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.
124
votes
17answers
8k views
Save icon, is the floppy disk icon dead?
This Twitter post sparked me to ask the question:
totally! RT @damienguard: Dear UI
designers everywhere. Stop using
floppy disk icons for save. Too many
people have no idea what it is now.
...
108
votes
13answers
3k views
Language of language names in the language selector?
Imagine a site that's available in multiple languages. The language is detected automatically by looking at the IP or the browser header. But that's not bulletproof, so a few users might end up on a ...
72
votes
10answers
1k views
Is Markdown Friendly Enough for Non-Technical Users?
The Problem
I love using markdown to write questions, answers, posts, comments etc. That being said, I am a very technical, detail oriented, programmer type. However, I am working on a CMS of sorts ...
46
votes
17answers
4k views
Is Microsoft's Ribbon UI really that great, from a usability perspective?
The first time I ever used it was at my current job. Among my coworkers, the feelings toward it for usability are mixed. The other developer doesn't really care one way or the other, as long as Office ...
38
votes
7answers
2k views
Would intentionally slowing down UI help to increase sales on shopping sites?
I've noticed that iTunes store is always slow, at first I thought it's just because iTunes is a bloatware (which it is, on both Mac and Windows.) However I started to wonder whether this is ...
35
votes
6answers
2k views
Infinite scroll vs Pagination in E-commerce websites
Infinite scroll has been around for a while now, however I have not seen infinite scroll being implemented on any successful or well known e-commerce sites.
Does anyone know of any e-commerce sites ...
34
votes
11answers
3k views
Is “Never tell your password to anyone” message in chat really necessary?
In almost every chat window I open, there's this fairly obvious statement:
Never tell your [password/credit card/social security/etc] to anyone.
Are there some standards for chat functionality that ...
34
votes
9answers
1k views
Do non-technical/non-web savvy users understand the concept of tags?
Here at Stack Exchange we're currently wrestling with weaknesses in our tags system. As we open up new verticals – some of which include very non-technical users like cooking – we suspect that the ...
30
votes
9answers
2k views
Can ugly be good UX?
It's heresy I know, but look at DrudgeReport.com. It's raw, hand written HTML, it's plain, boring typography, it's something any UX or Graphic designer would scoff at if you handed it across their ...
29
votes
8answers
1k views
Save, Favorite or Star?
I'm working on a job app and I would like to offer our user the possibility to save a job and let them find it quickly later.
First I thought using a star icon to let them "star" a job like starring ...
29
votes
3answers
1k views
Is the Windows Start button an example of poor mapping?
In my recent course on HCI, I've been told that start button on Windows systems is an example of poor mapping. The reason for that, as explained in materials, is that it doesn't start anything, but ...
26
votes
3answers
822 views
Is usability gender specific?
I'm talking strictly usability, not UX as a whole: Is there a measurable difference between men and women? Can it happen that elements of a website work well for men but don't work for women or vice ...
25
votes
9answers
5k views
Good reasons to use bad UI
I know you just read the title, take a deep breath. I'll explain.
When should we make a conscious decision to retain poor UI, even if temporarily? Not because of budget or time constraints but ...
24
votes
3answers
1k views
Use old or new name for an update confirmation message when name itself has been updated?
I want to provide a user of a web application some confirmation message like:
The task "foobar" has been successfully updated.
Now, in term of usability, if the update consists in changing ...
24
votes
4answers
1k views
Design Patterns for Discoverability
What are some tried and true design patterns for discoverability in UI/UX, where information or a feature isn't necessarily overt at first glance, but is discoverable by using the interface through ...
23
votes
5answers
3k views
Dropdown vs radio button
User have to choose type of food (from 3 or 4 choices) in our application. Default selection is used in 60 - 70% of cases. What will be better: dropdown or radio buttons?
22
votes
12answers
2k views
Content first or Design first?
When designing a layout, should we consider content first or design first? I make websites and 99% of the time my client wants the design before they start thinking about the content. In these cases, ...
21
votes
1answer
1k views
Why does the iPhone calling screen have letters under the numbers?
The iPhone dialer has letters below the numbers. Why did Apple include them on this screen? In other phones it is used for T9 keyboard or contact search.
20
votes
5answers
15k views
Best Practices for UI design on Android (Usability/UX) [closed]
I'm switching for web development to Android development. I know some things about web usability and I see that UX is too often left behind on Android from my I experience with it.
As the interaction ...
20
votes
6answers
397 views
Calendar recurrences on the last day of the month
I noticed a difference in how Google Calendar and Outlook handle recurring appointments, specifically ones that are on the end of the month. If you try to schedule an appointment on the 31st of every ...
19
votes
2answers
512 views
Should I follow the Android guideline or keep my app's own style when porting it from iOS?
My new project is to port an iOS app to Android platform. Before get started, I'm quite confused on whether I should follow google's guideline since some big titles on Android platform still keep the ...
18
votes
12answers
1k views
Why are child-resistant packages sometimes easier to open by kids than adults?
Based on discussions with friends and colleagues there seem to be difficulties opening child-resistant packages in general. There are even stories of parents letting their kids (supervised) open child ...
18
votes
7answers
770 views
What's a good way to use text over a picture?
My dilemma is aptly shown in the picture below:
How can I make the text more legible?
18
votes
10answers
2k views
Is it ok to require certain users to have JavaScript enabled?
I am a firm believer sites should work perfectly fine for people who choose to disable Javascript while browsing any and all of the content.
However, when it comes to higher-level interaction (such ...
18
votes
8answers
1k views
Why is everybody using Facebook, is it good marketing or good usability?
Why is everybody using Facebook? Is it good marketing or good usability? If it's usability, what specifically do they offer that is different from others? I was happily doing social networking on ...
18
votes
2answers
568 views
Is a private messaging system really necessary?
I have a very old private messaging system that either needs to be redone or removed. It currently accounts for about 20% of the activity on the site.
We already have a system in place for ...
18
votes
8answers
564 views
Users don't read (or even see) things. How can I deliver important clues?
I am building a website. Some pages contain instructions (a few simple sentences, nothing intimidating) and have fairly standard controls (drop-downs etc).
There's not a lot on any one page. The ...
18
votes
4answers
356 views
Any Research on User Experience Perceptions of Native Apps vs Web or Hybrid Apps
My organization is looking at developing mobile applications, we have a wealth of web development resources. There are many factors to consider in making the decision of how to develop this ...
18
votes
4answers
575 views
What's the best way to kill useless features?
I'm working on an web platform (SAAS) that's about six years old. Like a lot of new web services, it's evolving rapidly in response to client and user requests.
In the short time that I've been here, ...
18
votes
4answers
253 views
Middle Eastern usability considerations
I have been given a task of researching usability of Middle Eastern websites so the considerations can help shape the functional specification and wire-frame diagrams.
What is noticeable from the ...
17
votes
7answers
781 views
Are hover states necessary?
We're having a discussion in the UX department here at work as to whether or not hover states are necessary to a UI. We're kind of divided. Here are the two arguments:
Against (started the ...
17
votes
2answers
420 views
Is swiping up/down better than swiping left/right for changing months on a calendar?
I have created a custom View to display a Calendar in Android.
The display is always 1 month. I'm using a swipe to the sides to switch months. Now I have seen some other Apps (including the installed ...
17
votes
4answers
489 views
Why aren't Gmail-like “on-page” dialogs more popular UI solutions?
A few months ago, Gmail gave us the choice to switch to a new UI, with many new features (...) including an "on-page-docked" window. I personally find this piece of UI very useful as it allows users ...
16
votes
11answers
3k views
Certified Usability Professional?
I've searched the web for a Usability certification, which is widely accepted by practitioners, employers and customers without any luck. Either they are company specific, or a part of a association ...
16
votes
3answers
403 views
What is the optimum button size of touch screen applications?
I read this blog post about the ideal button size of touch screen control sizes. It was based on the study form the MIT touch lab that gives some measures of the size and sensitivity of the finger. He ...
16
votes
6answers
682 views
Is it acceptable to make a text field look like a write in line?
My designer would like to implement a text field that drops down on hover against a white background, and only have a bottom border to define the field. Also, the designer would like to see a flashing ...
16
votes
3answers
975 views
Character limits on fields - pros and cons and best practices?
Some of our form fields have character limits. We're debating whether we should reflect the current size of data entry, or to simply hard-limit and inhibit data entry beyond that size.
In HTML, ...
16
votes
5answers
303 views
Can a page rating with feedback be more effective than a longer usability survey for identifying problem areas?
Our government website has thousands of informational pages, many online self-service task flows and 20+ content editors / stakeholder groups. In the past, periodic usability surveys have been ...
15
votes
6answers
772 views
Why left-align a website?
Looking around the web, I've noticed quite a few sites (mainly sites that haven't had a major facelift for a couple of years) that have the entire site sitting to the left of the page.
Examples:
...
15
votes
2answers
340 views
What are some best practices to follow when designing for users completely unfamiliar with computers?
In User Testing in the Wild: Joe’s First Computer Encounter, a researcher for Mozilla encounters a 60 year old man who has never used a computer and describes what it was like to have him use a ...
14
votes
7answers
330 views
Does it make sense to place 4 “Apply” buttons on a form?
I am design a "Setting" form for a Windows application (Winforms).
I'm doubting if I should place an "Apply" button 4 times on the same form.
On the first hand, each button refers to a separate ...
14
votes
4answers
464 views
Are HTTP error codes user-friendly?
Why do we still have these HTTP error codes?
For me it seems like they are completely useless for the user (not for all but most of them). It says nothing helpful (look at the screenshot above, it ...
14
votes
4answers
2k views
What is the ROI of UI or UX design?
I was trying to find out if there have been studies on how much a bad UI or UX design affects sales on websites? I couldn't really find anything in my searches.
Also, does anyone know about any ...
14
votes
8answers
623 views
Why do so many websites have the restriction of user names starting with a letter?
Skype
Yahoo
What is the reasoning behind allowing only letters as the first characters of a username?
14
votes
6answers
363 views
Will a Paste button increase usability?
There comes cases where it's quite obvious that users are most likely to copy and paste a value into a given text-box. One of those cases is a URL fields.
This made me thinking of adding a paste ...
14
votes
2answers
784 views
Any data available on using Skeuomorphic Design in apps?
I've recently come across an article about Skeuomorphism that peaked my curiosity.
Skeuomorphism: ..."an element of design or structure that serves little or no purpose in the artifact fashioned ...
13
votes
7answers
780 views
How to incorporate a “never” value on a slider?
I have a slider in a web page (similar to this one) to control the the duration of how long to keep an item before it is removed:
The range of values goes from 0 to 90, with the value 0 being used ...
13
votes
5answers
529 views
How can I allow users to easily pair items from long lists?
I'm trying to create a friendly ui that will allow users with little or no computer experience to make pairs from two huge lists (around 2000 items each).
Above each lists there will be a search field ...
13
votes
12answers
253 views
When is automated remote usability testing useful?
There seem to be a fair few services these days offering automated remote usability testing, so I'm assuming there are a fair few people using those services, which implies that they ARE useful - ...
13
votes
5answers
623 views
What is the most user-friendly way to show position of a user on a long leaderboard?
I am designing a gamefication app and I need to show an overall leaderboard, displaying all users with points and positions...
The problem is that the leaderboard requires pagination and the ...
