The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.
6
votes
3answers
261 views
UX responsibilities
Is there a number of responsibilities that fall under UX (for example, graphic design, usability etc), or is UX a sub responsibility of design?
6
votes
2answers
389 views
How to help users navigate a very long list on mobile
I recently came across SXSW's native apps on iPhone and Android. Both apps revolve around the conference's schedule. On the home-screen of both apps, you get the day's schedule, which is actually a ...
6
votes
3answers
107 views
How to make other tabs more noticeable?
We have a dialog that allows the user to choose the "type" of a shape: text, pop up and link. Changing the type also changes the modal's body. Our current design uses an underline to indicate the ...
6
votes
3answers
230 views
Why are AC adapters (wall warts) designed to block adjacent AC outlets?
The AC adapters for a lot of equipment seem to be specifically designed to block the AC outlets around it (this is in the US).
Is this a safety feature to minimize the power to that outlet or just ...
6
votes
3answers
156 views
How to handle long processing task in UI?
We have a Desktop based WinForms application. Application performs some very complex logic in database and is bound to take long time. By long time i mean it will take anything from 1 min to 20 min ...
6
votes
5answers
374 views
How useful is this coffee cup “hot contents” warning?
I came across this on Dan Pink's blog.
This caption on a coffee cup is supposed to serve as a warning sign to caution people that the coffee is hot and care must be taken to avoid burns.
The ...
6
votes
4answers
190 views
What's the best terminology for switching from a mobile site to the “full” website?
I've seen links to switch to the "Classic" site or the "Standard" site and I was just wondering if anyone did any testing with this. I like the sound of "full" but I have nothing to back it up. Any ...
6
votes
2answers
74 views
Should the “Help” menu really be called Help?
Most of todays applications have a menu called Help as the last element in the menu bar. But many applications are using the Help menu as a general container for anything that does not fit into other ...
6
votes
2answers
117 views
Data listed horizontally or vertically?
I am currently building a data entry application and a lot of our data is contained in Div's on a page. Right now all of our data is listed horizontally because I feel that it is more readable and is ...
6
votes
3answers
173 views
Group of checkboxes and supporting text fields
What is the best way to layout a group of checkboxes and supporting form fields?
For instance, in this form the user can select several choices for a report delivery method. Some of the choices ...
6
votes
3answers
177 views
Should I build camera functionality into a photo sharing app or let the user use the device camera app they would already be familiar with?
I have been working on the idea I have for sort of another photo sharing app. Last few days, as I have been working on the part of it for taking photos in square format (like instagram) I started to ...
6
votes
4answers
453 views
What android UI control fits for selection of number in large range?
I'm working on a application for tracking body mass measurements. I need the user to be able to input a number representing body weight, whose magnitude ranges from 0.00 kg to normally 300.00 kg. The ...
6
votes
4answers
139 views
Conveying that usability problems exist to developers, cheaply!
I'm a developer transitioning towards design/usability.
I'm giving a talk to the devs at my workplace on design basics and guidelines with a little sneaky UX teaching on the side.
My goal is to work ...
6
votes
2answers
193 views
Should table rows be numbered?
I've created a a form that generate a list of results in a table.
I'd to know if it's interesting to number each row of table, the default number of row is 20. there is a pagination too. 20 results ...
6
votes
3answers
160 views
On log in form, what should a password unmask button look like and say?
On the log in form, I want to give users the option to unmask the password field so they can see what they type. The phrase "unmask password" is too technical and its purpose may not be apparent to ...
6
votes
3answers
88 views
Country/Region Specific locales: How much is it important?
In our website, we are providing more than one language choice, so users will be able to use the website if they knew any of these languages.
However, it surprised me that one site I've visited ...
6
votes
5answers
117 views
On news apps, how does using a different colour for each category help the user?
On news websites and news apps, a specific colour is often used for the link to each category (background colour or underline colour), and I would like to understand how this is helpful for the user, ...
6
votes
4answers
309 views
Stopping people abusing star rating systems
I want to implement a 5 star rating system for particular articles on my site. But, I know that with a little bit of scripting, it can be easy for hackers to abuse these systems. However, I want it to ...
6
votes
3answers
127 views
Select as title vs. Tabs
I'm trying to decide between using a custom css select as a title versus using tabs on a page I'm working on. I drew up two wireframes below:
1. Using Tabs
2. Using Select
As you can see, the ...
6
votes
2answers
710 views
Press-and-hold or Long-Press Gestures: Unintuitive?
Often, I find people struggle with the usage of press-and-hold gestures on mobile/web platforms. The mere thought of having a user press on a defined object and hold for an arbitrary amount of time ...
6
votes
4answers
186 views
Internal or external settings window?
I'm designing the settings/preferences area on a hobby project in java.
What is the best way to allow users to edit settings and why?
My main considerations are:
New window with it's own symbol on ...
6
votes
2answers
147 views
Balancing Information: Number of elements
I'm currently working on a redesign of our company support page. The focus is to move towards a search orientated experience, but there's been some debate about which elements to keep there and which ...
6
votes
3answers
213 views
How to show invalidation errors for fieldsets?
In our various application forms we test for valid entry and required entry, and if invalid/missing we redbox the field and drop a text note immediately under the field. No drama there.
We do have ...
6
votes
2answers
98 views
What is a good color combination, visibility for outside use
I am designing the layout for a touchscreen for outside use, What are some good color combination to use that will be visible under the sun light for outside use? Maybe bright neon colors?
6
votes
2answers
93 views
Group of controls depending on value of combo box
In a UI, I get the user to make a selection from a combo box. This selection influences what other controls will need to be shown. There are also other controls that need to be shown, independently of ...
6
votes
2answers
290 views
Common screen resolution? (In a business environment)
Inspired by "Common screen resolution?" and a debate at work where I defended the teachings of this site...
In the debate we argued about how the business environment differ from home environment in ...
6
votes
2answers
111 views
How to use paper prototyping on an existing product
Paper prototyping is a very powerful tool early on in a new product build as it helps you to iron out ux and rapidly iterate.
However if you're working on an existing product and want to test small ...
6
votes
1answer
225 views
How can I convey the results of UX research to stakeholders?
How can I go about getting stakeholders to understand and "buy into" the results derived from UX research? For example, I ran across this great UX research plan by a Google UX researcher today.
6
votes
1answer
121 views
Ternary Switch - How to implement?
My website gives users a report for their search term, this report contains many different datasets.
Each dataset can be configured via options on their profile page, to either;
Load when the ...
6
votes
2answers
87 views
Should I combine multiple User and Group management panels into a single screen?
Currently I am developing a user and group management plugin for out application with ExtJs 4.1
This is my first version. I packed all into 1 window, each panel has its toolbar and user/group ...
6
votes
1answer
129 views
Drop down list vs. clickable map
I'm working on a web tool that requires users to choose their region as a search filter. I'm trying to decide if it will be best to use a drop-down list (there will be 15 regions) or a clickable map ...
6
votes
2answers
132 views
Best usability: visual presets or simple action?
I'm working on a webapp that lets designers generate CSS through an intuitive interface. Right now I'm working on the Shadows panel and I can't decided which option has the most versatile usability. ...
6
votes
6answers
178 views
Should User Experience Designers / Architects be responsible for the CMS requirements of a website rebuild?
The requirements for the CMS needed to power a new website are often treated as technical requirements, and are therefore considered the province of developers or solutions architects.
On the other ...
6
votes
2answers
514 views
How to design usable web site terms & conditions?
What are some guidelines and examples for designing usable legal terms for web sites? I know that most users don't read it, but are there innovative ways to improve readability and presentation of ...
6
votes
4answers
940 views
Unit of measure and Quantity in Purchase Orders
I have written an application that my clients use to keep inventory. The inventory system includes a purchase order module. Each purchase order has a list of line items including:
Description of ...
6
votes
2answers
444 views
Auto-suggest confuses users; How do I improve it?
I wanted to get some ideas on how a problem like this might be avoided. A mobile app (android, ios) that I work on uses a local sqllite DB to power an auto-suggest feature on the search screen. The ...
6
votes
2answers
110 views
What is the best way to visualize an org chart when people have multiple responsibilities?
I have asked the following question on stackoverflow around modeling an org chart. This focused on the DB modeling details, etc but I want to ask a related question here focusing purely on the user ...
6
votes
3answers
77 views
Form prompts inside form fields always wrong?
I've noticed in the edit-profile form on UX Stack Exchange a weird prompt with an important message - the date format.
Personally I would consider it terribly wrong (force to memorize data format, ...
6
votes
4answers
583 views
Recommended books for enterprise application interface design
I've been reading a lot on UX lately with the intention of improving the user experience on the custom applications we develop. Most of the resources I used are targeting informational websites. I ...
6
votes
5answers
262 views
Accordion Menu or Static Menu Options for Touch Screen optimization
I'm in the process of redesigning dialog menus for our application. The biggest reason is to make the application touch friendly. But these menus will be used in both touch and mouse environments.
...
6
votes
4answers
154 views
Introducing usability into a large Government organisation
I'm hoping you can help me. I've been allocated the role within my organisation to look at how we can improve the usability of our systems. I'm not from a UX background at all so this is proving quire ...
6
votes
2answers
181 views
Pros/Cons of customized/reproduced HTML elements
I have a very specific case where the <select/> elements in a browser interface are replaced with a custom HTML structure while styling is added via CSS and functionality is added via ...
6
votes
2answers
272 views
How can we visually improve the nested rule/predicate builder?
This has been discussed a bit here: Building logical criteria (with AND , OR, etc) - but we felt the examples left a lot to be desired.
Apple (with their hidden nested rules/predicate builder) in ...
5
votes
5answers
522 views
How can we design for unsophisticated computer users?
There's a thread on redit about computer users doing things in very unproductive ways. The first example:
My office mate is 62 and overdue to
retire. If she has a website address,
this is how ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
Usability Guidelines
I am supposed to evaluate a few websites to find out whether they comply with Jacob's Nielsen Heuristics... But I am having trouble understanding the heuristics. Can somebody please explain?
These ...
5
votes
5answers
265 views
What is the best method to undo an action?
Imagine for the sake of simplicity I have a web app to-do list, where each item is a line and has a check mark near it. When the user clicks the check mark, the task is then "done" and the line fades ...
5
votes
5answers
615 views
What UX implications should I be aware of when designing an enterprise website/intranet on SharePoint
We are currently weighing up the for-and-against in relation to whether to use SharePoint or an arguably better suited ECMS.
I am looking to gather compelling evidence both for and against SharePoint ...
5
votes
6answers
221 views
Which is better option 'School', 'College' or any other?
I have used the school field name for both school and college on my website, but I think 'School' and 'College' have different meanings. Can anyone suggest a more appropriate option?
5
votes
5answers
494 views
Forgotten Passwords - is there a real benefit to asking for memorable password hints on signup?
On several signup forms I see fields such as "Choose your Memorable Password Question". Is this actually benifical nowadays? Surely a more secure method if someone forgets their password is to build a ...
5
votes
2answers
152 views
Should marking a chat message as spam automatically ignore the user?
Two typical features of chat rooms are, the ability to ignore another user (hide all of their messages) and to mark a particular message as spam.
Should marking a user's message as spam automatically ...
