Wikipedia search is confusing!
I use Wikipedia almost daily, but today this dialog box struck a nerve: Search? Go? What’s the difference? Why would they make such a simple task so confusing, especially on a site that is otherwise...
View ArticlePassionate about Passionate Users
I just discovered Creating Passionate Users, a blog/website that explores topics similar to my own interests (cognitive science & usability) but in a much more focused & professional way. We...
View ArticleDesigning a “pick your top three” ranking question
Recently I had the task of designing an online data collection form that included a “top three” question. This question requires the user to choose three favorites, ranked in order of preference, from...
View ArticleTest for popups (if you really must use them)
Here’s an easy bit of javascript that helped me solve a big usability problem. The issue: we designed an application that requires users to fill out a form, then displays their errors in a popup...
View Articlesnap – automatic link previews
Snap.com offers a free tool that creates thumbnail previews of links on your site. The user hovers over a link and a small preview of the site appears (with a small link to snap.com, of course). I love...
View ArticleWhy “Yahoo” is the top search term on Google…
The Daily Domainer reports on an interesting phenomenon–it seems that Internet users are using search engines to go to websites, rather than the browser’s address bar. It’s faster to type “yahoo” into...
View ArticleBest practices for web forms
In the past week I’ve come across two useful reviews of best practices for designing web forms. The first is from LukeW’s Functioning Form–he writes about the pros and cons of different label placement...
View ArticleeBay’s Usability ROI
Jacob Nielsen writes in his latest column that eBay’s recent earnings increased because of better usability. eBay reported record profits for Q1. This despite the fact that the number of auction...
View ArticleLightbox fatigue
Jacob Nielsen just proclaimed the lightbox the “interaction design technique of the year“: In UI terms, a lightbox draws the user’s attention to a dialog box, error message, or other design element in...
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