The Flow of Innovation

Interesting post on how a lot of innovation now integrates usability:

Why The Flow of Innovation is Reversed

My favorite quote:

The folks that built enterprise software were vaguely aware that their systems had to be accessible to the humans that used them but they had a huge advantage. The people who used them did so as part of their job, they were trained to use them and fired if they could not figure them out.

Today, no one tells you to use Facebook. There are no employer sponsored training sessions on the use of del.icio.us. The burden is on the designer of the system to meet a need, entertain, or inform their users. They also have to seduce those users, hiding complexity, revealing one layer at time, always enticing, never intimidating, until the user one day finds they are intimately familiar with power and the pleasures of the service.

The benefits are brilliant albeit somewhat obvious. Why spend time and money training and re-training every employee you'll ever have on how to use a software system when you can build one that a reasonably savvy person off the street can teach themselves? As the enterprise starts to wake-up to the new efficiencies the web has taught us, tedious "legacy" systems will be replaced with more usable versions and everyone will win.

It's The Software, Not You

Great, classic David Pogue...

It’s the Software, Not You

It reminded me suddenly of the touchscreen kiosks at Delta. Now, I actually like Delta quite a lot, and think they’re doing a lot of things right lately. But the kiosks–oh, man.

You come up, you swipe your credit card. That alone ought to tell the kiosk who you are, and it should therefore know what flight you’re checking in for.

But no, it plays dumb. It asks you to key in your destination. So you type in “SAN” for San Francisco. And it asks you: San Francisco, San Diego, or San Juan? Oh, I don’t know–how about THE ONE YOU HAVE A RESERVATION ON!?

(Yes, yes, I know–you might have more than one reservation on Delta. But come on. Let’s say you have flights today at 3 pm, tomorrow at 5 pm, and next Friday at 8 pm. As you swipe your credit card, today, at 1:30 pm, does it really think you’re checking in for anything but the first one?)

But O.K. You tap San Francisco. And now–I kid you not–it wants to know what time of day the flight departs!

Are you kidding me? It doesn’t know the airline’s own flight time? Come on–it already knows what flight I’m on, so what’s the point of this exercise? For God’s sake, just check me in!

Whenever I encounter badly designed software like this, I stand there, slack-jawed, mind boggling, and wonder what on earth the designers were *thinking.*

Chrome

Google is releasing their own browser tomorrow, called "Chrome." And the announcement initially leaked out as a 38 page comic book.

Pretty cool, and very exciting that this could signal the return of the browser wars...

Official announcement on the Google Blog.

Forgot Your Password?

‘FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?’ MAY BE WEAKEST LINK

Almost everyone forgets a Web site password once in a while. When you do, you click on the familiar "Forgot your password?" link and, after entering your pet's name, identifying your high school mascot or answering some other seemingly obscure questions, you can get back into your account.

But there's a problem: A criminal can do that, too. With the help of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, personal trivia is getting less obscure all the time. You’d be surprised how easily someone can uncover Fido's name or your alma mater with a little creative searching.

Should I Stay or Should I Tow?

I'll refrain from getting into the whole story for the moment and put out another opinion poll:

Car partially obstructing a narrow driveway. Need to leave for work and can't get out without jumping the curb (if at all).


Let it stay or have it towed? Vote in the comments.

(UPDATE 7/22 -- see comments)

Walk This Way

The holy grail of mapping is about to get holier:

Google Maps takes steps toward walking directions

Server Room

Hilariously awkward...and allegedly true!

Stalled Server Room

(via The Daily WTF)

Checking In Outside The Box

Hustle & Flow
Alaska Airlines' Airport of the Future makes quick work of getting passengers through check-in.

The results? During my two hours of observation in Seattle, an Alaska agent processed 46 passengers, while her counterpart at United managed just 22. United's agents lose precious time hauling bags and walking the length of the ticket counter to reach customers. Alaska agents stand at a station with belts on each side, assisting one passenger while a second traveler places luggage on the free belt. With just a slight turn, the agent can assist the next customer. "We considered having three belts," White says. "But then the agent has to take a step. That's wasted time."

Alaska, then, is likely to save almost $8 million a year on the Seattle terminal if it converts customers the way it has in Anchorage. The Seattle makeover cost $28 million, a far cry from a new $500 million terminal.

(via SvN)

How Apple is changing DRM

Cool article on how the insistence on DRM by record labels drove Apple to dominance, and how Apple might change the rules to stay on top now that the labels are leaning towards no DRM.

How Apple is changing DRM

Shoeless

Fascinating NPR story on the conspiracy of footwear, and why we don't need it.

Feet Hurt? Stop Wearing Shoes

Most interesting bit of trivia:

"In the Middle Ages, people began wearing shoes with higher heels to avoid stepping in other people's excrement. Today, high heels are considered sexy."

Full, multipage version of the article here:

How We're Wrecking Our Feet With Every Step We Take

Single Click Directions

Never thought I'd be giving Microsoft kudos for a mapping feature (I've been a little resentful since they killed Line-Drive directions when they bought MapBlast), but here's something so obvious it's brilliant:

One-Click Directions to a business from common starting freeways and/or cardinal directions.


The ending text of "This is the last intersection, and this next one is too far" is also a nice touch.

(It still has that impersonal Microsoft feel to it though. I mean, have you ever heard anyone call it the Rosa Parks freeway in real life?)

How long until Google and Yahoo copy this? I say before May 1 for Google. Yahoo is a tough call; they keep saying they don't need Microsoft in these merger talks, making it a slippery slope to steal the feature.

Web 2.0 vs. Web 1.0

"Please go to the following URL..."

7 Things you don’t see in Web 2.0 from Web 1.0

Feedback on the iPhone Interface

Edward Tufte is reknowned for his books and articles on interface meets design meets data presentation. (search his site for the article PowerPoint and businesses)

Anyways, he just put up a posting on what the iPhone does right, and a few things he thinks could have been done better.

http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00036T&topic_id=1

(make sure to check out the video link in the article for an actual demo)

And speaking of interface, with the new moveable home page icons, here's my latest first page setup:

After going through several iterations, I've finally moved my frequently used icons to the upper-right hand corner. This provides quick access for my right-hand thumb.

User Determined Computing

Interesting thoughts on a soon to be released Accenture study (rightfully) claiming that most users home computer systems and programs make them better workers and more productive than the ones at the office.

User Determined Computing

Today, home technology has outpaced enterprise technology, leaving employees frustrated by the inadequacy of the technology they use at work. As a result, employees are demanding more because of their ever-increasing familiarity and comfort level with technology. It’s an emerging phenomenon Accenture has called “user-determined computing.”

I also like the dig the blogger takes at Accenture's website towards the end.

I wasn't hugely impressed with Accenture's own website, which didn't comply with the most basic standards of Web 2.0. For one thing, it's Flash-based, with no options for a quicker loading, HTML version. And the Flash doesn't load quickly. Secondly, a pop-up window greets you on your immediate arrival requesting your participation in a survey. Not a good start.

(via SvN)

Most Evil Game Ever

Mario Knockoff is the Most Evil Game Ever

I can't even try to expand on the title. Just watch.

My favorite is the stuff that happens at the level 3 flag (towards the end of the third video).

Helpful Help

This might be one of the worst website help articles I've ever encountered. I know MySpace shouldn't be required or expected to teach basic html to their users, but a little effort via description or simple tools would go a long way.

How do I add color, graphics, & sound to my MySpace Profile page?

• Simply go to "Edit Profile"
  
• Enter the desired HTML or CSS coding where appropriate.
  
• If you do not know HTML or CSS, you can reach out and make a new friend by asking someone who has color, graphics, and/or sound on their Profile page how they did it. People on MySpace are friendly and always willing to help, so just ask! This is a great way to meet new people!
  

Gmail Interview (& Parody)

Interesting Lifehacker interview with Google's Product Manager in charge of Gmail.

Gmail Product Manager on IMAP and Greasemonkey

Strange aside:
Direct Lifehacker post links don't seem to be working in the new Tiger version of Safari 3.

Funny aside:
What if Microsoft Designed Gmail?

Windows Live Gmail

Bad Design in Everyday Life

Painfully true...and hilarious.

Bad Designs in Everyday Life

via SvN

Maps: Usability vs. Accuracy

Can He Get There From Here?

Great NYT article (via SvN) about one man's quest to revise and simplify the NYC subway maps.

"He wisely recognizes that usability is more important than geographic accuracy here. Subway map readers want to know how to get from A to B a lot more than they want to know the exact curve of the tracks along the way. Sometimes truth is less important than knowledge."

I completely agree. Reminds me of the magic that makes the old MapBlast LineDrive directions so powerful. A clear blueprint of where you're going is far more important that whether or not the map is "to scale" in a traditional sense.

Choices = Headaches

I read this blog frequently, and I liked this particular article.

The fellow runs a software shop, but they get other aspects such as UI, marketing, etc. Maybe a little like 37 Signals.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/11/21.html

The article discusses the many choices in turning off a computer using Windows Vista.