THE WEB CAN BE A BETTER PLACE TO SURF AND DO BUSINESS !
Last Updated: October 30, 2004
[October 31, 2001]
The Mac Observer: I Wonder If Chess Will Do For OS X What Solitaire Did For Windows? - "Watching PC users and Mac users interact with computer-store computers is an activity that reveals more about the psychology of the average computer shopper than any Rorschach test ever would."
The Mac Observer: Mac Vs. PC: Remembering 1989
[October 30, 2001]
tim's user interface guidelines - "Give people what they want and expect, find a way to engage and inspire them, and they will participate."
TaskZ.com: Real vs. Perceived Problems - "The specific notion in the case of user interfaces is that interface design is much more than graphics or HTML. Interface design must comprehend the channel, the task, the technology, the user and the user's state, and more. Graphics or HTML are the perceived problems but the real problems are what is the business model, what is to be communicated, or how will the task change the reality of the user or the using organization."
Scott Berkun: Strategies of influence for interaction designers
[October 29, 2001]
Independent: Will XP reboot the PC world?
Jakob Nielsen: Poor Code Quality Contaminates Users' Conceptual Models - "Software bugs and system crashes result in huge productivity losses and undermine users' ability to form good models of how computers work. Website designers can help improve user confidence by prioritizing quality and robustness over features and the latest technology."
Gerry McGovern: The technology productivity paradox - "The dream of many a technologist is to automate and replace people, rather than help people to become more efficient. We see this sort of thinking all the time in the content management industry, for example. ... As long as technology puts automation before people we will continue to sink money down a black hole of poor productivity."
[October 28, 2001]
Jef Raskin: There is No Such Thing as Information Design
Planet PDF: "A response to 'Avoid PDF for On-Screen Reading' column - "... I am not saying that the PDF format is the best option in all cases, but to say that PDFs on the Web are big, don't display well, and are only good for printing is wrong. Maybe an Alertbox article that highlights how PDFs can be used on the Web would be more appropriate than one that misinforms the reader about the PDF format." [Adobe ePaper staffer rebuts Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox column]
A List Apart: "The web is not currently a good medium for experience."
[October 27, 2001]
UIE (via iaslash): Users Decide First; Move Second - "... the interactive elements should conserve space without decreasing the usability of the site."
Kristoffer Bohmann: Don't use "fly outs, rollovers, dropdowns", and other design elements that hide page content.
BBC: Reading your mouse movements - "A website that can read your body language and know what you want before you have even clicked on anything may sound like science fiction. But this is what researchers in the US are working on."
"Opera for Macintosh is not only fast, but flexible and easy to use, with a bright clean interface implemented according to the Apple Design Guidelines."
Ted Nelson: "Right now you are a prisoner of each application you use. You have only the options that were given you by the developer of that application."
[October 26, 2001]
MSDN: The Role of Flow in Web Design - "In designing Web pages, or anything that people interact with, a prime goal must be the achievement of flow for the user: Enable them to transcend the mechanics of links and navigation, and focus completely on what they want to achieve. ... Once your users are in the right place to do what they want, flow comes into play as an attribute of how much work they need to do to satisfy their goal."
The Register: Opera and Mozilla get MSN support - "Opera fervently believes that the Internet only will thrive if it remains a structure where human innovation can prosper to the benefit of everyone. All users will benefit from a dynamic marketplace where users can choose from several browser alternatives."
[October 25, 2001]
John S. Rhodes: A Business Case for Usability - "This is a business case for usability in an organization. It is based on academic research, industrial research, case studies, consulting experience, and common knowledge found in the usability community. ... Understanding how humans interact with technology is a central focus of the usability engineering process."
Technology Review: A Smarter Web - "Today's World Wide Web is fundamentally a publishing medium-a place to store and share images and text. Adding semantics will radically change the nature of the Web-from a place where information is merely displayed to one where it is interpreted, exchanged and processed."
Matthew G. Kirschenbaum: Truth, Beauty, and the User Interface: Notes on the Aesthetics of Information (1997)
[October 24, 2001]
Learning Circuits: Web Course Usability - "Solid instructional design and facilitation rather than good usability principles ensure that learners have a successful and enjoyable learning experience. However, addressing usability issues guarantees that the learning environment doesn't become a barrier to learning."
[October 17, 2001]
Web Techniques: "Customer satisfaction drives revenues. But good service demands more than good technology, it's a business process."
Kristoffer Bohmann - My definition of usability: "Users can complete their tasks."
WDVL: Usability and Navigation - "Poor site structure inevitably leads to poor navigation. ... Bad structures are rarely created at site launch, they're far more likely to develop over time as mistakes are made in response to change."
Comp-U-Garg: "Now you can protect your computer with a gargoyle ..."
[October 15, 2001]
Lighthouse: Accept responsibility to make your online project work - "Business managers can make online projects by accepting the responsibility for their design - or court disaster by leting technologists shape them. ... They [managers] must define in precise detail what users of the system can do - a tough, confronting task which takes place before a single line of code is written, and which requires managers with at least a small measure of technical savvy and a great deal of determination."
"Usability enhancements to Norton AntiVirus 2002 include a completely updated user interface, simplified non-obtrusive alerting ..." (News Release)
Web Informant: Norton Anti-Virus 2002 a winner
Economist: "Combining the Internet with mobile phones will pose technical, business and cultural challenges."
[October 13, 2001]
Alan Cantor: Escaping the Mousetrap: An Evaluation of the Accessibility and Usability of the Windows Keyboard-only Interface (1999) - "Paciello [5] defines product usability in terms of five factors: (a) how easy it is to learn; (b) how easy it is to remember; (c) whether it promotes productivity; (d) whether it reduces the chances of error; and (e) user satisfaction. Access barriers associated with the Windows operating system and many applications render the keyboard interface less than usable."
E-Commerce Times: B2B Grows With the Information Flow - "Improvements in information technology are boosting the cost efficiency of product design as well as streamlining B2B transactions."
[October 11, 2001]
Universal Usability in Practice: Blind and Low Vision Users - "The purpose of this article is to provide recommendations, guidelines, examples and resources to web site developers on how to develop web sites accessible to users that are blind or have low vision."
SatireWire.com: "Calling the Red Cross "the Microsoft of relief agencies," the U.S. Department of Justice today asked a federal court to break up the organization ..."
BBspot: Compaq Unveils 208 Position Keyboard - "We're a company that takes chances. Sure our 13 button mouse didn't go over well, but we attribute that to poor marketing not product design. The 208 position keyboard is bound to be a blockbuster product. ..."
[October 10, 2001]
Cooper Interaction Design: Navigating isn't fun - "If you want to design simpler, better Websites for business or commerce, try putting more interaction into fewer screens so your users don't have to navigate so much."
Cooper Interaction Design: Always have a backup plan - "... designing around failure is one of the best ways designers can make software successful. Take time to consider the ways in which failure might occur and mitigate them as part of the design. Don't leave your users with Ctrl-Alt-Delete as the only escape route."
The Register: Did terrorists use keyboard as biological weapon?
[October 9, 2001]
WebReference.com: New Riders Interview: Jakob Nielsen and Marie Tahir - "When we talk about homepages, we're talking about the first impression."
Gerry McGovern: The need for editors on the Web - "Two fundamental mistakes are made again and again with regard to content on the Web. The first is that volume is what it's about, that the more content you have the better. The second is that technology will automatically organize and publish content in a professional manner."
[October 7, 2001]
Google Searches Related to 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
Umberto Eco & Patrick Coppock: A Conversation on Information (1995)
The Register: "NatWest has cut off users of Netscape Navigator 4.76, 4.77 and 6 and Mozilla from its online banking service ..."
EE Times: End-user needs drive product design
Electronic School: Building a Better Web Site - "... we should build our Web site from the perspective of the end user."
Electronic School: Security Do's and Don'ts (1995) - "High levels of security can hamper usability ... If you're operating in a fort, behind a moat, and with the drawbridge up, you can't conduct business."
NIPC: Seven Simple Computer Security Tips for Small Business and Home Computer Users
IBM (via Usable Web): How to create flexible sites quickly using standards like CSS and XHTML
[October 2, 2001]
Ask Tog: The Airport Experience - "If a zero-increased-time approach is not followed in designing the new security system, people may find it more pleasant to just stay home."
Flazoom.com: Are You Designing For Your Eyes Only? - "So, our eyes get weaker as we age, but what can Flash developers do to help?"
WebReference.com: Easy Web Content Management with XMLcmNOW
Home Archive Index
Location: Netanya, Israel. My email address is LucDesk.
Privacy Policy. © 2000-2006 Lucian Millis.