Once you start looking...

Brad Abrams Once you start looking | Insomnia Cure

Brad Abrams Once you start looking | Insomnia Cure — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:24:04 GMT

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re: Once you start looking...

Anderson Imes — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 12:55:00 GMT

There is an excellent book that I read for a technical writing course about design. Definitely a funny read with some interesting insights.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0672316498/104-7138152-5220735?v=glance

The Inmates are Running the Asylum

re: Once you start looking...

Ken Brubaker — Mon, 28 Jun 2004 17:59:00 GMT

I've been reading "The Evolution of everyday things"

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679740392

Premise is that Form follows Irritation

re: Once you start looking...

sbjorg — Sun, 27 Jun 2004 18:33:00 GMT

It is usually easy to point out shortcomings of a solution. However, the fixes make them frequently worse. Furthermore, the complainer rarely has to live with his/her failed fix since they actually never implement it. Thus perpetuating the myth that they are a better designer.

Just a thought.

re: Once you start looking...

WadeW — Sun, 27 Jun 2004 15:08:00 GMT

Sorry about the bad HTML in my last comment, wasn't thinking clearly this morning.

Example URL: http://thedailywtf.com/archive/2004/06/02/188.aspx

Hosting Blog URL: http://www.thedailywtf.com

re: Once you start looking...

WadeW — Sun, 27 Jun 2004 14:59:00 GMT

For an example of the ultimate in an un-usable UI, <a href="http://thedailywtf.com/archive/2004/06/02/188.aspx">check this out</a>. Whenever I need a good laugh about bad design at someone elses expense, I stop in at <a href="http://www.thedailywtf.com">The Daily WTF</a>.

RE: Once you start looking...

nospamplease75@yahoo.com (haacked) — Sun, 27 Jun 2004 07:09:00 GMT

Ha! I drove my wife crazy after I read The Design Of Every Day Things because I pointed out all the design flaws. Especially after scalding myself at an unfamiliar sink because it didn't have an affordance for how it should work.

As for two spaces after a period, I think the jury is out on that one. I'd like to see some data on that. My personal usability testing says its helpful because it helps the eye distinguish one sentence from another quickly.

re: Once you start looking...

stan — Sun, 27 Jun 2004 05:50:00 GMT

here's a site I syndicate to. Basically, a website that documents broken things, designs, etc..

http://broken.typepad.com/

re: Once you start looking...

Sherrod Segraves — Sun, 27 Jun 2004 05:39:00 GMT

The problem with incompetence is that you usually aren't aware of it. This is the biggest challenge to HCI (Human-Computer Interaction).

Every programmer I've met firmly believes that he or she can design a good interface, but most just aren't very good at it. I hope I'm an exception to this rule.

One of the great things about Microsoft is that they take usability into account. Now with C# and the .Net libraries, Microsoft has even applied usability concepts to programming. Good work.

Anyway, design is an often overlooked part of usability. A good example is the usability guru Jakob Nielsen's website. Its poor design makes it one of the most unusable websites you'll ever run across.

The Non-Designer's Design Book is a great introduction to page layout and design. It's a great read - very clear and succinct. Much of what Ms. Robin Williams covers in that book can also apply to dialog boxes and other elements of an application.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566091594/002-9330131-4509642

(A small point for you Brad: don't put two spaces after punctuation. (Yes, that's unrelated to usability. (And yes, I'm overusing parentheses.)))