Archive for September, 2005

Enterprise Search

Monday, September 19th, 2005

Questions:
1. Who knows more about enterprise search than any other person? Thought leaders? Who would you recommend? Think small, think big. If you can’t recommend a person, what organization would you recommend?
2. How do usability, information archtitecture, and enterprise search intersect? Favorite articles? Favorite research?
3. What are the most interesting and important […]

Microformats?

Thursday, September 15th, 2005

Have I been in a cave? What is this microformat business? What do you know about it? Do we care about it in terms of usability? Man, I am getting behind in the blogosphere, memeverse, and the 7th dimension.

50 Strategies For Making Yourself Work

Thursday, September 15th, 2005

“Work avoidance is one of the major paradoxes of the writing profession. Generally, writers want to write (or want to have written), but all too often we find ourselves doing anything else but. We’ll mow lawns, do the dishes, polish silverware–anything to keep from facing the blank page. At the same time we know we […]

Does Dollar Cost Averaging Work?

Tuesday, September 13th, 2005

“Periodic investment of a fixed dollar amount, as in a particular stock or fund or in the market as a whole, on the belief that the average value of the investment will rise over time and that it is not possible to foresee the intermediate highs and lows.” (reference)
However, the question becomes, should you invest […]

90% of S&P Global 100 Companies Fail Annual Report Usability Standards

Monday, September 12th, 2005

“Online usability of financial disclosures is essential for investors to easily stay informed about their investments in public company securities, particularly as companies begin to replace printed reports with Web versions. Yet the vast majority of these mega-cap companies are failing to meet an acceptable usability standard.”
Read the article…

The ROI of Usability Analysis

Monday, September 12th, 2005

ClickZ — “According to Mike Sidders, director of e-commerce at Fingerhut, the site assessment and redesign have already proved their worth: Overall site conversion and sales are up. Catalog Quick Order is substantially improved. Abandoned shopping cart items are down. And average order is up.”
I honestly don’t understand the title of this article. Basically […]

Best Book Titles in Usability

Thursday, September 8th, 2005

I strongly feel that Don’t Make Me Think is the best book title in the realm of usability. I also like The Inmates Are Running the Asylum.
What is your favorite?
What is your favorite book title outside of usability?
What is your mother’s maiden name?
Speaking of your mother, where did those password recovery questions […]

What Katrina Will Cost You

Thursday, September 8th, 2005

U.S. Citizens: 297,110,111
Katrina Hurrican Relief: $51.8 billion to $200 billion
Therefore, it is going to cost every man, woman and child between $174.35 and $673.67. Furthermore, it is going to cost insurance companies $25 billion or more. Those costs are passed along to you, of course, in the form of higher premiums. They might […]

Agassi Outlasts Blake in Open Classic

Thursday, September 8th, 2005

“3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (6)”
Really wish that I saw this match. This kind of thing really, really motivates me.
Read the story…

Real Estate: My Raw Notes

Wednesday, September 7th, 2005

I’ve been doing a lot of research about real estate investing. A lot. Many books, many articles, daily email newsletters, newspaper listings, audio books, open houses, conversations with realtors, and more.
What follows is a core dump of what I have learned so far. This is not advice or guidance. […]

How to improve usability for screen reader users

Wednesday, September 7th, 2005

“Fortunately, there are plenty of simple-to-implement guidelines you can follow, which not only drastically improve usability for screen reader users, but for all web users…”
Read the article…

True Virtual Earth story

Wednesday, September 7th, 2005

“It was 85 degrees. They were running out of food, ice and formula for their daughter and were in a strange town they’d never been to before. Alex called to say he didn’t have much gas left in his tank and was desperate to know where the nearest Wal-Mart or Walgreens was.”
Read the whole story…