WebWord.com Newsletter Issue #61

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ISSUE #61

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                WebWord.com Newsletter
           "Industrial Strength Usability"
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                 Newsletter Editor
                   John S. Rhodes 
                     John@webword.com
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August 16, 2001                     Newsletter #61
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Table of Contents

1.  WebWord is Three Years Old
2.  Post Office Pro
3.  DarWindow 
4.  The Gift of Grey
5.  Painless Software Management
6.  Some Thoughts on Usability and the Economy
7.  Less Than Metcalfe's Law
8.  Password Usability
9.  Usability in Ireland: We're Just Getting Started 
10. What Can You Find at WebWord.com?


       
4446 subscribers 

        Tell a friend. Pass this along to 
        a colleague. Recommend WebWord now!
--> http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=319991



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ITEM #1

WebWord is Three Years Old


WebWord has been around for three years, can you 
believe it? It all started as a tool for keeping 
track of my usability knowledge. I wrote a couple 
articles and conducted a few interviews, and I also 
kept track of some links but it has obviously grown 
since then. I've conducted almost 50 interviews and 
there are over 70 articles on the site now. I've 
linked to literally thousands of articles and I've 
interacted with hundreds, if not thousands of WebWord 
readers. Incredible!

Here are some interesting statistics. They reflect a 
server log analysis I just did a couple of weeks ago.

- Average Number of Page Views Per Day: 2,529 
- Average Number of User Sessions Per Day: 1,443
- Average User Session Length: 8:30 

It has been a great ride. Thanks for sharing it with 
me. 

Cheers,

- John

p.s. 4,446 subscribers. We're getting close to 5,000!

John S. Rhodes
WebWord.com -- Industrial Strength Usability
http://webword.com
john@webword.com



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ITEM #2

Post Office Pro

I am no longer using Listbot to send this newsletter. 
Microsoft decided to squeeze a bit too hard. They also 
decided they knew what I wanted from a mailing list 
provider. They were wrong, so I dropped the service. 
What a shame. I liked the way Listbot worked. Isn't 
it funny how corporate greed works? (I do *not* mean 
funny like a clown.)

I'm now using Post Office Pro. It is effective, for the 
most part. It lacks a few features but I have a lot of 
control now since it runs on my server. If you are 
reading this newsletter it means that Post Office Pro 
is working, and that is what counts.

By the way, I created a new subscription page for the 
WebWord Usability Newsletter and the WebWord Daily 
News: http://webword.com/subscriptions.html

There are at least two very big problems with the 
page. First, I do not have a privacy policy listed. 
Most of you know that I would die before I would 
abuse the mailing list. I would not sell or give away 
your email address. That isn't my way of doing things. 
Still, I need to write that up. Shame on me for the 
delay! Second, I don't have an unsubscribe option on the 
page. Again, shame on me. It is on my list of things 
to do. 

Fortunately, if you want to unsubscribe from this 
newsletter, you can use the link at the very bottom 
of this email. I hope you don't use it, of course, 
but you do have the choice.



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ITEM #3

DarWindow

Several weeks ago I talked about DarWindow. Well, I'm 
ready to give you a bunch of the details now.

The basic idea is that users can download, install, and 
run a client that tracks web browsing behavior. The 
client program monitors browser use and HTTP port 
activity. While the client is running, it continuously 
cycles through looking for URLs. Those URLs are then 
sent to the DarWindow web site, which collects the 
data and manipulates it. The only data that are sent 
from the client along with the URLs are your selected 
"affinities" and your profession. It does NOT collect 
IP addresses, email addresses, names, or anything else. 
I do not WANT to collect this information. DarWindow 
only needs the URLs, affinities, and professions. This 
is not a tool to spy on people. It is not a tool that 
is meant to invade privacy. The tool, site, and idea 
won't work if there is no trust. 

User data is collected by the web site as it is being 
sent by the DarWindow clients running on the users' 
machine. There is a simple home page available (see 
below) to watch how other folks use the web. I think 
this is where the fun really begins. Remember, you can't 
see any individual data. You only see aggregate data, 
filtered and sorted into categories based on DarWindow 
client configurations (i.e., "real user" interests and 
occupations). Please use your imagination when viewing 
the results on the site, as the network grows, some 
very interesting things can happen.

I'm not making the client generally available, but you
can take a look at the DarWindow site:
>> http://darwindow.dominodeveloper.net/

Let me tell you what I would like. I would like to 
work with either a marketing company or a software 
company. I'd be willing to turn over a big chunk of 
equity in DarWindow in return for help turning it into 
a real product. Better yet, if you are interested in 
buying DarWindow, let's start talking. 

Send me a note!  john@webword.com



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ITEM #4

A new WebWord.com interview is now online:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/grey.html


"The Gift of Grey"

This is a really great interview with Noah Grey, the 
genius behind Greymatter. Here is a quote:

"Greymatter was, again, something I'd created just for 
myself - although significant changes were later made 
to it with user-friendliness in mind, it wasn't 
written from the ground-up to be user-friendly, and 
unfortunately I think it shows.  A large part of it, 
too, is that most of the people who try Greymatter 
come to it from services like Blogger or LiveJournal 
where they're used to having a site ready to go for 
them with the push of a few buttons." 

Despite what Noah says, I think Greymatter is easy to 
install and use, especially in relation to all of the 
other server tools I have installed in the past. 


You can read the new interview here:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/grey.html



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ITEM #5

A new WebWord.com interview is now online:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/spolsky.html


"Painless Software Management"

This is an interview with Joel Spolsky, the wizard 
behind Joel on Software. Here is a quote to hook you:

"Companies add features because some customers want 
them. Not every customer wants every feature: most 
customers use 20% of the features. This leads many 
naive startups to think they can deliver a product 
with 20% of the features and still capture the 
market. Then they crash and burn when they discover 
that actually everybody is using a different 20% 
subset of the features of the market leader." 

(1) I've been reading the Joel on Software weblog for 
a long time. Be sure to check it out and be sure to 
subscribe to Joel's site to get updates when he posts 
news. 

(2) Don't hesitate to get a copy of Joel's User Interface 
Design for Programmers. It is a great book. 


You can read the new interview here:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/spolsky.html



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ITEM #6

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


"Some Thoughts on Usability and the Economy"

This short article answers a few questions about 
entering a career in usability given the poor market 
conditions, and it offers some general career advice. 


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



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ITEM #7

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


"Less Than Metcalfe's Law"

Metcalfe's Law applies to interconnected machines in 
a full network. It does not apply to humans and 
therefore it does not capture the value of the 
internet. It also does not describe the value of 
connected human beings on a fully interconnected network. 
Metcalfe's Law is about machines, not humans. 

By the way, I expect some pushback on this article. I 
wrote it fast in reaction to some comments I saw 
posted in a discussion forum. There are holes in my 
arguments. Still, I hope it gets you thinking. Enjoy!


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



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ITEM #8

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


"Password Usability"

Poor password usability can ruin your web registration 
process. While passwords are a painful fact of life, 
there are ways to minimize the problems that users 
face. This article contains suggestions on how to best 
collect passwords during the registration process, and 
it will help you determine if you should allow users 
to save their passwords.

This is a guest article written by Joshua Ledwell, 
Senior Producer for Direct Marketing at Terra Lycos. 
It is a simple, but effective article. Check it out! 
If you like it, let me know. Or, post your comments 
here: >> http://webword.com/weblog/00000104.html


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



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ITEM #9

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


"Usability in Ireland: We're Just Getting Started"

Irish e-commerce is in its infancy and we have made 
many mistakes, but it is still an exhilarating and 
exciting industry. webBusters estimates that Irish 
websites are operating at an efficiency and 
effectiveness level of only 46%, due to shortsightedness 
and a failure to properly prepare, plan and test work. 
In this article Jude Murray of webBusters (www.webBusters.com) 
argues a case for usability in Ireland.

Obviously this is a guest article, as you can tell 
from the quote above. Again, if you enjoy it, let me 
know. Or, post your comments here:
http://webword.com/weblog/00000116.html


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



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ITEM #10
    
What Can You Find at WebWord.com?


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



----- End of WebWord.com Usability Newsletter #61 -----

      (c)2001 by WebWord.com and John S. Rhodes. 
                 All rights reserved.

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