WebWord.com Newsletter Issue #51

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ISSUE #51
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                WebWord.com Newsletter
           "Technology. Humans. Experience"
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                 Newsletter Editor
                   John S. Rhodes 
                     John@webword.com
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October 22, 2000                    Newsletter #51
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Table of Contents

1. Constructive Criticism
2. Trouble in Paradise: Problems Facing the Usability Community
3. Brief Open Letter to Fool.com
4. Call Them Demons, Call Them Heroes
5. Bounty Hunter E-Commerce Experiment
6. Usability of Sony DSC-S70

        
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ITEM #1

Constructive Criticism

A lot of people like WebWord.com because it offers up
reasonably good usability content with a touch of 
personality. However, some people think that I am out
to attack and degrade the web. That is not true in 
any sense, and in fact, I am out to make the web a
better place. I want to thank those people that 
understand my constructive criticisms. For those other
folks that think I am always on a rampage, well, 
please try to understand that I am trying to raise 
awareness of usability and related issues. Also be 
aware that I have to endure a lot of criticism because
of what I write. I'm not asking for sympathy; I'm not
asking for pity. Instead, I am asking that you think
for a moment about why I am taking a stand on usability
issues. Draw your own conclusions from that.

Cheers,

John S. Rhodes
WebWord.com -- Industrial Strength Usability
http://webword.com
john@webword.com
607-427-WORD (9673)


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ITEM #2

A new WebWord.com article is now online:
--> http://www.webword.com/moving/death.html

"Trouble in Paradise: Problems Facing the Usability Community"

There are problems with usability and the usability 
community. This article is my attempt to raise some of 
the most important and interesting issues. In my opinion, 
usability as we know it is dying. It is outdated, 
misunderstood, and it faces very serious challenges in 
web and software development circles. 

Note: I hope that usability professionals understand 
that I am not attacking them, nor am I degrading their 
work. I am trying to raise awareness and I am trying to 
start a conversation. Remember, I am in the club. Also
be aware that many developers, project managers, and
usability professionals have written me to tell me that
they feel the same way. There are issues to resolve
so let's start doing a better job talking with each
other.

By the way, if you want to read some of the comments
on this article, you should visit this page:
>> http://greenspun.com/com/webword/moving/death.html


You can read the article here:
--> http://www.webword.com/moving/death.html


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ITEM #3

A new WebWord.com report is now online:
--> http://webword.com/reports/openfool.html

"Brief Open Letter to Fool.com"

On Oct. 11th, I had a (rare) bad experience with 
Fool.com. There was a deceptive banner ad on their site 
so I wrote them a letter. I have posted it on WebWord
to raise awareness. 

I did get a reply, but it was lame. Basically, someone
in their support group sent me a note saying they 
forwarded my complaint to the advertising department.
Well, it has been over a week since then and I have not
heard anything more from them. I guess they don't care
that over 3,000 people are going to read my complaint.
It is interesting that companies still don't do a very
good job a managing their reputations online. I was 
even kind enough to send them a letter, in this case.  

You can read the letter here:
--> http://webword.com/reports/openfool.html


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ITEM #4

A new WebWord.com article is now online:
--> http://webword.com/moving/worddemons.html

"Call Them Demons, Call Them Heroes"

The language you use on your web site is critically 
important and shapes the user experience in ways that 
you might not expect. You can seriously harm or 
augment the experience by changing words in small ways.

You can read the article here:
--> http://webword.com/moving/worddemons.html


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ITEM #5

A new WebWord.com article is now online:
--> http://webword.com/moving/bountyhunter.html

"Bounty Hunter E-Commerce Experiment"

I took a picture of something. I will give $25 to the 
first person who can correctly identify the object. 
You don't get any clues and you have to be exactly 
right. 

Note that I have a link to PayPal on the page if you 
wish to donate $1 to the contest. I will take any and
all money generated from the contest and donate it to
charity. Therefore, if you want to guess but you don't
want to donate anything, that is perfectly fine.

I am running this contest to see how well people follow
instructions, how well PayPal works for users, how 
people solve problems, and a few other things. This is
an experiment!

Check it out:
--> http://webword.com/moving/bountyhunter.html


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ITEM #6

A new product review is online over at Epinions:
--> http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-C30-1196EA3B-39EA6CB7-prod5

"Usability of Sony DSC-S70"

I wrote a review of our new digital camera, the Sony
DSC-S70 Cybershot. I love it. While it was expensive,
it has been a great asset to WebWord. We've used it a 
few times and out clients really like the results. I've
also used it for my own purposes, and it is great.


Pros:  Extremely sharp pictures, Zeiss lens, USB support, 
       good size, huge storage capacity, advanced exposure 
       modes, excellent menu system, good user control, 
       pretty good software

Cons:  Expensive, proprietary technology, not enough 
       manual tweaking for pros, one step below 
       professional quality 


Read the full review here:
--> http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-C30-1196EA3B-39EA6CB7-prod5


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ITEM #7
    
What Can You Find at WebWord.com?


WebWord.com Services
<http://webword.com/services/index.html>

WebWord.com Store
<http://www.cafepress.com/webword/>

Job Bank
<http://www.webword.com/services/job_bank.html>

Articles (Moving WebWord)
<http://webword.com/moving/>

Expert Interviews 
<http://webword.com/interviews/> 

Recommended Books
<http://webword.com/books/booksindex.html>

Newsletter Archive
<http://webword.com/archive>

Weblog Archive
<http://www.webword.com/weblog>

Usability Reports 
<http://webword.com/reports>

Recommended Web Sites
<http://webword.com/hotsites.html>

Free Stuff
<http://webword.com/freestuff.html>


---- End of WebWord.com Usability Newsletter #51 ------




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