DMMT Chapters 8-12

Don't discuss religion or politics with coworkers. People tend to push those things they like and not the things they don't like. 

Everyone likes something based on what their particular training or background is. We create stereotypes to try understand large chunks of the world at one time. This short changes us.

If it's so hard to determine what web users like or dislike copy the usability designs of a large company that can afford to do the real research.

Best to design per application not to make a general overall design sense to be used for all sites.

Usability testing reveals that things web teams are arguing about aren't all that important.

The difference between a focus group and usability testing is the number of people involved and how the questions are asked. Groups tend react off of each other whereas a usability test is usually one on one. Focus groups are for early on in the process. Testing is for after the site is constructed.

Don't be too critical about the kinds of people that you get to do the testing. Just get them and do several tests.

Don't design so that only a target audience can use. Make it as simple and clear cut as possible. Avoid giving too much background information. Test two ways: ask if they understand the site and ask if they can use the site (with a task).

When asking for information on a site that is necessary to get the task accomplished be polite and considerate.Know why people come to your site and what they hope to accomplish. Don't insult them with bad design and useless steps. Printer friendly pages?

"When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet, and when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat; the two will hover, spinning, inches above the ground. With a giant buttered-cat array, a high-speed monorail could easily link New York with Chicago." John Frazee, in the Journal of Irreproducible Results

(Not to talk politics, but somebody should tell Scott Walker about this. That would put to rest once for all questions about his poor judgement in accepting the federal money for rail in Wisconsin!)

AH-HAH! There's finally talk about accessibility and usability issues!

How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people's lives just by doing our job a little better?

In “Harrison Bergeron,” the main character, whose intelligence is “way above normal,” is

required by law to wear a “mental handicap radio” in his ear that blasts various loud noises

every 20 seconds “to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.” Kurt Vonnegut.

Gotta love Vonnegut!

To make sites more accessible and usable:

Fix the usability problems that confuse everyone. Recommended reading. Use cascading style sheets. Do obvious things: alt text, forms work with screen readers, skid to main content link, all content keyboard accessible, avoid JavaScript, use client side maps.