WebWord

It’s been a very, very long time since I last posted to WebWord. It was in the middle of January this year. So that’s about three months. So much for frequent blog postings. Ugh!

I’d like to give you a quick update on what I’ve been up to the last three months. First, I finally took the plunge. I bought an Apple. To be specific, I bought a MacBook Pro. I have to say it’s one of the smartest technology purchases I’ve made. Perhaps ever.

Yes, I drank the Apple Kool-Aid.

For years I heard that Apple’s is easy to use, user-friendly, and just a complete joy to use. However, nearly all my friends used Windows machines. Also, I was simply worried about making the switch. But, I have to tell you, it was the smartest thing I’ve done in quite awhile.

The 17 inch MacBook Pro is a beautiful machine. To complement my laptop, I bought a 24-inch Samsung flatscreen monitor. So I have a dual screen set up now. I also bought an external hard drive. Backups are done automatically for me every single hour. (Thanks Tim Machine.) Absolutely brainless, no worries, no problems. I also decided to get a wireless mouse. Yet another smart investment.

Productivity is soaring.

I am mildly frustrated with some of the user interface elements of my Mac. But they are mostly trivial. In fact, so trivial, they’re not even worth mentioning here. That’s because overall I really do enjoy my laptop that much. The honeymoon is over, yet I am still as productive, if not more productive than I was before. Seriously, even with the learning curve.

I’d also like to point out that I bought a speech to text program called MacSpeech Dictate. After years of hearing that speech to text technology was good, I decided to make the investment. Extremely smart move. I can speak rapidly, more rapidly than I can type at least, and MacSpeech Dictate actually is able to keep up. Productivity is through the roof. By the way, the program is based on Dragon Naturally Speaking. The speech to text conversion engine is quite mature. Quite happy, as you might imagine.

Next I wanted to tell you about the Usability Professionals Association conference that I’m going to soon.  I’m doing a presentation with Paul Sherman and Daniel Szuc and it’s called Make Yourself Heard! Selling User Experience in Your Organization. In case you didn’t know, the UPA conference this year is in Baltimore, Maryland from 16 June through 20 June.  I really hope to see you there.

By the way, in the latter part of May, I plan on finishing my book: User Experience Infiltration Tactics. It’s about getting usability and user experience into an organization without doing any selling, at least not direct selling. I provide guerrilla tactics, secret methods, tools, and special tips to help usability professionals get usability into organization. It’s very “cloak and dagger” stuff. Plenty of fun. It’ll be available at the UPA conference.  Exciting stuff; can’t wait.

I’ll end by saying that a lot of my time has been spent doing online marketing and internet marketing. I’ve become something of an expert in this area. I’m quite keen on learning more about the intersection of usability and online marketing. In many ways, it’s an undiscovered country.

If you’re interested in usability, but you don’t know much about marketing, I strongly encourage you to get in touch with me. Similarly, if you’re an online marketer, but don’t know much about usability, I’m also the guy to talk to.

My friend Jesper Rønn-Jensen wrote something I think you might want to take a look at right now. It’s a great article, if not an outstanding reference:

Usability of Pagination Links

It’s a response to the Pagination Gallery which is also a great resource.

~ John

p.s. If you want to make sure that you don’t miss great resources and articles, like the ones above, you really ought to subscribe to the WebWord Newsletter.

Wow, I’m surprised I didn’t blog about this…

Back in November I wrote Choice Kills Usability for my good friend Daniel Szuc over at Apogee. Here’s a little teaser for you to read:

“One of the easiest ways to improve usability is by focusing on just one thing. When you present something to the user, be sure that it’s just one thing. All too often we try to hard to offer people several options.”

The article is a fast and easy read. Check out Choice Kills Usability right now… 

Here’s a link for you; great list:

>> Top 100 UX Blogs

I haven’t seen a list like this re: usability and UX in quite a while. It’s nice to see it.

Of course, I have to laugh a little. I see it as a “linkbait” attempt. Lot’s of people discussed this list and linked to it. (Smart move.)

Note: That link above was originally provided through the WebWord Newsletter.

Here’s another linkbait that I created recently, if you’re trying to figure out what I’m talking about.

How to Generate Web Site Traffic

See? It’s a resource that sucks you in and maybe you want to link to it. I’d love that. Or, maybe you want to Stumble it, Digg it, or bookmark it. Again, I’d love that.

That’s how it works.  Create something useful and — shocker! — people will visit your site, link to you, and drive traffic. Nothing tricky, just smart.

As most readers know, I write articles for Daniel Szuc and Apogee. We’ve just released my latest article…

How Direct Marketing and User Experience Are the Same

The punchline is that direct marketers depend very heavily on data and metrics. Keep in mind that many types of marketing do not focus on measurement and testing. Many marketers only talk about branding, positioning, and marketshare.

Direct marketers, on the other hand, absolutely must measure everything they do. Their success is directly related to how well their efforts convert to sales. Direct marketers care about generating cash, and the only way to do that is to measure and test everything.

This is how direct marketing and user experience (UX) are the same. It’s pretty good stuff when you think about it. There is a real, legitimate tie between marketing and UX. That’s something to cheer about.

I encourage you to talk about the article. Post a comment and let other WebWord and Apogee readers know what you think about this brotherhood.

Without a doubt, the best work is done by people who are dedicated to their work.  The reason is pretty simple. It is hard to develop something amazing if you don’t care about it, when there’s no interest or passion.

If you talk to people who do great work, they will tell you that there is dedication based on the inner need to craft something wonderful. It isn’t money or external rewards that drive the best people, unless you’re talking about people who make money for a living such as sales people.

When it comes to usability, this focus and dedication is especially important. The reason is that usability is mostly tedious, nasty work unless you are truly in love with delivery of a great experience for other people.

(UX folks are an odd bunch but I love them!)

This is a profound state of affairs. You see, it takes special people doing special work to make usability a reality. If you’re doing UX work, you need to actually care about the work you’re doing, and the people that will feel the pain if the design isn’t right.

This is why focus is so important. First, you need the passion. Second, you need the skills. But third, you need to focus or nothing will be done that has any lasting impact for world. Put another way, UX work can be good but never great without focus.

Dedication is the key ingredient. But, it’s often neglected.

The good news is that humans have the ability to learn how to be focused. More precisely, humans are predisposed to be focused. This is achieved through flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

There’s another way to think about passion and focus and flow. Many people wonder how long it takes to become an expert and to kick ass. Well, most research indicates it takes about 10 years to reach “expert” status in a domain. That’s dedication. That’s focus.

So, there’s focus on a task and flow, and then there’s focus over a long period of time. Both are required to achieve greatness in most domains, but especially usability. The reason — again — is that UX work takes focus because it isn’t always fun.

Greatness is found in the details. It isn’t instant and it’s rarely easy.

So, if you want great usability please be prepared to focus. Put in the time and you’ll see rewards. Learn to get into the state of flow and be ready to spend years on the craft.

You can make a difference right now. You can do great now, and it will come easier and faster as time goes on. Get going and good luck. Focus!

Are you looking for tips on parenting? If you are, you’re in luck. It seems that Jakob Nielsen has put together a web site for parents.

Well, maybe Jakob didn’t literally put together this web site. Perhaps he did not write the helpful articles. Maybe it’s not even his site at all.

However…

I think it’s really interesting that this relatively new site is so plain and simple. It’s as if Jakob Nielsen was speaking in the ear of the person putting the site together: “Create an extremely simple web site that provides tips on parenting. Make it deadly easy to use.”

If you think that the days of simple web sites have come and gone, you are mistaken. As Tips on Parenting clearly indicates, these unassuming web sites are still popping up all the time. People are just cranking out simple web sites with great information.

Let’s be realistic. A site with tips for parents really just needs one thing: great content. It doesn’t need fancy graphics, Flash animation, Ajax navigation, or even an RSS feed. Sure, those things might be fun, but they aren’t necessary.

In fact, I argue that the Jakob Nielsen inspired “tips on parenting” provides better return on investment than other sites with bells and whistles. The reason is that someone could crank out two sites like Tips on Parenting in the time it takes to build one fancy site. Speed is money.

Even if you think you have the best mobile web site on the planet, many people still think the overall mobile experience is terrible. That means that your wonderful mobile web site isn’t all that special to those people.

Let’s take a look: Five Reasons Why The Mobile Web Sucks

1. Wireless carrier networks are SLOW
2. Public WiFi access is a SCAM
3. Sites aren’t formated for small screens
4. Mobile device screens are too small
5. Advertising gets in the way

Yes, it’s true that the mobile phone user experience is getting better all the time, but it still isn’t good enough for a huge fraction of potential users. Putting that another way, I think that people *want* to enjoy web sites from mobile phone and mobile devices, but they can’t for one reason or another. (See the above article if you can’t understand why browsing the web from a cell phone or mobile device stinks.)

By the way, you have to remember that it isn’t just the devices. Few people can claim they have “The Best Mobile web Site” — Indeed, most web sites aren’t even viewable from a mobile phone.

The iPhone and Blackberry, for example, have made the experience better. However, again, it isn’t just about the device. Coverage is spotty and expensive and complicated. That makes the experience miserable in many cases.  And, the business models aren’t friendly to users. Take a look at issue number 5 from Five Reasons Why The Mobile Web Sucks — Advertising gets in the way.

The bottom line is that the mobile experience is better than it was but it still has a long way to go. Creating the best mobile web site will help you but you need to try to make the entire user experience is excellent. That’s hard to do since so many factors and variables are out of your control.

Eventually things must get better. However, right now, it’s a train wreck…

I’ve seen this concept twice now. It’s the same guy: Fred Reichheld

Would You Recommend Us? (Business Week) — McCabe says higher scores have already been linked to a greater likelihood that GE Healthcare will win new contracts from existing hospital clients. “Ultimately, it’s not about the score,” he says. It’s about “focusing on the customer.”

Measurement: It’s Easier Than You Think – “The key to generating “good profits,” he says, is a single-minded focus on customer satisfaction.” (Marketers: Don’t miss this one.)

Two things I love about this research. First, it’s extremely easy to understand and exploit. Second, it’s about satisfying customers. That means at least one more thing: usability.

p.s. I’d recommend The Simple Cash Blog to people but that’s because it’s mine. My guess is that kind of recommendation doesn’t count.

First, I need to ask you a question. Do you remember faces really well? And, here’s a second question. Do you remember faces better than names? Do you feel frustrated because you remember people when you see them, but you just can’t remember their names? 

Yeah, well, you’re just like 99% of the rest of the world… 

There’s nothing special about your ability to recognize people. It’s also case that most people are terrible with names. You’re human, like the rest of us.

You see, the vast majority of people are really good at recognition. That is, people are good at pattern matching. Recognition is most often described as multiple choice. If you give most people choices, where the right answer is one of the possibilities, then people do fairly well. That’s because we’re all good at recognizing what we know.

That’s pattern matching, and we’re good at it. 

On the other hand, most people are not so good at recall. This is the effort required to come up with the answer yourself. The answer isn’t right in front of you. You’re required to dig into memory on your own, to find the answer. Recall is often described as fill-in-the-blank or writing and essay.

OK, back to the previous topic: names versus faces. It’s just a lot harder to remember names than faces. Humans are wired to recognize and pattern match (and guess), but they’re not so good at digging up memories.  Here’s something that will always help you: cues. In plain terms, if you give someone a piece of the answer (i.e., cue), you will increase accuracy. 

Life is all about cues. If you think you’re going to forget something, leave behind cues. This is why writing notes to yourself is so smart. If you think you’re going to forget then leave behind those breadcrumbs. Design your life in a way that gives you more opportunities for recognition. More recognition and less recall is what you want. 

(Hint: This is why people love name tags!) 

Also, routines help. The reason is that humans fall into patterns. We’re creatures of habit. So, find ways to turn your tasks in routines, which are models that you use over and over. They get burned into your mind and your body, and they become automatic. If you think you’re going to forget something simply turn it into a regular activity. Eventually, it’ll just get cooked right into the hardware. Just watch for forming bad habits. 

By the way, if you have a routine, then you don’t need to depend on your memory. You just “know” it. There’s hardly any recall and just a little recognition. In essence, routines help you circumvent the problems you face with your memory, almost entirely. (This is also known as automaticity.) 

The third user experience mind trick is association. I could go on and on about mnemonic devices, which is a fancy way of saying memory aids. The core truth of a mnemonic device is that it’ll be about association. When I see a cat, I think “meow” or when I think about the word wife, I think about the word husband. There are millions and billions of ways to make associations. In fact, that’s what mnemonics are all about: ways to form associations.

Here’s a little tip. When you first meet someone, be sure to say that person’s name 1-2 times while talking to them. Don’t be afraid to ask the person their name again. It’s not rude. Most importantly — this is the magic — create a story about the person during the conversion or immediately after. Associate that person with something. It might be how they spell their name, how they walk, where they grew up, or something else. The key is to generate easy cues you can use in the future. You’re creating cues, if you think about it. 

So, let’s recap. The big point is that recognition is generally better than recall. You life gets better when you depend on recognition more than recall. 

And, here are 3 user experience (UX) mind tricks regarding memory improvement: 

1. Look for cues, create cues, use cues. Cues are lovely. 

2. If you want to remember something, don’t depend on your memory: automate it. Routines are great.

3. Form associations. John S. Rhodes and usability and marketing and WebWord. Bam!

I hope you found this little posting useful and entertaining. Please Stumble it, Digg it, and bookmark it. Feel free to give it some chocolate chip cookies. This posting loves cookies.

I’ve been trying to figure out ways to tell if users are actually giving me good data or not. What I mean is that if you’re doing usability testing, don’t you want to know if users are actually telling you the truth? Don’t you worry about data integrity?

Look, the speak out loud method entirely depends on user self reporting. If they aren’t telling you the truth then how is that data any good? If they are telling outright lies, then you’re not getting their “real” perceptions and feelings. They are cloaking.

So maybe the data isn’t all bad. But hopefully you’re tracking with me here. I think “good” data is dependent on accurate and truthful self-reporting and truthful responses to questions from folks running a UX study.

Now that I’ve sounded the alarm, I need to provide a solution, right?

Well, I’ve started doing some research. If you want to catch malingering, you’ve got to understand it. Here’s one good resource I’ve found:

How to Detect Lies – “The following techniques to telling if someone is lying are often used by police, and security experts. This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers, and for anyone to use in everyday situations where telling the truth from a lie can help prevent you from being a victim of fraud/scams and other deceptions.”

How to Detect Lies (WikiHow) — “Watching facial expressions in order to determine whether a person is lying might just save you from being a victim of fraud, or it could help you figure out when somebody’s being genuine. Jury analysts do this when assisting in jury selection. The police do this during an interrogation. Of course a polygraph does this, but it is a little heavy to carry with you. Therefore, you have to learn the little facial and body expressions that can help you distinguish a lie from the truth.”

So, the next time you think you’re getting great data from your users, consider if they are really telling the truth. Learn to detect false statements and complete lies. This could be the “magic factor” which increases the validity of your testing results.

Think about it.

Perhaps the most important video you can watch right now is by Robert Scoble. It’s a 37 minute video about Twitter. He provides an inside look at Twitter and it’s great.

I’ve been on Twitter now for about 4-5 days and it’s already changed the way I do things day to day. It might wear off, but I doubt it. It’s working for me as a social networking tool. I’ve already established two brand new relationships. I would say I’ve strengthed a few old relationships too.

If you want to follow me on Twitter it’s really easy. Here’s my profile page:

http://twitter.com/webword

(See the webword branding there? Nudge, nudge!)