Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Pep Boys

No "schedule pickup from local store" option?? Isn't this a missed opportunity?

 
No e-mail/text part number to mobile phone or inbox?  Nothing to help the person go to Pep Boys and buy that part?
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Firefox Options dialog

I’m a big Firefox fan, having converted back in the days of Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), which loaded horribly slowly and had little to recommend it over the faster, more extensible Firefox browser.  

But I’m also a HUGE fan of clarity in the user interface, especially when it comes to configuring, controlling, or customizing the way an application works.   I believe that dialog boxes should always provide explanatory text for each option presented.   Take for example, Exhibit “A”, the Firefox 3.6 options screen (Tools | Options… on the menu):

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I had arrived here to turn on the “Search for text…” option in a new installation of Windows 7 Professional.   The Firefox Search for Text is pretty cool:  when you want to find something on a web page you’re reading, it allows you to just start typing and does an incremental search through the text. 

But what does the Always use cursor keys to navigate within pages mean?   This is ambiguous at best, and truly confusing at worst.  I am sure I personally could make some reasonable inferences about this, given that I’m a software developer and architect and have spent almost 30 years in technology, but….   what about poor old Mom and Pop?  The wording assumes a frame of reference or “state” of the user that is not explicitly stated.  For example:

  • First and foremost: what is the problem with navigating within a page?  Is there a problem?  
  • Always use the cursor keys instead of…  what?  The mouse (we assume)?   
  • Will the cursor keys not work to navigate within pages if I leave this option off, or will I just have to click my mouse in the page content area and then I can use the cursor keys to navigate?
  • What do you mean by navigation?  Is it up and down only, or does it include left and right?   Another confusing common conception of navigation is that of navigating between hyperlinked pages on the Web (or in any application that has the concept of the user’s moving through a collection of pages or dialogs). 

The option Warn me when web sites try to redirect or load the page has similar usability issues.  Do you believe for a second that Mom ‘n’ Pop will have a clue as to when or why a site might try to redirect or load the page?  

Here’s a great example of going an extra mile to help out Mom ‘n’ Pop, guys, taken straight from -- completely coincidentally, but actually highly relevant since it’s from a competing browser --  Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer 8’s Tools | Options dialog:

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Here, we see a number of good design techniques:

  • Right aways, we see an explanation of the setting group: “Select a setting for the Internet zone”.   This should really probably say “Select a privacy setting for Internet browsing,” since setting is generic (vs. privacy setting) and Dad is not likely to understand what the Internet zone is.  
  • The slider bar on the left conveys the concept of “low” and “high” privacy through a physical metaphor:  the “High” setting is actually physically above and higher than the “Low” setting.   When the user selects a setting, an entire list of bulleted points is shown to help and inform the user.
  • There’s still room for improvement (isn’t there always?) – for example, a top bullet point boiling the privacy setting down for Mom ‘n’ Pop would be great, as in “Medium:  Use this when {sum it up here}.”   

Overall, this IE8 options screen does a much better job than most at explaining what the options mean. 

You could make a case in the Firefox team’s favor by pointing out that the Firefox settings dialog above is the Advanced settings dialog, and that most users, especially Mom ‘n’ Pop, won’t typically be venturing into this territory.    But other, more prominent dialogs in Firefox exhibit similar ambiguities.   The main options dialog, for one:

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This shows similar issues with the Advanced dialog box, and it’s the main settings window for the application!  What’s the benefit of changing a startup page and why would Mom or Pop want to do this?  (Educate them!)  Why would someone want to show or not show the “Downloads window”?   What happens to Mom if she checks “Close it when all downloads are finished.”  And so on…

Recommendations

How can we help here?   From a content or conceptual integrity point of view, by remembering that three primary elements must be present to make each item understandable:  the problem, the solution, and the alternatives.    

  • State the problem so we’re all clear why the option or setting exists at all.
  • State the solution so we know what to do. In this case, it’s inherently “check the box” or “clear the checkbox.”
  • State the alternatives so the user feels empowered to make an informed decision.  

From a UI design perspective, a designer could simply add a paragraph of descriptive text under each option.

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So for example, the Firefox team might add a description along the following lines:  “By default, Firefox can search the current web page via the Edit | Find menu option or by typing Ctrl-F.  Check this box to automatically start searching the page when you begin typing text to search for.”

Conclusion

Most computer programs make most people feel stupid.   We don’t want to contribute to this, especially not a top-flight, world-class application like FireFox, which is my favorite and default browser.   A little effort goes a long way here.   By describing why we might want or need to change a setting -- the “use case” in the designer’s parlance – we educate and inform the user, who has the power to make an informed decision. 

in my opinion, that’s a central guiding principle for any killer application.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Microsoft Keyboard favorites key assignment

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So i’m trying to set up a hotkey assignment on my Microsoft Keyboard Elite for imageBluetooth (that’s what it’s called).  I want to assign hotkey 5 to open Windows Live Writer, an excellent program for blogging (I’m using it now to write this post).    I hit the “5” key, which is unassigned, and the installed Microsoft keyboard software helpfully pops up a dialog to allow me to choose the program to assign it to:

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But when I hit Browse… what pops up is a generic file chooser sotensibly to give us the ultimate power to browse off into the bowels of our computers and choose any file we like: 

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Even I, a technology veteran, am shocked at the thoughtlessness of this UI failure.   What I wanted to do was assign Favorites hotkey “5” to run Windows L ive Writer, and now Microsoft was asking me to navigate the file structure of my computer to find the binary executable program to do it.    This is so wrong on so many levels. 

For starters, Microsoft has broken the metaphor.   The conceptual model the user has in his head is of a “favorite” keyboard key is:  press key, run program.    By asking the user to involve the physical file system browser,  we have invoked a set of completely different and unrelated models.  The filesystem is a containment hierarchy of drives, folders, and items.  The identification of a specific program within the filesystem is another foreign model, more the domain of software writers and geeks, wherein the user must correctly identify which item in a specific folder is the correct Windows executable program.

How could Microsoft fix this?    By simply providing a pre-populated list of the likely and sensible choices for an application that might be one of my favorites.    I had recently installed Windows Live Writer.   I had run Windows Live Writer many times over the past few days since installing it.   I had pinned it to the Windows taskbar, which, for those of you not familiar with Windows 7, is the equivalent of marking it a heavy favorite since the taskbar’s primary purpose is enabling the quick launch of an application.    

Recommendations

Here are a few specific ways Microsoft could easily improve this interface.

  • Provide a list of installed applications and enable the user to choose from them.   Enable the users to sort by name, installation date, or last access.
  • Allow the user to choose applications refererenced by desktop shortcuts, pinned Start menu items, or Windows taskbar items. 
  • Allow the user to choose applications that are currently running.

Conclusion

This failure, while it’s only on a specialized Microsoft keyboard, typifies the issues at the center of Microsoft’s failure to connect with people.    Microsoft’s software is often highly functionally oriented, emphasizing capabilities over tasks.   While at the end of the day, capability is king, in a commoditized market it is wise to continue to evolve.   Companies like Google and Apple get it;  it remains to be seen how quickly Microsoft can turn the battleship before it takes significant damage.