Comments for uxcube.com http://www.uxcube.com/blog website optimisation and design Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:22:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Comment on Consistency, ConSIStency, ConSisTENCY… by Steph http://www.uxcube.com/blog/?p=7&cpage=1#comment-8 Steph Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:22:30 +0000 http://sonyal1.wordpress.com/2006/10/03/consistency-consistency-consistency/#comment-8 I just wrote an article on consistency, this might be interesting to you: http://girldev.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/consistency/ Nice job! Steph I just wrote an article on consistency, this might be interesting to you:
http://girldev.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/consistency/

Nice job!
Steph

]]> Comment on barriers to usability by sonyal1 http://www.uxcube.com/blog/?p=48&cpage=1#comment-59 sonyal1 Wed, 21 May 2008 19:43:40 +0000 http://sonyal1.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/barriers-to-usability/#comment-59 It can be a tricky one to win people over and I can only advise some usability testing. This doesn’t have to be lab-based or indeed expensive. I can recommend Steve Krug’s book Don’t make me think – a common sense approach to usability. Although is a few years old it does have a useful section about informal usability testing. Even informal testing can provide invaluable insight into how; users use software, find ways round things that maybe confusing them or even how users can be unaware that they are not using it as intended. In my last project I was undertaking a heuristic-based review and on a particular function something didn’t seem quite right - I wasn’t sure how I could convince my audience that there was a problem so I asked a few colleagues in my office to have a go at completing a particular task. In this instance this was extremely useful, as 3 out 4 didn’t successfully complete it when they thought they had. The remaining person did successfully complete the task after trying 5 times. This confirmed my fears but also gave me a bit more credence to my argument when reporting back. When I did report back those that thought they understood usability and how it was achieved were very surprised but also started to listen. It was no longer my view vs. theirs it was facts that they had to deal with. This also helped keep the discussions much more objective. This was also leverage to get some formal usability testing done, which has also furthered their understanding. I hope this helps. It can be a tricky one to win people over and I can only advise some usability testing. This doesn’t have to be lab-based or indeed expensive. I can recommend Steve Krug’s book Don’t make me think – a common sense approach to usability. Although is a few years old it does have a useful section about informal usability testing.

Even informal testing can provide invaluable insight into how; users use software, find ways round things that maybe confusing them or even how users can be unaware that they are not using it as intended.

In my last project I was undertaking a heuristic-based review and on a particular function something didn’t seem quite right – I wasn’t sure how I could convince my audience that there was a problem so I asked a few colleagues in my office to have a go at completing a particular task. In this instance this was extremely useful, as 3 out 4 didn’t successfully complete it when they thought they had. The remaining person did successfully complete the task after trying 5 times. This confirmed my fears but also gave me a bit more credence to my argument when reporting back. When I did report back those that thought they understood usability and how it was achieved were very surprised but also started to listen. It was no longer my view vs. theirs it was facts that they had to deal with. This also helped keep the discussions much more objective.

This was also leverage to get some formal usability testing done, which has also furthered their understanding.

I hope this helps.

]]> Comment on barriers to usability by cranley http://www.uxcube.com/blog/?p=48&cpage=1#comment-58 cranley Wed, 07 May 2008 14:33:59 +0000 http://sonyal1.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/barriers-to-usability/#comment-58 Your post is right on the money. At my last job, Usability = Easy <i>and</i> Flashy... Usability was also dictated by the CEO, somebody who had excellent vision but didn't understand what, exactly, Usability it or, worse, <i>how</i> its achieved. The product in question is over 8 years old, and the shoot-from-the-hip "usability" decisions started to add up such that, when they brought me in (as a software developer, not a UI/UX expert) I was actually floored at how horrible the thing was to use. There was no consistency, no UI guidelines, no flow (in fact, "by design", every screen had so much stuff crammed into it that it was impossible to visually guide the user). The thing was a complete mess, but everybody else had been so indoctrinated, and understood the underlying functionality and business goals, that they couldn't see the mess that was in front of them. Tried as I might I was unable to convince the key people that we needed to take a different approach. My question to you is, what advice do you have for people in organizations that want to make a UI/UX difference, but are facing the people that don't (or can't) see the problems that you see? How do you get the ball rolling? How do you "win them over"? Are some organizations too entrenched to make the shift? Thanks - great post! Your post is right on the money. At my last job, Usability = Easy and Flashy… Usability was also dictated by the CEO, somebody who had excellent vision but didn’t understand what, exactly, Usability it or, worse, how its achieved.

The product in question is over 8 years old, and the shoot-from-the-hip “usability” decisions started to add up such that, when they brought me in (as a software developer, not a UI/UX expert) I was actually floored at how horrible the thing was to use. There was no consistency, no UI guidelines, no flow (in fact, “by design”, every screen had so much stuff crammed into it that it was impossible to visually guide the user). The thing was a complete mess, but everybody else had been so indoctrinated, and understood the underlying functionality and business goals, that they couldn’t see the mess that was in front of them.

Tried as I might I was unable to convince the key people that we needed to take a different approach. My question to you is, what advice do you have for people in organizations that want to make a UI/UX difference, but are facing the people that don’t (or can’t) see the problems that you see? How do you get the ball rolling? How do you “win them over”? Are some organizations too entrenched to make the shift?

Thanks – great post!

]]> Comment on Google mini error by Ceej McQueen http://www.uxcube.com/blog/?p=44&cpage=1#comment-57 Ceej McQueen Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:33:00 +0000 http://sonyal1.wordpress.com/2007/06/20/google-mini-error/#comment-57 You are not alone. We use Google mini to provide the search facility on several websites. It is implemented by means of a proxy - i.e. the GM box itself is not publicly facing. Instead, we send the query via our websites requesting the results in xml with no dtd. This enables tight integration. Anyway, we have experienced a problem when trying to query it for results - we received the same error message: 'The underlying connection was closed: Unable to connect to the remote server'. The only method of bringing it back was to pull the plug out! When it came back the index had been emptied and we still got the same error message. Upon forcing a recrawl of all our sources Google mini came fully back to life. However, currently I am none the wiser as to what happened.... You are not alone. We use Google mini to provide the search facility on several websites. It is implemented by means of a proxy – i.e. the GM box itself is not publicly facing. Instead, we send the query via our websites requesting the results in xml with no dtd. This enables tight integration. Anyway, we have experienced a problem when trying to query it for results – we received the same error message: ‘The underlying connection was closed: Unable to connect to the remote server’. The only method of bringing it back was to pull the plug out! When it came back the index had been emptied and we still got the same error message. Upon forcing a recrawl of all our sources Google mini came fully back to life. However, currently I am none the wiser as to what happened….

]]> Comment on Why we should take care when using image icons for menu items by sonyal1 http://www.uxcube.com/blog/?p=29&cpage=1#comment-39 sonyal1 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:33:29 +0000 http://sonyal1.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/why-we-should-take-care-when-using-image-icons-for-menu-items/#comment-39 I urge caution when using icons as a means of navigation as they are often open to misinterpretation and so from a usability point of view can interfere with a positive user experience. The primary goals of a labelling/navigation system whether formed of icons or text are to: Communicate effectively - cause the right association for the user Communicate efficiently -don't take up too many cognitive resources In deciding whether to use icons you should consider who your audience are and what type of tasks they are expected to complete on your website. For example, an ecommerce business relies on users completing transactions through their website. If users are unsure of the meaning of an icon and it is not clear what to click next to complete a transaction, they are likely to feel frustrated and anxious about whether they should handover their credit card details. However, they are not always bad. If the purpose of your site is for fun, then there is less need to be concerned. They can be useful for more efficient use of space and are generally more effective alongside or with embedded text. The general rule would be to use icons that are simple and universal… don’t try to be too clever :-) Hope this helps. I urge caution when using icons as a means of navigation as they are often open to misinterpretation and so from a usability point of view can interfere with a positive user experience.
The primary goals of a labelling/navigation system whether formed of icons or text are to:

Communicate effectively
- cause the right association for the user
Communicate efficiently
-don’t take up too many cognitive resources

In deciding whether to use icons you should consider who your audience are and what type of tasks they are expected to complete on your website. For example, an ecommerce business relies on users completing transactions through their website. If users are unsure of the meaning of an icon and it is not clear what to click next to complete a transaction, they are likely to feel frustrated and anxious about whether they should handover their credit card details.

However, they are not always bad. If the purpose of your site is for fun, then there is less need to be concerned. They can be useful for more efficient use of space and are generally more effective alongside or with embedded text. The general rule would be to use icons that are simple and universal… don’t try to be too clever :-)
Hope this helps.

]]> Comment on Consistency, ConSIStency, ConSisTENCY… by sonyal1 http://www.uxcube.com/blog/?p=7&cpage=1#comment-7 sonyal1 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 09:00:01 +0000 http://sonyal1.wordpress.com/2006/10/03/consistency-consistency-consistency/#comment-7 I have seen the use of colours to denote areas/sections and this can work quite well. One thing to becareful of is to ensure that you don't use colour to convey information as this would go against accessibility guidelines as many people have some form of colour blindness. If you use colour it is important that you also ensure that each section is clearly labelled. One that doesn't use different colours and one that I think works quite well is http://www.brighton.ac.uk I have seen the use of colours to denote areas/sections and this can work quite well. One thing to becareful of is to ensure that you don’t use colour to convey information as this would go against accessibility guidelines as many people have some form of colour blindness. If you use colour it is important that you also ensure that each section is clearly labelled.

One that doesn’t use different colours and one that I think works quite well is http://www.brighton.ac.uk

]]> Comment on Consistency, ConSIStency, ConSisTENCY… by Flo http://www.uxcube.com/blog/?p=7&cpage=1#comment-6 Flo Thu, 05 Oct 2006 13:10:04 +0000 http://sonyal1.wordpress.com/2006/10/03/consistency-consistency-consistency/#comment-6 What about the use of colors/images on a website to denote areas/sections? I think that both have their individual merits but, care should be taken so as not to confuse/detract from the content/message. What about the use of colors/images on a website to denote areas/sections?

I think that both have their individual merits but, care should be taken so as not to confuse/detract from the content/message.

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