Category Archives: Web Usability

Google Releases News-Reading Service

Google, long seen as an enemy by many in the news industry, is making a bold attempt to be seen as a friend with a new service it hopes will make it easier for readers to read newspaper and magazine … Continue reading

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Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess

Intriguing article in Wired Magazine on the history of controversial Craigslist.org, the largest community site in the US. 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 … Continue reading

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Web Accessibility Day – September 22, 2009

The National Federation of the Blind and the Maryland Technology Assistance Program present Web Accessibility Day, September 22nd, 2009. The event will be held in Baltimore, MD. The Maryland Technology Assistance Program and the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan … Continue reading

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Classic “This is Broken” Seth Godin Video

Seth Godin, bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change in his Gel 2006 video. Why are so many things broken? In this entertaining talk – one of the favorites of Gel 2006 – Seth Godin gives a tour of things … Continue reading

Posted in Application Usability, Marketing Usability, Real-World Usability, Usability Bloopers, Usability Humor, User Centered Design (UCD), Web Usability | Leave a comment

Theo Mandel invited to present Keynote at 2009 User eXperience Russia Conference

Theo Mandel, Ph.D., founder and principal of Interface Design and Development, LLC, has been invited to present a keynote session at the 2009 User eXperience Russia conference in Moscow on October 26-28, 2009. Mandel’s keynote presentation is titled “The (New) … Continue reading

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Chicago Company Sues Woman for $50,000 over a Tweet!

The ultimate in bad legal strategies!! Chicago’s Horizon Realty, a property management company, filed a $50,000 libel lawsuit Monday against a former tenant, Amanda Bonnen, over one of her alleged Twitter posts. Horizon argues that Bonnen libeled the company with … Continue reading

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Yahoo Launching Front Page open to Others’ Content

A significant redesign is finally coming to the Yahoo.com home page, one of the most well-traveled destinations on the Internet, and the company’s search page will follow suit starting next month. Yahoo plans to let people in the United States … Continue reading

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Usability.Edu: 25 Incredibly Useful Usability Cheat Sheets & Checklists

Handy resource of cheat sheets and checklists for web usability >

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Usability and Emotional Design

For the marketing types…tongue-in-cheek look at usability and marketing. Also a website at www.usability4evil.com   Chris Nodder, Nielsen Norman Group chris@usability4evil.com Our knowledge as usability practitioners can be used for evil as well as for good. As evil usability practitioners, our … Continue reading

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Designers Who Wireframe: Pros and Cons

Most UI/usability/information designers/architects create various types of wireframes when we design. This article discusses the different types of wireframes and their pros and cons. The article also shows good examples of diffferent types of wireframes and the final website design. … Continue reading

Posted in Application Usability, Prototyping, User Centered Design (UCD), Web Usability | 1 Comment

Tufts Summer Institute on Web Strategies for Health Communication

An interesting course on healthcare web strategies and usability. For more information, contact: Lisa Neal Gualtieri, Ph.D. Adjunct Clinical Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine Blog on health: http://lisaneal.wordpress.com/ Editor-in-Chief, eLearn Magazine, http://eLearnMag.org Blog on education: http://blog.acm.org/elearn/ Phone: 781-861-7373 Email: … Continue reading

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What makes a “User Experience expert”?

Good summary of what is a “User Experience” expert. Read the follow-up comments and posts your own comments. http://www.insideria.com/2008/12/what-makes-a-user-experience-e.html

Posted in Real-World Usability, Technology, Usability Consulting, User Centered Design (UCD), Web 2.0, Web Usability | Leave a comment

A Pop-Up Ad That €™s Less Annoying

A Pop-Up Ad That €™s Less Annoying (NY Times, 12 Oct 2008) – “In 2003, during the golden age of pop-up ads, the advertising research firm Dynamic Logic asked hundreds of people about over-content advertisements: ads that pop up from … Continue reading

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The Employable Web Designer

Nice article from Andy Rutledge, titled “The Employable Web Designer. He describes the necessary skills and traits for a successful career in Web design. The article briefly addresses usability, but at least they are included as necessary skills: Usability & … Continue reading

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What the Internet is doing to our brains: Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Good historical article on how technology changes our lives and how we work. Very informative story about Friedrich Nietzsche, who bought a typewriter in 1882, and the changes that came about in his writing style as a result of using … Continue reading

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Lazy Eyes: How we read online

Fun, somewhat tongue-in-cheek article about reading/browsing online vs. paper. He uses Jakob Nielsen’s writings as examples and goes from there. Worth a read on Slate (Aricle by Michael Agger).

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101 Five-Minute Fixes to Incrementally Improve Your Web Site

More advice about improving the design and usability of your website. Major categories include: Copywriting Usability Search Engine Optimization Accessibility Design Legal View the article

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12 steps to stellar software design

Practitioners can always use good advice. David Crow, usability adviser at Microsoft Canada, and Jay Goldman, president of Radiant Core in Toronto, speaking at the Free Software and Open Source Symposium at Seneca College in Toronto last month, offered a … Continue reading

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Starbucks customers stampede website – Be Careful What You Ask For!

Hundreds of coffee-obsessed consumers chimed in moments after Starbucks launched a Web site asking customers to pitch changes the company should make to revive its struggling US business. Be careful what you ask for – You may get overwhelmed by … Continue reading

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Consumers earn Free Stuff with “Free Love”

FREE LOVE: the ongoing rise of free, valuable stuff that’s available to consumers online and offline. From AirAsia tickets to Wikipedia, and from diapers to music. This is the new consumerism on the Web. Read about it at http://www.trendwatching.com/briefing/. FREE … Continue reading

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