HYPERCATALECTA

“The worst thing you can do to an adult is make them feel stupid” - at least that’s what Roderick McMullen’s uncle Fred says. Bad usability makes people feel stupid. Which keeps them from using your product or service. And while there are many quantitative and qualitative methods to measure usability, McMullen suggests they are often complicated, hardly ever used to full potential, and rarely integrated in business strategies.

So McMullen proposes a simple approach to gauge a product’s or service’s usability. He says there’s really just one question you should start asking your users to find out whether your product

On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident do you feel using this system?

I rather like McMullen’s “can do” perspective. Read the full post here.

Via Susu’s Posterous - thanks for sharing!

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I’m trying to buy a frame. I’ve bought one from Rahmenwerk before for a lovely print by Gavin Harrison I got for Christmas a few years ago. Now I received another print by Harrison and would like a matching frame. Found it on the website, put it in the cart. Since I was there I figured I could just as well look for a passepartout and a frame for Ms Muffinhead, who was given to me by a friend. Found the right size for the passepartout, put it in cart.

Was then shown this page, which told me that I can’t put something from a different brand in the same cart. WTF? And why does the cart list my order? Never mind, I need that first frame anyway, I don’t care if the passepartout is 3 or 5 bucks… Ended up choosing another passepartout from the same brand that made the frame. Add to cart. Same message. Double WTF.

So what’s happening now? I’ll take my business elsewhere, that’s what’s now, because this kind of stuff really irritates me. Ms Muffinhead will move into the old frame, and the Harrison prints, well, they need something new. So any recommendations for good online frame shops (or a proper shop in Berlin) are welcome.

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[ˈsætɪsˌfaɪs]

I don’t know how I can have worked in user expereince for over five years and not have come across this term! Basically, to “satisfice”describes the fact that users don’t make optimal choices but click whatever seems reasonable first. The term itself is a merger between “satisfy” and “suffice” - basically, it means something is good enough. which is a familiar enough concept in usability… But of course satisfice sounds so much smarter!

Read more: Smashing Magazine, Wikipedia

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via inksie.com

The principles were written in 1995, and the team at Inksie went out to illustrate these principles and put them into today’s context. (via)

Visit Vitsoe’s website for a simpler overview Rams’ design principles.

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A couple of years ago, Stephen P. Anderson - the guy behind the rather lovely mental notes cards that UX afficionados might have come across - created this hierarchy of UX needs. While some things might have changed in the meantime, I think the core of this is still absolutely valid.

via howiechang’s tumblr

Copyright 2006 by Stephen P. Anderson.

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I like cakes, I like UX, so obviously this wallpaper design by Polish company Witflow has to go into the blog. Though I’m missing the joy of use bit in here. Shouldn’t that be the cherry on the cake?

via @smashingmagazine

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via blog.pod1.com

Better than “yearbook yourself”, I’d say. Come to think of it… I’d love a “Jakob yourself” tool!

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