Google – keeping it simple

Have you noticed that for some time now Google have been gradually adding more and more links to their homepage? This is typical ‘Feature creep‘ and unfortunately happens a lot.

Feature creep is when “extra features go beyond the basic function of the product and so can result in over-complication, or “featuritis”, rather than simple, design” (wikipaedia).

Google became the best search engine because of it’s simplicity. Think about it…what do you users really need on a search engine site? Strip it right back and all they actually need is a search box to type in and a button to press to get the results. They aren’t distracted by unnecessary clutter. They have one aim and they can perform it efficiently and effectively, achieving greater satisfaction.

However, even Google hasn’t managed to escape the dreaded ‘feature creep’. Recently it had begun to look like this:

Disappointing hey? The once simple site has become crowded with links.

BUT fear not! Google have recognised their featuritis and have tackled it head on with a rather ingenious solution. Now when you go to Google, it’s like going back in time to the old days when there was just a big search box and button. This is what you see:

Doesn’t it feel good? Very very simple. The cursor is positioned inside the search box so all the user needs to do is type and hit the return key or the search button. However, what about all the other features? Surely some of them were useful? Yes they were. Now for the clever part…. if the mouse is moved even slightly all the extra features fade in (via a nice transition). They are there if the user needs them.

Why does this work?

If the user wants to quickly search it is most likely they are poised ready to type as soon as the google page loads up. By positioning the cursor inside the search box, there is no need to touch the mouse. Users going to Google primarily to search have an excellent experience. Simple, fast and effective.

Users going to Google to do anything other than search will be used to having to use their mouse. Their existing mental model involves using the mouse. They may be slightly surprised upon seeing the new screen, but one tiny movement and the hidden features appear.

Search use case – keyboard focussed

Other use cases – mouse focussed

The new design provides a good fit between the interaction style of the user and the site behaviour.

Ergonomic christmas tree carrying

It’s the 1st of December and I’m sure many of you are now getting your warm coats and scarves on ready to go hunt down the perfect tree for christmas, chop it down and drag it home. Ok, it’s probably more likely you’re nipping to the local b&q to buy one pre-cut but let’s give a moments thought to how you should pick it up and carry it home. Of course, we’re going to be looking at the ergonomic method.

Ergonomics?

Ergonomics is the science of adjusting the task to the man. It is concerned with the motion and activity of people, their use of tools and machinery, and the design and arrangement of work for greatest safety and efficiency. Injuries can occur when there is a mismatch between the physical demands of a task and the capacity of the person doing the task.

Lesson 1: Bend the knees not the back!

You might have heard this one before. When lifting anything heavy (like a big christmas tree) you should bend down using your knees, keeping the back as straight as possible. Pick up the object and stand up using your legs to bear the weight (push up from your knees). Leg muscles are much stronger than back muscles. Trying to lift using only your back muscles can result in bad back syndrome and i’m sure you don’t want to have a bad back over the festive season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrong! This man is bending his back and not his knees. Ouch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right This man bends his knees, using his strong leg muscles to lift the tree.

Lesson 2: Stand close to the object being lifted

Minimises strain on the back and arm muscles. Aids grip and lift.

Lesson 3: Get a friend to help

If the tree is particularly heavy get a friend to lift the other end.

Lesson 4: Wear PPE (personal protective equipment)

Wear sensible clothes that cover your skin and protect it from the needles. Gloves are a must!

Lesson 5: Stretch!

Ok you may feel a bit stupid doing this one but it will benefit your muscles and decrease risk of injury if you stretch before and after lifting a heavy object.

More christmas tips to come! Have a happy ergonomic christmas!

Want a FREE usability review?

Oh Yes!! To celebrate World Usability Day this coming Thursday, I would like to offer a free usability review to someone. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a website, it could be an iPhone app or anything else that I can easily access.

If you want to be considered, fill in the contact form or email usabilitygal@googlemail.com with details of what you would like reviewing. Closing time for entries is 8pm Wednesday 11th Nov.

Good luck!

Usable SEO

After completing Econsultancy’s digital marketing course yesterday, I’ve been scouring the internet for more information on search engine optimisation. I found these very useful, visual guidelines by the guys at seomoz showing how to optimise your web page(s). The example shows an optimised page for the keywords ‘chocolate’ and ‘donuts’. Hope you find it useful too!

© Copyright Seomoz 

Move Over Maslow! The Users’ Hierarchy of Needs

Back in 1943 a psychologist called Maslow published what he termed a ‘hierarchy of needs‘ that can be applied to every human being. At the bottom level are physiological needs that every human needs to exist, like shelter, food and water. At the very top are factors that contribute to a feeling of self-actualization, like morality and creativity. You can read more here. The triangle shape is deliberate, in that there are a much greater number of people at the physiological level and only a small number who reach self-actualization.

We can apply Maslow’s concept to the user and their experience of any product or service. Starting from a base of does the product or service perform at a basic functional level to the ideal of the user being so engaged that they lose all track of time and enter a state of flow. 

Take a look at the Users’ Hierarchy of Needs below and think about where your product or service fits. What actions are you taking to step up to the next level and improve your users’ experience?

50% off the new Steve Krugg book!

Hey everyone!

I am really excited to have just seen on Amazon that Steve Krugg has a new book coming out on December 28th called ‘Rocket Surgery Made Easy‘. Don’t worry, it’s not actually about rocket surgery, rather it continues his usual theme of usability and user experience. As the title suggests, the book is all about making them easy to understand but this time with an emphasis on understanding and being able to conduct your own usability testing. If you haven’t read his book ‘Don’t Make Me Think‘, I would greatly urge you to do so as it’s certainly one of my favourite usability reads. His style is concise, informative and injected with down-to-earth humour and real life examples. The book is also filled with plenty of colourful examples to illustrate his points.

The RRP is £28.99, however on Amazon at the moment, their pre-order price is half that at £14.49. Amazing! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

Poor user experience with Orange leads to a happy Vodafone customer

Today, I’m going to tell you a story of a frustrating user experience that I had with Orange but which resulted in a happy ending between me and my new friend, Vodafone.  

 

My personal phone contract is with O2. I took it out many months ago before I moved into a house in which it is impossible to get a signal without standing on one leg, waving your arm out of the window and threatening it with physical abuse if it doesn’t connect SOON! This wasn’t a problem before when I had a work sim with Orange but since being made redundant I had to rely solely on my O2 sim. Anyway, I finally had enough and today dug out an old pay as you go Orange sim from the back of a draw and decided to activate it to use as a second sim.

I initially visited the Orange website listed on the card to activate it, however, the link was dead and showed the page no longer existed. It didn’t redirect me to an updated page so instead I called the freephone number and got through to an automated system where a friendly sounding female voice welcomed me (let’s call her Jane to make it easier). However, after welcoming me, Jane decided not to speak to me at all even though I could see she was still on the line. After about 10 seconds I decided something must have gone wrong so I hung up and called her back. This time I realised why she was silent. She had asked me a question and I had to answer yes or no, however as I was walking down the stairs the first we talked, I hadn’t heard say this part. When she didn’t repeat herself or mention that she couldn’t hear me I thought she had left the conversation.

Anyway, now we were back on speaking terms and she sounded very friendly. She would even tell me when she was entering my details into the system and I could hear her typing (very realistic). I had to go through several menus and tell Jane certain details like the IMEI number of the phone I’d be using (I didn’t really understand why she needed this and I hadn’t actually decided which of my phones to use yet but I gave her one anyway as she sounded trustworthy). It was a process that was lengthy enough for me to hope that Jane accepted all the details and did not transfer me to someone to redo it all again or end the call. 

Jane asked me if I now wanted to set up an ‘animal call plan’. A what??? Animals? What have they got to do with call plans? I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about and it sounded like it was going to be a lengthy task to go through all the plans to choose the best one so I thought I’d read up on this later after I’d activated the sim card. So I told Jane ‘No’. She was obviously really offended by this and very abruptly told me I couldn’t continue with the process, goodbye and hung up on me without giving me any options at all. How rude of her! She went so quickly from liking me to hating me. Well I don’t need friends like that thankyou so I went to visit Jane’s friend Vodafone down the road. I was quickly sorted with a sim that activated without needing any details such as an IMEI number  (hmmm I knew that Jane shouldn’t be trusted) and I have the best signal ever at home. I am a very happy Vodafone customer. 

What did Jane do wrong?

1. When I didn’t hear her she didn’t repeat herself or ask if I needed help.

2. Asked me questions that made me question her trustworthiness. Why did she need to know the IMEI number? If it was for genuine reasons she should have informed me of them to put me at ease.

3. Gave me no option to skip questions and come back to them later. After all I only wanted to activate a pay as you go sim card. My expectations were that hardly any details would be required and it would be a very quick and easy process. Reality didn’t meet (or beat) user expectations.

4. When I took the wrong route she offered me no option of help and no warning of the implications of what would happen.

5. No option to change my answer to the question. Had I realised I had to answer yes at the end to continue the process I would have said yes.

6. There was no option to speak to a human being. 

7. No option to navigate back up the menus. This would have been very helpful at the end.

7. I was very quickly and abruptly cut off without a chance to change my answer, which after spending a long time going through multiple voice activated menus seems an unfair trade-off for the amount of effort I’ve put in (and us humans also interpret being cut off as rude).

This all amounted to a poor user experience which ended with Orange losing a new customer but Vodafone gaining one.

Now, if only you could get the iPhone on Vodafone… I’ll keep dreaming of that one for now

 

Free Human Centred Design Toolkit

I really love the word ‘Free’ don’t you? So as well as checking out the free online ‘Search User Interfaces‘ book by Marti A Hearst, make sure you also download your free Human Centred Design Toolkit!

The Toolkit, designed by the guys at Ideo, is divided into four sections:

The Introduction will give an overview of HCD and help you understand how it might be used alongside other methods.
Download the Intro Guide.pdf

The Hear guide will help your design team prepare for fieldwork and understand how to collect stories that will serve as insight and inspiration. Designing meaningful and innovative solutions that serve your customers begins with gaining deep empathy for their needs, hopes and aspirations for the future. The Hear booklet will equip the team with methodologies and tips for engaging people in their own contexts to delve beneath the surface. 
Download the Hear Guide

The Field Guide and Aspirations cards are a complement to the Hear guide; these are the tools your team will take with them in order to conduct research.
Download the Field Guide
Download the Aspirations Cards

The Create guide will help your team work together in a workshop format to translate what you heard from people into frameworks, opportunities, solutions, and prototypes. During this phase, you will move from concrete to more abstract thinking in identifying themes and opportunities and back to the concrete with solutions and prototypes.
Download the Create Guide

The Deliver guide will help catapult the top ideas you have created toward implementation. The realization of solution includes rapid revenue and cost modeling, capability assessment, and implementation panning. The activities offered in this phase are meant to complement your organization’s existing implementation processes and may prompt adaptations to the way solutions are typically rolled out.
Download the Deliver Guide

Thanks to all the guys at Ideo for sharing this fantastic Toolkit with us.

Free Book – Search User Interfaces by Marti A Hearst

Go read it now!

Marti A Hearst’s Search User Interfaces book isn’t available in print until September this year but you can read the whole book online right now for free. Awesome! Enjoy and be sure to pass it on  

http://searchuserinterfaces.com/book/

How Personality Can Predict Media Usage

Just read this really interesting article on how our personality may be a better predictor of our media usage than standard focus group tests. 

Here is one example of a ‘dynamic person’:

“Dynamic people don’t watch TV… are 50% more likely to watch less TV than the average person and are 59% more likely than the average person to watch less than an hour of TV daily. Dynamic people are also 45% more likely to buy movie tickets online and 26% more likely to describe themselves as Mac people. “The lesson here is that if your core target is really dynamic, open and assertive, TV may not be the best place to reach them.”

It seems I’m dynamic as I only have a few tv programmes that I must watch (Lost, The Apprentice, Come Dine With Me), I prefer to buy cinema tickets online so I can walk right past the long queue of people waiting in line and I am definitely an Apple fan. So bearing this in mind, the TV is definitely not a good place to advertise to me. In fact, most often I haven’t got a clue about adverts as I never watch them – I’d rather skip channels. 

Read the article and see which category you fall into!