usability

Look on the flip side of Microsoft's new logo and it says "kick me."

I'm sure Microsoft knew there would be plenty of pushback from bloggers and early adopters in regard to its new operating system. That said, Windows 8's abrupt shift to touch does make it an easy target.

Add a usability expert to that group of Windows 8 skeptics.

That would be Raluca Budiu, a User Experience Specialist at the Nielsen Norman Group.

After reading her comments in an article at Laptopmag.com, I decided to follow up directly and ask her about … Read more

A consultancy has spotlighted difficulties people have using Amazon's Kindle Fire. But the "usability sessions" can hardly be considered exhaustive testing.

A summary of Nielsen Norman Group's tests said the Kindle Fire "offers a disappointingly poor user experience," and cites the size of the screen as the main culprit.

Then the group adds this caveat: "This was a small study, with only four users, but qualitative studies often generate deeper insights than bigger, more metrics-focused quantitative studies." The link to the findings first appeared on Daring Fireball.

Highlights of Nielsen Norman Group findings:… Read more

OS X Lion contains a number of new features (over 250 of them, according to Apple), and while some of these are exciting and new features such as autosave, versions, full screen apps, and Airdrop, other changes may be a bit different and take some getting used to. Here are a few tips that may help to make the transition to the Lion interface easier or at least make it feel more familiar.

Undo reversed scroll direction

The very first new feature that might strike you when using Lion is that the default scroll direction has been reversed to behave … Read more

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--In a world of data-obsessed number-crunching engineers, Google's John Boyd is the people person.

Boyd is responsible for testing user-experience changes to Google Search, the company's most important product. While Google is famous for obsessing over statistical differences in user clicks between one shade of blue versus another, Boyd's team focuses on studying how real people interact with products under development inside Google through the company's usability lab.

This mission took on great importance as Google prepared to make perhaps the biggest change to its search experience it had ever contemplated: Google Instant. … Read more

We don't really buy software, we rent it. And like lessees, we don't call all the shots when it comes to how--and how long--we use the programs we "buy."

Exhibit A: Microsoft cut off free support for Windows XP and Office 2003 last April. I don't recall the programs coming with expiration dates.

We don't even control when Windows and some of our applications update. More than a decade ago, IBM researcher Clare-Marie Karat published a Computer User's Bill of Rights. (Read more about it in a 1998 BusinessWeek article and on researcher … Read more

A recent article by Don Norman brings up some valuable and provocative questions about the value of design research. I read it as an extension of his previous shift in thinking about the value of usability analysis, where he concluded that it was vital for good to design, but it didn't lead to great design. In this new article he argues that design research has not led to breakthrough innovations or products, but is better suited for improving existing products and technologies.

I actually agree with much of what he says, though I see the definition of design research … Read more

What does Winstep Xtreme do? More like, what doesn't Winstep extreme do? This powerful desktop customization allows users to tweak their computer's appearance in innumerable ways.

Users who are a fan of the Apple dock and widgets will find a functional Windows version of these features in Winstep, but this program is way more than an Apple rip-off. There are themes. There are mouse-over previews of open windows. There's e-mail checking and weather forecasts and a fortune-telling fish called Wanda. The program is jam-packed with features and options. A program this rich in options demands two things: … Read more

...well, almost.

I must admit, I love the gesture area and functions of the Palm Pre. Being able to go back to the previous page of an application instead of shutting down and reopening it is genius.

The placement of the gesture area is also wonderful. If the keyboard is open you can just reach up with your thumb and slide back to the previous task. Otherwise, you can use any finger you want. I also like that the gesture area is not actually on the screen because the gesture area gets a lot of the use and the fingerprints … Read more

Open source's greatest strength may also be its Achilles' heel.

As a developer-driven phenomenon, much of the best open-source software ends up being written for other developers. For example, it's not surprising that Linux wins on the server (technical audience) but largely loses on the desktop (non-technical audience). Companies like Canonical and MindTouch can mitigate this by paying for usability design. But as an overall movement, it remains a weakness.

Apple has the opposite problem. It is religiously focused on usability, but struggles to open up to outside developers.

Even so, its attention to the user is something … Read more