It’s something of a cliché to criticize the usability of enterprise software. Big, complex software is always going to have some idiosyncracies and usability issues here and there.
However, when it takes me 16 steps to submit my time card each week, I’m beginning to wonder if those ERP vendors couldn’t learn a thing or two about user-centered design.
How to Objectively Measure Emotional Response to Your Web Site’s Design
UXMatters recently posted an excellent article about using a more structured method for soliciting user feedback than the traditional user interview.
The goal of this technique is to avoid the dangers of bias that can creep into regular interviews and also to help you to ensure you are asking the right types of questions – i.e. ones that are relevant to the interviewee.
Unfortunately, the article is titled “The Repertory Grid: Eliciting User Experience Comparisons in the Customer’s Voice” which doesn’t exactly scream ‘must read.’
Comments Are Broken
It appears that sometime on Friday my comment system broke. It may have something to do with my running out of disk space (which happened on the same day), although when I freed up some space on my server, comments were still not working.
Hacking Netflix’s Navigation
I’m a huge Netflix fan. I love their site and have spent many hours rating and finding movies and fiddling with my queue. Read More
Future-Proof Your Web Site Design by Planning Your CSS In Advance
A web site is like a building. Over time it gets lived in. And, regardless of the initial intentions of the designer for how everything within it should be arranged, things get moved around, stuff gets added, some things get taken away, more stuff gets added, the occasional renovation takes place, and yet more stuff gets added. Read More
Cheap Alternative for Web Site Usability Testing
Just came across UserTesting.com — a company that conducts remote usability testing for only $19 per user study. For that you get a 15 minute video of the tester using your web site and a short written report.
Book on User-Centered Web Design Available Online for Free
I just discovered that Sarah Horton, one of the writers of the “Web Style Guide”:www.webstyleguide.com/ has published a book on designing usable web sites — Access by Design.
Even better, the “book is available online for free”:universalusability.com/access_by_design/ in the form of a very usable web site.
Best Buy Doesn’t Want My Money
Today I finally decided to splurge for an Xbox 360. I did some research on Amazon and then thought I’d check out another site or two to compare prices and deals.
11 Reasons Why You Should Write Long List Posts
It’s no secret that lists are a popular blog post format. Long lists of resources, in particular, can be a very successful type of post in terms of driving traffic and raising awareness of your site. Just check out Smashing Magazine for numerous examples.
Read MoreWorking with Clients
Whether you work for an agency or an internal web team, working well with clients is integral to the success of your web projects. Here is a collection of articles to help you do it better.
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