Category: Usability (57 entries)

The Worst Home Page of 2007?

December 22, 2007

GM's home page disregards many basic usability conventions in favor of looking pretty.

Nielsen Norman Group Report on Accessibility Available for Free

December 18, 2007 | 2 Comments

The report outlines 75 best practices for the design of web sites and intranets, based on usability studies with people who use assistive technology.

Enterprise Software Still Suffers From Basic Usability Problems

December 16, 2007

Enterprise software misses the mark when it comes to simplifying common user tasks.

Hacking Netflix's Navigation

December 03, 2007 | 10 Comments

One user's attempt at redesigning the primary navigation of the Netflix web site.

Cheap Alternative for Web Site Usability Testing

November 21, 2007 | 3 Comments

UserTesting.com is a service that conducts remote usability testing at very affordable prices.

Best Buy Doesn't Want My Money

November 06, 2007 | 13 Comments

Despite having a credit card burning a hole in my pocket, BestBuy didn't want me to buy from its web site.

10 Reasons Why Your Web Site Sucks

October 21, 2007 | 9 Comments

A list of 10 common issues that make web sites hard to use and frustrate users (with a couple extra thrown in).

ALT+TAB is Less Usable in Windows Vista than in XP

July 29, 2007 | 11 Comments

Thanks to the use of small thumbnail previews in Windows Vista, ALT+TAB is harder to use than in Windows XP.

5 Sites, 1 Task: Explain How It Works

June 22, 2007 | 4 Comments

A look at different approaches - some good, some bad - to how it works pages by swapping web sites.

Farewell 'Home', We Hardly Knew You

June 10, 2007 | 14 Comments

The 'Home' link is becoming less used in web site navigation. Why is that?

Great Podcast on Successful User Experience Design Practices

May 19, 2007 | 2 Comments

The podcast of Jared Spool's speech from the User Interface 11 Conference is well worth listening to for anyone interested in user experience design.

Online Job Application Tools Lack Usability

March 24, 2007 | 4 Comments

The job application sections of most company web sites are difficult to use and are not designed with the candidate in mind.

The Myth of the 3-click Rule

February 28, 2007 | 12 Comments

A useful article that discounts the myth that pages must be reachable within three clicks.

Using Icons for Web Site Navigation — a Waste of Time?

February 14, 2007 | 31 Comments

Most icons used in web site navigation provide no meaning to the user and serve only to clutter up the interface.

Playstation Portable and the Art of Writing Good Error Messages

January 05, 2007 | 5 Comments

The error messages on my Sony PSP are not especially user-friendly.

UIE Podcast on Experience Design is Worth a Listen

January 02, 2007 | 2 Comments

UIE now offers a podcast on experience design.

Report: The Designer's Guide to Web Applications

November 13, 2006

UIE has published a report about designing web applications with a free first chapter.

2007 Bad Usability Calendar — Call For Entries

November 11, 2006 | 1 Comment

The people who created the Bad Usability Calendar are looking for ideas for the 2007 edition.

Yahoo! Movie Rating Widget — Interesting Design Decision

November 07, 2006 | 10 Comments

Yahoo! Movies rating widget has an unexpected interface.

Fly Out Menus: Can They Drop Up as Well as Drop Down?

October 18, 2006 | 2 Comments

The Weather Channel's web site takes an unusual approach to fly out menus with navigation that scrolls up rather than down.

Bad Usability Calendar

October 16, 2006

The 'bad usability' calendar is a humorous approach to usability posters.

New Brown University Home Page: Breaking Too Many Rules?

September 18, 2006 | 4 Comments

The new Brown University home page is interesting and unconventional, but breaks some core usability rules.

Analyze Usability Test Results with Excel

September 04, 2006

Use this free Excel spreadsheet to analyze the results of your usability tests. Perfect for small web teams.

Practice What You Preach When Selling Usability Products

August 31, 2006 | 3 Comments

If you are in the business of selling usability products and services your own web site should be as easy to use as possible.

What do You Know About Remote Usability Testing?

August 14, 2006 | 2 Comments

An introductory guide to remote usability testing.

New Conclusions in Usability Testing

July 27, 2006

Recent studies on usability testing have challenged some long-held beliefs as to how tests should be conducted.

Using Eye Tracking to Optimize Label Placement in Forms

July 12, 2006

Eye tracking study shows where to place labels on forms for optimum usability.

How to Calculate When to Add Jump Links to the Top of a Web Page

June 29, 2006 | 8 Comments

Use this calculation to determine when to add within-page links to the top of a web page.

When to Use Jump Links to Navigate Within a Web Page

June 28, 2006 | 9 Comments

When should you use within-page links and when does a web page become a long web page?

Branding and the Online User Experience

June 20, 2006 | 4 Comments

A presentation by Jared Spool on branding, user experience and online advertising.

Questionable Design Decisions Seen Around the Web

June 16, 2006 | 14 Comments

A round-up of sites that have made some questionable web design and usability decsions.

Online Map Design: Which Way to Zoom In?

June 11, 2006 | 11 Comments

Thoughts on the design of zoom sliders on map sites. Should zoom in go at the top or bottom?

Form Labels: Better With Colons or Without?

June 07, 2006 | 5 Comments

Whether it is better in terms of usability and accessibility to include a colon at the end of a form label.

Comparison of Services to Create Online Polls

June 05, 2006 | 12 Comments

A review of several of the leading services to create online polls.

Review of Quimble: Service to Create Online Polls

May 25, 2006 | 8 Comments

Review of Quimble online poll creation service, including thoughts about the design and usability of its polls.

Children's Museum Web Site is Not Very Usable

May 18, 2006 | 4 Comments

Thoughts about issues I had using Phoenix Children's Museum's web site.

How to Show Whether Form Fields are Required

April 08, 2006

Good practices to follow in order to indicate whether a form field is required or optional.

Writing Content for Diverse Audiences

March 20, 2006

Writing web content for a divergent group of audiences doesn't necessarily mean you have to write separate content for each audience.

Eight Guidelines for Usability Testing

March 17, 2006 | 1 Comment

Eight guidelines to help you get the most from your usability testing.

Using Eye Tracking to Evaluate the Usability of Search Forms

January 29, 2006

A study using eye tracking to examine the usability of search forms on leading web sites.

Great Introduction to Eye Tracking

December 29, 2005

A comprehensive introduction to the use of eye tracking to analyse the usability of user interfaces.

Good Recap of Recent Usability Research Studies

December 19, 2005 | No comments

A good overview of the best usability research studies from the past few years.

Web Site Usability Testing: Thoughts and Takeaways

December 17, 2005

Some thoughts and ideas about the practical side of web site usability testing.

Don't Make Me Think: Read Chapter on Accessibility Online

November 28, 2005

Chapter 11 of "Don't Make Me Think" - on accessibility - is available to read online. Don't miss it!

Web Site Usability Book Review: "Don't Make Me Think"

October 19, 2005 | 2 Comments

Review of Steve Krug's book on web site usability, "Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability".

10 Tips to Improve Web Site Usability Testing

September 16, 2005 | 1 Comment

A collection of tips to help you improve your web usability tests and get more information from them.

PDFs Okay To Open in New Windows

August 30, 2005 | 2 Comments

Usability guru Jacon Nielsen gives us the okay to make PDFs and other non-native web documents open in a new window.

UIE Roadshow 2005: Know Your Users

February 17, 2005

My thoughts on the Seattle stop of the UIE 2005 'Know Your Users' Roadshow.

Register.com Back Button

January 29, 2005

When is a button not a button? When you click on it and it does nothing. Then it's just an image.

Top Ten Usability Rules for Web Sites

September 17, 2004

Why is the W3C Web Site So Hard To Use?

July 30, 2004

My struggles with trying to navigate around the W3C web site.

Big Name Sites Still Not Considering User Goals

June 13, 2004

How to Write an Unreadable Web Article

June 08, 2004 | 4 Comments

Microsoft Office Tips & Tricks

June 01, 2004

Real Life Personas

May 08, 2004

Online Press Rooms: "How Not To Do It"

January 05, 2004

Usability Testing Shopping.com

December 07, 2003