How to stop car lights being left on
The lights in cars can be a very frustrating experience for users. Most of us who drive have left our lights on and quite a few of us will have come to our cars to find them completely unusable for their primary purpose because of somethin…
responsive website min-width?
In my experience most responsive websites don’t have min-widths so when resized to a tiny size (say a 100px window) the content screws itself up and becomes illegible.
example: http://alistapart.com/article/responsive-web-design
I love t…
How important is it to eliminate clicks?
Does anyone know of research that shows users rate applications as more responsive or easier to use when paths within the application require fewer clicks? Is it more important to eliminate unnecessary clicks than to create an application …
"Expiry date" or "Expiration date" label
What is the best form label to use for the credit card expiry date (during a checkout process on an eCommerce website)?
I’ve done some research and noticed that some sites use ‘Expiration date’ and others use ‘Expiry date’.
Which is bet…
Best practices for application alerts
As a developer, I’m always confused about the three basic values of any application’s alert:
Title
Message
Dismiss button
What should be placed in those 3 values? FAQ for myself:
Should the title be a resume of what happened or where…
A standard / benchmark test for user familiarity or proficiency with computer technology in usability testing
When conducting usability testing, a variable that comes up is the competence or familiarity of different users with Internet or software application technology. It seems strange to compare different usability studies and results if there …
Security issues if not forcing a user to sign up
I’ve built a simple web app Flask.io that enables users to create and share to-do lists.
It doesn’t require sign up. This is an important differentiator. I don’t want to force the user to register for a tool they haven’t used yet.
How it…
Issues with Tabbed Layout
Larger View
Here’s a screenshot of something I’m currently working on. I decided to use tabs at the top because filling in the "Office Details" is just as important as the list of employees and because in the future it could exp…
Why do physical keyboards still have built-in numpads?
Normally I use a wireless keyboard without a number pad and a mouse right next to it. Having started a new job, I was finding my right arm somewhat more sore. This was confusing until I realized:
Each time I swap mouse/keyboard with my r…
Why are child-resistant packages sometimes easier to open by kids than adults?
Based on discussions with friends and colleagues there seem to be difficulties opening child-resistant packages in general. There are even stories of parents letting their kids (supervised) open child resistant-packages just because they c…