The Myth of Usability Testing
By Sam PascuaIn 1998, usability expert Rolf Molich (co-inventor with Jakob Nielsen of the heuristic evaluation method) gave nine teams three weeks to evaluate the webmail application www.hotmail.com. The experiment was part of his series of Comparative Usability Evaluations (CUEs), through which he began to identify a set of standards and best practices for usability tests. In each segment of the series, Molich asked several usability teams to evaluate a single design using the method of their choice.
From the documented results of the second test, called CUE-2, a surprising trend appeared. Contrary to claims that usability professionals operate scientifically to identify problems in an interface, usability evaluations are at best less than scientific.
In an interview with Christine Perfetti published in User Interface Engineering, Molich said:
The CUE-2 teams reported 310 different usability problems. The most frequently reported problem was reported by seven of the nine teams. Only six problems were reported by more than half of the teams, while 232 problems (75 percent) were reported only once. Many of the problems that were classified as “serious” were only reported by a single team. Even the tasks used by most or all teams produced very different results—around 70 percent of the findings for each of these common tasks were unique.
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after Firefox 3.6 – new font control features for designers
By Sam PascuaNote: the discussion below applies to work in progress that might show up in Firefox 3.7. It does not describe features in Firefox 3.6.
This post is from Jonathan Kew and John Daggett. He’s supplied a 5 minute video that shows some of the features on the fly. If you’re a total font nerd and you enjoy a soothing British accent, you might want to watch it.
View full article here
Browser Support
By Sam PascuaDeepBlueSky’s FindMeByIP is a great little site that will help all web designers and their clients to understand whysome sites look different on different browser even if they are built using web standards
League Gothic
By Sam PascuaThe League of Moveable Type has release a great new open source font; League Gothic.
League Gothic is a revival of an old classic, and one of our favorite typefaces, Alternate Gothic No.1. It was originally designed by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Founders Company (ATF) in 1903. The company went bankrupt in 1993. And since the original typeface was created before 1923, the typeface is in the public domain.
We decided to make our own version, and contribute it to the Open Source Type Movement. It’s free, not only in price, but in freedom.
Sydney Swans Football Club
By Sam PascuaThe Delivery
Design Industries embraced the challenge and delivered a simple-to-use web application that integrates seamlessly with Australia Post’s bar-code system. The task involved designing a process using legacy systems and processes to output data in a format that is usable by the mail house and that meets the exacting specifications of Bar Code 128.
Through close collaboration with the Sydney Swans Football Club, Easy Street Mall, and Australia Post, Design Industries guaranteed that the final web application would have full functionality and meet all the specified requirements Design Industries delivered on time and under budget with software that will be an asset to all companies involved for years to come.
Read moreBus Association Victoria
By Sam PascuaThe Delivery
The Bus Association of Victoria primary role is to encourage increased use of buses and Public Transport as part of the development of more sustainable transport systems by engaging with transport community stakeholders. Design Industries worked with decision makers at Bus Vic to devise the design and development of a micro website that would create a simple online web solution to assist members of the public to gather information in regards to working in the bus industry.
The Micro website that was developed by Design Industries is a simple to use website that allows potential future employees gather the common information they need and apply for a role within the industry online quickly and easily.
Design Industries also assisted the Bus Association to develop a custom web application that permits members to advise other members of vehicles that are free to be hired during upcoming dates and times. This custom web application enables members to help fellow association members make the most out of bus non use time assisting in making the industry more efficient and cost effective.
Design Industries also integrated a custom image gallery and journey planner within the inherent content management system and created a custom eNewsletter campaign for future broadcast to association members.
The end result was a range on online web solutions that helps the Bus Association of Victoria meet the needs of its members and provide value added online tools so members can run their own businesses more effectively and productively.
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