I love Progress Bars and Apple

Progress bars is one of the best features of a using a computer. It is a quick win for any app for communication and usability.

I also LOVE Apple products. They have been focused on Usability from the beginning. My only gripe is that success with usability has lead to elitism. They use usability to create a dogma of how technology should be. If they created it and it works, then it is the only way to do it. If they created it and it doesn't work, their is no one else did it better - move on. They will NOT build on someone other than Apple even if it is successful.

Even Issac Newton said his work was based on Standing on the shoulders of giants. Progress bars on PC and Macs are very different. Even though the beach ball method is horrible for usability and the Window method is fantastic. Apple will not change their ways for a Windows feature. This is a mistake. The only reason I see is because of Apple's ego and elitism.

Usability and Support

I have a plan.

Every app from an organization would have a single method to handle exceptions/error-messages. To make it doable, we would first need to replace problem tech language into an english language version by using a simple code or color. For developers, we need to create an automatic "connect-the-dot" system of resolutions that helped others in the past. How??

When a person reaches an exception/error-message, they are shown a visual of how many people are faced with the same problem, and a list of best solutions those individuals did on resolving the problem. It's an iteration of the Amazon method:

How Do Customers Ultimately Resolve this Problem?

The "articles" shown will connect to solutions in a "Help Center" site.

What do you think?

Bill Gates to attendees of World Usability Day

As we make interacting with technology more and more like interacting with human beings. It becomes even more important that we understand how people use techonology, and how we can create products that are easy to use. That is why Usability, User Research, and User Experience are so important. More than ever, usability and great design are critical to delivering products that provide great experiences. -- Bill Gates to attendees of World Usability Day 2003.

From video on posted on World Usability Day site:

• http://www.worldusabilityday.org/

Albert Einstein

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

More definitions of Usability......

Stuck in the moment and you can't get out of it.

I love this U2 song.

It can be translated into a usability issue of what many of us fall into. It happens when we try something new or for the first time. When we find a problem we believed it is a sign of instability, neglect, or carelessness. We directly assocIate it with a product or brand, even when it has been fixed.

We get stuck in the moment and we can get out of it.

We use the issue as an excuse to not use the product, or to use something else. This is where the perverbial rubber meats the road. Why?

Even though the problem may have been fixed quickly.....achieving this only "stops the bleeding" by saving new people from getting faced with the problem. This bad user experience erodes the trust/confidence of a user. It breaks the most powerful benefit of usability, "Word of mouth."

Having a user "Stuck in a moment" is a dagger to usability and for the acceptance of the app.

GUI

Why were GUI's(Graphic User Interface) created? Why do we need things like Windows, Mac, Linux, or other operating systems? Why don't people just use a "command line" to do these things or just hard code a document or web page?

I believe with the author of this blog that GUI's and Usability brings the importance of being:

1. Clear
2. Concise
3. Familiar
4. Responsive
5. Consistent
6. Attractive
7. Efficient
8. Forgiving
   

Characteristics as these can only increase adoption and communicate value. This is the ROI of usability.

Too many times developers see usability as adding unnecessary work to their jobs. I of course disagree. It is actually vital for creation of raving fans. People want flexibility, but they do not want features that are hard to use, manage, or maintain. If found it too difficult, any hard work and time spent in development of an app will be lost.

Kindle

No, I am not talking about the device from Amazon. :-). I am talking about stuff you use to ignite a fire. Major problems will happen with software. Wrong decisions or unexpected changes can quickly get people angry. Usability is never big enough to do this. They often appear small, and trivial. Each is like a rock of charcoal. But put them together or add them with a fire and oh oh.....
Problems with usability always makes major problems worst. So never take them lightly. They look harmless by themselves, but adding them with a major "issue" can make a fire burn hotter. Many times you do not know usability issues are kindle making the fire burn so hot. Removing it can only reduce the intensity, but we all are aware that technology is not fireproof.

False Positives & Trust

What are false positives? Does you spam filter ever put a email that you wanted in your junk mail folder? When you spam filter does this, it is called a false positive. A program that generates false positives will cause a user to loose trust in a product. It is a clear and present mistake that stays in the users mind and erodes the viability of an app from doing a particular job.

This action violates the "Holy Grail" of usability:

• the desire to recommend a product to a friend
• trust of a user to stay with a product, a brand, or a routine
• buy-in of a product
• the promise of consistency

False positives directly violate the trust of a product. Cindi Farmer, a good colleague and friend, said it perfectly on how to earn trust:

Trust really is gold.

Trust can never be taken lightly. It cannot be given, it must be earned. False positives is the fastest way to violate this trust.

Note

Q: Why did Microsoft Vista fail??

A: Because of poor usability.

Feedback

Just like in Alcohol anonymous the first step is to accept you have a problem. It is the same with usability. This is done by removing assumptions where ever possible. Your enhancements need to be guided by research and feedback. I have a strong sociology background so this may give a understanding why I lean towards this so much.

There are a lot a ways to get feedback. But I believe taking the simple approach and learn from things around us is always. I found Apple did something I really liked on the topic. Apple is not a premiere company on usability. I actually believe there ability to lead is hampered by elitism. But they do create good things from time-to-time. The feedback function on their new Safari beta app is a great example.

Immediate feedback is a good source of usability. Like surveys after a training, or clickers during a class. What Apple did was integrate this into a software app. They added this button in the top right of the beta app:

The button takes you to this window:

If you click on "More Options" you get this:

That is what I call usability in action.

1. Clear, simple, and nimble way to get an opinion.
2. Easy as picking up a pencil.
3. The taxonomy/structured content is the second option, not the first.

Like a bird...