Tag Archives: usability

Yahoo! release UI and design patterns library

February 14th, 2006

Yahoo! (god I hate that punctuation) have released a collection of user interface controls and core utilities (calendar, tree-view, drag and drop, event access) under a BSD license for the world to enjoy.

If that wasn’t enough they’ve also published the first batch from their design patterns library, under a Creative Commons license, in what they’re saying will become a monthly release cycle.

If you’re not familiar with design patterns they are a way of describing the optimal solution to a common problem, the best way to design a breadcrumb trail for example. There is more on design patterns over at the IAWiki.

This is interesting move by Yahoo! (yep, still hate it), but one that fits in with the ‘community-led’ ethos that seems to have become the norm over there with the recent acquisitions of flickr and del.icio.us.

I’m looking forward to spending some time exploring this new resource.

Update: I forgot to mention that there is also a new blog to go along with these releases, the Yahoo! User Interface Blog.

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Global navigation not worthwhile?

October 21st, 2005

How much stock do we put in global navigation and could those resources be better spent elsewhere? Quite possibly according to Jared Spool at UIE.com.

Maybe they’ll click on the global navigation on the home page (however, probably not, if the page is well designed). Then they’ll never click on it again, because, after all, they are now looking for local information — not global information

We’ve observed that it’s almost always the case that if a user is clicking on global navigation, it’s because they are completely lost.

Having global navigation isn’t a bad thing. It’s just not something that should garner a lot of resources, as it’s unlikely to be important in the user experience.

Here’s something interesting to think about. How much of a role does the global navigation play in orientating first time users to the site before they get to the local content? Isn’t that a useful thing and worth spending time on? As a friend said to me last night: “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”.

And I wonder does this differ between the web as software interface and the web as hypertext system? Look at flickr’s use of global navigation — the frequented destinations at the top and the big-fat-footer (I just made that up) — both of which I know I use a lot.

I’d ponder more, but I’m on holiday in 2 hours. Woo!

Hat tip: guuui.com

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McAfee reduces costs with user-centered design

October 17th, 2005

Great article with 23 tips on how McAfee cut their support calls by 90% for a new product, by focusing on user-centered design.

Hat tip: guuui.com

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Copywriting Is Interface Design

May 20th, 2005

Interesting post from Jason at 37Signals regarding the issue of copywriting on the web and how often it gets overlooked in the development process.

CSS, HTML, XHTML, Standards, IA, flow diagrams, charts, boxes and
arrows, color schemes, textured backgrounds, buttons or links, tables
or floats, fixed or liquid layouts, etc. All important at some level.
But where’s the talk about copywriting?

Copywriting is interface design. Great interfaces are written. If you
think every pixel matters then you also need to think every letter
matters.

Absolutely. Having a copywriter on your team is an incredibly powerful tool to have during the development process.

This issue becomes even more relevant when you’re dealing with small to medium sized clients who more often than not, don’t have access to in-house copywriters as large corps do, and whose content tends to be re-purposed from off-line materials.

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Quote Of The Day

May 10th, 2005

Some salutary words from Phil Ringnalda regarding the recent Web Apps vs Google Accelerator incident:

“Making the fire alarm look just like a light switch isn’t an example of daring and innovative design, it’s just dangerous.”

Also see Joe Gregorio’s thoughts on the matter.

I’m not trying to single 37Signals out here, I’ve got a great admiration for what they’re doing and I know they’re not the only ones who got bitten by this, but they are the most visible. We need these reminders every now and again that playing too fast and loose with the standards can have unforeseen consequences further down the line. GET and POST are different for a reason, and hiding that difference for the cause of ‘design’ is to miss the whole point of design.

We’re not just talking colour and shape here, good design has always encompassed function too.

Still, it’s been a long while since I’ve been this excited about what I do for a living, exciting times indeed. Now when’s that IE7 beta being released? *:)

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