Better usability equals lower costs

Pragmatic Marketing has a really good article on how McAfee reduced its support costs by improving usability. The article also contains a list of 23 tips to improve a UI. I’ve summarized the list here, but it doesn’t do the full article justice.

Start the UI design before you build the product.
Understand your software from a [...]

Don’t hide or disable menu items? I disagree.

Joel Spolsky recently wrote a post on his blog making a case against disabling menu items. Here is the gist of his argument…
“Users see the disabled menu item that they want to click on, and are left entirely without a clue of what they are supposed to do to get the menu item to work.”
As [...]

Hot Dog Calorie Counter

Ok, first of all, did you realize there was a National Hot Dog & Sausage Council? Well, maybe you did if you were watching American Eats on the History Chanel like I was a few minutes ago.
I just found this Hot Dog Calorie Counter at the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council’s website. I’m not [...]

Evolution of Gmail chat

This is a very cool article. Nika Smith explains just how Gmail chat came to be. Here’s an excerpt.
“Often, the features we launch seem so simple that you might think they’re the result of blatantly obvious design decisions. In fact, every feature is subjected to a healthy dose of scrutiny within the Gmail team, and [...]

The 10 Commandments of Web Design

Yeah, I know these types of lists are a dime a dozen, but I still find them interesting to read. Here is Business Week’s Top 10 Commandments of Web Design…

Thou shalt not abuse Flash.
Thou shalt not hide content.
Thou shalt not clutter.
Thou shalt not overuse glassy reflections.
Thou shalt not name your Web 2.0 company with an [...]

Nielsen’s latest Alertbox

Mr. Nielsen does a great job at keeping us honest in his latest Alertbox article for June 23, 2008.
Here’s a sample.
“We often observe users who hesitate before clicking or initially misinterpret information, but then correct themselves before they get into trouble. In such cases, it’s tempting for the design team to simply utter a collective [...]

What makes a design intuitive?

VKI Studios has an excelent treatment of the question, What makes a design intuitive? Here’s a sample.
“Often when creating or analysing an interface design we are faced with the question of whether or not it is intuitive. The creation of an intuitive interface is something we strive for, but beyond a vague sense of making [...]

Comparison of Go buttons

Ok, the next button I want to look at is the Go button. First of all, in my opinion, every interface should have a Go button. I wish my microwave had one-just put my food in and press Go.
As with the Refresh/Reload buttons, I will be considering three attributes of the button’s glyphs to determine [...]

What does the on/off glyph represent?

Nathan Zeldes has a very cool article on the history of the On/Off power switch glyph.

Comparison of Refresh/Reload buttons

I am going to have several posts, which document and examine common button standards within electronic interfaces. In part for prosperity, but also as an exercise for my own benefit. The first one I want to look at is the “Refresh/Reload” button.
To me, buttons (apart from text) should have three qualities to maximize usability.

Appropriate size
Intuitive [...]