This is getting very old... Quoting myself from previous Nielsen discussions:

1) I find all this Nielsen-bashing to be highly hypocritical and self-serving. Each round of bashing is a clear demonstration of usability specialists living up to their reputations of being prone to criticism and little else.

2) Nielsen is just following good business practices:
He publicly criticizes product.
He gets work from developer of that product.
It's just a classic business practice!

3) We need to encourage people to produce and share quality information, encourage people to think critically about what they see and hear, and discourage people from contributing useless noise just to be heard.

4) Quoting Mathew (out of context):
I often wonder how much of this kind of hostility is poorly disguised jealousy. If you have problems with the content, refute it properly, give detail, make your own point.

5) Finally, let me add a further observation. While there have been some good, insightful comments in these discussions, but most are just expressions for the purpose of self-gratification.

The soapbox is now open...

Posted by: Ron Zeno on August 22, 2002 10:49 AM

 

What Ron said.

The soapbox is now open...again

Posted by: Lyle - Usability Guru on August 22, 2002 11:16 AM

 

Flazoom demonstrates good cross-medium usability -- special consideration was given for web page printability. Note the dotted lines indicating the path for your scissors to follow. The dotted lines are especially effective for soccer moms who will have already encountered this display convention in grocery store coupons.

Posted by: Jack - Usability Daemon on August 22, 2002 11:33 AM

 

Jack,
I'll have to look for that little scissor icon to let people know that the dotted lines are for cutting.

Ron,
Thanks for letting us all know just how much above the rest of us you really are

Posted by: CHris on August 22, 2002 01:23 PM

 

My apologies to those who have been personally offended.

I am attempting to do exactly what I suggest: to encourage people to produce and share quality information, to encourage people to think critically about what they see and hear, and to discourage people from contributing useless noise just to be heard.

I don't think my attempts have been total failures, and I certainly do not want to start a series of personal attacks.

Posted by: Ron Zeno on August 22, 2002 02:34 PM

 

CHris, I recommend this scissor clip-art, assuming you meet the copyright restrictions. I suggest this piece of clip-art because the eyes evoke a sense of friendliness. When you give human characteristics to inanimate objects it's always magic. Pure magic. Secondly, these scissors are the type used in preschool and Kindergarten. They are sure to stir warm feelings of youth in the hearts of your users, taking them back to their simpler cut-and-paste days... back to a time of small hands and small thumbs -- no need for an enlarged thumb hole in your scissors. Ahhh, good times. Good times.

Side note: In my hunt for clip-art, I encountered the World Rock Paper Scissors Society. They use Flash of course.

Posted by: Jack on August 22, 2002 02:43 PM

 

I always like Ron's comments as they always seem to make me question what I think. Whilst webworders seem to have a shared interest in usability, there is a good dose of healthy scepticism that keeps this site fresh and interesting.

One of the things I really like about Webword is the lack of personal attack on other posters and would not like to see this change.

Maybe some of us (I know I am) are taking our bad feelings out with Filbert Bashing, and even if this is unfair it allows for some useful 'letting off some steam'.

OMG, I've just realised that I associate the Fat Controller with Uncle Filbert. Maybe that's the root cause of my problems with Filbert, I've always hated the Fat Controller: Lazy, Fat Cat Capitalist, those trains need to get organised.

Posted by: Mac on August 23, 2002 03:09 AM