My Least Favorite UI Control

*to view control in action: http://bit.ly/19Qb5T

Issues:

• A tab control that doesn't look like a tab.
• A tab-like presentation below instead of above the tab content.
• A tab used as a toggle to show/hide just one entry field.
• An entry field that seems to serve double duty yet is mutually exclusive, i.e. the user can only search by a City OR a Postal Code. Because a user can enter the City and Postal Code sequentially, he may assume that he is searching on the combination of his two inputs. However, his search results will be based solely on the last entry.
  
• Radius dropdown menu has label embedded and no reasonable default. (If user does not make a selection, when the search is enabled the radius defaults to 20 miles in the search results list. Therefore, would expect the radius default on the entry screen to be 20 miles.)
• Actions: the user can Save this search and have the results emailed to him or he can perform the Search. Based on placement, it is not clear that these are the action choices.
  

Suggested Layout (based on same amount of screen real estate as control above):








Design Suggestions:

• Use radio buttons to present mutually exclusive choices.
  
• Disable field associated with deselected radio button.
  
• Enable field associated with selected radio button.
• Provide an appropriate default for the Radius dropdown.
• Present action choices next to each other to emphasize that the user can select Action A or Action B.
  

A Tiny Bit of Fun

Who doesn't love dinosaurs?

Especially really tiny dinosaurs?

Tinysaur

An Error in Error Messaging

This is the message I just got at bitly.
I was signed in, tried to navigated to a different bitly page, and voila!

Cute? Yes.

Helpful? Not a bit.

Where is my Sears Craftsman 2009 laptop?

We bought our first (and only) lawnmower, as required, with our first house. It is a Craftsman from Sears. The first five or ten years I thought nothing of hauling it out of the garage and expecting it to start in the spring. But it has been twenty-four years now, so every spring for the last four or five years I have considered it a minor miracle when I go to the garage, pull out my four wheeled workhorse and start it up. Miracles aside, I have utter faith in my faithful tool.

I am not proud of this, but my maintenance routine is to put the lawnmower in the garage in October and get it out in April. I understand it has an air filter. Actually I can see the filter. It’s pretty dirty. It’s original. Also I think there is some part (the engine?) that is supposed to be oiled (have its oil changed?). I wouldn’t know. My routine is: raise the spark plug cover; pump the rubber ball six times; pull the cord. Oh, and occasionally I pour gasoline in the gas tank.

It is the most dependable machine I have ever owned. And it has been stress tested. It has been the victim of a careless owner/user and yes, of downright abuse. The number of metal cans, tinfoil balloon bodies (don’t ask), dead basketballs, windsocks, and pine cones it has challenged and conquered? Countless. Plastic beer can holders become confetti under blades that have never been sharpened. The grass catcher became a casualty long ago, understandably, considering it was designed to catch grass, and the rubber flap at the back is in shreds; but my lawnmower still cuts grass. It cuts foot high grass, wet grass, and yes, even the occasional vicious and ubiquitous blackberry branch.

I wish any other machine at my house, especially a computer, could perform like my lawnmower. I have owned two Macs, a Toshiba and an IBM (and treated all of them with kid gloves). Yet I have always felt they could go at any minute, that they were finicky, high maintenance, mercurial. I mean think about it, they need to be updated, optimized, immunized, and secured against a multitude of viruses and bugs. I could not call them, with any confidence, dependable, rugged, stalwart.

And most importantly, they have never given me the unadulterated satisfaction of starting up my lawnmower in April. When Craftsmen starts making laptops, sign me up.

Far from delight . . .

Someone needs to tell match.com that this ad is just plain creepy.

The sensation of being watched/stalked by this guy as I check my email at Yahoo is far from delightful.
Why would anyone design this "experience"?

I see TED people

Unveiling the "Sixth Sense," game-changing wearable tech



http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/481

Searching for Steinbeck

A Journey into Steinbeck’s California

Examines the relationship between this iconic American writer and the area he loved and that features so prominently in his work.

http://www.roaringfortiespress.com/content/steinbecks_california.php

By Design

Design, rather than anarchy characterizes life. In human life, design implies the acceptance and even the deliberate choice of certain constraints which are deterministic to the extent that they incorporate the influences of the past and of the environment. But design is also the expression of free will because it always involves value judgments and anticipates the future.

So Human an Animal, Rene Dubos

Black History Month

Black History Month reminded me to recommend Coming of Age in Mississippi.

It is not a feel good story. In fact it is a feel bad story but it is real and urgent and rings disturbingly of truth.

I think of Anne Moody often; I dare you not to be moved by her story.

Link to "Coming of Age in Mississippi" on Amazon

So it's a control issue?

Why Products Fail

Most gadget and software makers don't understand what users want most: Control

"Both users and product designers alike talk about user interface (UI) consistency, usability and simplicity, and system attributes like performance and stability. What's missing is that these attributes are means to an end. The real issue is always the user's physiological feeling of being in control. And control comes in many ways: . . ."


Link to article

Seriously, did they have to name it The Fusion Render Node?

" Advanced Micro Devices CEO Dirk Meyer on Thursday said the company will deliver high-definition gaming and movies to devices like smartphones in an attempt to bring more usability and interactivity to the devices. . .

People will only need a Web browser on a smartphone and a decent broadband connection to access the supercomputer to instantly play games or watch Blu-ray movies, Meyer said. The supercomputer, which will be called the Fusion Render Node, will change the way games and movies are delivered to mobile devices, Meyer said."

AMD to Bring HD Gaming and Movies to Mobile Phones

10 Best Intranets of 2009

"Intranets are getting more strategic, with increased collaboration support. Team size is growing by 12% per year, and platforms are becoming integrated, with a strong showing for SharePoint. Improving usability increased use by 106% on average."

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, January 5, 2009

Skid Software - helping children with disabilities

"17-year-old Arpit Khansili, could not use the Internet earlier because he suffers from a motor disability that makes it difficult for him to use the mouse or the keyboard attached to his personal computer.

However, he is surfing away, thanks to a software program that identifies inputs from any device such as a joystick, wheel or a gaming console. What’s more, it is a free software and based on an Open Source platform – which makes it easily modifiable. . .

The program, named Arpit’s Wheel, has been conceptualised by IIT alumnus Arun Mehta, who has won the Manthan Award this year for his work. “Our software is based on Rubyonrails, a language based on Open Source, and can be accessed on any Web browser,” said Mehta, who is also the managing director at Delhi-based computer training organisation Indata Com Private Limited.

Currently, the software offers about 12 modules that help a user write or edit pictures. The software is available for a free download at www.skid.org.in."
Hindustan Times Link to article

*I met Dr. Mehta at the 2008 Nonprofit Development Summit. If you can help him with his project which provides free software for disabled children, especially if you are a Ruby developer, please visit www.skid.org.in and contact him.

Kryptonite for MRSA?

"A study found that copper fittings rapidly killed microbes on hospital wards, succeeding where other infection control measures failed. In the trial at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, England, copper sink fixtures, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bacteria. Lab tests show that the metal kills off the deadly MRSA and C difficile superbugs."

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02118/Copper-Sink-Fixtures-Kill-95-Percent-of-Superbugs.html

Reaching beyond your grasp . . .

"The critical path organization of the Apollo Project disclosed some two million tasks that had to be successfully accomplished before the human astronauts were to be returned safely to Spaceship Earth. NASA's Apollo management then put a scientifically and technically competent control group to work to identify all the approximately two million tasks, a million of which required technological performances the design, production, and successful operation of which had never before been undertaken by humans."
Critical Path, R. Buckminster Fuller

Get the Vote Out - and in the system correctly

"Our goal in designing a voting system should be to accurately capture the intent of the voters. If actual, real voters can't figure it out, then you need to redesign the ballot. If election officials need to create detailed instructions on how to vote, then the voting process has already failed."
Dan Wallach, Discovery Tech

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/03/tech-electronic-voting.html

A Key to Free and Fair Elections

"Usability - the ability of everyone to use the voting systems easily and effectively - is a key to free and fair elections." Whitney Quesenbery

Review Whitney Quesenbery's expert research on Voting and Usability:
http://www.wqusability.com/articles/voting-intro.html

Find Your Voice, Find Your Vote

The U.S. isn't the only country where electronic voting machines are causing problems. Usability experts have some harsh words about Finnish voting machines, which where trialed in municipal elections on Sunday and caused about 200 lost votes.

http://news.iwebtool.com/article_74963.html?mp=1

Google Analytics Update

The new features include the ability to create custom reports, better ways to look at audience segments, the ability to track and measure AdSense inside Google Analytics, an API (on it’s way), the introduction of cool bubble “motion charts,” and some user interface improvements. Let’s take these new features one at a time.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008

Armchair Exploring . . .

The internationally recognized WorldImages database provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains over 65,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery. WorldImages is accessible anywhere and its images may be freely used for non-profit educational purposes.

http://worldart.sjsu.edu/?sid=893&x=100582