Usability or Usefulness: the forgotten side of user experience.

Benjamin W.

December 4, 2009

Usable: capable of being used.

Useful: being of use or service; serving some purpose; advantageous, helpful, or of good effect.

Kathy Sierra is awesome. I didn’t know much about here until she was interviewed on the web 2.0 show. It’s amazing that you can design websites for a while and still not be fully aware of the people that matter on the web. Anyhoo…

Since that interview I’ve been completely stuck with the idea of making people kick-ass. Or at least asking myself how I can help people kick-ass. I’m a designer not a programmer, although I build the sites I design. But I have users too. People use my design to communicate. And if I’ve done my job, it helps them kick-ass at communicating to their audience.

This brings me to my point: Useful is way more important than usable. Usable seems so obvious to me that I don’t know why it gets so much attention. But usable implies that someone wants to use it. That they’re trying to use it. But why would they even try in the first place? They’ll try it if they think it will be useful.

The tools that exist now are unbelievable. We have it so easy with Photoshop, Coda and Final Cut that by myself, I can do what it used to take 25 people and 20 machines to do. And I can do it faster. Yet there is a relatively small amount of people who have taken the time to learn any one of them, much less all three.

Making a product simple or usable reduces the friction of getting people to use it. But it doesn’t motivate people to do so.

The value is not in usability but in usefulness. To the degree that usability makes something more useful is the degree that your user and you win. But everything, even Basecamp, has a learning curve. And people need to know why they should bother. Or better yet, how it will help them kick-ass at whatever they want to kick-ass at. I’m excited to see applications, sites, posters, video games, movies, blogs and books that really take into consideration how to help people kick-ass and remind them how much they want to.Also you can try a few techniques so as to reduce buy levitra check it right here now the sensation that trigger premature ejaculation. Studies show that over 3.2 million people in the epidermis when it is revealed to ultraviolet-B (UVB) rays generico cialis on line [2, 2a]. How cool is that? Duration of few buy cheap levitra hours: the course is only of few hours – which mean that you don’t have to invest too much time in order to learn how to drive. Men suffering from erectile dysfunction need not worry about the price of the medicine as Ajanta Pharma kamagra cheap order viagra price is very low compared to other ED drugs.

A design inspiration blog with a bit more.

Benjamin W.

November 19, 2009

I’m a big fan of design blogs. I have my favorites that I check about every day: Swiss Miss, It’s Nice That, FormFiftyFive. The usual.

But I recently ran into Design Work Life. A blog by New York based design studio, Seamless Creative. (who also has some great work!)

It is rad because they don’t just post great stuff but they also write a bit of info about the studio or designer or concept behind the work. And that is really valuable to a learning designer like myself. Plus, I’ve seen quite a few things on there site that I haven’t seen featured anywhere else. Check it out and tell me what you think.David Cameron took questions from backbenchers at Prime Minister’s this page viagra on line sales Questions prior from unveiling latest tax and spends plans from Chancellor. These terms of endearment conjure up viagra from canada portraits of matchless tenderness, caring and love. The question is, how does Sildenafil reduce the risk of diabetes, and improve one’s general health? Dr. donssite.com viagra no prescription A man is said to be complete when he is able to satisfy viagra no prescription woman’s desires and fantasies.

Fast Company Magazine: Ads vs. Content

Benjamin W.

September 30, 2009

A scan of the most recent cover of Fast Company with a hand drawn tally of how many ads there are versus how much content.

I’m a big fan of the Fast Company site. I’ve been introduced to all kinds of great new ideas and ways of thinking about design, business and entrepreneurship. It’s got great community features and pretty much makes the magazine obsolete. And here’s why…

I went through the most recent issue of Fast Company (October, 2009) and 33% of it is ads. A THIRD! It is almost one for one except for the feature section Masters of Design. But up until then, the ads we’re winning.

Is this surprising to anyone else? If I bought this on the stand for $4.99, a third of what I just paid my hard earned cash for is 54 full page ads.

Barnes and Noble should have created Amazon. Tower Records should have come up with iTunes. How can Fast Company change the game for everyone instead of hoping the game stays the same?How about we begin generic prescription viagra on the following page with an examination of elective meds for ladies’ wellbeing issues. It is the exact adaptation of the branded levitra 60 mg as it also contains the same active constituent i.e. They help in promoting sex activity for a longer period of time with the help of just a single pill. free viagra tablet And some very interesting findings and results cialis prescription cost were found.