Comments on: The Usability Halo http://www.webword.com/wp/2008/08/13/the-usability-halo/ The usability blog of John S. Rhodes Sun, 17 Oct 2010 00:45:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: David Williams http://www.webword.com/wp/2008/08/13/the-usability-halo/comment-page-1/#comment-222799 David Williams Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:36:07 +0000 http://www.webword.com/wp/2008/08/13/the-usability-halo/#comment-222799 Does anyone proofread your articles? I suggest you have someone do so. When you have 3 or more errors in sentence structure, you lose credibility as a blogger. You don't have to publish this comment. Does anyone proofread your articles? I suggest you have someone do so. When you have 3 or more errors in sentence structure, you lose credibility as a blogger.

You don’t have to publish this comment.

]]> By: David Wertheimer http://www.webword.com/wp/2008/08/13/the-usability-halo/comment-page-1/#comment-215867 David Wertheimer Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:04:00 +0000 http://www.webword.com/wp/2008/08/13/the-usability-halo/#comment-215867 Totally agree with you on the usability halo. I can't help but feel that part of your experience boils down to bad luck, though. There's no guarantee that a third-party vendor will ever be as reliable or credible as the trusted main source--that can happen just as easily on Amazon. I once ordered a book via Amazon third party only to have my phone ring 20 minutes after sending. It was the third-party store owner, begging me to cancel my order via Amazon, because it kills their profit margin, and place the order direct on the phone, since we were already talking, and would that be OK? Surely Amazon had no idea their partner was subverting the process. Totally agree with you on the usability halo. I can’t help but feel that part of your experience boils down to bad luck, though. There’s no guarantee that a third-party vendor will ever be as reliable or credible as the trusted main source–that can happen just as easily on Amazon.

I once ordered a book via Amazon third party only to have my phone ring 20 minutes after sending. It was the third-party store owner, begging me to cancel my order via Amazon, because it kills their profit margin, and place the order direct on the phone, since we were already talking, and would that be OK? Surely Amazon had no idea their partner was subverting the process.

]]> By: Michelle http://www.webword.com/wp/2008/08/13/the-usability-halo/comment-page-1/#comment-215491 Michelle Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:18:40 +0000 http://www.webword.com/wp/2008/08/13/the-usability-halo/#comment-215491 I'm curious about your comment, "(Keep in mind I’m an advanced user. I kind of “get” how search engines work and what kinds of words and phrases normally work. I can’t imagine The Grandmother Scenario.)" What terms did you use for your search? I checked out B&N's website after reading your article and did my own test of trying to find the audiobook versions of several books I could think of off the top of my head. I had no problem finding results (if you search for the book's title, usually the audiobook version is the 2nd or 3rd hit in the search results). I can't comment on the rest of your experience (I didn't buy anything), but sometimes I wonder if advanced users overcomplicate actions like websearches by using advanced knowledge. I’m curious about your comment, “(Keep in mind I’m an advanced user. I kind of “get” how search engines work and what kinds of words and phrases normally work. I can’t imagine The Grandmother Scenario.)” What terms did you use for your search?

I checked out B&N’s website after reading your article and did my own test of trying to find the audiobook versions of several books I could think of off the top of my head. I had no problem finding results (if you search for the book’s title, usually the audiobook version is the 2nd or 3rd hit in the search results).

I can’t comment on the rest of your experience (I didn’t buy anything), but sometimes I wonder if advanced users overcomplicate actions like websearches by using advanced knowledge.

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