Updated at least twice a month; This is a blog on usability in India -of software, web, and, consumer products of India. I will also be blogging my observations on how usability affects marketing, product positioning, corporate branding, customer-service and sales. Write to me: sumank ['at'] gmail [dot] com World Usability Day 2006
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Monday, June 16, 2008

 

Deccan Herald Does a Kingfisher

While trying to navigate to a page on DH via Google, I was told this. Recommended Books on Usability
write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com

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Monday, May 19, 2008

 

UB Group website can harm my computer?

Sometimes usability is not even about your design! I searched for UB City and Google warned me that the site can harm my computer! Wow! Dr.Mallya, what's going on? You owe me a beer sir!

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write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com

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Monday, May 12, 2008

 

Mumbai Suburban Rail Ticket Vending Machines

A user writes about his experiences and makes some pretty smart recommendations too!

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Rediff Books: Spaced out?

So did I enter numeric data or not? I did, only, I inserted a space. If I am not wrong, the field does not allow spaces between numbers. The error message should read "Spaces not allowed." or something like that. But, this error situation should not occur in the first place. Why can't Rediff tell the user BEFORE the user enters data that spaces are not allowed? Better still display an example of the accepted format? I wanted to buy the latest Chetan Bhagat's book. But looks like I will shop else where for it. Recommended Books on Usability
write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com

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Friday, May 02, 2008

 

Dell Vostro 1310 Screw-up

Looks normal, right? Look at your own keyboard... notice anything different? Okay, maybe you don't. But try actually typing on this and it all becomes far too apparent. The whole of the bottom row of letters (Z, X, C...) is one too far to the right. The Z should be below and between A and S, not S and D. You're looking at a brand new Dell Vostro 1310, ordered the day after its released, and delivered on 30th April 2008 in the UK. They keys are all there. Shift, \|, Z, X... its just that the left shift is too big, forcing everything over too far. The Z has to be between the A and S... look on ANY other keyboard and that's where it sits. This is not a US/UK layout issue, just a general monumental flaw. [read more]

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write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com

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Monday, April 28, 2008

 

Happy to Help? Really?

Vodafone claims it is happy to help. Take a look. Click on the pictures to enlarge them. It is not enough if you deploy a CRM solution that's worth a zillion. How can you disable my account just because I didn't log in for 180 days? You send me your bills, and I pay them too; So, why should you disable my account doggy? Sometimes a little common sense goes a long way.

Recommended Books on Usability write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com

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Ubuntu Desktop Usability Issue 1

I have decided to log all user experience issues that Ubuntu Desktop throws to me, a Windows user.
  1. "Setting up my broadband Internet access is cumbersome or at least it appears so."
The way Windows XP handles this is not any pretty, but it would have been nicer if folks at Ubuntu had at least provided a Windows-like UI to perform this rather crucial task.

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Friday, April 25, 2008

 

Ubuntu

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

 

What's in a last name?

If you try to download a white paper from http://www.comparecrm.com/ you need to fill a form (yawn!) before you can start the download (it fires the PDF on the fly and thus chokes my damned browser!); if you have initial(s) for a last name. God save you! The all-knowing designers of comparecrm.com think a last name has to have more than a single letter. What's the big deal? Read this!

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write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

 

101 Five-Minute Fixes to Incrementally Improve Your Web Site

The guys at insidecrm.com claim:
These quick tweaks will help you keep visitors engaged.
101 Five-Minute Fixes to Incrementally Improve Your Web Site

Recommended Books on Usability
write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com

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