–Engage

Ya ever have one of those moment when you are using software when you just tell yourself, “How could I have missed that??” You search and search for how to do something that you KNOW is possible, but you can’t figure it out. Then … when someone tells you how to do it and you succeed in following their directions you just feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

I just faced that moment with a piece of software that is supposed to be the most intuitive and easy to use in the world, Mac OS X (10.3.7 for those keeping score; though I doubt it makes a difference). So I want to take this moment and not exactly rake Apple designers over the coals, so much as analyze what the heck went wrong. I think this follows my anti-”less is more” theme of late.

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Luke recently posted an article about form widget layout. It talks about the placement of labels in relation to the form input elements. I think he’s basically nailed it, but didn’t take it to the next level. He is right by suggesting that left aligned labels are ideal for longer forms where the data isn’t familiar to the user, but that leaves the labels sometimes too far away from the widgets themselves. Making them right aligned, means there is a left jagged edge and in English that impedes legibility.

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Ta Da! … Introducing the new, none-more-white, iPod Shuffle by Apple — click here

Ok, dang is it small. Size of a trident pack according to the picture. I would also say it is quite affordable at 512mb for $100. But there is definitely something major missing. I mean, look at it. There is NO screen.

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Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering, wrote up a piece attempting to describe what makes something intuitive entitled, “What Makes a Design Seem ‘Intuitive’?”.

I think that this article is nice paired next to the one by Don Norman recently put up on UI Garden (a new English/Chinese bilingual e-zine) and my own thinking about affordances, which to me is another way of describing the property that makes something intuitive to use.

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Here is a great salary survey.

This is coming just in time so I can now justify a raise.

Boooyah!

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT:
Position: User Experience Designer, (Full-Time, Permanent)
Location: New York, NY
(will relocate for right candidate)

We are looking for someone to join our growing Product Design group as
a user experience designer. Responsibilities include producing
innovative, visually appealing human interface designs; creating
design prototypes; planning and conducting usability testing; working
with developers to make designs a reality. We need someone who can
work independently, engage team members, communicate ideas, and
finally work with team members throughout the release cycle of the
product. This position reports to the Principal Designer.

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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about help, documentation and training. My current employment does a lot of what I would call unnecessary training. I have heard the word “training” too often used as a way out of doing a real investment to determine the right solution for the context of our users.

My initial reaction this past year has been to respond as being “anti-training”. In my situation though, I think it is still important to look more towards designing a proper digital solution than it is to look to training for an answer. However, I’d like to breakdown what I feel are necessary times to train and times when it shouldn’t happen. I’d also like to break down different levels of training or help and when they are or are not appropriate.

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Well a lot of people probably think I spouted a bunch of nonsense and did nothing about it. The reality is that I spent $35 total on my New Year’s celebrating and gave $40 to Oxfam &/or Doctors Without Borders through the host of our event at the “Hope and Anchor” bar, restaurant and karaoke lounge. Thank you Ms. Kay Sera for your constant reminder of our need to give to this all too important cause.

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