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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: September 17, 2002 A brief note about usability (Timo Arnall) -- "Usability may have an overly informational and scientific direction, but the lessons learnt from watching people use your interactive work can be very useful in cleaning up and focusing an interface."
Reader Comments...
What do you do when you need to put something on your site and the only way the content owner wants people to get there is via a simlink? How do you put it within your site? Do you hide the navigation for the rest of the site? Is this deliberate frustration and is it acceptable?
More like a brief dismissal of usability, or a brief misunderstanding of usability. Posted by: Ron Zeno on September 17, 2002 09:48 PM
Do you have anything constructive to add to the information that I have provided? The lecture was aimed at Filmmakers, making the transition to interactive work, so it's not intended as a high-level overview of usability; read the rest of the presentation for more context. I will quite happily change the list of usability notes if anybody has any simpler, more compelling arguments. Posted by: Timo on September 18, 2002 04:54 AM
Timo, I agree with you that the page needs to be read in conjunction with the rest of the notes. I am interested to know if you think that usability in that context is any different from (for want of a better description) traditional web usability? I am also interested in the last item: In games for example it is often useful to have an intended 'experience of frustration'. Would you say that some of the text styles on your site (the diary page for example) is a manifestation of an intended 'experience of frustration', or is it inspired by something else? Of course it might just be that the photos look better on a black backfround and you didn't have time to change the font colour. I'm not trying to have a go at you with this question. I would really like to know the rationale behind this particular choice. Also, I would like to hear about your view on the balance between design and usability. Would you treat your personal site differently for one that you worked on commercially? Posted by: Mac on September 18, 2002 08:08 AM
I think some of the comments about Timo's site have been fairly harsh (yeah, there are areas with low contrast, but much of it's clean and simple), but hey, take the criticism! Why should it be constructive? By all means stick up for your work, but also expect others to give honest views, particularly about usability aspects. (read a bit more WebWord and you'll realise it's an honour for your site to get a good kicking from Jack, people visit from miles around in the hope theirs'll be next)
Matt, I apologize for never kicking you. This is your day in the sun. I don't have a name yet for your flavor of design. Perhaps it's a mental affliction. Hierarchical Affective Disorder. It's interesting that you place your navigation buttons and page title at the bottom of the page. As for your Flash usage, jejunus raro stomachus vulgaria temnit.
Re: Matt and Navigation buttons at the bottom. I think this layout is inspired by the MS Windows default of having the taskbar and start menu at the bottom. The first thing I always do on my machines is to drag my taskbar to the top, as we all know that menus work much more efficiently if they are allowed to drop down (because of gravity !) I'm sure that I read somewhere that because of the way monitors work (scanlines and such), things are drawn more quickly if they are moving down the screen. I may have imagined this, but I think we should start a campaign to move all menu bars to the top of the screen so that the 'drop down menus' are allowed to 'drop down', this would be more natural and should be more energy efficient. Posted by: Mac on September 18, 2002 11:17 AM
Matt, You now need to get your mate Mark to post a gratuitously insulting reply to Jack. By the way, I liked the site. Posted by: Alan Fisher on September 18, 2002 11:35 AM
is usability in that context is any different from traditional web usability? Yes, absolutely. A game space or a linear story have very different design goals to a commerce driven, multi-faceted web service. I don't have the answer to what usability might be in this context, I just know that applying a user-centred design process would be beneficial to the end users or audience. Games certainly don't have any recognisable usability process, they have play-testers, who help to refine the learning curve and track down bugs. On the whole games conform to simple rule-sets that have been built up over many years of development in the various genres. Breaking away from those genres usually means tackling a new subject matter (content and story), rather than redefining the button set on the joypad (interface).
No, I want the photographs to completely dominate the interface, and for users to navigate using the images. I think it's great to take a step back from the site and have the interface set into the background. That is my personal choice.
Personal = informal Design (as a field of concern, enquiry and response rather than "graphics") is all about balance, and good designers know that usability is part of that balancing act. Posted by: Timo on September 18, 2002 03:46 PM
Jack, could you pick on me next? I just want to feel 'loved.' TIA! Posted by: Lyle - Lonely Usability Guru on September 19, 2002 12:26 AM
Lyle, do not take the length of this verdict to mean Matt is any less guilty than you. I just have more time to type at the moment. The unbolded links are dim. They should be the darkest text on the page for easy skimming. If you can't link a page in 5 descriptive words or less, you need a remedial English course. You get Jelly Babies for underlining the links. I never bought into the hoo-ha that underlining is ugly or ordinary. What snobbery. Italics for emphasizing a phrase - OK. Italics applied to a whole paragraph - Cardinal Sin. Sorry son, you're going to Hell. Font size is locked. Since I already have your soul, I guess I'll take your family too. Drop the Babel fish translation service. Show me evidence people use this service, and I don't mean the English speakers who try it out for fun. Break free of the ridiculous habit of reciprocal links to other blogs on your front page. Summarize them on a single interior page. The front page is cluttered with information. Reduce. Minus 5 points for lack of crocodile photos. Go to the zoo, hug a croc, snap a photo. Ask MadMan how to bribe the zookeepers into letting you handle the animals. By the way, there's an "S." in "John Rhodes." Show The Man some respect. Oh, wait, I see now that you link to the blog of that cool hepcat Z-man. That explains everything. Your sins are forgiven. You know not what you do.
Oh Jack, we must set up a web page for these reviews. How about Jack O'Ranters Soul Destroying Site Reviews ? I'll happily publish them under the Webword Stats Site. Do me next, do me next .... Posted by: Mac on September 19, 2002 03:21 AM
Matt: Do you realise that your page is just dark stripes on Mac IE 5.2.1? Is that intentional? Mac: you should include http:// in the url field for www.usabilitymustdie.com Posted by: Timo on September 19, 2002 10:18 AM
Timo: Mac had the \\ backwards //. He must be dyslexic. MSIE6 corrects for this error. Mac: "publish them under the Webword Stats Site" I'd much rather seen a compendium of my e-mail addresses linked to the pages where they are used, cross-referenced with frequency of use. Shine my shoes while you're at it. "Do me next, do me next." I'll excuse your indiscretion. "Do me next" obviously has a different meaning in the UK than it does here in America. I'm not a whore. 1) "Usability has grown into a monster." Where's the monster? Is it the floating head at the upper right? 2) Given that you've chiseled a gravestone for Filbert's Alertbox columns, and "usability must die," ummm, are you making a death threat? The demon head at the upper right seems to be nodding Yes. 3) No navigational controls. Organize thoughts into categories. More than one category. Your site is an unfocused stream of consciousness. 4) Search box at the bottom of the page? Who's going to search for it there? 5) Poor link names, low correlation between link names and page titles: a) "free discount usability" links to "What does Jakob say?" I would label it "Jakob Nielsen 8-Ball" b) "meet the cast" links to a page titled "life up at the castle." I still don't know what the page is about. c) "people who do it with passion" links to "Understanding Programmers - The Pride and the Passion." The first label sounds like porn. The second label is explanatory. 5) You need to set your VCR.
I realize there are two number fives. I wanted to avoid posting a "6" because that sounds like "sex" and I need Mac humping my leg. Posted by: Jack on September 19, 2002 11:54 AM
God Dammit. There was supposed to be a "don't" in that sentence. Posted by: Jack on September 19, 2002 11:56 AM
Jack, man, the dog humping leg thing was the worst pargh I have seen in a while. Posted by: John S. Rhodes on September 19, 2002 01:00 PM
Very entertaining Jack.
Jack, tears are running down my cheeks, can't write more, need to breathe.... Posted by: Mac on September 19, 2002 03:52 PM
Jack, Thanks for that positive review - it was much better than I expected. Now I can sleep at night. Jack says Life is good. Posted by: Lyle - Usability Guru on September 19, 2002 04:21 PM
Quick Response: Mac had the \\ backwards //. He must be dyslexic. I can't tell left from right, clockwise from anti-closwise, > from <, { from }, / from \ and loads of other things. I'm a programmer and this causes me a lot of trouble. About 12 years ago I wrote 1 3D modelling system in Fortran for the Nuclear Industry (Finite Eleement Analysis and stuff like that). When I finished I 'realised' that all of the code has the X and Y axes the wrong way round. I quickly changed the intetface module so that the co-ords would be swapped, but all of the source code contains this 'feature'. No-one ever mentioned it, and when I bumped into one of the Scientists involved last year he congratulated me on the fact that no-one had to change my code for Y2K. So my secret is still safe! I think I can only tell up from down because of the fact that I get dizzy when I stand aon my head! Posted by: Mac on September 19, 2002 04:25 PM
Did I miss something? Is Mac a dog? Can he fetch? Maybe that explains why he spends so much time kissing/sniffing Uncle Filbert's butt. Pretty good web site...
Mac, You said "when I finished I 'realised'", the proper way to say it is "when I finizhed I 'realized'". See recent grammar article post...you must be a Britizh Dog. (Damn, that dog can program 3D zchuff in Fortran too? Why haven't I zeen thiz dog on Letterman'z "Ztupid Aminal Trickz?") Posted by: Lyle - Usability Guru on September 19, 2002 04:34 PM
This is totally unfair! They all get mini-usability-reviews in neat little lists and all I get is a bunch of half-hearted personal bashings spread across 6 threads. Either they get the same treatment or you give me a Soul Destroying Site Review too... Posted by: Timo on September 19, 2002 07:02 PM
This must be what it's like to live in Los Angeles. I can't see through the smog. Locked font size. This guy ain't getting an invite to my barbecue. I called my visually-impaired friend and had him navigate the site for me with JAWS. Here we go on our three-hour-tour aboard the tiny ship Elasty... Hey, the links under the "Navigation" subhead have absolutely nothing to do with navigation. I'm lost. Ohhh, "Navigation" means it's the navigation menu. If the navigation links need labeling as "Navigation," it's time to jump ship. This baby is going down. What are the thumbnails for? The navigation column must have been abandoned. All remaining resources have been diverted toward promoting the portfolio -- all over the page -- in a vain attempt at rescue before Elasty dips beneath the waves. Do I care the site was created in December 1999? What does that tell me? Inexperienced captain. [Hold a minute. Call waiting.] OK... Do I care when the site was last updated the site? If I'm a regular visitor (regular visitor to a portfolio?), I need more than a date. Is this a scavenger hunt? Identify the new content and win a prize? Give that man a Timo doll! As my companion tabs through the links on this page, he keeps coming across "view projects" links. However, each link leads to a different page. What, is this Confuse-The-Blind-Guy Day? Uncle Sam ain't hiring this outfit anytime soon. What? Oh, you know my uncle. He lives on Section 508 Street. The page title says "elasticspace Design Studio." There's no information about this studio. No street address, just some computer generated stills. It's a sham. It's just some guy's personal site. Bah. All I ask is a good site and legible text to read her by.
Damn parghs. I need to hire a copy editor... Just as soon as I find a benevolent benefactor willing to fund my efforts at crushing dreams. Posted by: Jack on September 19, 2002 09:22 PM
Lyle, you don't just need pictures of crocs. We need a picture of you 'hugging' a croc, and not just a baby one, or a rubber one. Posted by: Mac on September 20, 2002 01:59 PM
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