tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27245601858013580192012-01-25T07:38:03.857ZUsability and Quality In Use in everyday life. How we might apply usability and Human Centred Design in an everyday context.BrianSJnoreply@blogger.comBlogger761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-12448907113136725542012-01-25T07:38:00.000Z2012-01-25T07:38:03.865Z

"Epitaph on my Ever Honoured Father" by Robert Burns O YE whose cheek the tear of pity stains,  Draw near with pious rev'rence, and attend!  Here lie the loving husband's dear remains,  The tender father, and the gen'rous friend;  The pitying heart that felt for human woe,  The dauntless heart that fear'd no human pride;  The friend of man-to vice alone a foe;  For 'ev'n his failings lean'd to

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-19383192817331041822012-01-10T17:02:00.001Z2012-01-16T08:41:58.351Z

A great piece by Workspace Design Magazine identified the coming interest in monitoring (and charging for) workspace utilization. "I predict that the efficient utilization of real estate, resources, and energy will be a critical business focus during 2012. To arrive at astute, accurate financial decisions, management teams will focus on increasing data acquisition so they can analyze workspace

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-14540055812598414782012-01-09T18:15:00.000Z2012-01-09T18:15:30.765Z

This post follows on from Part 1. 3. Complexity and user needs The complexity of IoT may not meet user needs. This is a bit of a grumpy old man rant, but not without validity. More specific objections can be seen starting with: GreenSpec's Quick Take: "This "smart" thermostat should help users save energy and be easier to use - more like an iPhone - than the typical programmable thermostat. But

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-41107651449070593412012-01-02T14:08:00.001Z2012-01-09T18:57:00.781Z

This is a fairly philosophical post about the context of the 'Internet of Things' (IoT), rather than a post about the practical aspects of taking a human-centred approach to IoT. It is pointing out some risks that may not have been registered by the strictly technical folk that comprise the bulk of the IoT community. The aim is to be helpful rather than negative. A subsequent post will include my

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-45683225764920968802011-12-23T17:51:00.000Z2011-12-23T17:51:24.290Z

Samples from fictional Resilient Community (RC) notice boards. The Avenue Transition ClubHon. Sec. Margo LeadbetterThe Pony Club has been doing a great job supplying vegetable patches with manure. Well done girls! I now chair the CO2 Cap and Trade Working Group for The Avenue. We will be visiting each of you soon to calculate your footprint. Make sure you have your gas and electric bills to

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-23965452561949037682011-12-22T11:25:00.000Z2011-12-22T11:25:10.521Z

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-70381156527204460152011-12-21T08:46:00.000Z2011-12-21T08:46:35.929Z

  The quotes of the year all came in a bunch just recently. They cover intelligent buildings, automation, and Europe. The best quote of the year comes from an event I missed due to family commitments (the CIBSE/IBG Intelligent Cities Seminar at the Science Museum), in the opening address by Professor Derek Clements-Croome: "The building, its services systems and work all contribute to the

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-6311662942730621032011-12-09T14:06:00.001Z2011-12-10T08:27:47.558Z

The Ayrshire coast is known for its palm trees. However, banana plants are hard to find, so even committed supporters of local produce have to eat imported bananas. Some parts of the resilience movement seem to have a real down on global trade, and I am not sure why. This antipathy seems to go without question as an unstated assumption, and I haven't found a coherent analysis. Having had the

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-42303390711980434852011-11-23T13:17:00.003Z2011-11-24T09:25:51.688Z

These are personal jottings, rather than anything resembling notes of the meeting. Firstly, its existence is welcome. I have been to meetings of this general type, so it seems there is a range of folk in Scotland trying to manage its emergent properties in a productive and worthwhile direction. It was a delight to meet a variety of systems thinkers with different backgrounds and interests but a

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-45997365964481755772011-11-15T11:04:00.000Z2011-11-15T11:04:43.674Z

Gideon Kossoff gave a thoughtful talk on Transition Design last night at UWS. I wish I was going to the Shorelines Conference today but have other commitments. Hopefully it is a start towards local activity linked to Transition Scotland. Gideon had a nice diagram of needs and satisfiers; some similarities with David Squire's diagram (.pdf) for seafarers. There was no discussion of spirituality.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-52881765308884791882011-11-11T11:22:00.000Z2011-11-11T11:22:01.552Z

  "Where do I start?" Is an important question for an organization wanting to use the cluster of Human Centred Design (HCD) / Service Design / User Experience (UX). The answer is to 'start from where you are'.The usability champion can find out what sort of a challenge she faces very quickly using the Principles of HCD. How is the organization doing as regards:A clear and explicit understanding

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-4528916755325912382011-11-09T13:21:00.001Z2011-11-12T15:01:29.475Z

Zach Tumin provided more than enough inspiration for the day. He seemed to be a real person (unlike some other US inspiring speakers) and gave thoughtful answers to questions. I hope he meets Karyn McCluskey on his visit to Scotland, to supplement his comments about Bill Bratton. Colin Adams from Edinburgh University gave us our aim, which is an empowered society. The success he has with  "come

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-85163607006737915442011-09-21T12:43:00.002+01:002011-09-21T12:49:17.259+01:00

Information provision to support car buying is poor to misleading. Most of the models and guides to cost of ownership are inadequate. One of them included petrol at 71 pence per litre. I wish! The nearest to usable or useful is the one at Parkers, but that didn't meet my modest needs. What needs to go into a cost model?Insurance; not an issue for me, but for young male drivers, insurance costs

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-14244658012377548622011-08-18T13:01:00.005+01:002011-08-18T13:08:32.004+01:00

I am currently digesting Gigerenzer's 'heuristics that make us smart', letting my 'tortoise mind' (Guy Claxton) catch up with my reading. Gigerenzer has done the analysis to show that in situations of limited information, our heuristics (often derided as cognitive biases) actually work better than mathematical optimisation. So, I have been updating my knowledge of qualitative decision support to

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-20970828349501920032011-07-26T09:24:00.002+01:002011-07-26T09:28:47.913+01:00

An elderly user operating a keyboard, with no gel-filled wrist rest, and absolutely no lumbar support. Bound to affect performance. Watch the video and decide for yourself.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-1000772640133793482011-07-18T18:40:00.009+01:002011-07-19T06:18:17.771+01:00

This post examines user testing, marketing claims, and user reviews for a specific product. In part, it demonstrates the power of user reviews, but it also identifies the need for a more coherent approach "your stovepipes are showing".The product in this case study is the Philips Sonicare Airfloss.The marketing claims are mostly "the science bit" with reference to user trials, presentation of

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-67651474342374209032011-05-24T12:58:00.010+01:002011-05-24T13:20:27.897+01:00

Still room for improvement, on my experience. Google maps had all the streets in our area wrong. In September 2009 I went through a laborious process to advise Tele-Atlas of this. The other day (just 620 days later), I received an acknowledgement that they had acted on it. Click to enlarge. A less than inspired piece of customer experience, I think you'll agree.The Reference ID states they have

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-82930365307601736712011-05-09T13:34:00.006+01:002011-05-20T14:14:15.815+01:00

The simplicity of the basic 3 x 3 risk matrix gives it considerable appeal to operators at the sharp end, managers and regulators. Indeed, considerable effort goes into Tayloristic management and tailored regulation to produce simple work situations that can legitimately use such as basic approach to assess and act on risks. People away from the sharp end need a richer language - better social

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-51131910133838562722011-05-04T08:32:00.011+01:002011-05-04T08:50:32.471+01:00

Two packaging fails, or is it two user errors by me?First, some vitamin C tablets from Boots. Orange and white packaging. I assumed they were orange flavour.Silly me. Obvious really, they were blackcurrant.Two tins of paint next to each other on the shelf at B&Q. The right colour. I picked them up.Painting started with two people, each with a tin, at opposite ends of the room. Paint didn't quite

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-9034375620021421432011-04-28T11:47:00.002+01:002011-04-28T11:51:38.875+01:00

The Engineering Council recently published guidance on risk. The Working Group has packed a great deal of wisdom into eight pages. Proposing sensible wisdom as formal guidance to engineers constitutes a major change from risk management as currently practised in many places. If the outcome is successful implementation of the guidance, then that will represent real progress. However, the

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-26902002960535028782011-04-16T11:12:00.010+01:002011-05-26T07:41:07.664+01:00

Events at Fukushima have highlighted the interface between government bureaucracy and web-enabled networks. Alexis Madrigal has raised the question of trust and access to information, pointing out that crowdsourced data could act as a useful resource. He has highlighted the Kickstarter project for crowdsourced radiation monitoringIn the same time-frame but a different context, Alberto Cottica's

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-28366216994509713122011-03-25T12:54:00.003Z2011-03-26T15:33:29.639Z

I went to the Masterclass held by the Society of Light and Lighting yesterday. Really very very good; six good speakers, with several outstanding. Do try to catch one of the remaining events.Lots on LED technology of course.The design driver is reducing energy use. One aspect of this is matching the provision of light and lighting to user needs, including not putting light where and when it is

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-25226288132703972272011-03-09T19:16:00.010Z2011-03-09T19:35:18.217Z

CAD could become Computer Aided Design and support decision-making without too much trouble these days. However, it has to stop being Computer Aggravated Draughting dominated by the manufacturing viewpoint, which might present difficulties to some of the long-standing legacy CAD systems. Stakeholder viewpoints should be just that.It is well-established that the way information is presented

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-60393070428371448052011-03-06T12:52:00.003Z2011-03-06T12:58:52.177Z

Positive user experience report on high-tech ergonomics for the winter.Even though there are still weather concerns from Piers Corbyn, I am putting the snow-clearing kit back in the shed. I tried some high-technology aids during the cold spell. They worked well. This is my personal experience report, rather than a scientific ergonomic analysis.First up, d3o - an amazing material. I bought a

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-28796285277902293062011-02-08T14:08:00.005Z2011-02-09T12:08:51.188Z

Anne Lauvergeon’s recent lecture at the Royal Academy of Engineering included a 'call for a more streamlined approach to nuclear new-build safety regulation in Europe, labelling the need to meet different criteria in 27 separate licensing regimes an “exhausting exercise”'. She said: “It seems to be a national affirmation of authority. It would be easier for them to establish common rules.” Even

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-70585087704755159872011-01-19T15:52:00.006Z2011-01-20T09:32:37.637Z

A friend asked around for a simple usability rating scale for use by seafarers. We recommended John Brooke's Simple Usability Scale based on fond memories and its reputation. Fail. Didn't measure utility (e.g. the radar is easy to use but it has awful performance). Oops, sorry. This failure spurred me to develop rating scales for effectiveness, efficiency, safety and satisfaction for Quality In

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-70395638081983990922010-04-23T12:24:00.001+01:002010-04-23T12:27:26.675+01:00

William K. Black

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-74998959583289627452010-04-11T07:22:00.002+01:002010-04-11T07:24:22.109+01:00

I really like Opera as a web browser. Many really good features for my usage over Firefox.  I set up a whole pile of RSS feeds onto Opera Portal. Mistake. Don't do it. The sync between machines didn't work.  Opera have now lost my feeds. I have no idea how I was supposed to have made a backup. Life in the favela (Bruce Sterling).

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-84774585066056302852010-01-30T17:09:00.005Z2010-01-30T17:19:51.742Z

"Working through Screens" is a remarkable achievement.  Jacob Burghardt of Flashbulb Interaction has produced clear, elegant material that supports the difficult bits of designing user interaction.  I haven't seen anything that even tries to cover the same topic.  In addition to being available as a .pdf download, it is available as a Lulu book.  Do have a look and buy the book. Well worth the

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-24264149526113594022010-01-30T12:40:00.005Z2010-01-30T22:29:13.248Z

I like travelling KLM. The staff are really  great, and Schiphol is a very successful hub. My KLM flight last night got me to Glasgow an hour late, causing considerable inconvenience. That, however, is not the point of this post.Schiphol was busy (Friday evening, no surprise) and freezing. There was a queue for the de-icing machine. The pilot told us that the delay for the de-icing was 22 minutes

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-59627155580164272512010-01-30T12:30:00.003Z2010-01-30T12:39:32.135Z

Technical excellence and commercial success have always seemed to be negatively correlated in software, whether it was Algol/Fortran, Pascal/C, Interlisp/C++, and endless other examples. After a forced computer update, this still seems to be true. Good news for Mozilla, I suspect. Opera is now miles ahead of Firefox in terms of Quality In Use, but miles behind in market share.  Thunderbird is

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-15779858099624352252010-01-20T09:28:00.003Z2010-01-20T09:33:07.325Z

James Fallows has some terrific posts on the Google-China issue.  One has a comment from a reader that gives a remarkable perspective on the history of innovation. I hope they don't mind me sharing it."Analogously, in the information revolution following the introduction of the printing press, censorship in Catholic countries (especially Spain) had a similar "non-effect" initially because there

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-33813171458239717352010-01-05T14:03:00.002Z2010-01-05T14:08:33.527Z

The Document Design Center seems to have disappeared, which is a great shame. In one of their 'Simply Stated' newsletters, they had a Form Response Form, which may well be of use to people today. Enjoy.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-26849718269441374472010-01-03T14:55:00.001Z2010-01-03T14:57:22.498Z

The HSE has published a report authored by University of Liverpool and MBS on behavioural economics. This is very welcome; the view of 'human error' in the safety community has been very limited, and this research may bring about a wider view of error. There is quite a sizeable collection of literature.Surprising omissions include James Montier and Michael Mauboussin. Being academics, they do

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-16862923382268198482010-01-01T15:29:00.000Z2010-01-01T15:31:17.166Z

Good piece on the coming 'favela chic' at The Register. Welcome to the out-of-control decade.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-7427721145297412752009-12-30T13:43:00.002Z2009-12-30T13:49:02.712Z

If you are going to see Avatar (and do), get there early and get a good seat. I was near the front and to one side, and the 3D didn't work naturally all the time. The plot and characterisation is better than Titanic but maybe not as good as Terminator 2. I was easily swept along and fully engaged by the film. The presence of real actors makes it a real film rather than an animated film. The

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-90097273708207144382009-12-30T07:50:00.002Z2009-12-30T07:59:15.519Z

Political atrophy in the West, Solar Cycle 24, Peak Oil, the Western debt crisis, shifting demographics, and the move of power from West to East makes for a heady mixture. Generally unpleasant and with plenty of potential for extremely unpleasant instability. Forecasting emergent properties of such a complex system is unwise but seasonal. Here goes. Links might get added at a future date.The US

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-52024286130563601662009-12-21T12:42:00.003Z2009-12-23T19:37:06.316Z

Some reading for the Christmas break.Charles Stross has a wonderful big-picture overview about mobile phones, Google and Apple.Mark Coleran has assembled screenshots of his work on Fantasy User Interfaces.Not at all festive, but a wonderful post by Edward Harrison at Barry Ritholtz on "The recession is over but the depression has just begun."A wonderful insight into how to treat complexity (or

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-58555569247977052342009-12-14T19:41:00.002Z2009-12-14T19:49:30.177Z

Information Arbitrage has a very interesting post on vertical integration. It, and the comments, go wider than vertical integration, into what sorts of organizational structures are best able to support an experience economy and keep up with user needs and aspirations driving technology. The author, Roger Ehrenberg has moved from a firm belief in a tight organizational focus and specialization,

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-64414091294044598532009-12-13T12:28:00.004Z2009-12-13T12:56:34.751Z

Gerry Robinson is doing two programmes for BBC2 on re-designing dementia care. The first one was wonderful and is on iplayer. The second one is 15th Dec 2009.The revolution in dementia care is understanding the patient experience and looking at care from the patient's point of view, using an activity logging approach called care mapping. Apparently this is a radical thing to do. So it is, in

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-9427024642095955132009-12-03T11:15:00.003Z2009-12-12T14:00:20.603Z

This blog does not intend to become a Jeremy Clarkson fanzine, but the man has the impact of the internet exactly right."It’s a monster. An invisible machine over which mankind has absolutely no control. We can’t even turn it off."This is a nihilist view compared to Kevin Kelly's view of the Technium as an unruly child but similar in view. Kevin Kelly:"We don't quite appreciate it yet, but our

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-60049872056195132272009-11-08T11:22:00.004Z2009-11-08T11:34:28.204Z

Following the failure of financial regulation in the UK and US, it is clear that regulation (and de-regulation) are going to be hot topics for some time to come. How would a systems-thinking HCD person design a regulatory system? it ought not to be too difficult, given the historic links between socio-technical systems and cybernetics.Off the top of my head it might look like the following:

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-55531668152666083872009-10-31T11:04:00.004Z2009-10-31T11:08:31.121Z

Michael Krigsman's excellent blog has a post about learning from the weak signals of failure. Well worth a read, and illustrates the synergy between good management from a commercial point of view and from a safety point of view. Being able to give senior managers bad news is key to both.He also has a link to a classic Dilbert cartoon.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-89436165614935564742009-10-24T12:39:00.002+01:002009-10-24T12:43:44.612+01:00

H/T due I think to 90 Percent of Everything. Lovely.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-37388991598121636682009-10-23T09:36:00.006+01:002011-07-29T20:58:23.031+01:00

A post to introduce usability assurance. The aim of ergonomics in this context is to provide assurance that a system or product will be operable by those who are intended to use and maintain it.The approach was first proposed by the US General Accounting Office (1981) "What assurances are there that weapon systems developed can be operated and maintained by the people who must use them?"

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-20677999105767015142009-10-19T11:07:00.003+01:002009-10-19T11:12:04.637+01:00

This really does look brilliant.An article on it with more pictures is at Yanko Design."You take this “Turtle Wrench,” right, and you attach it to your wheel: it connects to all of your wheel bolts at once. Now the wrench has four arms sticking out, one of them each a wrench that correlates with a bolt. You drive forward one full rotation, and as you push forward each wrench, it loosens a bolt."

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-82879734520559328412009-10-15T10:00:00.003+01:002009-10-15T10:04:47.410+01:00

The Software Truth Commission videos are well worth watching. If only it were real.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-44326370583061830002009-10-15T09:19:00.003+01:002009-10-15T09:24:17.692+01:00

I have had innovators boiled and roast. Most of the innovators I have met are pretty hard-boiled, but these ones were fine. Is this cannibalism?"Fluffy mash" sounds more like ergonomics than innovation.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-60946580168081727072009-10-10T13:15:00.004+01:002009-10-10T13:20:08.213+01:00

Brief pointer to Prince Philip's longstanding interest in design and ergonomics.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-22887519697694099292009-10-05T12:46:00.003+01:002009-10-05T13:18:55.732+01:00

Roger Sessions has a great post on the cost of IT failure. His estimate, including direct costs and lost opportunity costs, is USD 6.18 Trillion. Almost enough to make a banker interested. How much of this could have been prevented by applying Human Centred Design , usability assurance? Perhaps half?For the UK, his figures (in B USD) areGDP 2260Cost of IT failure 200If

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-86470928526071317662009-09-21T07:25:00.003+01:002009-09-21T11:02:07.833+01:00

Regulatory capture is not hard to spot."Executives at Britain’s broadcasting watchdog are wined and dined by television companies, foreign dignitaries and advertisers almost every day of the week, official documents show."The consequences are not hard to find.In a rushed consultation .... the BBC will prohibit millions of people from programming their existing set top boxes. If implemented

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-89713075399644159712009-09-16T19:20:00.004+01:002009-09-18T17:27:08.454+01:00

The rather tacky graphic above is an adaptation of a figure in Edgar H Schein's Process Consultation. I have used versions of it for about the last 30 years. I am posting it unimproved, prompted by annoyance at the abuse of the term user-centred design in a post by Liz Sanders that was revived in the Design for Service blog. She seems to think that user-centred design and participatory design

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-85135502638669961432009-09-15T10:14:00.000+01:002009-09-15T10:16:26.671+01:00

Needs no words from me. Tells it like it is.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-1787527490666924962009-09-14T21:55:00.004+01:002009-09-15T10:17:46.298+01:00

Work led by Claes Fornell has shown that customer satisfaction is a lead indicator of share price. The well-established links between customer satisfaction and corporate value do not seem to be exploited by the usability community. Example papers can be found here, here and here.Findings by his company in the UK are reported here. Familiar faces do well; Toyota, Virgin. In the UK mobile field,

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-82035983982048505342009-09-14T07:55:00.008+01:002009-09-15T10:19:22.983+01:00

I am learning Inkscape. Two reasons. Firstly, since Smartdraw and Fireworks got ruined, I have needed to find a decent vector graphics package that does not require too much learning. Secondly, when can I use sees .svg being usable in a year or two, and it will take me that long to learn the package. I heartily recommend it. Anyway, I wanted to buy the manual. This is not open source, and comes

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-3270955076829113452009-09-06T20:01:00.003+01:002009-09-06T20:17:39.583+01:00

The life cycle perspective of systems engineering has long considered the relation between system products and services. An example given by Stuart Arnold is of a bridge; it changes from being a civil enginering project to being a traffic engineering service.Ergonomics has considered features beyond the central 'product' for a long time. John Hughes at IBM looked at the experience of receiving a

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-30834046206553411562009-09-02T08:38:00.002+01:002009-09-02T08:42:07.547+01:00

The man from Glenbuck, born this day 1913.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-27814948715546456522009-09-01T11:27:00.004+01:002009-09-01T20:22:09.491+01:00

Business travel for men requires suits, shirts, smart shoes. This means a wheelie-bag a) to look after same and b) because backpacks ruin suits.I have had a cheap Carlton (wheel squeak was terrifying and above safe levels), expensive Tripp (fell apart), cheap frameless case (zip went), mid-price Muji (lovely, but telescopic mechanism jammed - shut fortunately). I don't know anyone who has cracked

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-32436036828328316542009-08-31T14:51:00.003+01:002009-08-31T16:20:21.420+01:00

Pure Digital's Simon Fleming-Wood(Flip video camera) defines quality entirely in terms of ease of use. He says "We will always prioritize accessibility over features".This appears in the Wired article 'The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple is Just Fine'. The article says much that is not new. Which? magazine has been banging on for a long time about how people like VW Beetle (

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-81920274170257250312009-08-31T08:40:00.008+01:002009-08-31T09:17:04.251+01:00

Presselite has an iPhone app that combines information from google maps, GPS and the camera to give an augmented picture. The photo above shows a MacDonalds icon for the branch across the road. The image comes from a YouTube video that demonstrates the need for an anti-reflection coating on the iPhone. There was a time when my wife worked on military applications of this kind; the idea that you

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-18914829516039934572009-08-29T22:47:00.004+01:002009-09-01T20:19:57.536+01:00

In a fairly heavy piece in IDJ, Suzan Boztepe has a very nice graphic on categories of user value, copied above. A mapping to QIU would not be difficult; her scheme adds considerable richness, and is clearly the result of a lot of thought and analysis.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-91234061573694626562009-08-29T21:15:00.005+01:002009-08-29T21:20:28.000+01:00

No one belongs here more than you by Miranda July.Just follow the pink arrows at the bottom right. You didn't need me to tell you that.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-20696166139508008492009-08-29T18:43:00.005+01:002009-08-31T16:21:50.506+01:00

From the Design Reaktor project in Berlin, comes the electronic ruler.They say:"The Digital ruler is a 15 cm wooden ruler, which uses technology of electric-resistance and measurement in order to calculate length of line or distance. Unlike any other ruler, it is relative, not absolute. The 0 point of the ruler is defined by every new measurement with any pen. Electronic Ruler is a functional

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-47252698233646151752009-08-28T09:50:00.006+01:002009-08-31T12:03:11.939+01:00

Courtesy of Engineers without Fears, I found Katie Chatfield's visualisations of a talk by Bruce Sterling.The talk is good (though quite long). However, I think the visualisations do more than convey the talk, and can be looked at quite quickly. Favela chic does not really appeal, I'm afraid. (Actually, the latter part of the Bruce Sterling talk had some very interesting insight and advice

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-48157590895431794062009-08-25T12:09:00.011+01:002009-09-05T00:12:59.564+01:00

Paul Shanahan congratulated me on my 'courage' (cf. 'Yes Minister') in using the original version of Rasmussen's 1997 contours of safe operation diagram. He was right, the diagram is very hard to communicate. Rob Miles has used Venn diagrams in a way that complemented Rasmussen's contours, and so I have devised some Miles-Rasmussen diagrams to illustrate the effects of technology, management and

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-9955134276949123192009-08-24T12:06:00.002+01:002009-08-24T12:13:35.875+01:00

Fifty years on, CP Snow's 'Two Cultures' is alive and well. Technology is too important to be left to the technologists. It is also too important to be left to people with no knowledge and blind faith in technology = progress.This post by Leg-Iron at Old Holborn is really scary, and well worth reading (it is short). The ease with which DNA evidence can be faked undermines the complete faith that

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-72728045236148774642009-08-24T08:41:00.003+01:002009-08-24T10:06:34.670+01:00

The wonderful Hazel Courteney wrote a paper with the title 'Project Requirements: the Silent Dictators' , inspiring the title for this post.Testimony by Dr Robert Zubrin included the following:"Over the course of its history, NASA has employed two distinct modes of operation. The first prevailed during the period from 1961-1973, and may therefore be called the Apollo Mode. The second, prevailing

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-55195251789013977342009-08-23T11:57:00.003+01:002009-08-23T12:08:06.211+01:00

Unreal meetings are familiar to most of us. These ones come from the MIT Sociable Media Group.Not having head tracking in the home office I've not had much to do with Second Life, and I'd need to be convinced that virtual meeting spaces are better than good use of post-its (though there are many occasions when virtual meetings are becoming a necessity).However, some interesting ideas, and we

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-85257407915063180352009-08-22T13:34:00.004+01:002009-08-22T13:53:23.947+01:00

User-centred innovation has been around for some years now (and will be one of the main themes of this blog). The diffusion of this approach appears to have become mature, to say the least, on the basis of a couple of recent developments.NESTA have found the term and are taking baby steps in their lab; very welcome. If they can convince the public sector to listen to users for new ideas, it

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-28255150280388293902009-08-21T14:16:00.005+01:002009-08-21T14:24:54.524+01:00

From FlowingData comes this great graphic by 5WGraphics (click on the picture to see all of it).Some of the numbers at the bottom look like they are not independent e.g. seat density and utilization, but the ability to relate costs to aspects of quality in use is striking.At a macro-system level, would having only cheap airlines lead to no new aircraft types?

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-61175813355987182212009-08-21T13:11:00.003+01:002009-08-21T14:16:45.774+01:00

The Baseline Scenario has a great post on a research brief on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which includes this gem:"Since protecting large banks at the expense of consumers is the current goal of the regulatory structure, other goals such as collecting data on actual experiences of consumers (something researchers have a difficult time finding, and have to use poor substitutes like

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-45650092270905864852009-08-21T10:28:00.001+01:002009-08-21T10:35:16.241+01:00

Great song. The words have 'experts' nailed. Truly great artist.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-77110214537148424092009-08-21T10:04:00.004+01:002009-08-21T10:26:22.445+01:00

Quality of service has not been a factor in OFCOMs regulation of mobile phones and ISPs. Accordingly, this has not been a factor of concern for most providers.From a user point of view, it is almost impossible to know what the provider would be like until you are tied up into a contract. There is advice from ADSLguide for broadband, but it is still hard to decide. From my own experience, there

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-9495458810023037392009-08-21T09:34:00.003+01:002009-08-21T09:48:41.840+01:00

Delighted to see the Safety Critical Systems Club talking about reliability of judgements.This is critical. Judgements by senior designers, managers, assessors is where the big mistakes get stopped, and where they happen. The topic has received very little attention, given its importance.I wonder how much of James Montier's work they have transferred from the financial sector? How far into the

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-21235021146935514212009-08-18T11:47:00.004+01:002009-08-18T12:01:45.984+01:00

From Euractive via CCNetA David Zaruk is pointing to the cost of the precautionary principle e.g. in REACH and environmental matters. "Before, scientists could develop an innovation and market it, after it was up to others to prove and test that it is dangerous. Now, you need to prove something is safe before it can be marketed.""Precaution was created as a tool for policy, by those who think

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2724560185801358019.post-39389305513164052852009-08-17T19:05:00.002+01:002009-08-17T19:09:19.049+01:00

This blog is intended to complement the processforusability website bya) giving explanations and examples of usability assurance, and how gaining some assurance of usability would helpb) looking at the human-centred approach in a wider context (perhaps this might be macro-ergonomics)c) taking examples that are current or topical.

BrianSJnoreply@blogger.com0