My brother wrote an article about the debates, and I did some editing. Basically, he did some fact checking and analysis on another article. I’m giving him some exposure here. Feel free to post your comments. Let him know what you think.
UIE — “Kate Gomoll is a recognized expert in the area of Field Research and Usability Testing. UIE’s Christine Perfetti recently had the opportunity to talk with Kate about how she and her team at Gomoll Research & Design conduct field studies. Here is what Kate had to say about her experiences.”
Google Blog — “For Internet users in China, we had to consider the fact that some sources are entirely blocked. Leaving aside the politics, that presents us with a serious user experience problem. Google News does not show news stories, but rather links to news stories. So links to stories published by blocked news sources would not work for users inside the PRC — if they clicked on a headline from a blocked source, they would get an error page. It is possible that there would be some small user value to just seeing the headlines. However, simply showing these headlines would likely result in Google News being blocked altogether in China.”
(Emphasis mine.)
“UPA Hong Kong, were fortunate to have Gerry Gaffney, a usability expert from Australia, in Hong Kong presenting “Information Architecture for web sites”. UPAHK used the data from our May 2004 event on User Research techniques to understand what information the HK UPA community would like to see on www.usability.com.hk. As part of the site development we are taking people through a user centered process.”
From what Daniel Szuc tells me, the event went very well. There is a lot of interest in usability in Hong Kong it seems.
Local Tech Wire — “Scott Adams had some fun showing how product aspects, such as quality and functionality, can be neglected when attempting to emotionally connect a product with a consumer. This line of humor is based on the premise that quality and functionality cannot coexist with form and feel. The emotional impact of products is currently receiving a great deal of press, with several newly released books and articles emphasizing the importance of creating products that not only accomplish tasks, but also ‘connect’ with users.”
(Thanks for the submission, Marjut. Thanks to Daniel for his recent submissions too. You guys really help me.)
The Age — “Asian telecom executives on Tuesday called on the world’s mobile phone makers to manufacture cheaper, less fancy handsets in order to realise the full potential of the region’s mass market. Amid the hype over high-speed third generation (3G) mobile services, Asia remains a huge market for low-cost “dumb phones” capable only of voice and text, the 3GSM World Congress of the telecommunications industry heard.”
CIO.com — “While some large-scale Web projects can effectively be quantified in terms of ROI, more often user experience improvements are an ongoing and iterative process. Design competence is an intangible asset that requires more specialized valuation techniques. So what valuation methodology will better position a website and its designers as a strategic corporate resource? Here are five steps that design managers and Webmasters can take that will help.”
UIE — “Adaptive Path’s Jeffrey Veen is a recognized expert in the area of Web Design and Content Management Systems. UIE’s Christine Perfetti recently had the opportunity to talk with Jeff about the reasons why many content management systems fail and what designers can do to avoid the common pitfalls associated with CMS installations. Here is what Jeffrey had to say about his experiences.”
News.com — “Redmond rejects that notion, saying instead that the long wait for an IE update is an indication of the work it’s putting into the next incarnation of the browser. If Microsoft’s plans pan out, it will unveil dramatic new features that will take Web browsing to an entirely new level–in many ways stepping beyond the browser completely.”
But, the new browser will be cooked right into Longhorn. This will force you to upgrade if you want the new browser candy. Also, what “new level” of browsing can we expect? Better searching? More integration with Office? Does anyone have a clue?
Digital Web — “As unlikely as it seems, many of the guidelines and methods used in the field of social marketing and social-change campaigns are useful to Web professionals. To my surprise, I am looking to a set of principles—a road map—used in the first part of my career as I search for a new one in an entirely different community.”
I just want you to think about something for a minute. Google is the most connected or networked company in the world. It also has some of the brightest minds in the world trying to figure out what to do with the data it has collected, and the connections between all that data. Google has access to data from UPS, FedEx, the FAA, FCC, U.S. Patent Office, MapQuest, Yahoo Maps, online phonebooks, and much more. That’s all. You can safely move along.
Here is the situation. You are speaking with another person on your phone and you talk about some amazing things, or perhaps you mention some dates and times, or names, or phone numbers or URLs. Rather than remembering those things or writing them down as you speak, wouldn’t it be nice to have your phone convert your conversation to text? Then, when the conversation is over, you could reference the conversation via a private blog or email.
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