Category Archives: usability

Why Use PDF over HTML

May
30
2011

Stack of 100 year old 1890's books with chess set in the background

As a web professional and an avocate for inclusive design (web accessibility) I have often wondered why organisations are so obsessed with using PDF documents on web sites as opposed to HTML based documents.

After all PDF documents don’t do accessibility as well as HTML pages do.

Given the ease of use of most modern CMS you would consider web page creation and editing would be as easy as authoring a word document.

Now I have a good idea why my clients use PDFs over HTML, especially government agencies, but I don’t have the community wide picture.

Heretical Ideas – Stop Redesigning

white dirty garbage truck on the streets of Melbourne (feb 2011) garbage man hangs off door talking to the driver

If you work with a client long term or are part of their internal team chances are you will see a number of redesigns of a site.

Over the years I have come to question why we constantly redesign things every few years.  It’s usually a change in directional branding, a  facelift.  As if a website is just a fashion accessory that must be changed as the trend of the season passes by.

Problem is to often I see the same mistakes being made time and time again.   The same old issues reoccur, as the central cause; lack of audience conversation and engagement is ignored.

Bad Interfaces – Getting Dates Wrong

May
9
2011

Large yellow sculpture 09 - outside NAB, docklands in Melbourne

When you use an interface it’s the little things that help make it either a pain or just outstanding.

Sadly, too often we have to put up with the bad interfaces.

In light of this I will from time to time be producing a few articles focusing on specifics of bad interface design and implementation practices.

First one off the ranks is date fields and calendar pickers.

This interface element never really seems to work the way you want it to.  Making the overall experience very frustrating.

Less is not always More

Apr
13
2011

latte coffee in the red cup, with toast, with butter and jam in separate pots, at an airport cafe

There seems to be a trend of late to take the minimialisation of interactive design to the extreme. Now I’m all or minimialisation and making user interfaces simipler.

You know making an interface streamlined to just the solid functionality of the interaction and no more.

I have been noticing a very frightening tread. In an effort to make things more usable, we are designing interfaces without the very functions used to support usability in the first place.