From the category archives:

humor

This does not bode well for the on-device user experience…

by Richard Pak
Thumbnail image for This does not bode well for the on-device user experience…

Gizmodo reviewed the Nook e-book reader from Barnes & Noble. Unfortunately (for B&N), the process of opening the package was so cumbersome, most of the review dwells on that aspect:
In other words, the Nook packaging actually necessitates these lengthy instructions, as ridiculous as they are in their own right. Somehow, Barnes & Noble invented a box that’s [...]

Read the full article →

Tabs, tabs, and more tabs…

by Richard Pak
Thumbnail image for Tabs, tabs, and more tabs…

This post on Smashing Magazine about vertical navigation had me thinking about the book Anne and I are writing (manuscript due this Friday; panicking…I’m a 10 on the Wong-Baker scale).  In one of the chapters I discuss tab navigation.  When I was looking for a particularly bad example of the use of tabs I remembered Amazon’s website circa 2000.  Fortunately, [...]

Read the full article →

Encouraging Sanitary Behavior at the Urinal

by Richard Pak
Thumbnail image for Encouraging Sanitary Behavior at the Urinal

From reader Scot M. comes this NPR story. To encourage proper “aiming” at urinals, some places are now placing images of bugs so that men have something to aim toward. I’ve seen these at Schiphol Airport as well as my local grocery store bathroom (and I live in a tiny town).
Keiboom in Amsterdam says the original fly idea [...]

Read the full article →

Smells like more potpourri

by Richard Pak
Thumbnail image for Smells like more potpourri

The end of the academic semester is upon us in the U.S. so we’re backed up with deadlines which is why we’re having Potpourri again for lunch. But tasty potpourri:
First, a curmudgeonly three-part series on things that give too little feedback or have too few buttons:

I just got an iPod Shuffle which uses a system of taps on an [...]

Read the full article →

HFBlog at HFES 2009 in San Antonio

by Richard Pak
Thumbnail image for HFBlog at HFES 2009 in San Antonio

We were at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual conference in San Antonio.  This post is merely here to collect our six-part posts on various talks.  These only scratch the surface of what was presented.

Part 1:  The Mechanical Bull
Part 2:  Eliciting knowledge structures
Part 3:  Health, Internet, and ROBOTS!
Part 4:  Hearing and understanding
Part 5:  Rich gets lost (Automation/Trust)
Part 6:  More [...]

Read the full article →

Solving Beer Estimation Difficulties

by Anne McLaughlin
Thumbnail image for Solving Beer Estimation Difficulties

The subtle change in the diameter of a glass can hide large changes in volume. Unfortunately for us, we’re terrible at estimating this, even when we logically know it to be true. For example, a few millimeters at the top of a pint glass equals an ounce of liquid, while the same height measure at the bottom of the [...]

Read the full article →

HFES Conference Part 5: Automation & Trust & Google Maps

by Richard Pak

During the conference I had a very personal experience with the effects of automation reliability on trust and subsequent behaviors.  First, a bit of background.  There is a large body of research examining how humans interact with automated systems (Global positioning systems, for example).  Human-automation interaction is quite complex; being affected by many factors.
Julian Sanchez (of MITRE) presented a poster [...]

Read the full article →

HFES Conference in San Antonio, Part 1

by Richard Pak

Anne and I just got back from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society conference held in San Antonio.  We plan on posting some snippets of posters/talks that we found interesting in an upcoming post.  But in the mean time, here is a panorama of the view from our hotel.

Being in San Antonio, TX, we also visited a Cowboy bar complete [...]

Read the full article →

STFU Usability Protocol

by Richard Pak

I‘m glad that open-source software is taking usability seriously.  I think that not having a good user experience may be one of the biggest hurdles to more open-source adoption (e.g., compare GIMP to Photoshop).  Shuttleworth (of Ubuntu) has a great plan: the STFU protocol.
During his keynote, he extended an invitation to any open source application to submit their software for [...]

Read the full article →

Consequences of Mobile Phone Usability…big consequences

by Richard Pak
Thumbnail image for Consequences of Mobile Phone Usability…big consequences

Time.com is reporting that part of the economic recession may have been caused by Warren Buffet not being able to check his voice mail:
as Buffett was rushing out to a social engagement in Edmonton, Alberta, he got a call from Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays Capital…[ed. Diamond was creating a plan to save an investment bank and needed money [...]

Read the full article →

Fitts’ Law and Your Microwave

by Anne McLaughlin

Most of you are familiar with Fitts’ Law and how it can be used to calculate movement time in an interface. You may even be familiar with how it ostensibly speeds up your use of menus on the Mac. But did you know it could improve your daily life? My friend Jeff Wilson did, and posted this helpful note over [...]

Read the full article →

911: Trying to fight slips via warnings

by Anne McLaughlin

I got a newsletter in the mail today from the City of Raleigh. Here are some excerpts centering on the problems with our area code:
RALEIGH/WAKE 911 CENTER WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT HANG UPS HURT
What do a child playing with a telephone, an unprotected non flip cell phone and someone dialing a ten-digit phone number in the 919 area code [...]

Read the full article →

Is Older Adult Interest in the Wii Interface Just Hype?: or “I want to try bowling”

by Anne McLaughlin

I’d like to share a conversation with my mother that occurred today. She is in her 60s, and although she uses a computer for communication, has never even played solitaire or shown any interest in a video game.
Nikki says:
The wee? Is a game that lets you think you are doing a sport?
Anne says:
Yes, you use the controller, that looks like [...]

Read the full article →

(face) Gestures Interface

by Richard Pak

Peter Squire sends in what is most likely an early April fools joke by the creators of the Opera web browser (right before 4/1/09). It is an interesting interaction idea nonetheless.

Share/Save

Read the full article →

Watch out for Un-Equalsteppings!

by Richard Pak

Reader Joe C. sent in this unusual warning on a door.
It was on the entry door to one of the screens at a local cinema. The un-equalsteppings just turned out to be a slope! Not sure why they couldn’t of just told me it was a slope.

Share/Save

Read the full article →

Bad Astronomy on Usability

by Richard Pak

One of my favorite science blogs, Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy, recently touched upon a usability topic which gives me an excuse to link to his blog!  The story gets goofy from there (a rivalry between him and actor Wil Wheaton ensues).
He is complaining about an upgrade to Apple’s iMovie which reduced features but more important reduced the usability of the [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries