Confusability

Radio 4 - Usability Archive

I have put together a list of over 80 Radio 4 Programmes loosely related to usability, accessibility and design in general.

I will add to the list and would welcome any suggestions for material to add.

Spotted on Amazon : Divorce and Weddings

This sort of thing stops Amazon being a truly great site.

It is always possible to build computer systems so that they minimise this kind of situation where your customers can be offended or upset by accident.

Re-Usability #6 - Sorrento Alleyway

The Italians don't seem to worry about Health and Safety legislation and are happy to re-use any available space.

Holiday

I am on Holiday in Sorrento in Italy.

You may spot me on this webcam.

The Ethnographers’s Voice

Laurie Taylor talks to the social anthropologist, Professor Adam Kuper about the paradox of successful field work.

Listen to this programme again

In order to study a group of, for example, prisoners, patients or gang members, researchers must immerse themselves in the group’s way of life. But the trade-off in terms of understanding may be loss of objectivity and a dangerous over-identification with the people being studied.

From Thinking Aloud 10 Sep 2003

The Reunion - Concorde

Understand why Concorde has an 'e' on the end, and find out how the usability reviews were carried out.

Listen to this programme again

Prototype Concorde 001 had only been proven in simulator form in the spring of 1969 and the first flight in Toulouse was the first time that the design and engineering team saw her in the air. It also became a media event with live coverage on BBC Television.

Assistant Pilot John Cochrane and Chief Flight Engineer John Allen describe the build up to the day and the sense of excitement.

From BBC Reunion

Concorde at Filton in Bristol.

Re-Usability #5

Here is a dialog box you will never see.

When Good Usability Goes Bad

From - THE REVOLUTION USABILITY REPORT sponsored by fhios: Work to rule

So, can usability experts and creatives live in peace? "We did hire a usability expert once, but found they added very little to our process. Unless our creative people understand usability, how can they design sites?" asks Margaret Manning, chief executive at agency Reading Room.

This is what happens when the Marketeers get their hands on usability.
(Margaret Manning is on the Committe that is defining the Usability Standards for UK Government Websites.)

The usability people are playing into their hands by putting the brand before the users.

"There's no point in having something people can use if it doesn't inspire to be interested in the product or engage them with the brand," argues Julie Howell, campaigns officer (accessible internet), at the RNIB.

How can anyone who calls themself "Head of User Experience" get away with saying something like this!

"One of most unusable sites, yet one of the most successful, is eBay," says Paul Dawson, head of user experience at Conchango.

If usability people think they have problems working with us programmers, then wait until you get one of these fellow 'professionals' on your team.

What they say

"It was grim, it was grim for me, grim for TB and there is this huge stuff about trust."
Alastair Campbell confides about the Kelly affair in his diary more...

"Now the Americans know what we are suffering. My only wish is that the temperatures would rise in America, so they could know what it is to live in 60C heat without electricity."
Ali al-Khatib from Baghdad on the US power cuts more...

"We've heard about phones that overheated, melted and, in the worst case, exploded."
Spokerperson fon Nokia after a mobile burst into flames in Amsterdam more...

"The way I see it, there are two elephants in British Airways' rowing boat. One of them is the pension, the other is the debt."
Rod Eddington BA's chief executive more...

"If you are a Tory MP you will be told, repeatedly, by people you will have never clapped eyes on before, that you are a 'Tory tosser'." more...
Boris Johnson Tory MP for Henley

"I feel proud and empowered. I'd rather it was a political reason that brought us down off the top of the charts than a musical one." more...
Natalie Maines member of the US group Dixie Chicks, attacked for being anti-war