Interaction cost

The amount of cognitive and physical effort that a user needs to put into a task in order to achieve a meaningful outcome.

Excel: Insert new row (Mac)

ALT & mouse-click in row number below the one(s) you want to insert. Be careful NOT to click anywhere else in row as this will add row(s) NOT across all columns but only in one column.

Solving UX problems

1. Tackle a UI problem by dividing it into tasks that each have a beginning, middle and end
2. Use sketching as a response to uncertainty and move on to HTML to establish gaps
3. Focus on the most natural solution [for a persona] so that [persona] people will intuitively grasp a design
4. Focus your design process on conflicts and friction points, attacking them one by one until the design works<

/ol>

Derived from Ryan Singer Watch me sketch and code a UI from scratch

Benefits of lo-fi prototyping

Here’s a couple of the main advantages:

• Get better and more honest feedback
• It’s great for A/B testing
• Make the cost of mistakes cheap, not expensive
• Refine the page flow, not the pages
• Figure out the interaction design rather than the visual design

Andrew Chen: http://andrewchenblog.com/2009/09/15/why-every-consumer-internet-startup-should-do-more-low-fidelity-prototyping/

Clickable lo-fi prototypes

Benefits for client/agency:

• Facilitate documenting requirements
• Allow quick iteration at very little cost
• Compatible with agile workflow
• Focus on functional elements rather than visual treatment

Benefits for customer/user testing:

• Focus on screen elements that matter for the journey (no distractions)
• Edgy look-and-feel invites to expressing ideas and comments (improvements/changes)
• Allow for multiple test-sessions in quick iterations
• Easily allow for A/B/C comparison

2 not quite random thoughts

You can only play if you are on safe grounds.

OR

Never try to run if you can’t walk.

Cardinal, Ordinal, or Nominal Numbers?

A cardinal (or counting) number shows the quantity of something, e.g. 3 apples or 1200 search results

An ordinal number expresses the rank or position of an item in an ordered list or a comparison of items, e.g. 1st in line, 3rd repetition, or 22nd row

A nominal number is used to identify something, similar to a calling name, e.g. a post code or a phone number.

Excel: repeat last action

F4 repeats last action in Excel, e.g. Insert row

Type chevrons on UK Windows Keyboard

Left pointing chevron «
Type and hold Alt plus 0171 on the number pad

Right pointing chevron »
Type and hold Alt plus 0187 on the number pad

The most annoying OS X UX failure

For years and years the same frustration. Why is it so difficult to tell me WHAT TO DO in order to release the item? Even more annoying if you close every single application and the error persists.

Last 12 Months: Show me latest pictures first!

I only sync pictures from the ‘Last 12 Months’ folder to my iDevices. Xtremely annoying: when you want to see the very latest pictures, you got to drag/scroll thousands of pictures (the harvest of a year). Can we please get a reverse sort order button?