11th December, 7:55 PM
Don’t draw figures or diagrams of wrong models, because people will remember them: http://j.mp/5ynv1e #agile #waterfall #ia #programming

Thursday, 10th December, 3:56 PM
Travel search company Kayak shifts business strategy around the "new" usability needs shown to them by iPhone users: http://j.mp/4FCqtD #ux

Wednesday, 9th December, 6:25 PM
Designers need to learn to apply their unique problem-solving and visual communication skills to business strategy: http://j.mp/4YnRXt

Tuesday, 8th December, 5:47 PM
Represent conversations visually to encourage discussion -- Threaded View as a visual design pattern: http://j.mp/596d5a #ux #ui #ia

Monday, 7th December, 12:25 PM
Quickly and easily find the most intuitive hierarchy for your site's info or nav using "tree testing" tools: http://j.mp/8hjJQn #ia #ux

via twitter.com/terretta