Confusability

What if Jakob Nielsen had a blog?

Some have criticised Jakob Nielsen for having an ugly site and people have wondered if useit.com would benefit from a design makeover.

Well I have got tired of waiting for Jakob to start a blog version of useit.com so I decided to build it myself.

I have organised the posts into five different categories one of which (Spoof or Joke etc.) contains content that is not from articles or links posted on useit.com

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What did you base the design on?
A. I got the inspiration from one of Jakob's jumpers (see blog for picture).

Q. Why have you done it?
A. It presents links to useit,com content using a 'modern' blog format that allows users to comment on alertbox articles directly. Think of it as an attemp to take the "fuddy duddy" out of Jakob Nielsen.

Q. Have you 'doctored' any of the content?
A. No, all content and links taken from useit,com are unaltered. Any spoof or humerous items are clearly categorised as such.

Q. What does Jakob think?
A. No idea, but I hope he sees the value in it.

Q. Have you followed weblog usability best practice?
A. Why nor read the Weblog Usabilty alertbox article and see how many design mistakes I have made.

Q. Why have you put google ads on the blog?
A. Any income from these ads will be used to offset hosting costs, but based on past experience I expect to be paying the bills out of my own pocket,

Q. Will this blog be kept up to date?
A. Yes.

Q. Where can I buy a t-shirt?
A. You can't. Why not buy one from OK/Cancel instead.

Q. How can I help?
A. Publicise the blog, subscribe to the feed and comment on the items.

I hope you enjoy my latest usability experiment.

Kate Bush Pi Controversy Continues

Bruce has drawn my attention to the latest Bush Pi kerfuffle on metafilter.

They are talking about the research done by Steve Luttrell which exposes the hidden messages in Kate Bush's Pi song.

I know what I am doing here. This is the sort of thing that I do in my professional life, where coding/decoding (and all that sort of thing) are things that are central to my work (have a look at www.luttrell.org.uk/papers to see what I mean), so I know a few tricks of the trade, and I am not a well-meaning fool who sees patterns in random noise. As far as possible, I have used Occam's Razor to make sure that my decodings have the minimum complexity that is consistent with the data (i.e. the song). This means that if I can find a single explanation for two or more features in the song then that is a good and economical decoding. Where a decoding is dubious, I say so.

It is quite challenging to use Occam's Razor, because you have to be able to find common explanations for different aspects of the song. For instance, it is important to be able to link the musical rendition of the song with its literal representation, which means that you have to resolve various puns. Kate likes her puns, both verbal and musical, so get used to it!

After you have done all of this, you realise that Kate hasn't merely sung the digits of the number p; she has built a very clever construction that has lots of hidden beauty. In fact, Kate has a beautiful mind! Basically, this is the reason that I got interested in this decoding problem, which led eventually to the creation of this web site.

I suggest you take a look at the work Steve has done and see what you think.

This is not "World Pi Day"

As I am the self proclaimed* pi expert blogger I thought I should comment on the latest US attempt to take over the world.

Today is world pi day if you happen to use the American date format (mm/dd) when 3.14 becomes 3/14 which is March 14th.

But what if you use a different date format. With a format of dd/mm we would be celebrating pi day on 31/4 or 31st April. But there are only 30 days in April which means we should celebrate world pi day on 1st May instead (30th April + 1).

US Pi Day: 14th March

Rest of the World Pi Day: 1st May

*I wrote about Kate Bush and the mistake in her pi song where she misses out a block of 22 digits in the middle of her ode to this famous number.

Kate Bush Pi: (missing digits in grey) 3.
1415926535    8979323846    2643383279    5028841971   6939937510
5820974944    5923078164    0628620899    8628034825   3421170679
8214808651    3282306647    0938446095    5058223...

Correct Pi: 3.
1415926535    8979323846    2643383279    5028841971   6939937510
5820974944    5923078164    0628620899    8628034825   3421170679
8214808651    3282306647    0938446095    5058223

I was mentioned in the Independent yesterday and was described as a "sad obsessive type":

Ms Bush sings each number of Pi to 150 decimal places - or at least that was her claim until a rather sad obsessive type decided to check each digit.
The Independent - The life of pi - 13 March 2006

I prefer the Telegraph version where I am described in a much more positive light:

He was right to point out Kate Bush's error, particularly as she seems to be trying to capture the essence of being a mathematician. Invigorated by McEvoy's pedantry, I thought I would take a look at the lyrics of some Christmas classics.
Daily Telegraph - Curse of a festive pedant - 20 Dec 2005

The Guardian also mentions me in passing:

Before this starts sounding like a maths lesson, we should point out that the number is rooted in plenty of popular culture. Kate Bush sang the first 137 digits in a song, titled π, on her recent album, Aerial (although some people accuse her of getting the numbers wrong); Carl Sagan wrote about the possibility of findig a fingerprint of God in a version of pi; and Professor Frink (of The Simpsons fame) shouts "pi is exactly 3" to get the attention of a bunch of scientists.
Guardian Blog - Pi-eyed - 14 March 2006

I was also mentioned (though not by name) on the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning. You can also listen to an excellent show about pi called 5 Numbers by Simon Singh which was first broadcast in 2002.

Wedding List Voyeurism

What do people put on their wedding lists these days?

Is it still toasters, towels and bed linen?

What does a wedding list say about you?

I searched for a few lists on amazon.co.uk just for fun.

Melissa and Peter are asking for pans, breadmaker and juicer which fits with the traditional stereotype. They would also like  "The Best of Steely Dan" as well as Beethoven, Mahler and  Bruckner symphonies. Are their musical tastes compatible? The fact they are asking for "The Bilingual Family: A Handbook for Parents" and "The No-cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night" may be indicate the patter of tiny feet on the way.

JoJo and Nick just want a Hand Blender and Kitchen Scale.

Craig and Nathan want matching iPods, some mafia related films and a pair of potato heads.

It's fairly easy to use , but it is extremely annoying to have the wedding dates displayed in american format.

There aren't many lists on the uk site, so I thought I would try the US site as a comparison.

Amanda and Joe want video games.

Amber and Joshua want bedding and a Dry Food Dispenser.

Brooke and Brennon obviously like surfing related books.

Robert and Sheremy from Utah are asking for a kitchen knife set and a shoe bag.

And Jill and Bard were the first people I found who asked for a toaster.

So it seems that based on my quick analysis, wedding gift tradition is alive and well.

It feels a bit weird looking at these lists, but it is strangely compelling.

I thought that I would try out the amazon.co.uk wedding list service. But as I am already married I needed to invent an imaginary couple.

So I did. This is what I think Don and Jakob might choose for their wedding list.

See a picture of the happy couple.

.

The Amazon Missing Link

I recently noticed a new addition to my amazon.co.uk home page.

I click on the "Your Lists" link and it doen't actually link to anywhere, but this list appears when I move my pointer over the "link".

If it looks like a link then it should act like a link. If you want it to be an annoying pull down menu then make it look like one.

PS. Wishes are for genies, I am already married (today is my 13th wedding anniversery) and I never rent DVD's

British Breakfast Usability

Russell Davies (not the Dr Who one) is a finalist in the Blooker.

He publishes an excellent blog about the usability and user experience of the Great British Cafe.

Some ebcbs are all about boundaries, there are clear lines of demarkation between the different food groups. And some ebcbs are all about co-mingling, about the blending of the flavours and colours. This is one of those. The chips are golden and delicious, the egg is somehow simultaneously fluffy and soggy, which makes it marvelous, the beans are aligned like iron filings to a magnet and the bacon's comforting arms hold the whole thing together.Some ebcbs are all about boundaries, there are clear lines of demarkation between the different food groups. And some ebcbs are all about co-mingling, about the blending of the flavours and colours. This is one of those. The chips are golden and delicious, the egg is somehow simultaneously fluffy and soggy, which makes it marvelous, the beans are aligned like iron filings to a magnet and the bacon's comforting arms hold the whole thing together.

You can also buy his book "Egg, Bacon, Chips and Beans: 50 Great Cafes and the Stuff That Makes Them Great"

Microsoft Folds

Oops!

Prototypes are reportedly lasting only 15 minutes before needing re-charging and the finished devices are expected to go for three hours before needing a fill up.

The price is also higher than expected. Samsung said when the Q1 goes on sale in Europe in April it will cost about 1,000 euros (£699).

Later devices are expected to get closer to the original vision but the general reaction to the fine print about the ultra-portable PC has been lukewarm at best.

As many Microsoft watchers have pointed out, the first version of the ultra-portable PC does nothing that other, cheaper devices do not do.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4790448.stm

You password must be.....

Witchita Usability News have published their latest bi-annual usability newsletter.

The majority of participants in the current study most commonly reported password generation practices that are simplistic and hence very insecure. Particular practices reported include using lowercase letters, numbers or digits, personally meaningful words and numbers (e.g., dates).  It is widely known that users typically use birthdates, anniversary dates, telephone numbers, license plate numbers, social security numbers, street addresses, apartment numbers, etc. Likewise, personally meaningful words are typically derived from predictable areas and interests in the person’s life and could be guessed through basic knowledge of his or her interests.

From: Password Security: What Users Know and What They Actually Do

See more surl newsletters at usability views.

My Favourite Animated GIF

I did this years ago, but it still tickles me....

Keep watching...

It'll happen soon...

Anti Social SatNav

I have been using my in-car SatNav system for six months now and I am still a bit uneasy about trusting it completely and throwing my paper maps away,

Just as mobile phones mean no one can be bothered to remember phone numbers anymore, so Satnav could mean we eventually surrender our sense of direction to these boxes of gadgetry. In other words, if you throw away your A-Z and come to rely too much on satellite navigation, you'll be well and truly lost without it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4124760.stm

Another downside to these systems appears to be the dissemination of what used to be local knowledge for local people. Bristol airport is only a few miles from our house and we always take a local short cut through a local village which saves us a few minutes, but it now appears that everyone knows about "our" shourtcut.

Satellite navigation systems are being blamed for directing thousands of cars through a quiet Somerset village. Residents in Barrow Gurney claim 10,000 vehicles a day are going through the centre to get to Bristol Airport.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/4781350.stm

Perhaps SatNav providers will soon be offering some new options on their systems:

Which route would you like to take?

1. Shortest
2. Quickest
3. Straightest
4. Scenic
5. Well Lit
6. Avoiding Roundabouts
7. Least recommended by SatNav Systems
8. Tagged on delicious
9. Slowest (useful for dates)
10. Secret (only available to premium subscribers)