I got an email from a reader saying he had a usability issue to rant about, and could he do a guest post. I said sure thing. So without further ado, here’s a post from Andreas Bossard, proprietor of NewsOfTheFuture.net. I’ve got a Sony Ericsson phone too, and I’ve been annoyed by this little feature as well. I hope you enjoy UsabilityBlog’s first guest post, and a big thanks to Andreas for putting it together. -Paul

Every time I connect my Sony Ericsson phone to my Windows PC, I am reminded of an annoying feature of Sony Ericsson’s PC Suite: The time checker that checks if the time of the cell phone is the same as the time of the PC (see picture below).

Every time I connect it pops up and asks me if I want to change the time of my cell phone. The program assumes that the time of the PC is always correct. But the opposite is the case: The cell phone time is correct, but the Windows time is wrong. So I always have to select “No”. The funny thing is that “Yes” has the option “Every time I connect. Do not show this message again”, but “No” doesn’t ‘t have such an option.

Only about 30 seconds difference, but PC Suite sees immediate need for action…

What designers can learn from this mistake:

1. Make the right assumptions. Here it is assumed that Windows time is always correct, which may not always be the case.
2. Give the user the possibility to disable an unwanted feature. Especially if it is an annoying pop-up window.

Note: The current version of PC Suite is version 3. This time-checker-feature was present in version 2. Nevertheless, it’s a good example of bad usability.

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I don’t know if this is as confusing to you looking at the picture as it was to me driving by it…

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I bought a TomTom GPS device. The application that comes with it seems pretty usable overall, but there’s a funny interaction design on the “create an account” page. It displays the scolds in advance, before the user enters anything in those fields. I’m not sure what I think of it; I found it jarring when I first saw it. It does make the requirement obvious, but it’s kinda scoldy.

I’ve been meaning to blog this for months. Finally remembered.

My aftermarket car radio has a major, dangerous design flaw: the Power/Source button - yes, it functions as both an on/off and an input source switch - must be PRESSED and HELD for approximately THREE SECONDS in order to turn the unit on or off. (If you press without holding, it switches between radio, CD, and auxiliary input.)

Think about that for a second. A device that is DESIGNED to be used while the user is driving a vehicle requires a THREE SECOND PRESS AND HOLD. In other words, the designers thought that is was perfectly reasonable to have the driver remove their hand from the steering wheel for a three-count. And I should add that there’s no tactile feedback; you must observe the unit’s panel to ensure that the unit has powered on or off.

That is poor-bordering-on-negligent design. Scratch that. It *is* negligent design. Who thought that this was an OK design decision?

I’ll go out to the car over lunch and get the manufacturer and model number, so I can name names.

Blogged with Flock

Drop what you’re doing right now and go look at the screenshots of Android, Google’s open-source smartphone OS.

It’s…it’s…beautiful.

I want one. Now. Not now. Yesterday.

I know it’s not even a real phone yet, it’s just a reference design. But I want my next phone to run this platform. That’s how neat it looks.

A Visual Tour of Android’s UI - Engadget

Check out this article by David Pogue at the New York Times. He points out a number of usability flaws in Windows Mobile 6.

(If nytimes.com asks for a username and password, be sure to try Bugmenot, a site for generating username/passwords and skipping registration on annoying, intrusive sites.) 

Reaching for Apple, Falling Short

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I’m in downtown Atlanta in the waiting room at Emory Hospital, waiting for my wife to come out of Lasik surgery. Happy to discover they’ve got wifi here, not happy to discover that the Terms of Use page is a big image of the legalese. Not only is it inaccessible with screen readers and simple assistive tech like text resizing…it’s also damn hard to read for someone like me who’s 20/20.

What a shame. You’d think that hospitals and universities, two organizations used to accommodating people with disabilities, would know enough to make their site accessible.

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Yesterday a co-worker showed me this system function diagram for an in-dash navigation system. I just had to take a picture of it.

It’s from the owner’s manual for his new Honda Ridgeline SUV. It’s darn interesting, I’ll say that. I’ve never encountered system documentation like this.

I’m on the fence as to its usefulness. But I could stare at it all day; it’s just hypnotic. What do y’all think of it? (Be sure to click on the picture to see it full-sized.)

Fans of web-based productivity apps might want to check out this Techcrunch article about Orgoo, a new tool that smushes together your email and IM accounts.

I tried to sign up for the beta but all I got was a “we’ll let you know” email. Still, I do want to try this out. Check out it yourself:

Orgoo - The Web Email/IM Replacement

Last week I flew to Austin TX, site of the upcoming 2007 Usability Professionals’ Association annual conference.

Surprisingly, my rental car was was a Daewoo or Daihatsu, I forget which. (I didn’t think US rental car companies put Korean cars in their fleets.) It drove a lot better than I was expecting - I was prepared for a bone-jarring Hyundai-style ride.

However, when I stopped to fill the tank before returning it, I got a nasty surprise: the gas cap door release switch was nowhere to be found. I looked for it for a good 10 minutes, in all the usual places - next to the seat rails, to the left of the steering column on the lower dashboard panel, on the center console…to no avail.

Meanwhile, a line of cars started piling up behind me, all waiting to get gas. I scrambled around frantically in the dim light, until….finally…I found it. On the door panel. Tucked underneath the power window buttons. Completely invisible from the driver’s seat.

Man, was *that* annoying.

Why couldn’t they just put it on the floor or the dashboard, like every other manufacturer?

Alarming Saab Dashboard Message

I was a passenger in a VP’s car a couple of weeks ago, when this startling message popped up while motoring down a busy suburban road.

I asked the car’s owner if he’d ever seen the message before. He said it had been appearing and disappearing for weeks.

The first time he saw it, he was worried. When nothing bad happened (and his locks didn’t appear to have failed..), he just ignored the message.

Various sites on the web are reporting first looks at the the “One Laptop Per Child” (OLPC) user interface. Try this link to see some screenshots.

If this is the first time you’ve heard of the OLPC, the short version is that Nicholas Negroponte and the MIT Media Lab are pushing the idea that every kid in developing countries should have a portable personal computer. You can learn more about the OLPC here.

As you may have gathered from the title of this post, I don’t think this is such a hot idea. I think Negroponte and the Media Lab are too sanguine about the “transformative” power of technology. There are too many unmet basic needs in developing countries. What the hell is a bunch of laptops going to do for these people?

My favorite time waster-slash-guilty pleasure weblog, Engadget, has posted a surprisingly thorough review of the new Microsoft digital audio player, the Zune.

The review is here: http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/15/zune-review/.

This review is better than most popular press reviews in that it touches on scenario- and task-based usability issues, as well as describing in great detail what it’s like to actually operate the Zune’s physical and onscreen controls.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, the Zune doesn’t fare so well in the review. I’m not a reflexive Microsoft-hater; in fact I was hoping that M$ would come up with something good enough to motivate Apple to flesh out the iPod feature set a bit more. Alas, the Zune doesn’t seem to be that something.

Happy World Usability Day.

This event, now in its second year, was intended to raise awareness around the globe of how important usability is to our everyday lives. It’s succeeding beyond our wildest dreams. And that’s great.

But I’d like to introspect for just a moment here. Those of you who work in the field, stop and give yourself a mental pat on the back. And then tell yourself how fortunate you are to have stumbled upon a field that is so engaging, fulfilling, and exciting. Admit it. Every day when you wake up and go to work, you’re secretely thankful that you’re not a lawyer, a doctor, a software developer, and so on. You’re a soldier in the user experience army. And it’s the best damn career you can imagine.

You know it’s true. You tell yourself that at least once a week, don’t you?

I know *I* do…

Podcasts….me likee…

Today I got an email from someone who said that they read my podcast post, and was interested in learning which podcasts I listen to.

When I finally picked myself up off the floor (someone actually *reads* this blog?!?), I sent the nice fellow a list - well, a screenshot actually - of the podcasts I’m subscribed to in iTunes. You can look at the ugly screengrab in all its glory, or you can just continue reading to find out what I’m listening to when you pull up next to me at a stoplight.

All In The Mind - “Radio National’s weekly foray into the mental universe, the mind, brain and behaviour. Everything from addiction to artificial intelligence.”

Buzz Out Loud - “C|Net’s podcast of indeterminate length.”

Cranky Geeks - “Hosted by PC Magazine contributing editor John C. Dvorak. Each week a group of expert panelists discuss the most controversial topics in tech.”

Engadget podcast - Should need no explaining to this crowd…

Entrepreneurship, powered by Podtech - “The Entrepreneurship podcasts provide information and tips about business, marketing, and other topics, including startup technology, media business, mashups, DEMO2006, information management, Web 2.0, blog trends, search engines, decentralized computing, online TV distribution, and the future of technology, to name a few.”

Floss Weekly - A show about “Free Libre Open Source Software.”

IT Conversations - A series of recorded interviews with tech heavies. From GigaVox Media.

Mac OS Ken - “Ken Ray brings 12 years of radio experience and 6 years of tech-news work to the Mac world.”

New York Times Science Times - Stories from the NYT’s Tuesday science section.

NPR: Satire From The Unger Report - “Communiques from the edge of America by humorist Brian Unger of NPR’s “Day-to-Day.”

NPR: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me

Science Talk: The Podcast of Scientific American - “The Scientific American Podcast is a weekly science audio show covering the latest in the world of science and technology. Join host Steve Mirsky each week as he explores cutting-edge breakthroughs and controversial issues with leading scientists and journalists.”

Slate Explainer Podcast - “Explainer podcasts feature answers to those little questions you have about the news (but were afraid to ask).”

Slate Magazine Daily Podcast

The Big Squeeze - A British comedy duo’s podcast. Yes, nudity on an audio show: “Brian and Georgina’s quirky “talking bollocks” show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world! Contains strong language and nudity.”

This Week In Tech - “Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, John C. Dvorak, and other tech luminaries join a roundtable discussion of the latest trends in high tech.”

Remember that book I was working on?

I just found out it’s gone to the printer.

It’ll be available in five or six weeks.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has an interesting post about the iPod’s simple but aging UI. See this page to read the article.

The author’s main point is that the iPod’s user interface is efficient and usable, but hasn’t really kept pace with its DAP (digital audio player) competitors. He makes a couple of suggestions for “improvements” (they are actually somewhat dubious), and asks the TUAW readership for their suggestions on how to improve the iPod’s UI.

The article is interesting mainly for the varied comments. Some people are completely focused on eye-candy (”Apple should add a screensaver to the iPod…”), while others suggest geniune improvements.

It’s refreshing to see what the lay people say about usability and desired features. I sometimes get a little tired of hearing my colleagues’ opinions.

Big computing tries to foist another poorly-thought out ahead-of-its time device on us again. Say hello to the “Ultra-Mobile PC.”

Of course MSFT is pushing it, but it’s not just them.

For more on why the UMPC platform is generating negative reviews, see this Google results page.

Interestingly, the Sony VAIO UX50, a UMPC-like device - but with a keyboard - is getting good press. I’m no fan of Sony (for all the right reasons), but I do appreciate good design.