Categories
Google Wave Usability

Google Wave

I was super excited this morning when I got an invite to Google Wave. I’ve read about it, but whilst there’s been a lot of hype around it no-one seems to describe it such that I’ve really got it. Note – don’t expect me to be any different, I tried to explain to my boyfriend […]

Categories
Organization Usability

I <3 Google Docs

Check out the video from Google, below. I thought it was really cute. Google docs is a great, free alternative to MS Office, but that’s not where the real power of it lies. For collaboration, for any document that anyone else is going to use, it’s such a better alternative. During the summer, I was […]

Categories
Search Usability

Why SEO is a Load of Crap

A blogger I read, wrote this post commenting on SEO. I suggest you read it, because it’s good, but in brief the question she’s asking is – what is SEO? Why isn’t blogging about content? I commented on her post, but I think my thoughts on SEO merit their own little forum. So here we […]

Categories
Usability

Average Browsing

Saw this video the other day – Google in New York asking people if they know what a browser is. Most people didn’t. Or rather – they essentially think the browser is Google. Is the browser so pervasive that people don’t register that it’s a distinct “thing”? Or does the average user basically just not […]

Categories
Usability

If You Can’t Find It, You Can’t Buy It

Recently, I tried to pay my Rogers (Canada) bill online. Considering that you’re trying to give them money they really make it very difficult for you. Eventually I managed to set up an e-billing account for my banking. Linking this to Rogers for some reason necessitated downloading Firefox, as it does not support Safari (this […]

Categories
Usability

Average Users

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the “average user”. Who are they? What do they use their computer for? What do they know? And – I think this is the most interesting question: How much do they care about the things we [programmers] spend all our time on? I recently wrote a paper about […]