Caroline Jarrett reports on the many uses people are finding for augmented reality in 2007, and argues for the importance of building tools that people actually want to use.
Category: Design
Formats of telephone numbers: why France and the UK don’t work like the US
If your form or survey has an international audience you need to be aware of fields where a country’s system diverges from your own, says Caroline Jarrett, using the example of telephone numbers.
Expert review helps to improve a complex form
Applying for Lasting power of Attorney is often something people do at a time of challenge or stress. In this presentation to the Sixth International PLAIN Language Conference I describe a case study for the US Department of Constitutional Affairs where ourContinue reading… Expert review helps to improve a complex form
Process or outcome? Measuring the success of usability
A friend has been working with a client for nine months. She’s sort of been ‘usability midwife’ to the birth of their redesigned website: a major development, loads of nasty back-end integration problems, the effort of many teams. Her roleContinue reading… Process or outcome? Measuring the success of usability
How to enhance your site with Flash
‘Heard any of these remarks lately? ‘Flash is bad’; ‘I hate Flash intros’; ‘Don’t do Flash’. My long-term view has been that Flash is just another technology. Bad if it’s gratuitous showing off; good if it works for your usersContinue reading… How to enhance your site with Flash
Conducting a User-Centred Expert Review
This presentation to the 2007 Annual Conference of the Society for Technical Communication sets out five steps for a user-centred review – whether you have 30 minutes, two days or five days in which to do the work. Whitney QuesenburyContinue reading… Conducting a User-Centred Expert Review
Usability as a legal requirement: leaflets for medicines
At the recent Information Design conference, Karel van der Waarde told us about the impact that European legislation has had on patient information leaflets. These are the pieces of paper that come with every medicine. European Law requires usability InContinue reading… Usability as a legal requirement: leaflets for medicines
How to write good FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Caroline Jarrett offers advice on improving the way you do Frequently Asked Questions to get better results for users
Good headings help, bad headings hurt
I’ve been on the road recently, teaching my ‘Editing that Works’ workshops to teams of web content providers in a government department. ‘Choose what to say,’ I urge them. And do it like this: apply temporary headings to your text,Continue reading… Good headings help, bad headings hurt
How to get clients to look at wireframes properly
It was the same old story. I was working with Whitney Quesenbery on some wireframes for a client’s website. As usual, she’d done a lovely job on the design. As usual, I’d fussed around with content. We’d done our usualContinue reading… How to get clients to look at wireframes properly