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

Usability week ending November 28th

Thursday, 25th November, 10:53 PM
Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, 24th November, 1:53 PM
Browserling is interactive cross-browser #testing inside your Chrome #browser. Try it at browserling.com: http://j.mp/hTDfXx

Tuesday, 23rd November, 12:22 AM
Building a "customer experience", not just a "user experience", leads to a more complete and effective product: http://j.mp/goN2B9 #ux

Monday, 22nd November, 2:06 PM
Dropbox "just works" for online backup and sharing files. Get yours free here: http://db.tt/jj4Ip9C

Monday, 22nd November, 2:03 PM
I love Dropbox because it's the easiest way to share documents among a distributed team who use both Windows and Mac. http://db.tt/v5FdNuZ

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending October 10th

Friday, 8th October, 4:46 PM
Mobile web apps are an excellent opportunity for native-like performance without specializing in a particular platform: http://j.mp/aoQhzw

Thursday, 7th October, 4:55 PM
Ten golden principles for successful web apps: http://j.mp/9bkD6B #design #ux #development #startups

Tuesday, 5th October, 4:16 PM
Business-aligned #usability ratings communicate actual business impacts of issues identified in usability #testing: http://j.mp/dvvnXh

via twitter.com/terretta

Usability week ending March 21st

Saturday, 20th March, 5:54 PM
Red Line Karting at Infineon Raceway http://post.ly/UE8A

Friday, 19th March, 11:53 AM
#UX missing core ingredient? Understanding the “why” questions: “why” does a site exist, “why” will someone use it: http://j.mp/9g5D5P

Wednesday, 17th March, 2:35 PM
A 15 min chat about a customer’s usage is enough. If they can’t tell you what's inconvenient, there isn’t a problem: http://j.mp/bB63zh #ux

Tuesday, 16th March, 11:53 AM
In movie UIs, the future #UI is gestural, eye tracking, voice activated, 3D, transparent, and adaptive: http://j.mp/9WHnWI #gui

Monday, 15th March, 4:28 PM
#Usability #testing is one of the least glamorous but most important parts of user experience research--DOs and DON'Ts: http://j.mp/bHlbYX

Monday, 15th March, 2:54 PM
Over 1 billion people use these tools to get things done the simple way: http://j.mp/bIQ02M #usability

via twitter.com/terretta

Google admits Buzz social network user testing flaws

The BBC understands that Buzz was only tested internally and bypassed more extensive trials with external testers - used for many other Google services.

Google said that it was now working "extremely hard" to fix the problems.

"We've been testing Buzz internally at Google for a while," Todd Jackson, Buzz product manager, told the BBC. "Of course, getting feedback from 20,000 Googlers isn't quite the same as letting Gmail users play with Buzz in the wild."

via news.bbc.co.uk

In yesterday's post, I speculated Google Buzz was only tested by its own engineers. Today, Google admitted to the BBC that was true.

Jackson told BBC News that the decision to create these automatic lists was borne out of the idea that Google "wanted to provide a great user experience straight out of the box".

Well, not quite. Google focused on providing a great Google employee experience straight out of the box. The article reports even when Google does "user testing", it uses "a network of friends and family of Google employees". That sounds like a privileged class, not everyday users.

Google needs to refocus its core products for the real users making up its market share, before insular thinking damages Search audience driven revenue.

Usability week ending February 14th

Saturday, 13th February, 9:04 PM
#Google learns value of #usability #testing, hastily revises #Buzz start-up experience based on user feedback: http://j.mp/9bpgW6 #ux #ia

Thursday, 11th February, 9:04 AM
Google Buzz is disruptive because all about open, standardized user data: http://j.mp/awIJJ1 #usability #ia

Wednesday, 10th February, 10:48 AM
By focusing on only 3 core features in a first version, you're forced to find its true essence and value: http://j.mp/cNYGG7 #ia #ux

Tuesday, 9th February, 10:58 AM
A novel idea to push the social media "signal vs noise" quality problem into authors’ hands: http://j.mp/bNLXII #ia #ux #ui #facebook

Monday, 8th February, 9:16 AM
Font stacks are ultimately #design factors, and should be scrutinized as such--use better #CSS #font stacks: http://j.mp/dbUw26 #ux #ui

via twitter.com/terretta