currybetdotnet Usability archive

Popcorn triple feature - Roxio's inconsistent labels
Being a big fan of Open Source solutions, I haven't actually had to make many purchases of software for my MacBook beyond OmniGraffle, as, amongst other things Firefox, VLC, CyberDuck, and FreeMind are meeting my needs. I did want a decent piece of software for burning DVDs though, and settled on Roxio's Popcorn. [1] I needed to purchase the latest version 3 in order for it to be compatible with my version of the Mac OS, so went to their...

Read the full post - Published June 16, 2008 in Usability

'Real World Usability' Chinwag Live event
On Tuesday night I went to the latest Chinwag Live event, a panel discussion about 'Real World Usability', held underneath the Slug & Lettuce on Wardour Street. The panel for the event featured Andy Budd, Paul Dawson, Udy Ravid, Niqui Merret and Bryan Rieger, and it was chaired by Giles Colborne. Andy Budd and Paul Rieger were the most vocal of the panelists. Andy's philosophy was that usability wasn't a 'taught' skill, but something that one acquires with experience. Whilst...

Read the full post - Published April 25, 2008 in Usability

Take-away facts and quotes from the Euro IA Summit in Barcelona - Day 2
At the weekend I was in Barcelona for the Euro IA summit, and so, whilst trying not to blog my every move for a change, I thought I would post my key take-away facts and quotes from the conference. I covered day one yesterday. Stanisław Skórka I started the second day of the conference listening to Stanisław Skórka talking about the bridge between the librarian and information architect professions. I don't envy any of the speakers having to present in...

Read the full post - Published September 27, 2007 in Application design, Greece, Usability, Web

Take-away facts and quotes from the Euro IA Summit in Barcelona - Day 1
Last weekend I was in Barcelona for the Euro IA Summit, and I made a solemn vow to my wife and myself that I was actually going to concentrate on doing stuff rather than spending my time and energy blogging about doing stuff. However, it did seem rather churlish not to at the very least post my favourite take-away facts and quotes from the conference itself. Ricardo Baeza-Yates Ricardo is the director of Yahoo! Research Labs in Spain and Chile,...

Read the full post - Published September 26, 2007 in Application design, Usability, Web

Heraklion airport doesn't quite live up to the BA online check-in promise
I'm back in the UK for work for the majority of September and October, with a trip to Barcelona for the Euro IA summit and a brief sojourn back to Crete for a last summer "Hurrah!" sandwiched in the middle. As a result, I shall certainly be racking up my carbon emissions with a variety of airlines. The first flight was with British Airways lask week, on a route I've not flown before - Heraklion to London Gatwick. Heraklion is...

Read the full post - Published September 14, 2007 in Greece, Transport, Usability

Orange could do with a usability upgrade
I used the Orange online service last week to upgrade my phone - and I have to say I was left distinctly unimpressed with some of the usability. I still retain a UK mobile phone for when I'm in the country. It means that I've been able to keep the same number that I've been giving out since the year dot on business cards and email signatures. However, if you've tried to call me on my UK phone over the...

Read the full post - Published September 4, 2007 in Mobiles, Usability, Web

Why doesn't the BBC iPlayer system tray icon use native Windows UI elements?
Well, it's been mostly iPlayer this and iPlayer that around here recently, and today is no different - and this time I have a bit of a user experience gripe. The iPlayer library software does something that really annoys me on Windows machines - not taking advantage fully of the common native UI elements. One of the reasons that any OS like Windows or a Mac OS has a standard set of UI elements is so that they can...

Read the full post - Published August 7, 2007 in Accessibility, BBC, Microsoft, Usability, iPlayer

5 quick usability wins for the BBC iPlayer beta trial installation process
Having spent two of the last three weeks sitting very near to the iPlayer development team in the BBC's Future Media and Technology department in White City, I'm aware that there is no shortage of people telling them what they ought to have done with the product. And that is both outside and inside the BBC. From the Open Source Consortium's 'rip it up and use video codec DIRAC instead' vote, to Guardian journalists patiently explaining to commentators on their...

Read the full post - Published August 6, 2007 in Application design, BBC, Product review, Television, Usability, iPlayer

A tour of Tour De France news sites - Étape 5: Eurosport / Yahoo!
Like the majority of cycling fans, I have been watching this week's events in the Tour De France unfold with dismay. Most other weeks, someone claiming to be from ETA letting bombs off on the route would be a major story, but yesterday with the expulsion of yellow jersey wearer Michael Rasmussen and the exclusion of the Cofidis team, that hardly seemed to matter. Of course, there is an argument that says that out of the couple of hundred...

Read the full post - Published July 26, 2007 in Cycling, Tour de France, Usability, Web, Yahoo

A tour of Tour De France news sites - Étape 3: France 24
Sadly it seems that again this year it will be events off the road that dominate the headlines about the Tour De France. The blood doping allegations against Alexandre Vinokourov may have briefly made him the world's most famous Kazakhstani, even over Borat, but they are yet another blow to the reputation of cycling's most prestigous event. Over the course of this week I have been reviewing online news sites for the usability, depth, and quality of their Tour De...

Read the full post - Published July 25, 2007 in Cycling, France 24, Tour de France, Usability, Web

A tour of Tour De France news sites - Étape 1: LeTour.fr

Published July 23, 2007 in Articles, Cycling, Tour de France, Usability, Web

'Cancel' just doesn't seem to mean 'Cancel' for iTunes 7.2 on Windows

Published July 13, 2007 in Apple, Application design, Microsoft, Music, Usability

National Television Awards vote seems wide open to multiple vote fraud

Published July 12, 2007 in Doctor Who, Media, Television, Usability, Voting, Web

Add nothing to your basket at MyDailyMirror.com

Published April 18, 2007 in Daily Mirror, Usability

Sony Connect music download store relaunches in Europe - part two

Published April 13, 2007 in Music, Sony, Usability

Sony Connect relaunches with improved information architecture for browsing

Published April 12, 2007 in Music, Sony, Usability

The Sun's MY Sun registration systems and odd date range behaviour

Published April 11, 2007 in The Sun, Usability

Too many statistics? The National Statistics site runs out of memory

Published March 27, 2007 in Microsoft, Usability, Web

Patchy interface localisation in Salzburg Airport's touch-screen customer satisfaction survey

Published March 5, 2007 in Austria, Localisation, Usability

Playing with the Virgin Radio player beta

Published March 2, 2007 in Media, Music, Product review, Radio, Usability, Web

Why not be accessible Instead - trying to buy Onetwo's new album

Published February 26, 2007 in Music, Usability

The Sun's sexiest barmaid vote goes a bit tits up

Published February 22, 2007 in Media, The Sun, Usability, Voting

Five Years of Information Architecture in the Free Pint newsletter

Published January 11, 2007 in Usability, Web

A lesson from Ibis in making your email addresses un-marketing friendly

Published November 3, 2006 in Usability

Struggling to buy music from U-MYX

Published November 2, 2006 in Music, Usability

Managing 'Glue' at the BBC: Classification - part 4

Published December 8, 2005 in BBC, Usability, Web

Managing 'Glue' at the BBC: Search - part 3

Published December 8, 2005 in BBC, Search, Usability, Web

Managing 'Glue' at the BBC: Navigation - part 2

Published December 8, 2005 in BBC, Usability, Web

Managing 'Glue' at the BBC: Introducing the BBC - part 1

Published December 8, 2005 in Articles, BBC, Usability, Web

English Heritage forced redirect for Firefox users

Published April 17, 2005 in Microsoft, Usability, Web