direct responses to your comment
You can't really generalize "usability experts", just like you can't really generalize "computer users". There are all types of each. For example, I, a usability expert & UI designer, agree with you. An important part of designing anything is understanding the users of the system. If the user population is split among levels of expertise, for example, you have to make design decisions which enhance the experiences of both groups. As the number of subdivisions grows, so does the difficulty in pleasing everyone.
In fact, "most tasks" are not faster with a mouse, especially if you are used to using the keyboard as a power user.
If users aren't satisfied on some level, then they won't use your software. Some small UI mistakes here and there won't kill an app's UI, but lots of them will. To comment on your satisfaction vs speed comment, it all depends on your POV. Sometimes, especially in the telephony arena, user speed is more important b/c it decreases telephony costs.
I'd say that Nielson is only half-right when he says, "don't listen to your users". It all depends on what they're talking about:
listen to them about
what they like and dislike about their current way of doing things
how they perform their current tasks
feature requests
It's always wise to do a good dose of direct observation as well. Often times, what a user does, and what they say can diverge greatly. However, the difference between the two can inform you as to how they conceptualize the task, and perhaps guide the design.
tangential responses
There's a difference between various roles which seem to get lumped together on/. "usability expert", "UI designer", etc. While one person may do all those jobs, they are roles which come into play at different times in a project lifecycle. That's not to say that they're mutually exclusive, because they're not. However, in your example, I would say that whoever did the design ignored researching their userbase. Just as with bad programmers, there are bad designers and usability practicioners out there.
The most visible of the usability / UI people out there (Nielson, Norman, Raskin, etc.) are evangelists for the most part. They're at the phase where they play the "visionary" role. Strong statements with legitimate-seeming data to back it up is very powerful. They drive customers to your consulting business.
I think I've wandered a bit... wish that the text entry box on/. were a bit larger....
lemme see:
Oh yes, if a requirements analysis is done right, and the design is done right, then a usability test is mainly to catch the "minor" UI gaffes. Hopefully, during the UI design process, the designer communicated with potential users, or ran some paper-prototyping tests or Wizard of Oz tests. If that is all done, then theoretically, you can pay less attention to the "big-picture" during a usability study than to the nitty-gritty details. That's not to say that you ignore it, because that's always important, but there are tons of small details that you find out during usability testing when watching live users use your system.
Walmart is super-sleazy. Here are a few reasons why. You can read more details about it at http://www.walmartwatch.com
In many areas, especially rural ones, Walmart is the only pharmacy in the area. Walmart allows it's pharmacists to refuse to fill a customer's prescription for "ethical issues". This is especially serious and reprehensible with regards to birth control and reproductive issues.
They sell guns and are lax about indiscriminate about it. And banned a Sheryl Crow album for highlighting that fact. Contrasting with the prior issue, it's quite alarming.
In addition, Walmart used to follow the practice of taking out life insurance policies on it's employees without their knowledge, with Walmart as the beneficiary.
ObLinuxReference: The biggest hurdle to Linux is the installation of the OS. Linux being sold pre-installed is a great step, and one for which I am excited. Since Linux is not, by itself, any sort of organization and OpenSource, Walmart can do whatever it wants. I'm sure that any of the larger Linux distributers would be happy to make some money on Linux w/ Walmart.
Actually, I didn't like Tie Fighter so much. Guess I'm not so good with the evil thing. The original X-Wing was great! I loved the trench run at the final mission.
X-Wing Alliance was also very cool. If pushed, I'd probably say I liked it best: better music, sound, graphics; and it has multiplayer! It was also nice to play a character who has a name in the game; you're not just some faceless guy like in the prior SW flight sims.
In the same vein, I liked Tachyon a lot as well. Your character had a personality (in this case, a sarchastic one, voiced by Bruce Campbell!) and identity. One of the things I liked about Tachyon was that you could "slide" or swivel your ship while flying and aim at things without changing your direction of travel. A little more realistic, I think. (I've never been in space combat, but basic physics...)
Back to X-W:A; you could even get a chance to fly the Millenium Falcon, in the final attack on the second Death Star. Earlier in the game, you get to fly various types of ships from among the old favorites, and even some different types of cargo ships. It's pretty cool to man a gun turret while the auto pilot flies. There's even a multi-player patch to allow you to control a turret while someone else is the pilot.
Another mission, which is quite awesome, gives you the chance to make some strafing runs at a Super Star Destroyer. It's amazing how large that thing is when you're right next to it.
I only wish that someone would come up with a mod to let you fly the trench run in X-W:A.
Todd
Re:books on that subject
on
Built For Use
·
· Score: 1
Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug. This is the best book to give to someone who doesn't "get" interface design or usability and why they're important. The book is very well written, has a good sprinkling of screenshots, some decent humor, and is relatively short. I'd like to buy one for each of the members of our marketing department.
Most speech recognition systems do better when people speak naturally. When people fake an accent, it's usually not very much like the real accident, especially to a computer.
Actually, I don't think that'd be too hard to do. I've also thought that pr0n would be a good industry to use this technology. A phone sex speechrec system would be pretty amusing.
If you think that's impressive, try United Flight Information, Airtran FLIFO, American FLIFO, or Continental FLIFO. Amtrak, Thrifty, HeyAnita, TellMe, Audiopoint, AOL, and many others all have more impressive systems than the one you describe. "Press or say" is child's play.
Systems right now do ok in noisy environments, but they're improving all of the time. Just think of where text-to-speech was a few years ago, and look where it is now... recognition will catch up.
Have you seen this procmail recipe combined w/ time-limited email addresses? It seems quite interesting, and according to the author, works quite well. The gist is that he generates new email addresses (of the format x+12354@x.com) every so often, perhaps weekly, which expire. So, any messages sent to an old address get filtered somewhere. He also uses Ifile.
Get a Kyocera 6035 phone. The Palm portion can use the phone as a modem. So you can use a real web browser, WAP browser (if you're so inclined), email client, or Palm.pqas (which really can be useful). In addition, you've got two way SMS messaging, voice dialing, voice memos, and a speakerphone. The phone can also be used as a wireless modem/fax for your computer. You can also add your own ringtones, which you can create yourself out of any wav file you have. When you use the Palm wirelessly, you use your plan minutes, not some stupid wireless web option that costs extra $.
It's not perfect though. The speakerphone is a bit chincy, but it works ok. I prefer a headset. Also, the available cases suck. The ones from Verizon are shoddy. Also, I had to put a small piece of plastic (like that from a page protector) on the flip to keep the screen from getting yucky from my face when I talk on the phone.
You can get service (in the US) with Verizon and Sprint. Perhaps one or two other carriers.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with it. It sure beats carrying around both a phone and a palm.
I totally agree with you, although I would give them movie a 2 out of 5; a 3 at max. I felt that the script was pretty good, the effects were excellent (for the most part), the cinematography was good, but the pacing and editing was so poor.
Overdone effects shots:
- How many shots of swooping through the quarries and mines surrounding Isengard did we get? 3. How many did we need? 1.
- How many shots of the Nazguls' horses' bloody hooves did we see? I don't even remember. How many did we need? Maybe one.
- Gandalf and Sarumon whacking at each other w/ their magic.
- The hobbits' feet. I don't even see my own feet that often in a three hour time period!
- flying up or down Isengard
- etc.
It's like they knew they had great special effects and couldn't overcome the temptation to show them, again, and again, and again, and again.
I overall thought that the casting and acting was awesome, except for Elrond. He just didn't seem to strike the right chord with me. I can't quite put my finger on it.
Things that I thought were cool:
- the way the ring was personified and kept whispering
- the effects when the ring was word
- Galadriel's test of will
- Gandalf!
- the hobbits looked awesome!
- representation of magic and how it's used
Anyway, there were so many times when I was thinking, "hurry up already, move the plot along". I'm not sure if I have ADD, or if they spent too much time on panning panoramas and reaction shots or if they just had too many pointless conversations. I think there might have been too much backstory. Better editing in the Two Towers would be greatly appreciated.
What made it especially sad was that I was hoping my wife would like the movie, as she really dislikes the novels. I wanted to like this movie a lot more than I did, but I'm sad that I didn't. At least it was better than SW:E1!
BTW, I love the novels and have read them a number of times.
You buy OnStar monthly. There are two levels: Premium, and Safety, or something like that. Safety gives you emergency car unlocking, roadside assistance, automatic ambulance call if airbags deploy, and car tracking if the car is stolen. Premium gives you the worthless "concierge" services (directions, tickets, purchasing items, etc).
You can also sign up for two voice-activated services for an extra monthly fee: voice dialing and a TellMe-like personal portal type of thing. The voice dialing is kind of cool. I believe that the voice portal isn't so hot.
All GM cars (Saabs included) come with one year of Premium service 'free'. I don't believe that the premium services are worth the cost currently. Most of the operators are pretty stupid.
Wingdings 2 gives:
- an open hand
- some Greek-like character
- a hand pointing a finger to the right
Wingdings 3 gives:
- a "u-turn" arrow, pointing to the right
- an arrow pointing towards the top of the page
- another u-turn type arrow pointing to the right
This is clearly a plot by MS to influence people to join the Republicans!
... no wonder my parents have gotten so conservative since they've had a computer...
Well, VoiceXML isn't necessarily going to be used to "voice-enable" web pages. It's also going to be used to replace propriatary speech recognition telephony systems. There are a few companies out there that are doing this already:
Browsing the web using speech for both input and output is stupid because of the limitations of human memory and the serial nature of how we perceive sound. Better alternatives are to speech enable processes, such as buying things or finding out information.
I could see controlling a web page by voice. With a VXML enabled web site, you could conceivable make each link a voice command, which would then control the browser GUI. I mean, imaging having./ read back to you!
On a slightly different angle, it'd be great to have a system at home that did something like Wildfire.
Get the re-released "Win95 version". I think it's included in the XWing Collectors Edition or something like that.
I believe that it also includes the additional mission packs from the floppy version. This is still one of my favorite games. In fact, the trench run is just awesome. Too bad the XWing: Alliance game didn't have that as well as a training mission or something...
My wife is in med school. She was treating a patient in downtown Boston. The guy says to her, "I have a gun. Who can I give it to?" He hadn't wanted to give it to the admissions people, because he wanted to get it returned to him.
In any case, this guy was from New York and had flown to Boston *with the gun on his person*. He told her that he carries it *every time he flies*.
He even told her how he does it. If you think that you can't get a gun on an airplane, you're kidding yourself.
I totally agree. In addition, LEGO has some simple pieces that are non-brick, like wheels, axles, windshields, those little guys and their tools, etc. They are part of what makes LEGO cool, because you can place your avatar (little dudes) inside of your creations if you want. Plus, the little guys also provide you a common scale to base all of your creations around so that it is easy to have them interact.
LEGO is great because they are simple but complex (as the person I'm replying to stated), but the complexity can come in the form of specialized pieces that enhance the model building, like not having to figure out how to build tires.
I do think that, as stated many times by other people, the specialized piece situation has gone a bit overboard, but the concept is still a good one.
A friend of mine bought almost all of the Star Wars LEGO sets, including the really spilly TIE Interceptor and X-Wing. They are really cool. But they didn't come with guys...
Oh yeah, just for some reference, I started off with the first space LEGO set and "collected" for quite a while. Acutally, it was pretty cool; I lost the instructions book for that first set but was able to reconstruct it years later from a few photos in the LEGO catalogs. That's one of the beauties of LEGO.
You should check out the Kyocera 6035 Smartphone. It's a really slick implementation of a Palm IIIxe and a mobile phone. Check it out. [kyocera-wireless.com].
I've owned one for about 3 weeks. It supports.pqas, as well as apps that access other things directly, like web browsing, POP/IMAP email, NNTP, etc. It has a screen similar to the Palm 105 (smallish, B&W), but I find it's not any worse than other Palm screens.
Service is available through Verizon and Sprint at the moment and the phone costs around $500.
Some of my dislikes:
Backlight button is on the top of the phone. So, when I put the phone in its case, I sometimes hit it and wake the phone up.
Screen gets greasy when I talk on the phone. (I solved that one though w/ a small piece of plastic.)
If I load a bad piece of software on it, my phone can reboot!
Serial synchronization
Things I like:
Speakerphone and headset
One touch voice dialing w/ unlimited # of entries
Internet access on my phone.
Good battery life
Don't have to carry two devices around.
Voice memos (although I don't use it too much)
If you have a headset plugged in, and get an incoming call, it asks you, "Incoming call, accept?", which is just cool.
Actually, in the past two years or so, TTS has again become more important. The cost of a voice talent in relation to the cost of a developed system is really cheap. But, it would be really hard and get more expensive to use prerecorded words and phrases to read things back like email, for example.
I believe that Yahoo! and AOL have phone systems (touch-tone and speech, respectively) that read back email to people.
For the most part, using a real voice talent is the best bet; there are some fantastic people working out there.
Slashdot Mirror
direct responses to your comment You can't really generalize "usability experts", just like you can't really generalize "computer users". There are all types of each. For example, I, a usability expert & UI designer, agree with you. An important part of designing anything is understanding the users of the system. If the user population is split among levels of expertise, for example, you have to make design decisions which enhance the experiences of both groups. As the number of subdivisions grows, so does the difficulty in pleasing everyone.
In fact, "most tasks" are not faster with a mouse, especially if you are used to using the keyboard as a power user.
If users aren't satisfied on some level, then they won't use your software. Some small UI mistakes here and there won't kill an app's UI, but lots of them will. To comment on your satisfaction vs speed comment, it all depends on your POV. Sometimes, especially in the telephony arena, user speed is more important b/c it decreases telephony costs.
I'd say that Nielson is only half-right when he says, "don't listen to your users". It all depends on what they're talking about:
listen to them about
It's always wise to do a good dose of direct observation as well. Often times, what a user does, and what they say can diverge greatly. However, the difference between the two can inform you as to how they conceptualize the task, and perhaps guide the design.
tangential responses There's a difference between various roles which seem to get lumped together on /. "usability expert", "UI designer", etc. While one person may do all those jobs, they are roles which come into play at different times in a project lifecycle. That's not to say that they're mutually exclusive, because they're not. However, in your example, I would say that whoever did the design ignored researching their userbase. Just as with bad programmers, there are bad designers and usability practicioners out there.
The most visible of the usability / UI people out there (Nielson, Norman, Raskin, etc.) are evangelists for the most part. They're at the phase where they play the "visionary" role. Strong statements with legitimate-seeming data to back it up is very powerful. They drive customers to your consulting business.
I think I've wandered a bit... wish that the text entry box on /. were a bit larger....
lemme see:
Oh yes, if a requirements analysis is done right, and the design is done right, then a usability test is mainly to catch the "minor" UI gaffes. Hopefully, during the UI design process, the designer communicated with potential users, or ran some paper-prototyping tests or Wizard of Oz tests. If that is all done, then theoretically, you can pay less attention to the "big-picture" during a usability study than to the nitty-gritty details. That's not to say that you ignore it, because that's always important, but there are tons of small details that you find out during usability testing when watching live users use your system.
Todd
It's called TIVO. Join the TIVOlution!
Walmart is super-sleazy. Here are a few reasons why. You can read more details about it at http://www.walmartwatch.com
u bs ection_id=131&internal_id=350
In many areas, especially rural ones, Walmart is the only pharmacy in the area. Walmart allows it's pharmacists to refuse to fill a customer's prescription for "ethical issues". This is especially serious and reprehensible with regards to birth control and reproductive issues.
They sell guns and are lax about indiscriminate about it. And banned a Sheryl Crow album for highlighting that fact. Contrasting with the prior issue, it's quite alarming.
In addition, Walmart used to follow the practice of taking out life insurance policies on it's employees without their knowledge, with Walmart as the beneficiary.
http://www.walmartwatch.com/info/internal.cfm?s
ObLinuxReference: The biggest hurdle to Linux is the installation of the OS. Linux being sold pre-installed is a great step, and one for which I am excited. Since Linux is not, by itself, any sort of organization and OpenSource, Walmart can do whatever it wants. I'm sure that any of the larger Linux distributers would be happy to make some money on Linux w/ Walmart.
Todd
Actually, I didn't like Tie Fighter so much. Guess I'm not so good with the evil thing. The original X-Wing was great! I loved the trench run at the final mission.
X-Wing Alliance was also very cool. If pushed, I'd probably say I liked it best: better music, sound, graphics; and it has multiplayer! It was also nice to play a character who has a name in the game; you're not just some faceless guy like in the prior SW flight sims.
In the same vein, I liked Tachyon a lot as well. Your character had a personality (in this case, a sarchastic one, voiced by Bruce Campbell!) and identity. One of the things I liked about Tachyon was that you could "slide" or swivel your ship while flying and aim at things without changing your direction of travel. A little more realistic, I think. (I've never been in space combat, but basic physics...)
Back to X-W:A; you could even get a chance to fly the Millenium Falcon, in the final attack on the second Death Star. Earlier in the game, you get to fly various types of ships from among the old favorites, and even some different types of cargo ships. It's pretty cool to man a gun turret while the auto pilot flies. There's even a multi-player patch to allow you to control a turret while someone else is the pilot.
Another mission, which is quite awesome, gives you the chance to make some strafing runs at a Super Star Destroyer. It's amazing how large that thing is when you're right next to it.
I only wish that someone would come up with a mod to let you fly the trench run in X-W:A.
Todd
It's the book I wish that I'd written.
Todd
Have you ever noticed that the women in those commercials are on the uglier side of the beauty spectrum? Keep an eye out; it's true!
Most speech recognition systems do better when people speak naturally. When people fake an accent, it's usually not very much like the real accident, especially to a computer.
Todd
Actually, I don't think that'd be too hard to do. I've also thought that pr0n would be a good industry to use this technology. A phone sex speechrec system would be pretty amusing.
Todd
If you think that's impressive, try United Flight Information, Airtran FLIFO, American FLIFO, or Continental FLIFO. Amtrak, Thrifty, HeyAnita, TellMe, Audiopoint, AOL, and many others all have more impressive systems than the one you describe. "Press or say" is child's play.
Systems right now do ok in noisy environments, but they're improving all of the time. Just think of where text-to-speech was a few years ago, and look where it is now... recognition will catch up.
Todd
Todd
Get a Kyocera 6035 phone. The Palm portion can use the phone as a modem. So you can use a real web browser, WAP browser (if you're so inclined), email client, or Palm .pqas (which really can be useful). In addition, you've got two way SMS messaging, voice dialing, voice memos, and a speakerphone. The phone can also be used as a wireless modem/fax for your computer. You can also add your own ringtones, which you can create yourself out of any wav file you have. When you use the Palm wirelessly, you use your plan minutes, not some stupid wireless web option that costs extra $.
It's not perfect though. The speakerphone is a bit chincy, but it works ok. I prefer a headset. Also, the available cases suck. The ones from Verizon are shoddy. Also, I had to put a small piece of plastic (like that from a page protector) on the flip to keep the screen from getting yucky from my face when I talk on the phone.
You can get service (in the US) with Verizon and Sprint. Perhaps one or two other carriers.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with it. It sure beats carrying around both a phone and a palm.
Todd
I totally agree with you, although I would give them movie a 2 out of 5; a 3 at max. I felt that the script was pretty good, the effects were excellent (for the most part), the cinematography was good, but the pacing and editing was so poor.
Overdone effects shots:
- How many shots of swooping through the quarries and mines surrounding Isengard did we get? 3. How many did we need? 1.
- How many shots of the Nazguls' horses' bloody hooves did we see? I don't even remember. How many did we need? Maybe one.
- Gandalf and Sarumon whacking at each other w/ their magic.
- The hobbits' feet. I don't even see my own feet that often in a three hour time period!
- flying up or down Isengard
- etc.
It's like they knew they had great special effects and couldn't overcome the temptation to show them, again, and again, and again, and again.
I overall thought that the casting and acting was awesome, except for Elrond. He just didn't seem to strike the right chord with me. I can't quite put my finger on it.
Things that I thought were cool:
- the way the ring was personified and kept whispering
- the effects when the ring was word
- Galadriel's test of will
- Gandalf!
- the hobbits looked awesome!
- representation of magic and how it's used
Anyway, there were so many times when I was thinking, "hurry up already, move the plot along". I'm not sure if I have ADD, or if they spent too much time on panning panoramas and reaction shots or if they just had too many pointless conversations. I think there might have been too much backstory. Better editing in the Two Towers would be greatly appreciated.
What made it especially sad was that I was hoping my wife would like the movie, as she really dislikes the novels. I wanted to like this movie a lot more than I did, but I'm sad that I didn't. At least it was better than SW:E1!
BTW, I love the novels and have read them a number of times.
Todd
You can also sign up for two voice-activated services for an extra monthly fee: voice dialing and a TellMe-like personal portal type of thing. The voice dialing is kind of cool. I believe that the voice portal isn't so hot.
Here's their webpage with all the info.
All GM cars (Saabs included) come with one year of Premium service 'free'. I don't believe that the premium services are worth the cost currently. Most of the operators are pretty stupid.
Todd
You mean, "you're right?"
Blah.
My favorite palindrome is:
Wingdings 2 gives:
...
- an open hand
- some Greek-like character
- a hand pointing a finger to the right
Wingdings 3 gives:
- a "u-turn" arrow, pointing to the right
- an arrow pointing towards the top of the page
- another u-turn type arrow pointing to the right
This is clearly a plot by MS to influence people to join the Republicans!
... no wonder my parents have gotten so conservative since they've had a computer
Todd
VoiceGenie, Telera, and TellMe.
Browsing the web using speech for both input and output is stupid because of the limitations of human memory and the serial nature of how we perceive sound. Better alternatives are to speech enable processes, such as buying things or finding out information.
I could see controlling a web page by voice. With a VXML enabled web site, you could conceivable make each link a voice command, which would then control the browser GUI. I mean, imaging having ./ read back to you!
On a slightly different angle, it'd be great to have a system at home that did something like Wildfire.
Todd
I believe that it also includes the additional mission packs from the floppy version. This is still one of my favorite games. In fact, the trench run is just awesome. Too bad the XWing: Alliance game didn't have that as well as a training mission or something...
Here it is for $15
Todd
> But if I need USB I pop in an USB PC-card and > use USB periphals.
> O yeah, of course without restarting!!
The same is true of Wintel laptops. That was one of the beauties of the PCMCIA card.
Todd
My wife is in med school. She was treating a patient in downtown Boston. The guy says to her, "I have a gun. Who can I give it to?" He hadn't wanted to give it to the admissions people, because he wanted to get it returned to him.
In any case, this guy was from New York and had flown to Boston *with the gun on his person*. He told her that he carries it *every time he flies*.
He even told her how he does it. If you think that you can't get a gun on an airplane, you're kidding yourself.
Todd
I totally agree. In addition, LEGO has some simple pieces that are non-brick, like wheels, axles, windshields, those little guys and their tools, etc. They are part of what makes LEGO cool, because you can place your avatar (little dudes) inside of your creations if you want. Plus, the little guys also provide you a common scale to base all of your creations around so that it is easy to have them interact.
LEGO is great because they are simple but complex (as the person I'm replying to stated), but the complexity can come in the form of specialized pieces that enhance the model building, like not having to figure out how to build tires.
I do think that, as stated many times by other people, the specialized piece situation has gone a bit overboard, but the concept is still a good one.
A friend of mine bought almost all of the Star Wars LEGO sets, including the really spilly TIE Interceptor and X-Wing. They are really cool. But they didn't come with guys...
Oh yeah, just for some reference, I started off with the first space LEGO set and "collected" for quite a while. Acutally, it was pretty cool; I lost the instructions book for that first set but was able to reconstruct it years later from a few photos in the LEGO catalogs. That's one of the beauties of LEGO.
Todd
I've owned one for about 3 weeks. It supports .pqas, as well as apps that access other things directly, like web browsing, POP/IMAP email, NNTP, etc. It has a screen similar to the Palm 105 (smallish, B&W), but I find it's not any worse than other Palm screens.
Service is available through Verizon and Sprint at the moment and the phone costs around $500.
Some of my dislikes:
Things I like:
Todd
That's not quite true. The Kyocera 6035 (which totally kicks ass!) has a voice recorder as well.
Todd
Actually, in the past two years or so, TTS has again become more important. The cost of a voice talent in relation to the cost of a developed system is really cheap. But, it would be really hard and get more expensive to use prerecorded words and phrases to read things back like email, for example.
I believe that Yahoo! and AOL have phone systems (touch-tone and speech, respectively) that read back email to people.
For the most part, using a real voice talent is the best bet; there are some fantastic people working out there.
Todd
I'm not sure that the AT&T TTS is PC-based. I think that it's used on a "TTS server" for things like telephony platforms.
Todd