Bad ideas just aint bad until someone sees them

A lot of bad ideas just aint bad until someone sees them. I can’t tell you how many times I have asked for input from people on important decisions only to be shocked by their response when they see the results.

Most of the time, when we run an idea by someone or seek their input on a design, we hear, “Oh, yeah, that should be great” or “As long as you give us X, we will be very pleased.” Or maybe the worst of all, they say nothing–no feedback. But as soon as you show them the results, you hear the turd hit the floor *thud*.

So, why? Why is it that people don’t know if they like something or not until they see it? Is it because they are too busy to pay attention? Or do they lack the imagination to see the concept accurately enough in their heads to make a decision?

I would say its probably a little of both. And its more.

I’m personally kind of a sculptor when it comes to design. Even when I code, I need to “flesh out” my code first. I need to get it to a point where it kind of does what it needs to do before I go back and refactor it. I sort of build up the mound of clay first and then start shaping it and refining it. I think many users are the same way.

As interface designers, we are often best served by giving our users some clay to play with before we can expect real answers. Build prototypes. Make them functional. Let the users dink around with the prototype. Watch what they do. Ask them for feedback.

Many ideas sound great when all they are are ideas. But put the real thing in front of someone and they will be able to tell you right away whether it stinks or not.

Manipulating time and space

New Media Buzz has done a very good retrospective on one of Jared Spool’s recent speeches. The article focuses on “…how important manipulating time and space is for the user experience. And if you look at TV and Film, a lot of the concepts…have been practically applied for more than a century: and we all know them…”

Does Zebra Striping help?

Does Zebra Striping make a form easier to read? I’ve always thought it did help, but Jessica Enders has done some research which seems to prove otherwise.

While Jessica’s research concludes that Zebra Striping has no quantitative benefit, she also points out that users prefer it. And to me, if the users prefer it…do it.

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 usability.

• Appropriate size
• Intuitive glyph
• Intuitive color

Size

The sizes of all of the buttons are too small in my opinion. IE and FireFox have made their buttons small enough to be inline with the URL bar. I don’t think that’s necessary or a good idea.

Both FireFox and IE hide the button completely until a change has been made to the URL. I’m not a fan of this functionality. When it comes to navigation, I think you always want to show the user possible options. They may have been better off just disabling the button until a change instead of hiding it (or just leave it enabled and visible). Why cant I click go again?

I also don’t like that FireFox’s button isn’t a button so much as it is a glyph embedded in the URL bar. This is just plain dumb in my opinion. A button should look like a button.

Safari…well it doesn’t even have a go button. Lame.

No winners here.

Glyphs

The glyphs for IE and FireFox both have the right idea (no pun intended). Both are eastward facing arrows. This is definitely the standard for go buttons. I prefer IE’s glyph though. The FireFox glyph is too geometric and abstract. It looks more like a tilted triangle than an arrow. I give this one to IE.

Color

Color!!! Well, I don’t like Safari’s completely transparent color. Other than that, both FireFox and IE use green, which I believe is the accepted standard, so they each earn a point.

Winner: Internet Explorer

So, the overall winner for Go button usability is…Internet Explorer, but only because it is the lesser of two evils.

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 glyph
• Intuitive color

Here are three from three of the most popular web browsers: FireFox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Size

All three buttons are about the same size in comparison with each other and with the other buttons on each individual interface. I think this is ok because the refresh button shouldn’t really standout too much from the other navigation buttons. It certainly shouldn’t be larger than the main navigation buttons. No real winner here.

Glyph

The FireFox and Safari buttons have used what I consider the standard glyph for refresh buttons. The IE button’s glyph is close, but a little too abstract. It looks more like an up/down than a reload or refresh. It might work better if it were more rounded like the Opera refresh button-indicating repetition. FireFox and Safari tie.

Color

Finally, there is color. Safari fails right away. The entire interface (not just the refresh button) is duo tone silver and black. The button does not stand out at all. While both IE and FireFox use color for their buttons, FireFox chooses a neutral blue. IE chooses a green. To me, green should only be used for the main navigation buttons: back, forward and go. So, the FireFox refresh stands out enough to quickly note it exists, but is different enough from the main navigation so it doesn’t get confused with the main navigation. FireFox wins color.

Winner: FireFox (Version 3.0)

So, in conclusion, FireFox (Version 3.0) has the most usable “Refresh/Reload” button. It is of appropriate size. It has an intuitive and standard glyph. And it utilizes an intuitive color.

Update:

I asked Nathan at Commonsense design to share a screenshot he had of an old browser from 1995. He was kind enough to oblige. Check it out.

So cool! Thanks for sharing it, Nathan.

The Usability Of The Latest BlackBerry Phones

The latest BlackBerry phones are fitted with quite a few of the best features. The sets come with large TFT screens with control buttons and keypad placed adjacent to each other. However, the designs of the handsets differ from one another. Most of the sets are fitted with a QWERTY keypad. This enables the user to comfortably message with other such handsets. Now it is easy to compose a message in order to send it as an attachment with emails. The keyboard also provides excellent support for controlling icons while playing a game. The screen give a high resolution and so now one can view pictures, videos and also play games at a very sharp screen resolution. The memory is kept sufficiently large that enables the users to store large files that occupy a great deal of the memory space. The memory can also store ringtones that are downloaded from the Internet after surfing with the WAP browser.

Usability critical for good mobile security

he consequences of a data breach can be far-reaching and complex, but in almost every case the cause is simple. An employee, the ‘average user’, has either taken a shortcut around the security procedures or lost a device with critical data in a public place, or both.

Randy Sutton of Ottawa’s Elytra Enterprises asks, “How many laptops got lost this week? How many have been stolen? We don’t hear a lot about it in Canada, particularly in the government, because nobody wants to report it and there’s no legislation forcing you to report.” Sutton keeps a list he calls ‘theft a day’ and it’s a rare day when he can’t add another breach somewhere in the world that’s made the news.

Don’t listen to your users…watch them

I’ve posted in the past that users don’t always answer questions or choices truthfully. I’m not suggesting that they lie, but merely guessing incorrectly. Jakob Nielsen explains how this idea relates to usability studies in his article, First Rule of Usability? Don’t Listen to Users. Here’s an excerpt.

“Too frequently, I hear about companies basing their designs on user input obtained through misguided methods. A typical example? Create a few alternative designs, show them to a group of users, and ask which one they prefer. Wrong. If the users have not actually tried to use the designs, they’ll base their comments on surface features. Such input often contrasts strongly with feedback based on real use.

…

To discover which designs work best, watch users as they attempt to perform tasks with the user interface. This method is so simple that many people overlook it, assuming that there must be something more to usability testing. Of course, there are many ways to watch and many tricks to running an optimal user test or field study. But ultimately, the way to get user data boils down to the basic rules of usability:

• Watch what people actually do.
• Do not believe what people say they do.
• Definitely don’t believe what people predict they may do in the future.”

-Read the rest of the article…

I’m doing a series of usability studies over the next few days…I’m just not going to listen.

Usability or user experience - what’s the difference ?

“So what does User Experience include?…It includes all aspects of usability and desirability of a product, system or service from the user’s perspective.”