June 2011

Usability of Email

by Vishal Mehta June 28, 2011 User Experience

Email Communication paradigm was blessed with the invention of Email a few decades ago. Over so many years, there have been hundreds of Email programs and clients that have served us; but very little has changed really – in terms of Usability of Email. This, primarily in two aspects – how usable, and how useful. [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

The Unsung Nuisance

by Arpit Shah June 16, 2011 User Experience

I am of the opinion that a ‘saturated’ situation enables us to understand a situation to its fullest detail and examine the flaws. For example, all luxury cars are tested at full throttle in a simulated environment to understand if there are any issues/digressions from their stipulated targets. I am also of the opinion that [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

5 steps & 9 seconds

by Arpit Shah June 13, 2011 User Experience

Smartphones, as the name suggests, are meant to be smart. True, I said, after purchasing Samsung‘s Galaxy III five months back, post a recommendation from Chip Magazine’s Technology Editor, Anand Tuliani. What smartphones have done on the ‘usability’ front is absolutely remarkable. Right from syncing contacts all across social media & corporate ID platforms to [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Usability Quotes – II

by Vishal Mehta June 12, 2011 Usability

In science and engineering, some of the greatest discoveries seem so simple that you say to yourself, I could have thought of that. The discoverer is entitled to reply, why didn’t you? (Paul Graham) There’s a trade off between capability and usability. This is, as far as I know, no one has figured out how [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

If Content is the King, Format is the Queen!

by Vishal Mehta June 9, 2011 User Experience

Think of a Book. Undeniably, it’s the Content that makes the book useful. However, the Format is what makes it usable. Content + Format; King and Queen. For a great user experience in any literature (print or electronic), marrying both is very essential. Particularly in case of an electronic book. Some characteristics of most readers [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Usability at Traffic Signals

by Vishal Panchal June 8, 2011 User Expression

The other day, I was on my way to meet a friend and I crossed the signal just as it turned yellow. My fault. Theoretically, ideally and even practically, my fault. While I can go on with reasons why slamming the brakes as the signal turned yellow would have been a near disaster etc etc [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Show the Password on My Mobile

by Vishal Mehta June 7, 2011 User Experience

Mobile Internet/Data usage is on the rise. I also am part of this revolution, where more and more sites and applications that were accessed via my laptop, I now access those on my BlackBerry. Smart phones are quite high when it comes to usability and user experience. However, one aspect that has intrigued me about [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

Interactive Transcript: Innovative way to watch videos; reduce time.

by Arpit Shah June 5, 2011 User Experience

I am a big fan of Ted Talks. They’re educative, innovative and make for a productive leisure activity [if there ever was one!] Now I came across this ‘interactive transcript’ tool a while back and consider it one which genuinely makes life quite simpler and should be adopted across many video sites around the internet [...]

0 comments Read the full article →