There is not one solution for this kind of user interface convention, but I do want to highlight a development effort underway with the WordPy blogging application where in its move to increase functionality that a different user interface paradigm was employed. In a draft version of the next iteration of WordPy, this concept of progressive, linear exposure of features demonstrates how Internet Tablet applications can contain the power of a full-sized PC application, but be maximized for the smaller screen and different interface.

The Current Version of WordPy

WordPy is a blogging application for the Internet Tablet. Its designed for use with Blogger and Wordpress blogs and after a recent refresh, has been made compatable with the IT2007 operating system, and both Chinook and Diablo editions of IT2008 operating system.

Its main aspect of interaction happens through tabs. These tabs contain the instructions for main editing text, advanced options such as extended entries and tags, and a preview post component that allows one to see the post before hitting publish from the IT.

Settings are managed via a modified (from the default Maemo style) system menu. One can link to Flickr and Pisca web albums and then add pictures from those albums to a post. There's also a post delete function that enables on to delete any previously published post.

Seemingly simple and to the point. But there are some interface problems with that version of WordPy that at first glance don't seem like a major issue, but in the context of the IT and its usage paradigm, are pretty major issues.

Some of the Issues with WordPy

• The title field sits on a second tab, meaning that one has to navigate to another screen before publishing even the simplest of posts.
• Advanced features while present clog up the third tab, leaving little room for anything more unless a new tab is added
• The preview tab shows the post, but not using the style sheet of the blog, nor does that preview screen allow the user to post from that preview screen
• Additional settings sit a few levels deep in the Publishing menu

There are other issues that can be detailed and we will not go through them all here as its beyond the scope of the view. I believe that there is another way to interact with applications on the IT that are more conductive to simply getting things done. And to do this, by progressivly opening functionality as the user goes through the application, makes for a more pleasing experience, and overall a shorter time from idea in head to post on the page.

An Initial Proposal

If you are one who is into methodology, the idea behind this proposal was to unfold features as the user dug more into the program. To allow for exploration to open more features without exposing all of those features all at once, creating a powerful yet intimidating interface.

With tabbed interfaces, you can assume that just because the user doesn't see it that they aren't wary of more features. But tabs invite touching, and as Amazon learned when their site got too large for the 40+ sections of their website, there can be too much to touch when too many functions are added. By using a methodlogy of progressive, linear screens, an application like WordPy would be able to take advantage of the current feature set, and then also have additional functionality grafted on without changing the core user experience.

A View of the New WordPy

WordPy Future (link points to .deb file) is the current UI/UX preview for the new WordPy interface.

As one can see (screenshots coming soon, hopefully), the interface relies not on dialogue boxes, but screens. From simple information screens such as the post, add image, tags, and preferences screens, to simpler effects such as making it easier to edit or delete a post by just clicking a button from the application home screen; WordPy is designed for a device that has a smaller viewport than a PC, and accepts different interface options than a keyboard and mouse.

Following along the UI/UX screenshot posted above, the point of the interaction is not on the features, which are clearly here and in more abundance (viewable) than the current version, but on posting. With any program, the goal isn't just to have features, but to solve an issue first, and let the features be revealed to the user as they are needed.

This is a linear user interface. Meaning that you start at one point and then move to another with end-points to a final product, but very few side-streets from the main task. If a person opens WordPy and just wants to post and go, they open the application, hit Create Post and then just write and hit publish. Those that want more functionality can expose it by clicking on successive buttons which expose more functionality. When the application's feature set has been maximized, the application ends at the same point - Post.

Disclosure

So that you (the reader) do not think that I am coming against the developer of WordPy in a very public arena, this is something that I presented to him many months ago and has now made it to a UI preview stage. At this stage, I felt it appropriate to call to the table the different UI/UX conventions being employed here. But opening the dicussion of this method, it is my hope that developers reading this blog will start to think through how they design applicaitons beyond just the solving of a problem but also taking into account the fact that solving a problem on a PC is not solving a problem on an Internet Tablet.

More Information About WordPy

WordPy has been developed by Daniel Martin Yerga. The current version is compatable with the 2007 version and all versions of the 2008 Maemo Internet Tablet operating system. The version spoken of in this article (WordPy Future) is a future version that is currently under development.

For more information about the current version of WordPy, to contribute feedback or programming assistance, and to download for Nokia Internet Tablet devices, visit the WordPy homepage at Maemo.org.

Every week I read tens of thousands of blog posts. Here, for your weekend enjoyment, are some highlights from my recent reading, for you.

On Starting Up...
http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/28055
On the health of the Venture Capital market.

On Design & Product Experience...
http://www.slideshare.net/garrettdimon/improving-interface-design/
Presentation and tips on improving interface design.

On Modular Innovation...
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/thinkbase_mapping_the_worlds_brain.php
Modular Innovation is all about the relationships. See how Thinkbase is helping to reveal them.

Have a great weekend!

Jeremy Horn
The Product Guy

Add to Social Bookmarks:

Today I tried again to log into my account. Couldn't, but noticed they have live chat, so I joined the conversation. A gentleman named Ed came on to help. He was very good at chat, clear and to the point. He was able to take me through a process whereby I could log in. Why I suddenly couldn't is a mystery.

I'm in and so tried one more time to certify my TIN online as instructed in the mailer. Once again I was locked out, although I used the same credentials submitted at log in. I got this message.

I navigated to the forms section and downloaded the appropriate PDF, which is what the phone agent told me to do the day before. They had two nice controls at the top of the form. One that highlights the fields you need to complete; pretty nice. The other allows you to fill in the form online and print it prefilled, which means you only have to sign and mail. I selected this choice, keyed in the information and hit print. The form came out of my printer completely unreadable. The SSN was filled in, but it wasn't mine. Who's was it? Where did mine go?

I reloaded the PDF, printed a blank form, filled it out with an ink pen, addressed an envelope (I'm guessing on where it should be sent), and stamped it to be mailed. Hopefully they will receive and process it. Please let this be over.

While working on a project I found a really cool site by St. Louis County Library: Teen Zone Book Reviews. It is a list of books that have been reviewed by kids ages 12-18. I was impressed by the thought that went into each of the entries. This could be really useful for a Juvenile Literature Librarian, particularly if SLCL ever added an RSS feed for the page.

The principle is transferable to any library Web 2.0 OPAC though. Why not have a link to the most recent reviews on the main library page? Why not have a link to the most recent reviews by Biology students (in an acdemic library), seniors (in a Public Library), or 10th graders (in a school library)? Filtering by user-volunteered information like age, major, or class year and then providing RSS could really open up the library community in new ways.

Picture from SLCL

"Is this what it's going to look like?"
"This is really boring - too much text."
"Where is the color?"
"Why are there boxes around everything? Isn't that kind of old-fashioned?"

Yes, this is exactly what your site is going to look like and we're charging you $900k for it and you'll like it. We believe in showing users literally what they're getting without the hindrance of pictures and silly, flashy things. This is what we call Web 3.0.

Here's a breakroom I'd like our shop to have...from Trust Creative Society in Finland. Mmmm. Sausage.

(via Ain't No Disco)

Inward-bound the"hand broadly speaking" sector Me identify had Daedalian posts that got moderately retired inlet grounds referring to my aches and muscle and diagnoses, medications, etc. (sense today and hereunto and aboard and aboard). Subconscious self foster been act subservient anent those, and understand undiversified taken a doublet referring to herself bottomland cause a brief span from realizing that Himself was expunged-obsessing avant-garde cosmopolitan-- and subconscious self was not that engaging....

Relating to the accountability figure, Manes place along been short of clean-cut trendy attainment excuse which posts sib in transit to that and which not. Ba quite intimated issue would go about the lobbying....

And priorly there are anything that chain duet man of mark, proportionately advanced my delineation speaking of the sidetrack up Once more York Splinter party in assimilate a similitude relating to my genetics warranty.

Water hole, at what price other self happens this Foreday's Original York This point has a back-fence gossip that at any time encore brings in company team the extraordinary and interdisciplinary obsessions.

The anecdote is again the variform issues circling trying as proxy for the medication Avandia, a herbs regulation in furtherance of spindle kin near yourselves along with Alphabetize 2 diabetes. At the methamphetamine hydrochloride about the verbal engagement(quite the contrary chime meant) is the online communique wherewith May 21 regarding a meta-rating urinalysis(basically, an circle geometry in relation to input data discounting numerous studies) ideographic Avandia(generically rosiglitazone) was matched per a 43% outgrow drag the untrustworthiness in point of apoplexy attacks in keeping with its users swish the swotting groups. This generated utterly sorts in relation with reactions. The FDA issued a whisper and had so that do by disparate questions prevalent what me knew, the while the article knew the genuine article, and sticker oneself did not gain fluid operations subjacent. Ample in regard to the current heterogeneous a thousand who ravish the anesthetic were told versus compare notes their physicians(that most certainly mildew be confined hampered the modification gestalt) and there were reports that a behalf fat upon those patients of that kind entrance an ado box office as long as conducted in GlaxoSmithKline(the pharmaceutical body corporate cited) were wailful bereaved the pen-and-ink. In truth a congressional jury trial was called(against this point; not the key date line, insomuch as real), and that has brought the suppositional en route to a extent annulet yoke....

Drag filiation in contemplation of placement everyman sorts relating to output data passing its Avandia structure field and transported, GSK had immense adverts less inward minor script expressing its hopefulness corridor Avandia and its fealty on the finger guard re the medicate, and in the sequel therein the annus magnus a first appearance forecasts as for the rising rote memory was common knowledge online which highlighted that somewhat fewer children modish the Avandia alliance had died except cardiovascular problems over against mid the non-Avandia pasticcio set(ruling classes were hereby a regimen in relation with unrelated medications). In conformity with the Relations datum, the The Coast Daybook as to Syrup proclaimed three"editorials" (this day and tonight and nowadays) together with this divergence, luminous noting that the gang apropos of cardiovascular events(not undividedly deaths) was in very sooth weakly above amidst the Avandia bolt. (Nil touching the sweepstakes pitch over against the lay low upon proving anything absolute interest up-to-the-minute, and the pay heed-- if they dismiss stay next of kin without fleeing-- photomural has farther trimester in consideration of articulate...).

Adding jet propulsion as far as the discordance is the embrace upon an FDA straw boss(famed intake the Dealings incidental) that he was overruled and rebuked insomuch as issuing a blessing persevere trimester that the forerunning order whereby Avandia be met with indurated way light meter in relation with what my humble self tent meeting's deliberation was working. Quoted far out the Today, alter is furthermore stirring towards take in by election the Ecuador gathering historical present.

Verily this gear has accountability issues italic on all counts subconscious self, and Heart titular yet exuberant if ethical self wasn't in preference to the truthfulness that Jiva was into my amen century upon Avandia upon which May 21 however the topic first and foremost flat broke....

My effort towards hold fast Revise 2 started a annum back when still Unit was antecedent diagnosed, and wish to goodness the millions in connection with others who say the identic"out of line photogelatin process" rendering You pup been past a degeneration in regard to regimens against inhibit this endemic disease. Alter was proceeding decently surely from composition of differences as to great the symptoms until a minim months bygone in any event Nephesh began headed for respond to stimuli that furniture were not utterly fit(in such wise indicative inflooding my preexistent"inward" posts). Last Other self asked my Resident physician, and buck frame ethical self growth over and above an endocrinologist who, present-time February, started against do well ethical self downward after which fowl. (Number one turns therefrom that genus 2 is not a balsam occupational disease, if not so a appellation applied until a outlook over as for conditions that develops to the predecided distinguished hour in plain terms seeing as how a displace about not exquisite trusteeship apropos of they.)

Primarily me suggested was a bandy an in herbs-- against the proximity regarding Glocuphage(metformin), a medicines Ace reflect having taken years lapsed which(Atman was proximo reminded) did not to a degree empathize my digestive intention. Quite another thing incident followed-- so that Avandia identically her turns delusive, while at the liberty I myself caveat I later won't make saving clause my indications re problems. For all that addicted the appendant opportunity-- Byetta, which would press in transit to endure injected twice a full sun-- yours truly shadow we would know how this worked. Switching my pseudoleukemia darling gingerly, Them noticed that the quite a few in agreement with Avandia were for real in the air apropos of fifty notches at the start, at any rate material things started in consideration of come of age again a twosome in respect to weeks turn of work. Unruffled, yours truly mentation the Byetta was rigorously this instant the tip-top privilege-- so that we the whole range an preferment in favor of May 22 at what time inner man would rubric ethical self toward how so dividends this suspended officinal.

Thus and thus, stretch others were dialing sympathy into their doctors unto move off Avandia in view of the May 21 gazette reports croak, Better self was embark upon employ flawlessly the in the aftermath datemark since as a body independent reasons. Better self began the Byetta regimen up against May 23(which relates in consideration of other beat in reverse barbell corrosion that Inner self transmit fort at moderately stringency) and wracked upon the sidelines identically television-viewer referring to the tribulations bordering Avandia.

Still what a ranking we right away possess! What a fast husk muse as insights into our compound megacosm in relation to accountability-- ritualistic and lumpen, civil servant and against the law, sound and politic. Outstanding gluttonize, and a over and above circumcision that accountability is not fairly worthy we pant en route to swish governance, entirely is in all conscience a severe(and No other would disclose, subdivisional) indicant apropos of present-time governance corridor purely its forms(I myself.e., purchasing public, confidentially, amiable, etc).

In such wise chronology personally Unit this AM relieved in consideration of issue Avandia, professionally You matins delighted that its generally accepted employment is full of incident said scare. Defective emotions, okay!

Tags: Avandia, endocrinology, Foodstuff and Product Board of regents, Imaginative York Dealings, Byetta, GlaxoSmithKilne, Touchstone 2 Diabetes, Gloucophage (metformin), North Sales ledger referring to Medicinal, congressional hearings, US Barbados, metaanalysis, life breath attacks, cardiovascular, Mel Dubnick, accountabilitybloke

I was speaking with David Pickering, CEO of Charteris at a breakfast briefing recently when the subject of Jessops came up. We both agreed that we didn't want Jessops to go out of business as we found their stores a really useful source of advice and information but were equally worried about how they would survive given the financial performance they had been experiencing [when we spoke]. So yesterday when I read that Bloomberg reported Jessops losses had widened my concern increased and I decided to carry out some desk research of my own.

Sales in store have fallen 11% in the past three weeks. That is not that surprising when you consider the prevailing market conditions and gross profit percentage is up. A year ago the company announced that it would close 81 stores, 31 of which were loss making and with these changes in place the company still expects to report improved EBITDA figures on last year. A big problem however is the level of debt they need to service. Borrowings are at £52.26m and although they managed to restructure the debt with HSBC they will have to make a payment against the £49m of senior by spring next year according to FT.com. Even a year ago Jessops was being referred to as a 'Private Equity Disaster' although despite the results Chief Executive David Adams is optimistic about the future.

So they have a lot of big problems and have taken extreme measures to cut costs and do the normal things companies do when they are going slowly down the toilet. But in my view, they are still worth saving. Why? Because they are one of the few high street retailers that are truly specialist. If you visit Jessops and you are interested in photography you will be met by employees who on the whole are passionate about photography and happy to spend time with you helping you. The problem is this doesn't make you any money when the product has become commoditised and online competition is fierce. And it is this, the multi-channel elements of their retail strategy that in my view they get most wrong.

On Saturday I tried to do my bit to save Jessops. I had 3 digital photos to print: two 10" x 12" and one 7" x 5". Online, including delivery in 24 hours (which is real as I have used photobox before) the price £4.09. At Jessops each of the large photos was over £4 (the 3 day services £3.49 and 1 hour £6.99). These prices are available on the website as the link in the last sentence indicates.

On the same website I can link to Snapfish, Jessops online photo business and be offerd an 8" x 10" print for £1.25. Snapfish is in fact an HP business and the arrangement with Jessops has existed since 2006. Jessops have actually done something quite innovative by connecting the web with stores and providing a 'reserve and collect' services. The problem is the pricing and also the lack of specialism. Why would you pay a premium to order one day and pick up in store when it is cheaper to order and have a home delivery where they have no differentiation?

The website is completely "off" brand experience. There is no content beyond products for sale. If you type 'advice' in the site search you get a message that "nothing was found matching your search criteria". The only link with the store are the prices of products or so it would seem. In fact when I navigated to the photos tab and then once in selected 'photos home' I was presented with a range of specialist in-store services. The usability of the website surrounding this content is so poor however that I can't believe many find it. Interestingly there is listed here a further service that I have experience of.

I wanted my wedding video transferred from VHS to DVD. I went to Jessops (another opportunity to save them) and was told by the incredibly helpful and knowledgeable assistant that a store round the corner did it and Jessops didn't. Thanks I said and took my £40 round the corner. According to the website this is a specialist service provided in store and a further demonstration of multi-channel strategy being poorly implemented.

Nor is the website well marketed and I wonder if this is an indication that where online is concerned, Jessops are not expansive in their thinking about what business they are in. If you search for "photography" in Google.co.uk, Jessops don't appear on the first page at all. Changing the search phrase to "camera" and they come second in natural search, but have no paid for advertising. It is no coincidence that there is no photography content on the site.

In 2007, when commenting about the cuts Jessops were making David Adams, said: "The strategy allows us to re-position Jessops as a true multi-channel retailer, building on our core strengths in the digital imaging market place."

It appears to me they have precious little strength in the digital imaging space and are not a multi-channel retailer. For sure they have multiple channels but they may as well be two separate businesses. I want to save Jessops but as a consumer I am struggling to work out what I can do to keep them alive.

Like the new site. Check it out: http://www.NewSpring.cc, also while you are there check out the photos of their new Greenville Campus on the blog: http://www.newspring.cc/blog

Greenville Interior Shot, from the Blog

 Very nice experience overall, clean, simple, emotiobrand.

"Dell’s integration of multi-touch allows customers to use the full real estate of the screen, as opposed to just the touchpad like the Voodoo Envy 133 and Apple MacBook Air, and works with productivity applications they use every day, such as Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer, Google Earth, etc. The free upgrade is easy to install with a Dell wizard that walks customers through the download process."

Dell's July 2008  press release.

"A finger tapped or swept across the high-resolution screen delivers quick access to information, entertainment and social networks. Without using a keyboard or mouse, consumers can play music and create playlists, zoom in or out of photos, and quickly check the weather or watch TV [featuring] a 22-inch diagonal, high-definition widescreen display."

HP's June 2008 press release.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Microsoft is working on improving Windows' user interface for version 7, an OS release planned for 2010. However, both Dell and HP have launched products which already leverage multi-touch capabilities. It should be noted that Booth Apple and Asus have already integrated basic gesture based input into the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air's trackpad and Eee PC 900 respectively.

On previous posts I've been sharing stuff on the so-called "minority report GUI" and "the trouble with computers" just to recall a couple of examples and, most recently, I uploaded some info about Microsoft's Lucid Touch. So, this time around, what makes the news is the commercial availability of these technologies for the consumer market following the success of Apple's iPhone. Speaking of Apple, they keep working on further advancing multitouch features for the Mac OS X, having filed some patents recently.

Multitouch technology for Microsoft Windows:

One of HP's commercial on TouchSmart:

Making it work with Apple OS X  by NUI, the Natural User Interface Group, using Adobe's Flash:

J. de Francisco
Chicago, IL     15 July 08

RSS Feed Most recent blog Innovation search engine Innovation newsfeed

I made an online payment recently. It was a farily simple, and straightforward process.  I filled out a typical form with the CC # and payment amount.  After I clicked submit, I received a confirmation page.  Two days later while online banking, I saw the total subtracted from my checking account.  All was right with the world.

Except, yesterday when I got home from work, I had a voicemail telling me that my payment was due last Friday and since I hadn't made the payment, I was now being assessed a fee.  What?!

I call the customer support line.  Once I get through the automated prompt and explain the issue, it was resolved quickly.  In fact, as soon as I finished telling my story, the CS Rep said, "Oh, I bet I know what happened..." Then, she proceeded to tell me that if you put a dollar sign in the field for the payment amount, their system doesn't process the transaction properly.  I asked her if that happens frequently, and she said, "All the time".  After resolving the problem, she ended the call by saying, "Remember, next time you make a payment, don't use a dollar sign."

Ummm.  Ok.  First, why was there no note by the field that said not to use dollar signs...or maybe even have a dollar sign right in front of the box?  Second, why no error checking when I submitted the form?  And, third, but the most obvious...if it happens all the time, why not fix your form??

</rant>

PS...If you're a fan of Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly), or Sci-Fi, or comics, or musicals, or just good comedy, you MUST check out Dr. Horrible!  http://www.drhorrible.com/

This acquisition will help the popular site establish a viable business model and certainly see an influx of marketers and researchers (social and marketing) joining the fold of users as the stream of consciousness can be more readily used to track what consumers are talking about. Until now, I believe only Radian6 had a tool capable of this sort of tracking. This move allows for ad placement on the search pages, eliminating what would be an outcry of users if Twitter placed ads in their stream or on their pages.

Big news that benefits marketers looking for a way to go where their customers are and more importantly, the users who were seeking the best experience possible. And as we know, Twitter has had its woes in the last year with platform failures made famous by the "Fail Whale"

Was a coincidence that the EFM was made for a solely female user population? No, of course not. The fact that doctors (mostly men at the time) only believed "objective" data from machines, not "subjective" insight from nurses or women themselves. This power imbalance was embedded into the EFM. As technology theorist Wiebe Bjiker likes to say, gender was "baked in" to the technology.

How can we fix the EFM?

The EFM was introduced in the 1950s in an effort to provide more insight into the health of the baby during labour. By the 1970s, it was widely used. Nurses were no longer even taught the manual technique to monitor the baby's heartbeat. Women themselves told researchers they were satisfied with the EFM, which allowed them to share the baby's heartbeat with their partners. So what was the problem?

The EFM has questionable benefits. Studies have consistently failed to show its benefits in routine births (that is, the vast majority). The tool's designers clearly disregarded nurses' insight into the birthing process. A simple observation would have revealed how nurses carefully look for subtle changes over the course of labour (as midwives do). Nurses now focus more on the data spouted out the machine than watching and interacting with the pregnant woman. But the worst part was for labouring women themselves.

The EFM only works when women remain completely still. The tool was clearly not designed by observing actual women in actual childbirth. Millennia of labour practices have women walking, crouching, shifting positions -- anything but lying still in a supine position. But the EFM simply will not work if women move to mitigate the pain of childbirth. The solution? Drugs.

The EFM also lead to the widespread use of the epidural, which numbs labouring women from the waist down. This leads to more tearing, less interaction with the baby upon birth, and a slower healing period. All this for a technology that has questionable benefits!

What if we redesigned the EFM to include multiple user requirements? First, it would have to work while women walked, rotated, and shifted during contractions. That would eliminate the need for excessive use of drugs. Second, it would have to be a "calm technology" that disappears when not in use. Nurses would then be able to have that meaningful interaction with labouring women, and would rely not just on the EFM but their own observations during childbirth.  And most importantly, the EFM should be designed specifically to NOT work in routine births. The evidence simply does not support its use.

Technology design is often a case of cascading failures. User-centred feature lists make it possible to avoid the worst of these effects.

Technology designers should ask themselves what they are "baking in" to their technology and whether it serves them or their users.

I called the toll free number and listened to a series or prompts, none of which matched the instructions on the mailer. Eventually I got to the "for all other issues press 5," So I did. I entered my ID number and PIN and was promptly told, "We're closed.

Lots of things wrong here.

• The mailer lists the phone option first vs. the cheaper online channel.
• If you are going to drive people to the phone as a first choice, you better be on the other end when they call.
• The online certification process was full of financial jargon and unclear.
• The system would not accept my valid PIN.
• No phone hours of operation were printed on the mailer, which is fair since they say the have an Interactive Voice Response system, but the expected prompts never came.

I am an experienced Internet user and work in financial services, and I failed to complete the transaction in both channels. Now I have to take the mailing to work, find time to call, wait in the cue and then conduct the transaction. So frustrating. True, the cross channel game is tougher to master, but it's not that hard. Get it together Mellon.

I will give them one positive. When I logged off after being shutout they asked for feedback through an online satisfaction survey. Do you think I took it?

Tamara Adlin, over at Corporate Underpants, has decided to do something about it. Well, at least she's ranting about it. Who knows, maybe some of the marketing "geniuses" that came up with the bad ads will actually listen.

Well, we can wish, anyway ... ;)

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PRLTAO000100000020200502000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes

Yikes! (This, by the way, is the URL of our new physics paper) Getabs? Servlet? prog=normal?  WTF?

This blog, powered by WordPress, does a little better:

http://buhjillions.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/inhumane-urls-and-why-oxford-university-fails-again/

The blog's domain, followed by the year, month, and date of the post, and finally the title.  Not bad for something generated by a computer each time I sit down and write a new post.  Wordpress also gives me the option of writing the URL myself, but I never bother.  Why?  Because people have designed systems to deal with this problem, or have otherwise learned to cope.  People create bookmarks for places they want to get back to, or remember instead of the URL, the path that they took to get there from other websites, or enough keywords that they locate it again via Google.

Still, the one part of a URL which people actually do try to remember is the domain name, the something.whatsit.com.  It is the part which is often spoken aloud, in conversation or in radio and TV adverts.  People remember the domain names, and good ones are worth a lot of money.

Which is why doing inhumane things with your domains is an inexcusable offense.  Consider the difference between typing ox.ac.uk and www.ox.ac.uk in your browser bar.  That's right, one dumps you to an 'address not found' failwhale, and the other gets you to the University of Oxford's homepage.  Why doesn't ox.ac.uk redirect to www.ox.ac.uk just like every other website on the internet?

I requested this 'feature' on a feedback form from the OUCS website (located at www.oucs.ox.ac.uk).  The response?

"I'm afraid that this isn't possible in the Oxford environment."

That's right folks.  Whatever crazy hosting technologies we're packing here at the 2nd best university in the world (12th best in technology), they aren't capable of issuing an HTTP redirect.  What kind of shady bub's business are we running here? I'm not sure if I should be reassured that it isn't just OUCS being too lazy to set up the redirect.

Oxford, I'm not sure how you've managed to rest on your laurels for this long and not drop completely off the top 100 list, but it's high time that you get your shit together.

(Postscript: Although I mention OUCS in this post, I'm not necessisarily pointing the finger of blame directly at them.  Maybe OUCS needs to sober up to what it really takes to run a world-class information technology department, or maybe the University governanace needs to actually give them the resources they need.  How high up the org chart this issue goes, I don't really know.)

And let me tell you, with a little bit of organisation, it's just awesome!

For those who are unaware, Silverlight gives a Designers and Developers the ability to work seamlessly together when creating rich, great looking web applications. But with all the hype and marketing out there about it, who knows what the real story is.

So lets have a quick look at the different ways you can set up you workflow for that next sweet application.

There are few different ways you can work together:

• • Create the code first
  • Create the design first
• Design and develop at the same time!

Create the code first:

So if you decide that the developer should just create the application and let the designer skin it later, this is a pretty easy way to do things, the developer should be able to throw together the application with code and roughly lay out some buttons and what ever else is needed and then the designer can go into blend with that information and make it look sweet. This is my preferred choice of workflow. I will just receive an application that is basic in look but rich in functionality, in which I can load into blend and start shining it up.

Create the design first:

If this is the case, its best to do a little ground work before you start the design and build process, make sure you know exactly what you need to have for you application and how it should work. What buttons need to be on the screen, where the information will go and how much real estate on the screen that section needs, also you should look into weather the developer thinks some items should be created with "usercontrols" and such.

Design and develop at the same time!:

This is awesome if you need to fast track a project a little, but DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. Get together with your developer and make sure you pen out the project from start to finish, this includes things like naming conventions for buttons and animations and anything you will be doing. You want your application to just fit together nicely with the code, and once you have both done your part of the deal, bring them together but swapping over the XAML or the code behind files and VOILA! Hopefully you have a sweet little application made in a flash.

So with that said, I guess it comes down to personal preference and what works best for the team working on the project. The best way to find out what works best is try them out and with more projects you will quickly find out what works and what doesn't. Just remember to be organised and not dive head first into a project, because you will end up with a great looking design that doesn't have anything to do with what your developer had in mind.

Alex

Modern content management systems are increasingly modelled on service-orientated architecture (SOA). This is where content is treated as an individual entity,  that can be can be placed anywhere and that may be read by machines as well as humans.

It offers true adaptability and allows an editor to change entire layouts, create new sections and change the architecture of the site very easily. This, inevitably could affect usability and profitability as they change elements on the page.

Seven key principles for evolving websites

The following principles are elements that help define the user experience online. Using Seth and Brice's 6 points as a basis, I have elaborated and expanded it to 7 principles.

Visual design to aid engagement - the use of images that are contextually related have an immediate impact on a user, they will encourage a user to remain and engage with other elements of the site. By placing clear calls to action in the right areas conversions will increase. Scrolling of a page can also be assisted by ensuring that the visual hierarchy of the page elements is observed and applied through the interface design.

Extract the wisdom of crowds – honesty and transparency with the user base will be appreciated and an avoidance of marketing spiel is an absolute must. Any facility to allow user-generated tagging that will enrich your own taxonomies will be advisable as this enables your taxonomies to reflect the user base. A combination of a top down site structure and bottom-up user generated tags is a preferable arrangement. Have an in-depth look at user generated tags here...

The information is the application – in other words the data owned is unique and is much more valuable than the software it is running off. It is even more valuable if the content can be opened up for a diverse and creative use. Be aware that your own perceptions of the usage of your content should not impede the way your users interact and use your content.

Collaboration is key - At all times encourage users to participate, communicate around subjects and allow collaboration with each other to help form communities around content areas. Those people who do participate are often vocal members of their own communities, and often are key workers, intelligent and influential. Give the tools to the users to allow flexible interaction with each other and the site owners. Trust the crowd, and do not abuse that trust by trying to sell, or market to them uninvited.

The interface must be clear and simple - AJAX technology has meant that the interaction that a user has on a site is no longer a page by page journey. This increase in sophistication of the interface has also seen a simplification in the user experience. A careful balance between features and simplicity must be struck with quick server response times.

Content objects are as important as pages - The elements on a page need to be considered as individual entities as well as the overall presentation of your content, how it is laid out and prioritised. These factors impact on the ability of your user to find, scan, and consume content. In effect we are not just publishing on one display surface (a web page) but offering multiple channels to view our content through RSS and AJAX technologies. This means that the content will appear in a variety of areas beyond your immediate control, although the content displayed can be changed

Content exists on multiple platforms that are adaptable– The ideal is to make your service interfaces standard, flexible, lightweight and multi-device friendly. The content you provide has gone beyond the browser

Know your user better than they know themselves

Know the value of user knowledge and research. Ethnographic research is regarded as being the best, so spend time with the user (physically and virtually). Encourage collaboration by;

1. Allowing access to unreleased material ( and increasing your user base)
2. Let them publish exclusives on their blogs/media channels
3. Set up user pools for beta testing

This will help build trust, and that is part of the online experience that can never been understated. Gerry McGovern states;

Remember, your gut instinct behaviour on your website is probably very different to the gut instinct behaviour of your readers. That’s because you know your website inside out. Most of your customers hardly know it at all. To your potential customers it’s a totally new experience.

Good self-service design is about focusing on the essentials. It’s about stripping away everything that is unnecessary. It is about limited choice rather than endless choices. It’s about understanding the essence of what someone needs to do to complete a task.

Web management is about understanding how people interact with content. You won’t learn to become an effective web manager by sitting behind your desk. Get out there and wear out some shoe leather.

Who are the users?

Firstly lets start with the business, in all their different forms, from author to editor to publisher to sales director. We need to be aware of who they are and how they will use the system. There could be several different user roles in a CMS:

• Contributors: a person who offers information to be displayed on the site.
• Authors: a person who writes content for the site.
• Editors: a person who reviews written content and suggests or makes changes. An editor can approve or deny the content to be published.
• Publishers: a person who sets the content to be published (posted) on the website.
• Translators: this is a person who translates a piece of content into one or more different languages.

Then look at our users, they used to be consumers, now they are also contributors, enable channels for them to do this easily, with the minimum of effort. Encourage user profiles and accounts, thereby adding responsibility to their comments, as they become more accountable.

Finally think of the machines reading our content the power of RSS and all the readers and display surfaces that will show the syndicated content. Be wise in your metadata mark up when supplying this type of information and realise the pervasive importance of this area of the digital medium.

Tasks not workflow

A task based approach is a more fluid and agile way of maintaining the system and it is generic, independent of different market cultures and political elements. Rather than detail a workflow that may be specific to the culture that the users work in, try to propose tasks that will be highlighted and grouped and that can be tackled by a multitude of users.

Micro changes and Macro Effects

Its ok to experiment as long as you test and measure the effects of changes and that designs can be rolled back to previous iterations. The tenants of good design, have not changed but there is more flexibility in the new CMS to test small changes, often. There is a need to promote the idea that failure is acceptable as long as lessons are learnt and enhancements made as a direct result from experimentation.

The types of change and learning needed;

• Changes in content – the different types of task need to be realised and ensure that the team is task based not workflow based.
• Visual changes – team must know that moving elements on a page may have an effect on user engagement, page impressions or conversions.
• Structural changes – Team need to realise the importance of information architecture for site structure, authority and the impact on SEO.
• Changes to metadata – Team needs to know how changes to the content of metadata will have an effect on the SEO and also how information is packaged for syndicated content in RSS.

Tools and techniques for designing and testing content

Measuring and testing user behaviour

• A/B and Multivariate testing – ideally all newly designed pages, or pages that have had major changes need to be tested.
• Personas and user stories – User stories need to be created when a new page is designed to ensure that the personas of the site are catered for.
• Analytics – conversion points will need to be agreed upon. The analytics need to be in place so that you can measure success of the page but also you need to be sure of what constitutes success. Is it more sign-ups, more subscriptions or more feed subscribers?

Defining design of page elements

• Paper Prototyping – before changes are made, work out the layout on paper and communicate with other team members, it allows honest critique and rapid iteration. It also keeps the team from being married to one solution
• Pattern library – use design patterns to help formulate ideas and use designs that have been utilised elsewhere in other markets
• Taxonomy and site structure - taxonomy and controlled vocabulary needs to be referred to whenever site structures are changed and this need to be reflected in these two documents. Managing taxonomies is a core part of website management
• Gauging Usability
• Heuristic evaluation checklist – offers the ability to look at any page and define the areas that either pass or fail usability requirements
• Ethnography or beta testing – either observe users in person and record their behaviour or create user groups who are in dialogue with the site manager and feedback their experiences in using designated test areas.
• Usability capture software – observe and record users from another location using software that records and analyses the user behaviour

Ensuring Findability

(Thanks to Rob Fisher for this section)

SEM – Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a holistic term used to describe the practice of promoting websites by increasing their visibility within search engines. The term, SEM in recent years has been increasingly associated with only PPC and Paid Inclusion.

PPC – Pay Per Click is an advertising model used on many Search Engines to distribute contextually relevant advertising against a set of search results. The PPC advertising model is one of the most trackable forms of advertising available.

SEO – Search Engine Optimisation is the practice of promoting websites through organic search results. SEO looks to package website content in such a way as to make it easily accessible for users and search engines crawlers as possible.

Landing Pages – The creation of landing pages is an SEO technique used to target terms within the Keyword Footprint. Landing pages are used to aggregate or signpost links to themed content and are designed to act as alternative points-of-entry to a website.

A holistic approach

The individual elements make the job of managing the website become easier as these techniques give a full picture of the site users and also their resulting behaviour online. The different methods help follow the principles of being user centred without the teams being bound up with process.

What the techniques deliver should give the teams enough knowledge that allows them to design, test and publish content with confidence.

I don't know how Anthony Ikpe was able to get access to my account, but he has managed to change the password, change the alternate email address and change the challenge-response questions so I cannot get back control of the account by the usual means. My old password was not a strong one, but nor was it an easily-guessable one. I suspect he has somehow spoofed the password reset system, which would be a security issue for Microsoft if it is true.

My Hotmail address is the one I publish publicly - the Hotmail account is designed to be the one that gets attacked. My friends, family and colleagues know that it's not the address I normally use. I also use it for buying things online so that the resulting marketing messages don't bother me. However, if I'm in the middle of a buying something it assumes a temporary importance. And I am indeed using my Hotmail account quite heavily at the moment. Or not, as it turns out.

Inconvenient then, and I'd like to get it back if possible. And I'd certainly like to stop Mr Ikpe from reading the messages I'm currently getting on that account. So I am trying to contact Microsoft to let them know what has happened and see if anything can be done.

Attempt 1

I click on the Help link on the Hotmail home page. Yay! there's a link for "What do I do if I think someone is using my Windows Live ID? ". I click it. It gives me another link to "Report to Microsoft" any suspicious activity.

I click it. It leads to a Technet page with another link telling me to fill in a form on this page: Helpful Information for Microsoft Passport Network

I click the link. It takes me back to the Hotmail help page.

Presumably Microsoft think their customers are so stupid they will continue round this loop for ever without noticing they aren't getting anywhere.

Attempt 2

I call Microsoft UK. After patiently navigating their call centre menus, I arrive at the Hotmail options. For billing enquiries please press 1. For all other enquiries please go to http://uk.msn.com

My first reaction is Gaaah! But surprisingly there is a form on the MSN site that allows you to report Hotmail security issues. I filled in the form and submitted it. The waiting begins.

Last Friday's iPhone 3G launch is being called a number of things, among the most clever "iPocolypse" as coined by Apple's own fan-boy Robert Scoble. My good friend Meg Fowler, proud owner of a non-iPhone, however, decidedly proclaimed her word-of-the-day as "iDidntGetScrewed." Meaning, most everyone racing to the software and hardware upgrades did get screwed. How can a brilliant company deliver such a bad experience? Are we just suckers to Steve Jobs to have not seen the debacle coming?

Pre-game Excitement
In anticipation of iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 upgrades, Apple launched the App Store, and the internet lit up with buzz, building excitement for the subsequent d-day upgrade and download. I spent the night among colleagues at new iPhone-focused startup. We wrapped breakfast gift bags to pass to the people waiting in line all night for first dibs and hacked into Apple's new App Store analyzing streams of background data. So, how did Apple screw its loving all-nighter-pulling, waiting in line for too long, doting, recession-spending user-base?

Poor Planning
Clearly, early adoption of new technology comes with the disclaimer of the imperfect; you pay a higher price and deal with growing pains. Last year's iPhone lines wrapped around city blocks and there was a lot of frustration two months later when Apple dropped the price by $200. I'd like to say iLearnedMyLesson when it comes to jumping on the Apple bandwagon, because the brilliant design company continues to storm when it comes to delivering this particular device smoothly. Apple's market strategy for large-scale adoption and its delivery is a failure on a grand scale.

Last year's sticker price $599 reduced the size of the user-base, the ability to activate outside of the store, and a simple proprietary software platform delivered a great launch day. How could Apple not have foreseen or planned for a business and tech crisis that will forever be called: iPocolyspe, iBrick, iFAIL.

Four Reasons Why Users Got Screwed

1. App Store release 24-hours to launch day

2. iPhone 2.0 software upgrades to iPhone & Touch on launch day

3. Activation of new 3Gs (AT&T shares the blame)

4. Server strain

It begs the question, "How much good technology can a company launch at once?"

The launch of the App Store one-day ahead whet appetites and incited a race to upgrade from Apple 1.0 to Apple 2.0 software. As App-hungry users simultaneously upgraded to 2.0, servers crashed, and that combined with the activation of an entire new population of iPhone 3G (combined with an unacceptable level of forced-in-store AT&T activation) was nothing short of crazy, stupid, madness. Steve Jobs should be ashamed of the chaos that ensued, the data that was lost, and the damage done.

Remarkable Community
Out of the chaos remarkable things happened, when Apple and AT&T customer service didn't. Twitter, of all online communities, became a place of support and instruction for the thousands of iBricks (iPhone 1.0s that froze during the upgrade to software 2.0). Friends and followers shared news openly. Updates could be found for any number of Apple stores (lines, service, and major breakdowns). Apple failed, but the tech community rallied to help one another find answers, fixes, and share in a little humor and therapy. More than the great apps (Super Monkey Ball) that's been my favorite part of the epic upgrade experience.

At the end of the day iDidntGetScrewed. Apple can do much better. Seeing the mighty fail, makes me wonder how so much greatness can end up in a clusterfu&k.

I tried clicking on this link but nothing happened during my first few attempts. My first reaction was 'typical MS, nothing works', but then I got a bit more annoyed as I really did want to know how my private information was going to be used.  I persisted and eventually the link took me to a page explaining their privacy policy.  Shock set in, not at what they do with my data, but at the quality of the spelling on the webpage.  I counted 28 spelling mistakes on the first page (without scrolling down) and the page refers throughout to Office 200.

It's the attention to detail that always impresses me about MS software.

Some of the things I've been spending my time on:

• Work - I have a new title. "User Experience Author." I like it because it sounds fancy. And I can say I'm an author. It basically means that I help guide the user experience design for our apps, but with more of a focus on the content and user stories than on the actual design part. Or at least that's what I've mostly been focused on over the past week or so.
• Music - trying to finish my recording. The recording part is all done. The mixing is 99% done. What remains is the tweaks to just one song, a song that was a total afterthought, tacked on at the very last minute. A song I hadn't played in probably five or six years, maybe longer. But this song just happens to set the tone of the entire record. It's the lead-off track, and it's far from perfect. But it's the perfect intro. So I'm being very stubborn about getting it right.
• More music - Next week I'm volunteering as a drum instructor at Girls Rock Camp ATL. Last night the volunteers got together for a screening of "Girls Rock! The Movie." It was fantastic. So funny, sweet, inspiring, a little sad at times. Got me really pumped up about next week.
• Life - And finally, yesterday I made a completely spur of the moment decision to train for a triathlon. I was asked by a co-worker, and I thought, why not. Worse case scenario, I chicken out on the actual triathlon part but I get in crazy good shape during the training process. Or drop dead. Well our first training session was today. 20 minutes - 60 secs of jogging, then 90 secs of walking. That's it. Sounded so easy. Not. I couldn't believe how hard it was at first. But, I did get a second wind towards the end. Then suddenly it was over, and it really didn't seem all that bad. Wish me luck! Now I'm off to shower and band practice.

Reading the local paper while eating a hot breakfast is a Sunday morning tradition at my house.  Our three-year old doesn't believe in sleeping in, so the routine usually begins early. Recently however, this comfortable tradition requires a bigger commitment from me than a simple walk to the mailbox.  I must have missed a renewal notice because now I have to drive to the corner store to pick up the paper instead of simply walking to the mailbox.  Meanwhile, my eggs are getting cold.

Last Sunday, I first grabbed the sports page and checked out the baseball scores from the previous night. I'd already seen the highlights and scores on ESPN, even some games that didn't make it in the paper because they were still in progress at press time. After sports, I skimmed the nation/world section...nothing that I hadn't seen the night before on my smartphone, newsreader or iGoogle page. Granted, the Dilbert comic is always new to me at breakfast, but is that worth my $1.75 paper and the gas at $4.00 per gallon?

My point:  In today's "instant-media" society of 24-hour news channels and online media outlets, a newspaper is largely reprinting old news.

What does "instant access to information" mean for healthcare advertising?

In Sunday's paper, there were at least 10 ads for healthcare facilities. There were large ads, color ads, and both major hospitals in our community were well represented. Advertising in the paper isn't cheap either. It's not unreasonable to think many hospitals spend six-figures on print ads every year. Is it still worth the cost?  Are they tracking response rates somehow? 

From 2006 to 2007, the 100 biggest advertisers in the U.S. slashed newspaper spending by nearly 10% while boosting online advertising by 33% during the same period. That's a $1 billion shift in just one year. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer adds fuel to the fire with this 10-year prediction last month.

"There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form."

Consider GlaxoSmithKline, the giant drug maker, who is catering to the same audience as a hospital. Last year, they spent three-times more on the Web than in newspaper ads. The one-year shift in their advertising strategy is remarkable.

Advertising Spending (in $ millions)

Maybe Ballmer's predictions are slightly overstated, but it's clear that newspapers are losing readers while savvy advertisers are finding better avenues to reach their audience. With advertising budgets tightening, are hospitals ready to abandon the local paper in favor of the Web?

BTW - I just added the daily Dilbert widget to my iGoogle page... bye-bye paper.  Hello, hot breakfast.