Website usability testing is something that should be done by any major web development company, or freelancer.

Forget what people say, usability testing is boring and seems like you are looking at the same thing, over and over and over again with little to no problems.

I found a way to make usability testing easy to do and fun.

Step 1:
Hook up a laptop or computer to your living room TV

Step 2:
Hook up a wireless keyboard and mouse

Step 3:
Open up the browser you are testing in and now, with a larger screen to look at, it makes you notice the smaller things. And since it is on your TV you can turn the channel and come back to it and do testing every once in a while.

HINT:

1. Get your family or friends to chime in and give their opinions, they will be more willing to help out since the website is viewable without having to get in front of a computer
2. If you have a wide screen TV and a game console then you can setup picture in picture(side by side) with your computer on one side and your game on the other and you can go back and look at the site every time you get to a save point, complete a level, or complete a check out. The important thing to keep in mind is to do it when it feels convenient to you so that it makes usability testing effortless and fun.

Now my two favorite tools, Google Chrome and Evernote now work in harmony with one another.

Benefits:

• This allows coders to quickly grab code that they use often for a project
• To find notes while using only one program for both surfing the web and notes

How I set it up:
When I read the tutorial it made me excited, but I wanted to launch the search feature using less characters, and since Evernote uses the “@en” for their twitter handle, i decided to use “en” to launch the Evernote search.

Here are the tools that I have that use Evernote:

• Twitter @en
• Evernote dedicated email address
• Google Chrome Search Bar
• Google Chrome Extension
• Google Reader “Send To” Feature
• JotNot iPhone image scanner
• Scan Directly into Evernote with my Epson Scanner

Summary:
Evernote continues to get my support since their developers work hard by integrated Evernote into every toolthat I use.

Since Evernote keeps surprising me and adds more features to their services, and as long as they keep this up I will write about them and suggest everyone I know to use their service.

I feel that there are some great resources out there that guide you to setting up a business but one thing no one teaches you is, how to setup the files on your computer.

Being able to find files quickly as easily is one of the key successes to running a business. Setting up a streamlined work flow has helped me create projects faster, easier and with less stress.

Below I have created a tree diagram that shows the core folder structure we use at Heka Interactive. These folders can change a little to fit a particular client.

• Client or Project Name
• Advertisements
  • Year
    • Month
• Banner Ads
• Documents
  • Year
    • Month
• Logos
  • Current
  • Archived
    • Date
• SEO
  • Year
    • Month
• Website
  • Current
  • Archived
    • Date
• Website Content
  • Year
    • Month
• Website Design
  • Date

Client or Project Name:
This is the root folder with the clients name (if it is one project) or project name if it is dedicated website or project.

Advertisements:
If a client deals with ads being manually added to their website, I keep them separated by the year then the month that we received them. This helps track down an ad easily if we need to look it up again for any reason.

Banner Ads:
This is the location where we keep any banners that we create for a client.

Documents:
This is where we store any documents provided by a client, such as: Request for proposals, Background information, or sitemaps.

Logos:
If a client has a logo or has us create a logo for them we keep them here. We keep the current version in the current folder and any archived versions in the archived folder, separated by the date we archived it.

SEO:
Since Search engine optimization is an on going thing we separate our SEO content by year, and then month. In these folders we keep any keywords, stats that we save from Google Analytics, and any research that we have done for the client.

Website:
We keep working versions of all clients files in the current folder, this allows us to make changes on the fly and then upload them to the server once we feel that the file is ready. Before we upload any file on-line we make sure we have a current back up of that file(s) we are working with. We keep archives of the files by the date we archived them. This makes it possible to have multiple archives so that we can roll-back to any version in case of a problem or change in direction from the client.

Website Content:
We keep all articles, copy, videos and images that a client provides to use that they would like put up on-line to their website. We separate these files by the year, then month that they were provided. We keep the content of the website separate from the website code and design.

Website Design:
We store all website designs (usually PSD’s, Fireworks PNG’s or IIllustartor files) here separated by the date we created them or the date that they were provided to us (we work with multiple graphic designers). This makes it possible to have multiple design revisions and ensures that we are working with the most up to date version.

Summary:
Our folder structure is always evolving and has changed over the years. As my company grows and as we learn more from other people and from ourself, we change the folders to fit our needs. Though our folder structure does change, these core folders remain the same.

I am interested in seeing how other designers and business owners setup their folder structure for their clients. So, if you have a folder structure that you use then please share. I am always looking to learn new ways to keep our files organized.

Note:
I have attached a zip file of the folder structure we use.
Our folder structure usually deals with website designs and development.

Posted via email from Andrew’s posterous

This past Tuesday Google released their anticipated new social media platform called “Google Buzz“.

Google Buzz takes the best from Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites and brings it directly to you, in your Gmail. You are able to receive Buzz updates in your inbox and then store them away like you would any other email. Having Google Buzz integrated into Gmail was a great plan on Google’s part, this makes the learning curve almost non-existent, making it a lot easier to adapt to and use.

Just like any kid with a new toy I sat down Tuesday night to get a feel for how Google Buzz works. Below you will find out what I thought was Good, Bad and the Unknown about Google Buzz:

The Pro’s of Google Buzz:

• Built into Gmail like Gtalk
• Page Rank for Status Updates, the more useful the post is, the more it will be seen
• Media Gets Pulled In from as Flickr, Picasa, YouTube with more to come
• Mobile Features for iPhone and Android
• Private and Public posts
• Threaded view so that I know what post I am responding to
• Allows people to see your public posts on your Google Profile
• Allows you to make Group contacts
• Static URL’s for all posts
• Built in GPS feature to show where you made a post
• Integrated into Google Maps
• Simple Menu
  • Following (Shows comments from people you are following)
  • Nearby (Shows posts made by people nearby)
  • My Posts (Shows the posts that I have made)
  • How many people I am following (Shows the number of people I am following, as well as who they are)
  • How many people are following me (Shows the number of people who are following me as well as who they are)
  • Find People (Searches based on name or email address you search for, your contact information will show up first, then the global contact information)
• Able to see Buzz posts near you
• Actually makes Google Latitude useful
• Integrates with Twitter
• Easier direct messages then Twitter

The Con’s of Google Buzz:

• I already use Twiiter
• I already have a Facebook Account
• Being too “Open” allows for run-on sentences, too many photos etc. (This is something I dis-like about Facebook)
• Unable to separate Google Buzz from Gmail, basically always on and in your face

The Unknows about Google Buzz:

• If I block someone, do they know?
• If I start to follow someone do they get a notified?
• How does it integrates with Twitter
• How do I backup and retrieve my Google Buzz Information?

Overall Opinion:

Overall Google Buzz has a lot going for it, but at this time I don’t know if it will replace Twitter for me.

Note: I don’t like Facebook so it can easily take the place of Facebook for me.

Check out Google’s Introductory video below:

This past Friday, January 29th, Google announced that they will drop support for Internet Explorer 6(IE6) in two additional Google products; Google Sites and Google Docs.

On Google Docs’ official blog they stated:
“​The web has evolved in the last ten years, from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications including video and voice. Unfortunately, very old browsers cannot run many of these new features effectively. So to help ensure your business can use the latest, most advanced web apps, we encourage you to update your browsers as soon as possible.”

Like Google, other web companies are tired of supporting out of date browsers. Many companies spend countless hours making their sites work for all major browser, just to go back once they are finished and make the site to work for IE6. In order for companies to support modern web standard they need to stop wasting time and money supporting a 10 year old browser and focus only on modern browsers. Microsoft also has said that they suggest you upgrade to IE7 or IE8, both of which are much better at supporting web standards.

Modern browsers have a lot going for them that many fail to realize. Not only are you getting new features, better adherence to web standards and speed improvements but you are also getting updates to help secure your information. As the web grows more of our information is stored online then ever before and the only way browser companies can keep your information secure is to have you upgrade your browser to the latest version.

My company Heka Interactive dropped support for IE6 in January of last year. We still offer IE6 to our customers, but at an additional cost. We did this for 2 reasons:

1.) We don’t want to waste time re-coding our work when we can use that time and money in other areas of a site.

2.) We want the web to grow, and make lives easier and we can’t do that if we continue to support out dated browsers.

I applaud Google for dropping support for IE6. There is no reason why we should support IE6 when people who do use it can easily upgrade their browsers, we are only holding the web back by supporting IE6.

Note: In the article “Google phasing out support for IE6” by CNET they cover another reason why Google will be dropping support for IE6:

“A flaw in IE6 was exploited in the recent cyberattacks against Google and other U.S. companies, and Microsoft scrambled to patch the flaw in a rare out-of-cycle patch release earlier this month.”

Right now many people are complaining that the iPad is just a large iPod touch and that it does little more then the iPod. However after taking a look at the processor and the capabilities I can see a easy way to turn your iPad into a powerful mobile machine.

Using the Logmein ignition app you can terminal into your main machine (Mac or PC). This will allow you to use all of your regular programs like photoshop and Microsoft word, without having to carry around your heavy laptop.

What makes the iPad perfect for this is that most of the time when you go to a meeting needing a  computer, you don’t really have to type that much, most of the time you will be looking at a document or a web page (at least in my case). Having the iPad will make meetings that much more interactive, because your customer/client will be able to hold the iPad and get a closer look at those web pages or documents.

The navigation is truly important in every web site, without a clearly defined navigational system your users will be lost and the web site rendered useless.

A far better medium to use as your resource are printed magazines. Magazines all have structural elements which make them easy to use and a joy to read, all while remaining completely transparent to the user. These elements are; Cover page(This tells the readers what they are buying and what the magazine is about), Table of content (This tells the readers where to find the main articles), Articles(the content for the readers to read), and Index(Tells your users where to find the information).

Break down any web site and you will get four(4) basic structural elements that are identical to a magazine in the following ways: the header is the cover page of the magazine, the main navigation is the table of contents, the body are the articles of the magazine and the footer and/or sitemap is the index, closing statements or any legal information.

Making sure that these four(4) elements are included in your web site design will allow your users to feel comfortable and focus in on the reason they came to your website in the first place: The Content.

Each website should also include:
design, typography, and hierarchy.

Note: An easy way to remember how to use this search feature, remember year, month then day… Which is the exact opposite way that Americans remember dates.

created:[datetime] ‐ will match any note that has a ‘created’ timestamp that is equal to, or more recent than, the provided datetime.

• created:20070704
  • Matches notes that were created on or after July 4th, 2007, based on the client’s timezone.
• created:20070704T090000
  • Matches notes that were created on or after 9:00am on July 4th, 2007, based on the client’s timezone.
• created:20070704T150000Z
  • Matches notes that were created on or after 3:00pm GMT on July 4th, 2007.
• -created:20070704
  • Matches notes that were created before July 4th, 2007, based on the client’s timezone.
• created:day‐1
  • Matches notes that were created yesterday or today
• ‐created:day
  • Matches notes that were created before today
• created:day‐1 ‐created:day
  • Matches notes that were created yesterday (only)
• created:day‐30
  • Matches notes that were created within the last 30 days (or today)
• created:week
  • Matches notes that were created in this calendar week (Sunday‐Saturday)
• ‐created:month
  • Matches notes that were created before this month
• created:year‐1
  • Matches notes that were created last year or this year
• created:20100101
  • Matches all notes created from this day on

• updated:[datetime] ‐ will match any note that has a ‘updated’ timestamp that is equal to, or more recent than, the provided datetime.

Posted via email from Andrew’s posterous

You have to admit, the toilet paper in a public restroom is pretty gross when you think about it. Since technology is taking off at a rapid pace in our homes and with many businesses, I think that in the next 2-5 years you will start to see an automated toilet paper dispenser in public restrooms.

The next questions is, how many squares will you get? 3, 4, 5? Who knows, but it should limit the amount of germs gathered from using a public restroom.

Posted via email from Andrew’s posterous