[thelist] survey says...

Mark Gallagher fuddlemark at hotmail.com
Sat Dec 28 08:51:01 CST 2002


Lachlan,

>Timothy J. Luoma wrote:
>>
>>Just finished reading "UI Design Update Newsletter – December, 2002"
>>URI:
>>http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/dec02.asp
>>
>>I thought most of what it had to say was very good (they talk about points
>>for font size, but other than that....)
>
>Ugh.. I don't have any 'recently released studies' to back me up, but
>there is so much crap here...

And why not?  Get cracking, young man! :-)

>"3.  Do use Flash to enhance interfaces knowing that 98% of browsers are
>capable of playing Flash without downloading."
>
>I have a technology that works in 100% of browsers, and another one that
>can be used to 'enhance' interfaces for 90% without any detrimental
>effects on the other 10%. They're called HTML and JavaScript. And what's
>this crap about 'enhancing' anyway? What exactly can Flash do to make
>interfaces work better than hyperlinks and forms can? Not to mention
>that if you use it for the nav part of the interface you're totally
>locking people without it out until they get the plugin.

I doubt 98% of browsers have a recent Flash plugin installed, either.  I say
recent, because older plugin use can be detrimental to user experience: they
may not be able to display the lovely new animation; they may do as the old
(as in, a couple of weeks out-of-date) Flash Player 5 plugin for Linux did
and freeze either the browser or the entire desktop environment whenever the
sound card is in use.

I'd say a great many Linux users (because of such problems, and a general
dislike of frills to be found in most Linux users {not me}), Opera users
(because, back when I used Opera regularly at least {4.02}, Flash wasn't
exactly easy to install), and misc browser users (Dillo, Lynx, etc. don't
*have* Flash plugins - I don't think Konqueror does, either) won't have
Flash.  And I'm sure many IE users don't have it, either because they don't
want it, don't like it, or are too computer illiterate to know about it.
Perhaps even more than 2% of the Web-using population.

>"14.  Do use any of the most common font styles (e.g., Arial, Verdana,
>Georgia, Times New Roman), either serif or sans serif fonts, to elicit
>the fastest possible reading speed."
>
>How does a font being common equate to it being faster to read? Is
>faster better than easier on the eye, anyway?

It's poorly worded, but I think the idea is to choose an easy-to-read font
for faster reading, and make it a common one so that most people can
actually *see* it.  Which is fine, to a point.  I've got Helvetica forced,
because it's nice and easy to read, and I don't get bothered by people
attempting to thrust other fonts on me (Times... ugh).

>"15.  Do use sans serif fonts (e.g., Arial, Verdana) to satisfy user
>preferences."
>
>Surely satisfying user preferences is not touching fonts at all...

Not necessarily.  I bet most IE users don't even know they can change the
default font from Times New Roman.

That said, the solution there is to bloody-well *tell them how*, not to
shove Verdana/Arial/Helvetica down their throats on the off-chance they do
actually prefer it.

>"19.   Do not consider users' judgments about "ease of use" as
>accurately representing the speed with which a task can be performed."
>
>I'd rather have a user feel satisfied than feel unsatisfied and take
>half as long.

Well said.

<snip />

>"24. Do design Web sites primarily for use with the Microsoft's Windows
>operating system, unless different (more specific) information about the
>operating systems being used by the target audience is available.
>
>25. Do design Web sites primarily to be displayed by the Internet
>Explorer and Netscape browsers."
>
>Or just design it to work properly everywhere. It's really not that hard.

I'm getting an urge to order 25 pizzas, COD.  Anyone know the study writer's
address?

<snip />

>"36.  Do design Web sites with the links in a frame on the left margin,
>because users preferred the frames rather than having the links scroll
>off the page."
>
>And that's worth all the disadvantages of frames because?
>
>Don't suppose they've heard of position: fixed;... hmm looking at their
>HTML doesn't seem they've even heard of <ol>. Pah.

Ah, but IE is too retarded to support that...

I've found, myself, that many users prefer frames.  But it doesn't come
*close* to outweighing the disadvantages.

>"38.
>
>Do design Web sites so that if users must be placed in a queue:
>
>     * They can be continually updated, and
>* The updates can include sounds (so that users can work on other things)."
>
>I don't know about other people but I HATE application noises with a
>passion. My first action on installing a new OS is to turn off al sounds.

What is meant by "placed in a queue", anyway?  Made to take turns
downloading it?

<snip />

>"55.   Do ensure that important system (Web site) sounds are louder for
>older users."
>
>Or let them decide exactly how loud they need them.

Or don't use sounds at all, as they are annoying, poorly-supported, hated by
more users than have Flash (hey, my stats are as reliable as theirs), and
detrimental to download speed.

>"56.  Do use TFT screens rather than CRT screens to elicit the fastest
>possible reading performance from users (older users benefit even more
>than younger users)."
>
>So we're somehow meant to reach out over the web and replace people's
>monitors? I wish someone would do that for mine.

They seem to have plenty of money, after all...

>Really... the more I read from these sort of usability sites the more
>alienated I become by the crap they talk.

C'mon, at least they're not Jakob Neilsen.

And the day the preceeding sentence is used (without trace of irony) to
support these morons is the day I declare the human race a lost cause...


--
Mark Gallagher
http://cyberfuddle.com/infinitebabble/



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