IT Solutions Blog

Highlights of Week 10/2010

Michael Gaigg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:43:00 +0000

Another week of fantastic articles! A little digging (or reading my blog ;) ) will save you time and buying books hehe.

15 Desktop & Online Wireframing Tools (by Tom Walker) - I use Balsamiq Mockups, what about you?
User Experience Books Free to Read Online (by Simon Whatley) - yes, free ;)
The Future of Wireframes (by Nishant Kothary) - in Nishant's words: holy guacamole!
Do’s and Don’ts of Usability Testing (by Demetrius Madrigal and Bryan McClain) - my take-away: don't jump to conclusions, that truly is a beginner mistake.
How to Increase Conversions on any Website in 45 Minutes (by Andrew Follett) - improvement can happen in less than an hour, keep it down to the top 3 items!
43 Essential Controls for Web Applications (by Theresa Neil) - just being able to name them properly (not to mention program them) is a huge communication plus.
How to Choose Right CSS Frameworks (by Joel Reyes) - a must read for any web programmer. Know at least one css framework really well.
Why you only need to test with five users (explained) (by Jeff Sauro) - I mean, really well explained.
Email verification – is your call-to-action strong enough? (by Harry Brignull) - it's tough to lose customers that WANT to be customers. Consider lazy registration as well!
"Call to Action" Buttons: Guidelines, Best Practices and Examples (by hongkiat) - Another really important article. Talks about size, color, labels etc.

Highlights of Week 09/2010

Michael Gaigg — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:56:29 +0000

10 unexpected online user behaviours to look out for (by webcredible team) – the really interesting thing is that they talk about “People” and not “Users” A Review of Consistent Designs on the Web (by Noam Almosnino) – a check list (like it) and visual examples (love it). Design Multilingual Website: A Beginner’s Guide [...]

Highlights of Week 08/2010

Michael Gaigg — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:04:59 +0000

Wow, what a week with truly amazing content which once more shows me how many talented and dedicated people are on the web. Thanks all for sharing your knowledge!! Vancouver Olympics Web sites are inaccessible to disabled people (by Joe Clark) – hope at least the website of the Special Olympics will be… Joe, wanna [...]

Undercover Boss is User-centered Design at its best

Michael Gaigg — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:37:29 +0000

I'm amazed, though not surprised, how revealing and informative field trips can be. Three episodes into Undercover Boss, a reality TV series by CBS, it becomes obvious how easy it is for upper management to get disconnected from the base, for a CEO to know little to nothing about its employees and their work conditions, for a corporate policy being counterproductive. High-level assumptions don't live up to their expectations, prove to be ineffective, are misinterpreted or simply not useful at all. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Undercover Boss logo"][/caption] For all that haven't seen the show yet, each episode of the show features a senior executive at a major corporation working incognito as a new entry-level hire in his or her company for one week, to find out how the company really works and identify some of the unsung heroes among the employees.

Setting the stage

The show usually starts with the CEO of the corporation entering a board meeting revealing his plan to go undercover. I enjoy seeing the directors' mouths dropping with shear fear in their faces of the possible outcome and its consequences. Could it be that they know something might be wrong? Or not perfect?

Learning the hard way

The undercover boss assumes a new identity and with the excuse of being filmed for a documentary on a person working entry-level jobs in several different industries (or similar) starts digging dirt for Waste Mangement, cleaning dishes at Hooters or serving coffee at 7-Eleven. We see a woman that has to pee in a can for lack of time to make a toilet stop en route, store lights that cannot be replaced within a 30-day window, a restaurant manager having his employees competing in degrading games so the winner can leave early. All examples of failed management and policies with huge potential for change! We also live with some incredible and heartbreaking stories of inspiring people that are on dialysis or waiting for a kidney transplant but still work hard and motivated. A guy that works long nights to finance his studies but without perspective within the company, something is not going right here. All these people are invaluable to any company but unfortunately mostly overlooked, another missed chance of finding hidden potential. Some of them with incredible skills that are simply not needed at their current job position but might be essential in another. Where to go? Overall, the experience is eye-opening and a dedication to humanity, the revelation that every "position" is held by a person, that every "customer relation" is an interaction between people, that every "policy" directly or indirectly affects the life of an employee.

Catharsis

Finally the CEO, overwhelmed by his experiences, seems cleansed by his experiences and vows to correct the disgrace before it becomes outrage. In the show the boss reveals his true identity to the employees and like a big family they watch clips from the show, laugh, cheer and live happily ever after.

Effect on UX

Field studies, a widely accepted and practiced method of user-centered design, seems to find its way into the conscience of the American (and British - the show is based on the 2009 British Channel 4 series of the same name) viewers. It appears as the obvious thing to do. My very positive take-away from the show is that without knowing, managers, directors and CEO's will ask for more involvement of the base (real people), will involve field studies or user testing in their methodology which surely won't disappointed them. Their insights will improve the live of their employees (the society) and gain considerable business advantages over their competition in the long run. Am I dreaming or reaching for the stars? Let me know what you think?

Highlights of Week 07/2010

Michael Gaigg — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:55:01 +0000

The Skinny on CSS Attribute Selectors (by Chris Coyier) - CSS attribute selectors are really useful and I've been using them for ages; here a nice summary by Chris.
Common Misconceptions about Web Designers (by Shannon Noack) - working odd hours? When was the last time I've seen day-light? ;)
CSS files downloaded twice in Internet Explorer with protocol relative URLs (by Robert Nyman) - and Robert gives three nice (and trivial) examples on how to avoid it.
Create a Clean and Professional Web Design in Photoshop (by Waheed Akhtar) - Step-by-step guide for Photoshop geeks. Really basic but a nice start.
Is Web accessibility a human right? (by Vlad Alexander) - excellent article; and Ian Pouncey's response: Accessibility is a human right.
How to Make Your Small Business Geolocation-Ready (by Leah Betancourt) - jump on the train of geographically optimized interaction!
The Browser Choice Screen for Europe: What to Expect, When to Expect It (by Dave Heiner) - Microsoft finally bowed to pressure by the EU (better late than never).
25 Beautiful Examples of “Coming Soon” Pages (by Tyler Denis) - get inspired; and Walter offers similar A Collection of “Coming Soon” Web Pages

“Buzz this” for WordPress integration

Michael Gaigg — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:28:02 +0000

[caption id="attachment_645" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Google Buzz"][/caption] Christina Warren wrote a really nice blog entry on HOW TO: Integrate Google Buzz Into Your WordPress Blog, this will certainly get you started with your own buzz this icon/button. I installed Google Buzz Button plugin (by Internet Techies) that allows you to add a “Buzz This” button to each of your WordPress posts (download google buzz plugin). Yes, that's the nicely colored button right below these words - try it out, right here, right now ;)

What part of “No-reply” don’t you understand?

Michael Gaigg — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:28:34 +0000

Scenario

The application sends out automated emails with links to a report that was requested by the user and created by the application. The sender address is 'no-reply@company.com' and obviously not meant to receive any further correspondence. As it turns out, this exact no-reply email alias receives 'feedback' almost on a daily basis, some valuable and constructive, others from painfully true to filled with hatred, meaningless and doubtful. Here an example:

Thx….this rocks……I am soooo gonna use u for this shit :)

What should we do with this answer? Learn! It is important that you hear something... anything... that you give your users a channel to voice their experience from which you can/should learn and grow. Don't label them 'stupid' just because they "didn't get it", all the opposite, maybe YOU didn't get it because a reply to an incoming email seems intuitive and picking up the phone or opening a web browser with a link to a feedback form isn't.

Lessons

So what can be learned from something seemingly unwanted - or to say it differently: not anticipated?

Take your customers serious.
Turn supposedly unwanted correspondence into contextual insight (observations drawn from data that resonates with an understanding of the business).
Turn them into business opportunities. Let them help you make better and faster decisions or simply improve the quality and perception of your application.
Optimize your automated emails following the guidelines for transactional email

Do it like Facebook. When Facebook realized that their users reply to email notifications about let's say comments on a picture of them, they simply turned those replies into a comment on the comment. On the downside, less users go to the actual site to post the comment and continue using the service but on the upside the communication doesn't stop and becomes more real-time and valuable. A little give is a little more take I would say. Right on!

Highlights of Week 06/2010

Michael Gaigg — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:01:51 +0000

Maestros, at this point a quick note that I will be back writing my own content shortly (have quiet some stuff in my queue). So long, the highlights of week 6/2010:

Paper iPad - you don't have the money for a real iPad? Make one out of paper ;)
Using a Pre-Launch Checklist for your Website (by Ben Gremillion) - building a website is fun and believe me, it's funnier to follow a protocol. This one is a great start.
Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy (by Derek Sivers) - Value your first follower, embrace him/her as equal, the rest will follow...
If 1 of 5 users has a problem in a usability test will it impact 1% or 20% of all users? (by Jeff Sauro) - take observed usability issues serious, there are more than likely critical issues.
Google Maps Get Labs With 9 Cool New Features (by Stan Schroeder) - nothing fancy when you work in a mapping company like ESRI, but probably a heck-full of work for google.

Highlights of Week 05/2010

Michael Gaigg — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:48:08 +0000

11 Outstanding Online Resources for Web Developers (by Barb Dybwad) – Probably you already know all these resources, but if not… yes, here they are. Improve Conversions by Connecting with your Audience (by Aaron Griffith) – About your audience, think like them, breath like them, be like them… or so… Modal windows (by Anders Toxboe) – a [...]

Highlights of Week 04/2010

Michael Gaigg — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:57:15 +0000

Win 5 Copies of “Fluid Web Typography” (by WebdesignerDepot) – leave a comment with your favorite typography link for the chance to win a copy of Jason Cranford Teague’s book (I hope this trackback counts as a comment . Finding the current location by IP and with the W3C Geo API (by Chris Heilmann) – [...]