WebWord

The Best Decision vs. The Financially Smart One 
“He paid the loan off entirely, all at once, despite my loud protests. Why? Because he hates debt. Like really, really hates it.”
…and…
“But I realized that he made the best decision for himself, even though it wasn’t necessarily the financially smart decision.”
Making a great decision is often […]

From Data to Wisdom (Boxes and Arrows) — “I think of knowledge as a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid is data; the next layer of the pyramid is information; the next layer of the pyramid is intelligence; and the top of the pyramid is wisdom. I like to tell my clients that we’re […]

Consuming Software — “The way I see it, software which doesn’t make you think and is as easy to use as a pencil really isn’t good software. If you want to sell pencils then go ahead and sell pencils.”
When should software be hard to use? Come on, we need some good examples here!
 

Usability for Developers — “If there’s one thing that’s caught my attention in the past six months, it’s an increase in the variety of web roles incorporating usability. I’ve noticed this across a number of areas: job posts, industry events, online discussions and personal tagging on social networking sites such as Web Connections.”

Presenting the ads in a way that misleads users — “Some usability maven at some point in the last 18 months suggested that publishers should place images around the Adsense that is displayed on a site.”
What “usability maven” said this?  Usability specialists are a very ethical bunch of folks so this seems like a load […]

I don’t really care too much about hair style or selection. I haven’t changed my hair style in years. I go to a barber and just ask to get a “regular” cut. Sometimes I answer a question or two: “Above the ears?” and maybe “Would you like that wet down?”  The bottom line is that […]

Design, SEO, And Usability Laws? (Kimberly Krause Berg) — “By all means, design for people. But, let’s figure out whom you are targeting and deliver what will work for them. Chances are good that what works for people also works for search engines, especially with accessibility.”

“My focus is collaboration over documentation, where the shorter is the better.”
Short, simple, easy… 

I’ve published the Pet Comfort Newsletter 20 weeks in a row! The first issue went out on 16-July-2006 and I haven’t looked back. Here are some things that I’ve learned:

Publishing on a regular basis makes it more likely that I’ll publish on a regular basis. There is inertia in publishing. Get the ball rolling and […]

“This approach is so simple. Show people what is going on, demand excellence, provide encouragement and support, and then the magic happens.”
Data.

“Search is about structure and meaning, syntax and semantics. Search is all about sequential patterns of interaction. It’s about language. It’s about the words that we use. It’s a conversation.”
…and…
“Don’t try to figure out the search engines, try to figure out how people use the search engines.”
Keep reading…

Jesper Rønn-Jensen has posted a video of Barry Schwartz giving a talk on the Paradox of Choice. He highly recommends it. That’s good enough for me. I’m going to watch it later this morning and you probably should watch it too.