Here’s an article titled “AMA report: Standardizing EMRs would ‘stifle innovation‘” that addresses these issues.

The topics of usability of electronic medical records (EMRs)–and their ability to “effectively integrate” with clinical decision-making and work flow–will be on the agenda when the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates meets next month in Chicago. The focus, contained in a trustees report, will be on how these issues have not been adequately addressed so far.

The trustees report addresses a 2009 resolution that called for the AMA to promote the development and universal adoption of a “standardized user interface” for all EMR systems, and to advocate for a federal mandate for interoperability of EMRs as part of its healthcare reform agenda.

For more information, view these links:

• AMA Board of Trustees report (.pdf)
• NextGov Article

There’s just one problem: not everyone calling themselves a user experience designer is actually a user experience designer. Unfortunately the designation isn’t as clear cut as a doctor or a lawyer. Most professions are certified and regulated, so you don’t see impostor behavior often — and when you do, it’s typically in the form of a news article about someone going to jail for fraud. Perhaps more analogously, even those in non-regulated occupations like writers and programmers would have a hard time passing themselves off as such without actually writing or actually programming.

So, how do you tell is someone is REALLY a true user experience professional, or a wannabe? Whitney posts a 10-point list answering the question, “You’re not a user experience designer if…”

It’s a good overview of some of the key things we focus on as UX professionals. Check it out at Whitney’s Blog!

YouTube is now getting flooded with videos of pets playing with an iPad. Here’s one of many. Enjoy!

<< View Iggy using an iPad >>

Interesting article about how the military has become so dependent on PowerPoint that it’s a standard joke among the highest levels of our government.

“Commanders say that behind all the PowerPoint jokes are serious concerns that the program stifles discussion, critical thinking and thoughtful decision-making.”

A PowerPoint diagram meant to portray the complexity of American strategy in Afghanistan certainly succeeded in that aim

<< View the Article >>

“With the aging population and increased reliance on internet resources, improving the online experience of senior and retired users can facilitate greater success and knowledge about the web. While the common practices of increased text size, button size, and simplified layout contribute to online retiree success, the real key is developing confidence in senior users by improving their mental models of websites. By requiring self-identification, providing a shallow page structure, and limiting the use of PDFs, senior and retired users can grow more adept at completing online tasks quickly and successfully.”

<< View the Article >>

Usually companies don’t point out their usability issues and problems, but Microsoft’s manager of Office programs, Jennifer Michelstein decided to try using a game to help train users (See Jennifer’s post).

Here’s CNET’s post on the interesting strategy.

Here’s Microsoft’s Ribbon Hero game.

What do you think of this strategy???

Luke  Wroblewski writes about some new websites that lay out registration forms in a narrative format rather than a standard grid format. Here’s an example:

 A/B user testing showed that the narrative style form increased conversion rates by 25-40%. This new style goes against conventional UI guidelines of trying to lay out forms to enhance scanning vs. reading. This new style follows the reading style, which may prove better for common registration forms that ask information such as, “Who are you, what’s your e-mail address, where do you live, etc.?”

It is too early to see who wins this contest, but it is refreshhing to see new, innovative ideas in UI design!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

<< View Luke W’s blog >>

Mandel’s keynote, “The (New) Golden Rules of Web Design,” is an new presentation based on a chapter from the well-known book, The Elements of User Interface Design (John Wiley & Sons, 1997). The presentation describes the history of UI/Web interface design and usability guidelines, and then shows how these “Golden Rules” of interface design still apply to today’s web design world.

Mandel’s book was translated into Russian in 2005. It was the first book translated into Russian with the word “Interface” in its title. Many of the attendees at the conference learned their craft by reading this book.

The User eXperience Russia 2009 conference was a huge success. There were over 300 attendees at the conference (http://userexperience.ru/en/).

View the SlideShare presentation.

On September 14, 2009, the company introduced an experimental news hub called Fast Flip that allows users to view news articles from dozens of major publishers and flip through them as quickly as they would the pages of a magazine. Google will place ads around the news articles and share resulting revenue with publishers.

• Read New York Times article
• Google fast flip Website

From the interface design and usability perspective, Craigslist is notoriously well-know for its old-style, link-heavy, basic interface that does not make using the site easy for people shopping for stuff to sell or buy, apartments to rent or dating classifieds. But Craigslist refuses to change their user interface.

<< View the article >>