Warmest Greetings,
:: Friday, October 10, 2003 ::
Just launched!
The Cre8pc Usability Testing Center. Because people keep asking the question, "Where can I get heuristic checklists in one place?" The free stuff is on my site now. I'm working on an "Ultimate Usability Evaluation Checklist" that will be offered for sale. From that document you can go over every nook and cranny, and then some.
I must tell you. This article made my day. Anyone trained in software application quality assurance testing knows what this writer is talking about. Programmers work out things like "What happens if two people are placing an order at the exact same time for the exact same thing and there's only one left?" but only if someone remembers to even consider that possibility. Often, a question like this is asked at the very end, just before roll-out, when the QA Engineers get it. Many questions are common sense ones based on how the user interacts with the software. You'd be amazed at how much software is designed without you in mind and how you will use it!
Pigeons can push random buttons asks "Why does a well-designed user interface seem to drop off the list of priorities when new systems are created?"
"It continues to amaze me that twenty years after Apple showed the world what well-designed software looked like, most IT departments think the word "Usability" is shorthand for user stopping, activity blighting, information losing, irksome travesty. But then, why would they feel any differently? Companies who spend untold thousands on training and "staff advancement" schemes so inane they pop arteries on a statue would no more hire a usability consultant to actually ask what's needed than get David Blaine in to advise on the staff canteen. It's the same attitude that provides air conditioning for the server room and leaves the grunts at the terminals to wilt in the heat."
I love it when people rant for me.
More complaints about DMOZ.
This one is about morality?
Tunefork MSN. How does MSN rank?
Everytime I see the word "Eolas" I think it's about a virus. Eolas v. Microsoft - What is it about?
Digital-women.com gathers together the gender. I like their tagline, "Women with their modems running." Yep. That would be me. Can you hear my engine roar?
Nothing like a little competition. Typepad is officially launched. Their blog software lets you include a photo album. Cool!
Playful Google offers a new toy for its advertisers. Google Rolls Out Keyword Conversion Tool. One line of Javascript, and it barks and plays ball too.
Chris, Andy and Kalena have disappeared this week but I still hit their blogs every day. It's like knocking on someone's front door and then running away to hide in the bushes.
I have soccer, a Mountain Lion festival, and a house full of kids (mine and their friends who come over) this weekend. We haven't covered up the pool yet although it's too cold to swim in it. I can't bear to see the water covered up and a huge chunk of the background left to sit idle. Why don't they make some contraption to let you skate in your pool when it freezes in winter?
Chris Ridings takes the it even further and writes An Open Letter to CPM Links, Subtitle: When an endorsement is not an endorsement. Chris, I'm glad you're feeling better, and it's great to see you back in the saddle again.
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 10/10/2003 10:58:36 AM
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:: Thursday, October 09, 2003 ::
If you put up a webpage, is it considered "published" and therefore distributed and fair game for search engine spiders?
"IMO a page with no links to it would equate to a brick & mortar locked door with a Private sign on it."
"What's bothersome about the Google toolbar indexing a page that hasn't been "published" in that manner is that people aren't necessarily aware that they are sharing the page with the rest of the world. Not everyone reads all of the small print."
"The web is not designed for children. It is actually a very powerful, and thus rather scary thing at times, and not at all suitable as a toy."
"In a perfect world, everyone who makes a webpage knows what the hell they're doing."
If you make web pages and care what happens to them once you send them to your server, see this great discussion at How did this get indexed?
Other stuff:
The handsome Greg R. Notess, founder of Search Engine Showdown writes Bookmarklets, Favelets, and Keymarks: Shortcuts Galore
Experience Design: An Interview with Nathan Shedroff
"Experience Design takes into consideration the full range of a user's experience with a product, brand, or website. In my experience, designers sometimes don't consider all of the aspects of products and websites that may impact the people who interact with them. When I talk to clients, I ask them to consider that the boundaries of a product, service, event, or other experience are much wider than most design processes will allow."
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 10/9/2003 09:36:56 AM
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:: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 ::
There's no nail in Yahoo's coffin or a memorial service in sight. Yahooverature is the latest installment in the ever-changing Yahoo! search engine drama.
In a way, I find myself curious enough about Yahoo!'s partner with 'em, dump 'em, acquire them, dump 'em business strategy. Yet none of this has made me want to use the search portal.
So, for the heck of it, I went to Yahoo! and typed in "usability reviews". To my delight, the 8th position goes directly to information about the usability reviews I perform for testing company, Site-Report.com.
But wait! When I run a search for "usability reviews" in Google, the Site-Report usability review page comes up in the same 8th position. (Maybe this will change when Yahoo! reverts back to Inktomi results.)
Both Google and Yahoo! offer paid inclusion and buy your position ads. Both have Directories and Shopping and News. I've been having a hard time finding a reason to choose Yahoo! over Google as the search engine I reach for first. Until recently, that is.
This discussion in Cre8asiteForums may help swing my vote to Yahoo!. Hot on the heels of the Do Not Talk About Ad$ense Because We Made The Rules and We Never Intended to Be Fair To You (see Shut Up and Serve Ad$ ), comes How did this get indexed?
"And the toolbar, like the adsense program, invites Google into areas that we might not necessarily want them to be, and gives them the ability to measure things we might not necessarily want to share with them."
I remember when we got "just a few junk emails" and for the most part, we hit the delete button on these little irritants. Now, we do battle every day, to the tune of billions of dollars, managing email trash.
I remember when people were afraid to make purchases on the Internet because they were afraid of everything from fraud to bad customer service. Great measures were taken to convince the public to shop online. Nowadays, many people don't shop any other way.
And now we have ghost invaders - those things you can't see but they're still there - waiting to cripple your computer, or monitor your buying or searching habits, or record every web page you visit. How much covert privacy invasion is truly happening and how much of it is simply rumor and paranoia?
Like I said, I remember when junk email was mildly aggravating. Will I look back someday and say "I remember when Google was ethical"?
Related:
Google CEO speaks out on future of search. "The primary mission of Google is to get you what you want, rather than what someone thinks you want," Schmidt said."
Other stuff:
Go fish. Red Herring.com is now online.
Brightmail says 54% of your email is crap. Only 1% is spiritual. Well, duh. God's ways are supposed to be mysterious.
If you've read this far, here's your reward. A Case Study in Shopping Cart Usability. "This investigation lead us to draw up a list of dos and don'ts related to shopping carts."
Thanks for visiting Cre8pc.com.
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 10/8/2003 01:45:40 PM
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:: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 ::
Today's fun-filled walk around the Internet brought me here. Google Accepts Porn Ads but Refuses Those for Guns. "I'm sick and tired of having the good guys be discriminated against," Rick Millo, owner of Valley Firearms in Shelton, Conn., told CNSNews.com Monday.
Since when are gun sellers "good guys"?
While I think Google is making judgement calls (again), in this age of terrorism, I don't mind this one at all.
If you've been reading other SEO blogs and news outlets, you're aware that LookSmart is struggling even more. Like all my relationships where I was conned, I don't look back - even when they SWEAR they've changed their ways for the better. Pandia talks about LookSmart problems, saying "It would be sad to loose the Zeal directory, though. The Zeal army of volunteer "zealots" are currently feeding non-commercial listings into the LookSmart directory, giving added value to the world of searching."
Here's a Trillian alert for those who rely on it.
Mystery Google Theater. How did this get indexed?
Cre8asiteForums Graphics Moderator, Alex Gilman, asks Why do Usability Sites Suck?. I replied, but sheesh, that's a damned good question!
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 10/7/2003 09:16:35 AM
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:: Monday, October 06, 2003 ::
The kids don't have school today, so I'm in my home office, which is next to the family room, typing into my blog and listening to Scooby-Doo and MTV, depending on which kid has the TV remote.
Two friends discovered Google's AdSense ads on this site were showing some weird things, unrelated to the theme of this blog. It's fixed now (the ads are targeted properly), but for awhile they were showing things like endangered species websites and pregnancy sites. Much to the chagrin of Kalena!
Boo! Adjusting to the shock of summer's end here in the USA, we're ramping up for Halloween, candy and costumes. Here's a page that takes you to places you didn't know you wanted to find >>> URLwire Web Links Guide to Halloween
Bill Slawski, Cre8asiteForums Administrator/Moderator/Internet Legal Advisor is doing some fun research in Bragadocchio where he's focusing on some interesting sites related to Superstitions, myths, old wives tales.
Some SEO finds:
Optimizing for success and a high ROI by Serge Thibodeau . "Optimizing a website for success and a high return on investment (ROI) can be easy, if only you follow the right steps. There are no shortcuts, no easy way out, if you truly want to succeed."
Track DMOZ inclusion with Seotie.com
Find tools and toys for search engine optimization and promotion, gathered into one page for fast, easy reference.
Article find:
Women Entrepreneurs Growing In Numbers And Importance. An article inspires conversation. "Too much profiling going on these days. Gender doesn't guarantee anything, and is worthless for most intents and purposes."
:: posted by Kimberly Krause on 10/6/2003 12:04:20 PM
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