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Who says you can’t improve on years of well-established tradition? Wal-Mart and Costco have adopted a new gallon-sized milk container that looks to save the companies lots of money. However, there may be some usability issues they’ve overlooked!
A New York Times article describes the following impressive improvements in business metrics:
* 180% higher utilization of coolers
* […]
“Historically phone bills have been as bland as a tin of condensed soup but T-Mobile saw an opportunity to make its bills more valuable as a regular interface between its brand and its customers.”
Good article about improving the readability and usability of one of those things we take for granted as being difficult-to-use - the paper phone bills we get (or used […]
Nice article from Andy Rutledge, titled ”The Employable Web Designer. He describes the necessary skills and traits for a successful career in Web design. The article briefly addresses usability, but at least they are included as necessary skills:
Usability & Affordance – You must have an understanding of common Web usability issues and the characteristics of contextual […]
“A battle of ideas is going on inside your mind”
From the Economist.com, an interesting article about problem solving behavior”
“Until now, psychologists have assumed that when people make a guess, they make the most accurate guess that they can. Ask them to make a second and it should, by definition, be less accurate. If that were […]
Good article on the use of checklists in healthcare to reduce errors during surgery. Here’s a taste:
Wednesday, WHO officials said preliminary results show the checklist nearly doubled patients’ chances of receiving proven standards of surgical care and substantially reduced complications and deaths.
“It seems totally obvious,” Flum says. “They’ve been doing this in aviation for four […]
Good historical article on how technology changes our lives and how we work. Very informative story about Friedrich Nietzsche, who bought a typewriter in 1882, and the changes that came about in his writing style as a result of using this new technology.
Similarly, the author, Nicholas Carr, discusses how Internet technology, such as Google, has changed the […]
Fun, somewhat tongue-in-cheek article about reading/browsing online vs. paper. He uses Jakob Nielsen’s writings as examples and goes from there.
Worth a read on Slate (Aricle by Michael Agger).
Good article in the NY Times about how technology companies are starting to deal with the loss of productivity from too much technology - e-mail, cellphones and instant messaging - being the biggest distractions.
Some of the biggest technology firms, including Microsoft, Intel, Google and IBM, are banding together to fight information overload. Last week they […]
Sometimes you have to protect users from themselves so they do no harm. Here’s a real-world example of creating a faux user experience that helps users remain safe and at home. Here’s an example:
There’s a bus stop located outside the Benrath Senior Centre in Dusseldorf. People occasionally walk up to the stop and stand there, […]
More advice about improving the design and usability of your website. Major categories include:
Copywriting
Usability
Search Engine Optimization
Accessibility
Design
Legal
View the article
