From the monthly archives:

October 2008

A Timely Article on Voting Machines

by Anne McLaughlin

With the U.S. election only a week away, I bring you a tale of warning from Finland.
Today, the Ministry of Justice revealed that due to a usability issue, voting was prematurely aborted for 232 voters. The pilot system was in use in three municipalities; this amounts to about 2 per cent of the electoral roll. Seats in the municipal assemblies [...]

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Amazon Windowshop

by Richard Pak

Amazon has a new interface for “window shopping” on its website.  It is strangely compelling and offers something that the website lacked–that quality of just browsing what’s there without having to do too much clicking, searching, etc.  The navigation is simple and intuitive (right/left arrows) and if you stand at a window for a few seconds, a video description starts [...]

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Smart Cars

by Anne McLaughlin

Recently, an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) hit the news in Europe. I’ve always been interested in advanced navigation systems (and their problems), so I check in on some of the research programs occasionally. After all, individual differences from culture to aging all affect how we use navigation systems.
The original article I mentioned briefly addresses the errors these systems may [...]

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Joe the Plumber as a Persona

by Richard Pak

There is an interesting and active thread on the IxDA listserv about the potential of using the “Joe the Plumber” character as a Persona in design/usability. First, what is a Persona?
Personas are fictitious characters that are created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic that might use a site or product. Personas are most often used as [...]

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Dear Marriott, Snail Mail is Not the Internet

by Anne McLaughlin

After my stay at the Times Square Marriott a few weeks ago, I received a postcard in the mail asking me to complete a survey. The first 900 people to complete the survey would receive a $10 Amazon gift card. Sounded good to me; I needed some reading for my next plane trip.
However, I soon realized the challenge would not [...]

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Another tool to keep up with election news

by Richard Pak

TechCrunch posted a link to another tool to keep up with the flood of election-related news coming from news services and each of the presidential campaigns.  Dipity Election Center presents news items in a time-line format.
The interface is very cluttered and not exactly intuitive (e.g., unclear what all the little icons below the timeline mean), but an interesting way to [...]

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Homeland security warnings

by Richard Pak

Found a link to this parody site of the homeland security symbols (via AskMetaFilter). This is my favorite symbol:

The images are real homeland security symbols.  In all seriousness, my friend Chris Mayhorn from North Carolina State University has researched these homeland security symbols and found that not everyone can interpret the real meaning of these warnings:
Mayhorn, C. B., Wogalter, [...]

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Digital TV Transition will be rocky for some

by Richard Pak

By February 2009, all over-the-air television broadcasts in the United States will be digital.  There are good reasons for the switch such as better use of bandwidth.  However, people who still use rabbit ear antennas for TV reception will need a new digital converter box which is not a simple undertaking.  While this video is obviously tongue-in-cheek, the switch-over will [...]

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The VP Debates: An Adventure in Clutter

by Anne McLaughlin

Perhaps it is because I associate CNN with Atlanta, a city dear to my heart, that I care so much about how badly they choose their on-screen visualizations. Last night I watched before, during and after the debate, which meant I was as informed as could be about their graphics (and even saw the gratuitous use of this Minority Report [...]

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Parking garage ticket machine warning

by Richard Pak

I’m at the airport waiting to board a flight.  Here is a funny warning message that greeted me on the parking garage ticket-dispensing machine:

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More blurred lines between slaking and slaying

by Anne McLaughlin

Reader Kim Wolfinbarger sent me this picture of sport drinks looking enough like drain cleaner to make her do a double-take.

Just read your July post on poisons that look like sports drinks. An interesting twist is sports drinks that look like poisons. I did a double-take at the grocery store last weekend, thinking that drain cleaner had been shelved with [...]

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