September 30th, 2008 chris
When you’re asked to provide an estimate, determine whether you’re supposed to be estimating or figuring out how to hit a target.
One implication of the close and sometimes confusing relationship between estimation and planning is that project stakeholders sometimes miscommunicate about these activities.
Most executives don’t have the technical background that would allow them to make fine distinctions between estimates, targets, commitments, and plans. So it becomes the technical leader’s responsibility to translate the executive’s request into more specific technical terms.
Usually , executives are not really asking for an estimate; instead they are really asking project leaders to come up with a plan to hit a target.
Posted in Estimation
September 30th, 2008 chris
The great Roman leader Julius Caesar recorded the earliest known version of this proverb, ‘Experience is the teacher of all things’. This holds true in usability as new designers make the same mistakes in the following areas where the seasoned designers now know when and how to use technology to create a good user experience:
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Plug-ins and bleeding-edge technology
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3D user interface
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Bloated design
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Splash pages
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Moving graphics and scrolling text
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Custom GUI widgets
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Not disclosing who’s behind information
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Made-up words
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Outdated content
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Inconsistency within a Web site
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Premature requests for personal information
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Multiple sites
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Orphan pages
Posted in Design & Usability
September 30th, 2008 chris
An organism is adaptable if it can survive significant changes in its environment, spread to new habitats, and come up with novel solutions to its surroundings. All of these abilities are characteristic of human beings. With this quality of adaptability and over years of Web exposure, audiences are slowly adapting to the following Usability Problems and today these items are slowly evolving to be a no concern anymore:
Posted in Design & Usability
September 30th, 2008 chris
Moore’s Law’s taking effect in technology today and the foreseeable future helped in making some problems in usability to become less important today. This is due to technological improvements in browsers, bandwidth, or other Internet technology. These improvements have somewhat reduced problems with the following 7 Usability Concerns:
Posted in Design & Usability
September 30th, 2008 chris
A New Year’s Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day and remain until fulfilled or abandoned. Usually these commitments are abandoned rather than fulfilled which is the same case for the following Usability Areas that still cause major problems today:
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Links that don’t change color when visited
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Breaking the back button
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Opening new browser windows
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Pop-up windows
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Design elements that look like advertisements
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Violating Web-wide conventions
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Vaporous content and empty hype
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Dense content and unscannable text
Posted in Design & Usability