Above is a pretty badly designed sign-up form asking a bunch of "security questions" by a site I had to use last night, and here's how to fix some of the most common problems with such forms.
Showing posts with label usability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label usability. Show all posts
An Overwhelming Security Questions Form
Above is a pretty badly designed sign-up form asking a bunch of "security questions" by a site I had to use last night, and here's how to fix some of the most common problems with such forms.
Gender-Specific Shampoo Usage Instructions
If you are one of those people who read instructions on shampoo bottles, and you share a bathroom with a person of the opposite gender, you might have noticed this striking stylistic difference in how directions for shampoo usage are worded for men and for women. Here, it's eight words on one bottle and forty on the other. Reminds me of how men and women shop differently.
Should instruction manuals for products that are even more complex than a bottle of shampoo be written for a particular audience and accounting for gender and perhaps age differences? How about different levels of domain knowledge? You know how they include multi-lingual booklets with gadgets these days. It would be kind of like that.
On a related train of thought - in his post on investing, Mark Cuban wrote this: "Wall Street has done an AMAZING job of creating conventional wisdom . 'Buy and Hold' is the 2nd most misleading marketing slogan ever, after the brilliant 'rinse and repeat' message on every shampoo bottle."
I kept thinking about the awesomeness of the "rinse and repeat", started to poke around and dug up this Fortune article back from 1999: "In Benjamin Cheever's novel The Plagiarist, a marketing executive becomes an industry legend by adding one word to shampoo bottles: REPEAT. He doubles shampoo sales overnight."
Checkmarks vs. Crosses
Seen on a price comparison page of a web design outfit -- why not use green checkmarks instead of red Xs? Xs here are supposed to mean that the feature is available, right?
Email Links With Delicious
A useful and long-overdue new feature on Delicious I've always wanted -- send links to others by email. Hope they will also let people create groups of recipients.
This is how I imagined it would work in this crude mock-up back from January:
Animated Favicon in Autocomplete Menu
Caught my attention today -- an animated favicon in Firefox's autocomplete menu. This one was a square with changing colors, but you can have one with a scrolling text, for example.
Flash Game Accessible to the Blind
Flyzzz is one of the four Flash games that accompany beautiful TV spots for Leonard Cheshire Disability. Flyzzz can be played by the ear -- you help the chamelion catch flies when they are buzzing right above him.
Earlier:
Color-Blind Image Simulation
Advertising for the Color-Blind
Tool: How Color Blind People See Text
Advertising in Braille
The Robotic Shopping Assistant
Playboy in Braille
iPhone Web Surfers Click On Ads Not?
Here's a press release from Keynote Systems that got 75 people to complete assorted web-based tasks on their iPhones -- a fairly typical usability set-up. One of the top bullet points in the press release: "advertising on the mobile web not compelling for users to click through." But if you look further down, one of the company's findings is that "only four percent of users tapped into advertising; nearly a quarter noticed advertising but did not click through."
What do they mean by "tapped"? A 4-percent click-through? How much of it can be attributed to mis-clicks?
An earlier press-release by the ad network AdMob: "Ads on the iPhone deliver strong engagement for advertisers with triple, on average, the already high click-through-rates seen on mobile."
In related news, Google preps a new iPhone-specific ad format.
What do they mean by "tapped"? A 4-percent click-through? How much of it can be attributed to mis-clicks?
An earlier press-release by the ad network AdMob: "Ads on the iPhone deliver strong engagement for advertisers with triple, on average, the already high click-through-rates seen on mobile."
In related news, Google preps a new iPhone-specific ad format.
Banners and The Right Click
Do banners that allow standard right-click navigation options -- "open in new window" and "open in new tab" -- have higher click-throughs, other things being equal?
The Danger of Widgetized Web
source
Widgets-shmidgets. YouTube goes down, and half the blogosphere with embedded videos is greyed out. YouTube should at least insert one of those TV test cards when it can't serve the videos, like this:
Jakob Nielsen: Get Web 1.0 Right First
Jakob Nielsen's newest alertbox on the web 2.0's dangers to site profitability: "Instead of adding Facebook-like features that let users "bite" other users and turn them into zombies, the B2B site would get more sales by offering clear prices, good product photos, detailed specs, convincing whitepapers, an easily navigable information architecture, and an email newsletter."
Bathroom Advertising And New Game Input Devices
If there was ever a good context for Wii jokes, this is it.
This German campaign against drunk driving gives a new meaning to the word joystick:
"The Piss-Screen (the site's dead) is a pressure-sensitive inlay for urinals. The game is displayed on a screen above the urinal. We designed a driving game in the style of Need for Speed." The game would end with a crash and display a message to the effect that the player should take a cab home.
There was one other game art project with the similar input mechanics last year, only then the display was inside the urinal.
Anyway, here's a video of the gameplay:
Earlier:
Ikea Awarded for In-Store Signage
Ikea got the top award from Massachusetts association of retailers. Boston Herald: "'They’re eons ahead of any other retailers in communicating with their customers via interior signage,' said Rick Segel, a retail sales consultant, association member and judge, and author of 'Retail Business Kit for Dummies.' "They’re communicating in a way that’s not just a hard sell. It represents an educational point of view and an entertaining point of view.'"
50 Game Innovations
An excellent feature (page-by-page, on one page) in Business Week listing some of the most important innovations in the video game medium over the past 30 years. Why should anyone care? Because a lot of the game innovations spill out to other media: interfaces, AI, 3D imagery are only a few such areas. Here are my favorites from the list:
"Modding is a form of gameplay; it's creative play with the meta-game. The earliest games weren't just moddable, they were open-source, since their source code was printed in magazines like Creative Computing. When we began to sell computer games, their code naturally became a trade secret. Opening commercial games up to modding was a brilliant move, as it extended the demand for a game engine far beyond what it would have been if players were limited to the content that came in the box. [...] The key point is that they enlisted the player to build content—long before "Web 2.0" or indeed the Web itself."
Smart NPCs with brains and senses. [...] Then we began to implement characters with vision and hearing and limits to both. We also gave them rudimentary brainpower in the form of finite state machines and, eventually, the ability to cooperate. Some of the most sophisticated NPC AI is now in sports games, where athletes have to work in concert to achieve a collective goal.
Adaptive music. Everyone recognizes the power of music to create a mood. In videogames, the trick is to change the music in response to game events, and of course the composer can't know in advance when they might occur. One approach is simply to play a new track on demand, but the transition can be jarring if not done well. Another approach is layering—mixing harmonizing pieces of music together and changing their volumes in response to the needs of the game."
"Modding is a form of gameplay; it's creative play with the meta-game. The earliest games weren't just moddable, they were open-source, since their source code was printed in magazines like Creative Computing. When we began to sell computer games, their code naturally became a trade secret. Opening commercial games up to modding was a brilliant move, as it extended the demand for a game engine far beyond what it would have been if players were limited to the content that came in the box. [...] The key point is that they enlisted the player to build content—long before "Web 2.0" or indeed the Web itself."
Smart NPCs with brains and senses. [...] Then we began to implement characters with vision and hearing and limits to both. We also gave them rudimentary brainpower in the form of finite state machines and, eventually, the ability to cooperate. Some of the most sophisticated NPC AI is now in sports games, where athletes have to work in concert to achieve a collective goal.
Adaptive music. Everyone recognizes the power of music to create a mood. In videogames, the trick is to change the music in response to game events, and of course the composer can't know in advance when they might occur. One approach is simply to play a new track on demand, but the transition can be jarring if not done well. Another approach is layering—mixing harmonizing pieces of music together and changing their volumes in response to the needs of the game."
Thinking About The Perfect Schwag
Source: GasMaskLexicon via epromos.
I was cleaning up my office today and spent a good hour going through a box of schwag that had accumulated over the past year of rep meetings, trade shows and conferences. The exercise resulted in a few thoughts on the subject that wanted to bounce off the blog's readers.
First, by schwag, let's mean promo items whose unit cost doesn't exceed ten bucks, give or take, which covers a range of situations from large-scale conferences to private meetings. Anything more expensive is probably out of the usual schwag budget and may even be frowned upon by the schwagee's (the recepient's) organization.
Second, it seems that good schwag is supposed to achieve a sustainable combination of the following goals:
1. Increase brand recognition through maximizing exposures, both in terms of frequency (how often do you see it) and reach (who else sees it). It should be perfectly possible to design proxy schwag: an item that you give to someone at a conference so that it ends up at the hands of the decision-making boss;
2. Build a connection with the advertised brand either through copy or relevant interactions;
3. Generate positive emotions in schwagees.
Now, "sustainable combination" is the key here. Many get the exposures part right one way or another -- branded sticky notes, for example, or a PlayStation keychain bottle opener I've been carrying around since college (the name has worn off years ago). The other two parts are trickier. I've got things that are amusing at first but are quickly forgotten: all of those novelty items that novel for about five seconds. Others don't really produce any emotions (oh, look, notepad) or, worse, are annoying (a paper fan that came apart after a few swings). Very few have anything to do with the company or service whose name they bear -- at best, you'll see a line of copy trying to bridge the semantic gap.
There are at least two kinds of schwag that hit all the points without even trying. One kind is collectibles or items that have otherwise acquired cultural significance. The other kind includes items that signify the schwagee's membership in or an association with an exclusive group. This VIP schwag is often so desirable that people pay money to have it -- I'm thinking about all that retro schwag on eBay or overpriced "official" branded tchotchkes parents buy at their kids' college bookstores.
As for the regular schwag, here are some observations:
1. When in doubt or on a budget, go with pens. Two notes, however. An obscure logo that screams freebie often cheapens an otherwise expensive pen. Second, people spend so much time with their writing instruments that they are very particular about how these instruments feel.
2. Even though they are on the more expensive end, books make great give-aways, especially in a smaller-scale setting. Besides making the right impression, books about your business will educate your audience and make your life easier down the road. Put them in a custom dust-cover if you must and write down your name and contact info as business cards and bookmarks tend to fall out.
3. USB drives. Very useful and well-received by any schwagee, they are not going to end up in the garbage. Not sure if anyone pays attention to what's written on the sides, though, so go for a custom shape.
4. Adhesive tape with the brand name printed on it. Of course, this works in a setting where adhesive tape is used in the first place. I think I've seen it done before, but don't remember the details.
5. Custom push-pins, especially if they are shaped as your brand mascot. Never seen those, but wouldn't they be fun?
6. Has anyone tried cubicle decorations? Cube Chic may be on the extreme end, but it will give you ideas.
7. Looking at the stuff in my box, I don't really see a point in cheap digital radios (unless they promote a radio station and are locked into the appropriate frequency), yo-yos (unless you have just bounced back from a bankruptcy) and playing cards (unless each of them is unique).
8. Desk organizers and picture frames probably work well.
9. Apparel is tricky, unless it is somehow exclusive. Yes, I did keep a couple of t-shirts I had been given, but I can't wear them to the office. Same goes for hats.
10. If I were to give away toys, I'd go for something like the Horrified B-Movie Victims.
Resources:
E-promos: an entire blog on schwag
Wired: Great moments in schwag history
Promotional Products Association International
StartupSchwag -- an online store where one man's schwag is another man's treasure.
Earlier:
Designing Usable Conferences
Rant: Conference Blog Coverage Aggregation
Usable Conference Badges
Advertising Through 404 Error Messages
A couple of commercial pitches delivered as 404 "Not Found" error messages. Wonder how many people are conditioned by the "Not Found" look, don't notice that it's fake and turn around. Has anyone emulated the Blue Screen of Death for the same purpose?
Pingdom.com. Scroll down to see the rest of the site. (image source)
WestWayne.com (image source).
Pingdom.com. Scroll down to see the rest of the site. (image source)
WestWayne.com (image source).
"Click Here" Makes People Click Here
Marketing Sherpa has conducted a test to see what anchor copy is most effective in driving the desired behavior. It found that "click to continue" is convincingly more effective in getting people to click to continue. Other alternatives were "continue to article" and "read more". Click here to read more.
By the way, ever wondered what site ranks first for the "click here" search, benefiting from all those "click here" links? Click here to find out. Apple Quicktime is first for "download now".
A bit of related web 1.0 trivia. Back in the early Google days, the top result for the words "exit" and "exit now" was Disney.com because that's where countless porn sites were directing minors from their age verification pages in an attempt at sarcasm.
By the way, ever wondered what site ranks first for the "click here" search, benefiting from all those "click here" links? Click here to find out. Apple Quicktime is first for "download now".
A bit of related web 1.0 trivia. Back in the early Google days, the top result for the words "exit" and "exit now" was Disney.com because that's where countless porn sites were directing minors from their age verification pages in an attempt at sarcasm.
Usable Conference Badges
To continue the series about designing attendee-friendly conferences: Mike Davidson suggests a better design for conference badges -- the Socially Optimized Badge, as he calls it. Something I also suggested before: "Lanyard contains name of conference instead of being sold to a sponsor. No one cares what the lanyard looks like, so go ahead and sell it to Yahoo or something."
Earlier:
Designing Usable Conferences
Rant: Conference Blog Coverage Aggregation
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