user experience
The Personable Manual
Why do product manuals sound formal and stiff-upper-lipped? Why don’t users read manuals? These questions have haunted the hallowed precincts of Technical Writing for quite some time now. From what I have seen in Indian writers, I am forced to conclude that English Composition, as we were taught in school, is the culprit. Our merit was based on how verbose we were. They judged our style based on how ‘formal’ we were.
Take for example, the leave letter. I am sure you have written a few in school or college. Rewind and replay one of those leave letters. Right from the salutation (‘Respected sir/madam’) to the signature (‘Faithfully/Obediently yours’) it reeks of colonialism. And, we have yet to learn our lessons. In this age of globalization (or globalisation, to my stiff-upper-lip comrades), it is important to pay attention More...
Idea Cellular Web Site
Ideacellular.com What’s with yellow boys. Don’t you know?
Yellow, pure bright lemon yellow is the most fatiguing color. Why? The answer comes from the physics of light and optics. More light is reflected by bright colors, resulting in excessive stimulation of the eyes. Therefore, yellow is an eye irritant. Babies cry more in yellow rooms, husbands and wives fight more in yellow kitchens, and opera singers throw more tantrums in yellow dressing rooms. [read more @ colormatters.com]
Recommended Books on Usability write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com
Promoting Document Usage: Taking a leaf out of Business Directories
You can argue all day that you know a customer that reads your manuals but my point is that most don’t. It is a blessing in disguise for most of us: we get away with some really sloppy writing. But if you honestly want to help your customers but don’t want to incur support costs, here goes:
Don’t talk to them about your cream. Talk about beautiful, flawless skin. Didn’t get it? No problem. Most software vendors bundle documentation or at least provide documentation online. And, most think their duty ends there. It doesn’t. If it did, explain why customers still call up your Support Desk for information; the same information that your manual offers.
The explanation to this predicament lies else where: Business Directories. I used to be a Sales Rep for Tata Press Yellow More...
Gestalt principles of form perception
The law of proximity posits that when we perceive a collection of objects, we will see objects close to each other as forming a group.
Read more. Recommended Books on Usability write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com
Working Through Screens
100 Ideas for Envisioning Powerful, Engaging, and Productive User Experiences in Knowledge Work. Recommended Books on Usability write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com
Finnish e-voting fiasco
The good old ‘human error or bad design’ debate resurfaces.
Today, the Ministry of Justice revealed that due to a usability issue, voting was prematurely aborted for 232 voters. The pilot system was in use in three municipalities; this amounts to about 2 per cent of the electoral roll. Seats in the municipal assemblies are often determined by margins of only a couple of votes.
It seems that the system required the voter to insert a smart card to identify the voter, type in their selected candidate number, then press “ok”, check the candidate details on the screen, and then press “ok” again. Some voters did not press “ok” for the second time, but instead removed their smart card from the voting terminal prematurely, causing their ballots not to be cast.
The argument here is not More...
Chrome Issues and Defects
You must have read enough about Google Chrome so I am not going to humor you with the basics.
Upload Images feature does not work in Blogger.
I tried twice but failed. I use a custom domain and not blogspot (that is obvious, I know). Are the above really issues or is it just me? Let me know.
P.S. No RSS auto-detection? I thought this was 2008!
Recommended Books on Usability
write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com
Dear Adobe
Product/Program managers come up with a million reasons why they could not go to users while building the product. I have heard some really stupid reasons from Project Managers: “We don’t have the time. We want to ship on the so-and-so date!” is the classic refrain. Most product managers are still stuck in the stone age of software design: the 90s. They refuse to budge and the result is, well, predictable. Products that irritate users. Stupid products. And, and, and, your competition gets amazing publicity: One of the users of Dear Adobe site wrote:
Try to beat FoxIt Reader for size and load time. Go ahead and try.
Dear Adobe lists gripes against Adobe products. It makes for some fun reading but it also sends an ominous signal to Adobe. Listen to users or perish.
Status Messages on Facebook
How often do you find two friends talking about usability (or about the lack of it thereof) on Facebook!
Recommended Books on Usability
write to me: sumank+usability [at] gmail [dot] com