Building usable enterprise software is fraught with difficulties, even for the biggest companies on the planet. A glance at some egregious enterprise software fails is enough to make even the most experienced usability professionals dry-mouthed: witness SAP's near-miss take-down of Hershey's back in 1999, in which a new, unusable distribution system led to an 8% fall over … [Read more...]
Hyperlink Usability: Guidelines For Usable Links
Hyperlinks. Interacting with them is perhaps the most frequent action done by users every time they go online. A 2010 Nielsen report estimated that the average user visits 2,646 different web pages per day, each of which may have up to 100 hyperlinks on them. That is 88 webpages a day, and almost 900 links seen, if not clicked. Based on the above figures, it can be … [Read more...]
Windows 10 vs macOS Sierra: Part 2 – Mobile Integration & Multitasking
If you use either Windows 10 or macOS Sierra and you have been curious about the other party, or even if you are just considering an upgrade, you have come to the right place. Two weeks ago, I wrote an article comparing a the two most widely used consumer-oriented desktop operating systems. The article explored differences in the way that the two companies addressed … [Read more...]
Windows 10 vs macOS Sierra: Part 1 – User Interface & Artificial Intelligence
The conflict between Apple and Microsoft is an age-old affair - one that has been perpetuated by the supporters of either platform for the better part of the twenty-first century (and the tail-end of the twentieth). In fact, the enmity between their fans is only eclipsed by that of Android and iOS supporters. Sites like Macworld and Windows Central regularly publish … [Read more...]
Usability Testing With Prototypes
Interactive prototypes are a great way to implement usability testing into the early stages of software development. But are you doing it right? Check out the what, how and why of usability testing with high fidelity prototypes here. Running usability tests on an interactive prototype can avoid the kind of 11th hour headaches that make software designers' and developers' … [Read more...]
Official Usability, User Experience And User Interface Guidelines From Companies (2016)
Veterans of Usability Geek may remember an article published in 2011 that provided a helpful list of UX and UI guidelines for designers with an interest in platforms developed by the likes of Apple, Google, and SAP. For years, it has served as the definitive jumping-off point for designers in need of a convenient, curated list with links to UX and UI design guidelines … [Read more...]
Magento Vs. Shopify – A Usability Comparison
Picture this: you are at a discovery meeting with your ecommerce client and your team's technical advisor. As the presiding UX specialist, your role in this meeting is to gather requirements and apply them towards a proposal and scope of work (SOW). Your client is not sure which Content Management System (CMS) they would prefer and asks your team for a recommendation … [Read more...]
Pop-Ups Vs. Usability, Conversions And Bounce Rates
They go by many names – modal windows, dialog boxes, modal pop-ups – but whatever you call them, pop-ups have a reputation for being divisive when it comes to usability. Judging by the frequency of pop-up use on the average web page, UI designers and developers love these little guys. However, users seem less enamored. Indeed, pop-ups certainly have a bad rap among the … [Read more...]
Product Images – 10 Steps For Better eCommerce Usability
When a user makes a purchase on your website, there are many factors which contribute to a successful conversion. To name just a few, there is trust, design, speed and usability. It would be simplistic to narrow the reason down to just one such factor. Assuming that your site’s design, speed, usability, and trustworthiness have brought the customer as far as your … [Read more...]
An Introduction To Heuristic Evaluation
A Heuristic Evaluation is a usability inspection technique where one or a number of usability experts evaluate the user interface of a product (for example a website) against a set of Heuristic Principles (also known as Heuristics). As the definition of Heuristic Evaluation by the Interaction Design Foundation explains: Heuristic evaluation is a usability engineering … [Read more...]
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