Google Calendar has a usability problem that makes content hard to read and therefore distracts the user from getting neccessary information. Since I have been getting a sharp eye for usability issues, I feel responsible to share some of this issues with designers worldwide so they don’t make the same mistakes when designing an application or any kind of user interface.

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Finally I can announce that on February the 26th I got my diploma on Faculty for eletrotechnics, computer science and informatics, University of Maribor, Slovenia.

I am now a B.Sc. of Media Communications.

After my last year of studying Media communications (Interactive graphic design) I decided to explore the field of web usability, specifically usability assessment of social networking websites. My diploma research was based on evaluation of Facebook usability with techniques that were accessible during my research. My diploma research work is available here* in slovene language. Here is a short abstract:

The emergence of the World Wide Web has allowed users access to large amounts of information that can be found on the Internet.User interfaces have a major role in human-computer communication. Web content must be presented in a way that most users can understand and use. Because of varying levels of experience, knowledge and individual characteristics of web users, the design of web interfaces is subject to debates by psychology specialists, human-computer interaction specialists, graphic designers, sociologists and specialists in related sciences. They tend to define  universal standards for website usefulness in order to ensure the most universal and positive user experience. Since social networking sites are currently the most popular online communications medium, it is necessary to develop user interfaces with a keen consideration for the expectations and requirements of typical users. A positive user experience can only be created by analyzing the usefulness of websites in various aspects and offering  the best possible solutions.

* Since the document is only available in slovene language at this moment you are free to translate it with Google translator or any other translation tool to see the results.

Spletne ikone so eden najpogostejših grafičnih elementov spletnih strani. Pogosto jih uporabljamo v spletni komunikaciji kot zamenjavo za smeškote, s katerimi na alternativni, bolj ljubek in neposredni način sporočamo tekstovno vsebino. Ikone na spletnih straneh se pogosto pojavljajo kot bližnjice in povezave, v aplikacijah in mobilnh napravah pa brez ikon praktično ne gre. Prav zato se moramo pri oblikovanju ikon sredotočiti na deset pomembnih zakonitosti, s katerimi bomo lahko oblikovali konsistentne in uporabne spletne ikone.

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Pri uporabnosti spletnih ikon in povezav je pomembno upoštevati naravno in logično sosledje elementov. Pri spodnjem primeru se je oblikovalec odločil postaviti gumb ‘next’ levo od gumba ‘previous’, kar pa ni v skladu z evropskim načinom branja od leve proti desni. Levo pomeni nazaj, desno pa naprej.

Bolj pravilna bi bila takšna pozicija:

Na eni izmed spletnih strani slovenskih časopisnih hiš sem zasledila slab primer paginacije:

Pri opazovanju oblikovne rešitve za deljenje vsebine na več strani se je potrebno vprašati dvoje: zakaj je pred enomestnimi ciframi prisotna ničla? in zakaj so kvadratki tako narazen?

Odgovore lahko najdete tukaj.

Pred nakupom mobilne naprave se veliko uporabnikov odloča za predhodno seznanitev s karakteristikami naprave preko spletnih strani mobilnih ponudnikov, na podlagi česa se uporabniki tudi lažje odločijo za nakup. Pri iskanju in primerjavi posameznih naprav imajo veliko vlogo iskalni in primerjalni vmesniki, ki uporabniku olajšajo brskanje po veliki količini naprav. Trenutno najbolj aktualna slovenska ponudnika Mobitel in SiMobil ponujata precej različne iskalnike, kjer ima vsak svoje prednosti in slabosti. Kateri iskalnik je dejansko bolj uporaben?

Mobitelov iskalnik

SiMobilov iskalnik

Skupne lastnosti

Uporabnik lahko do obeh iskalnikov dostopa s klikom na prvi gumb v zgornjem meniju - Telefoni in naprave, kjer se pri SiMobilovem iskalniku takoj prikaže seznam naprav in možnost izbiranja parametrov, pri Mobitelovem pa je do te točke potrebno klikniti na dokaj majhen gumb Poišči. Torej en klik več za Mobitel, ena točka več za SiMobil.

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Vir: http://www.glasbergen.com/

Kratek intervju z Don Normanom iz konference UX Week 2008 o njegovi knjigi The Design Of Everyday Things, ki je po mojem mnenju najboljša literatura za tiste, ki želijo razumeti pojem uporabnosti.

Don Norman | UX Week 2008 | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo