The following is a list of all entries tagged with usability.
6 CommentsPhotoshop — the image app that does all the things the free alternatives do, plus those extra few things we just need — is scheduled for a fall update dubbed CS4. Judging by the above screenshot by John Nack, the entire suite is getting a massive UI overhaul. I have comments on that.
First up, an [...]
3 CommentsI partake in maintaining a wiki. It is an obscure — to the naked eye dull — wiki about comic books. In this realm of nerdity, we discuss Tintins lastname, or why europeans seem to prefer Donald Duck over Spiderman. While I haven’t found definite answers to either questions, I’ve learned that the wiki system is an ingenious device for writing hypertext.
4 CommentsEnso is now free. Enso is a “type-to-launch” meta application; a type of software that has had a renaissance these past few years, possibly starting with Quicksilver. The idea is that you invoke the software, type in a keyword, and an action is launched based on what you typed. The action could be to launch an app or invoke a spellcheck (( Actually, looking at the demo might explain this a bit better. )). Most recently, a type-to-launch feature was integrated in Windows Vista, Mac OSX Leopard and it’s scheduled to be a part of Firefox 3.
CommentMulti-touch trackpad. For me, that was the most interesting aspect of the just-announced-days-ago Apple Macbook Air. Unlike normal trackpads, a multi-touch trackpad also accepts input from two or more fingers. Before, you could only point, now you can pinch, swipe and turn; any gesture that requires more than one digit (or person).
3 CommentsWhat would it take to build a better mobile phone?
A commitment to openness, a shared vision for the future, and concrete plans to make the vision a reality.
– From the new Open Handset Alliance.
In case you missed it, the keyword here is “openness”, which feels like an obvious sting at Apples recent iPhone development [...]
CommentNow this is a multi-touch interface. I particuarly liked his comment on the interface seen in Minority Report.
CommentInteraction designer Alex Faaborg has emerging details on the visual refresh that’s being worked on for Firefox 3:
Visual integration with Windows and OS X is our primary objective for the Firefox 3 refresh.
Fitting in to the visual appearance of the native operating system may seem like a reasonably obvious decision, but it certainly isn?t one that every cross-platform application or windowing toolkit makes.
On one hand I think it’s great that there’s a serious focus on making Firefox look truly native. On the other hand I think it’s a pity that it’s only going to look native, and not be native, but I suppose that’s one of the biggest challenges of crossplatform development. In any case, things certainly look more promising than the Firefox 2 visual refresh.
11 CommentsIt’s been around, probably, since the dawn of the mouse. The double-click has become synonymous with “open”. The purpose of the double-click is to allow one to do two things with the same button. So far this has meant that single-click selects, double-click opens. It’s worked so well and has become so ubiquitous that it’s been a while since anyone thought it could be different. Even so, I’ll bet my mouse that we won’t be double-clicking in 5 years.
18 CommentsThe real secret to web 2.0 (the bullshit bingo word everyone is throwing around these days) is that good websites can make money. Part of that means making sure things are easy to use. As much as I like Flash, it’s rarely what makes a website userfriendly. And so, like Flickr dropped their Flash-based image note viewer, so have I dropped my Flash-based installment teaser image viewer located on the right hand side of the index page. The result? A faster, more compatible, more user-friendly piece of web code on which middle-click/open in tab works. There’s a time and place for Flash, this wasn’t it.
3 Comments
Adobe recently released their massive CS3 package. With this, a new version of the Flash authoring tool. While Flash Player 9 has been around for a while now, the release of the authoring tool unlocks dormant features that were put there by the “visionary” minds at Macromedia Adobe. Among this functionality: the ability to fullscreen-fullscreen.
There was a time when lousy Flash sites drove people from the plugin. It seems as though the advent of YouTube has driven people back again. So it’s only natural for Adobe to embrace YouTube-like sites. Case in point: the fullscreen feature does seem like it’s been added solely for the benefit of YouTube. And sure enough, YouTube has already integrated the new code. Click the fullscreen button in the bottom right corner: fullscreen Flash video with no chrome (Requires FP9). I think it works well and I plan to use it myself. Now we just need hardware acceleration.
Did you notice the change?
12 CommentsReading the morning paper, I noticed yet another ad that said something to the effect of “Company X now has a Blog!”. While it’s certainly no news that blogging has made a mainstream breakthrough these last few years, I found myself wondering: why is this exciting? Why is it worth ad-space?
Well the answer is as [...]
10 CommentsOne of my long time Mac annoyances — the lack of proper fullscreen — is now fixable using a new app, Megazoomer. I’m not on a Mac myself, but should I ever want to switch I’d want something like this to work. Now if only someone would test it and post a larger screenshot…
9 CommentsMy favourite usability guru, Jakob Nielsen, lists his top 10 movie UI mistakes:
As usual, I’ll have to agree with Jakob Nielsen. I’ve always gotten either a good laugh or cry from movie computer interfaces. While I understand the dramatic overstatement and readability screen graphics need, some of them are simply lame (Swordfish, anyone?). Jakob concludes that we should demand more realistic UI design in movies, otherwise your mom will think it’s her fault when she can’t immediately access a random UNIX system.
17 CommentsThe dreaded 404 error code essentially means “not found”. Visit a webpage that’s not there anymore, and you’ll probably see such a message.
What’s required for a pleasant 404 design? Automatic search for what’s not found? Good guesses? Or simply a short friendly message?
Noscope has an updated 404 page. I went with simple & friendly. How about you?
9 Comments
Since trying out Opera 9, I’ve been slowly warming towards the browser. It’s really fast, it does most of what I need, and it does it all pretty well. There are some quirks and ifs here and there, but generally it’s rock-solid competition for Firefox.
This got me thinking. Why didn’t I even consider running Opera before? Why is the Opera browser share as low as 1.5%, when the browser is, in fact, more decent than that?
In this entry I’d like to touch upon some design issues, usability issues, interface design decisions and naming issues I personally think could use touch-ups or changes.