http://talkusability.com Couch conversations about usability Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:28:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I recently saw the image below and was instantly reminded about the importance of context when creating usable products. Before I begin, I must note that I hope against hope that the above design NOT be copied by any sane contractor. Implementing such a scenario would be wrong on so many ... http://talkusability.com/musings/why-context-is-important/ I  want to share some Usability blogs that I frequent: 1. Experience Lab - I got this from Serco Usability. It talks about anything and everything pertaining to experience design. 2. Handheld Usability - is the legendary Scott Weiss' blog that talks about usability and user experience design in the ... http://talkusability.com/interesting-find/fave-usability-blogs/ Summary: My overall experience on DiGi prepaid was remarkably impressive. DiGi prepaid abided by the most basic tenet in providing a satisfying customer experience: reward, never punish users when consuming your service. Being in the mobile industry for more than 8 years now, it became a force of habit for me ... http://talkusability.com/reviews/digi-prepaid-experience/ [poll id="2"] http://talkusability.com/musings/usability-poll-what-are-your-thoughts-about-opening-links-as-new-windows/ Before designing a website interface, usability engineers represent the base layout via a wireframe. I've tried various tools ranging from Visio to OpenOffice.org's Draw, and have found Axure to be the most feature-rich item for our needs. Recently though I stumbled upon Balsamiq, an Adobe Air-based wireframing application that is ... http://talkusability.com/reviews/cooking-up-wireframes-with-balsamiq/ Apologies for the stale content. A lot of work is a lame excuse for not updating the blog. Andoy and I will be posting very soon. For a quick update: we are both attending a 4-day mobile usability workshop by the legendary Scott Weiss. Exciting! Not a lot of people can say they've ... http://talkusability.com/musings/its-been-a-while/ In the advent of federated login and OpenID, not to mention the release of the usability study conducted by Yahoo on OpenID, it is a relief to stumble upon usability guidelines for enhancing the user login experience. Gary Barber authored 11 guidelines on how to improve the user experience of login. ... http://talkusability.com/reviews/making-user-login-more-usable/ Let this be our own version of Usability 101. In the Asian region, usability is not a pervasive practice. User-centered design is in its early stages, which makes it difficult for other people to understand it. The concept seems complex that in fact, when friends or acquaintances ask me what ... http://talkusability.com/musings/making-things-usable-a-usability-primer/ I have gone through five mobile phone brands in a span of 9 years. In my experience, Nokia has produced some of the most easy to use handsets. And I guess I'm not the only who finds Nokia handsets quite usable. Enter the iPhone 3G, a new mobile device that has ... http://talkusability.com/reviews/the-iphone-in-the-philippine-context/ "On the Internet, it's survival of the easiest.... Give users a good experience and they're apt to turn into frequent and loyal customers. But ... it's easy to turn to another supplier in the face of even a minor hiccup. Only if a site is extremely easy to use will ... http://talkusability.com/musings/the-epiphany-that-gave-birth-to-this-blog/