usability

The iPad is in many ways an iconic and revolutionary device, clearly filled with breathtaking potential. But despite the obvious beauty, hype and charm, it's important to keep a firm focus on some "usability fails" of the iPad if it is to fulfill its potential and become a major leap forward in personal computing. Here are four areas where the iPad needs work. Fail #1: Anything can be the UI Partly because of the touch interface, and partly because as a medium the ...

At the Tech4Africa conference in Johannesburg, Clearleft’s Andy Budd spoke at length about why, given the choice, users will always pick easier to use products over better architected products. Using real world examples, Budd explains how this principle should be applied to website design in order for websites to compete effectively. Decide whether you sell a product or an experience Using the coffee industry as an example, Budd spoke about the coffee farmer that makes around 1p for a cup of ...

You’ve seen a war room in the movies – frowning generals sticking coloured pins onto a map. That stuff really happened, and for a good reason: when you’re invading another country, everyone has to know exactly what’s going on. Losing bits of important paper under your desk could cost lives. London's Churchill War Rooms , from where the British cabinet ran its WWII operations. A Flow project war room. Software projects are never quite that serious. But there are good reasons why you ...

You’re probably not aware that good user experience design and good usability are actually just like great sex. The conditions must be perfect, rhythm and timing are paramount, a bit of kink goes a long way, interruptions are a big no-no, and cuddle time can't be underestimated. Read on. The Conditions Must Be Perfect You know what time it is…that’s right…it’s business time. Just as with the beast with two backs, if you want a user to have an amazing experience on ...

User Experience (UX) analysis and design is a rapidly growing field for good reason. Websites, apps and services are placing a lot of focus on UX to differentiate themselves from competitors. To get a quick taste of how design can be informed by clever UX analysis and thinking, just compare MWEB's ADSL options and sign-up page, with that of Telkom's product offering page. Even (especially, perhaps) if you are not well-versed in web development and design, it is probably clear ...

User Experience (UX) guru, Andy Budd, says most of today's websites remind him of "leaking buckets". UX, he says, can plug these leaks to "catch people and keep them there". So using a UX designer is a small investment which could result in profit of millions. It's what supermarkets do so well and why they have an almost 100% conversion rate with customers. Budd says it’s because designers guide users through the experience of a supermarket. Memeburn.com stole a few ...

For many inexperienced webmasters, the hallmark of a successful website lies in its popularity or the amount of 'hits' it gets every month. The apparent reasoning behind this fallacy is that if people are visiting the site it must be fulfilling its purpose. People wouldn't be wasting their time on something that doesn't work, right? Think of a website like a 'hotel'. The hotelier (or webmaster) tells you "3000 people slept here last night," and whilst that's an impressive figure, what ...

Much has been written about online marketing, whether it is search engine marketing, social media or viral videos. Much of it is also written about on-site factors -- design, usability, conversion optimisation and so on. But, maybe more should be written about the journey that a user must make from the marketing they interact with to the final destination: the conversion page on the website. This journey must be as seamless as possible, lubricated with carefully strategised copy and design. ...

First impressions count, especially online where your landing page is the battleground on which visitors and customers can be won and lost. You have a matter of seconds to make someone feel welcome enough to progress onwards through your website to where you really want them to be. The key theme that runs through each of these five points is: Don’t Make Them Think! Certain designs elements and styles are more cognitively taxing than others. Our brains are lazy, and ...

A web form is like a solid wall between you and your customer. The customer wants to buy your product. You want to sell your product. But in between there’s the form… and everyone hates filling in forms. Making your forms easier-to-use can have a dramatic effect on your company’s bottom line. Jared Spool has written about a form redesign that increased a company’s annual revenue by $300-million. At Flow Interactive we have seen as much as a 125% increase in ...