Quick fixes and laziness

Why do people use things for purposes and in ways in which they weren't intended?

One of the tasks of a psychological study I took part in when I was at university was to think of as many different uses as possible for a object within a 30 second period. I think the object was the cardboard tube from inside a kitchen roll. In theory, the more uses you could think of the more creative or intelligent you were.

So, is using something as a quick fix, a sign of intelligence, adaptability and resourcefulness, or a cue that something needs to be designed (or re-designed) to fill a gap or fix a problem?
Is there an element of being a free spirit or anarchistic by not conforming to the commonplace?
Is it a question of the perceived affordance of the objects exerting an influence?
Could out-of-the-ordinary uses be motivated by consideration for others, or is it simply the result of sheer laziness and thoughtlessness?

Does a quick-fix really deserve such analysis and interpretation?!

Kevin Henry for Core 77 looks at 2 sets of photographs (which run in a similar vein to the desire path photos), but with very different interpretations of similar situations: Making Do and Getting By (Richard Wentworth) and Thoughtless Act (Jane Fulton Suri), and considers the reasons behind such actions.

Enjoy!

Its "perceived affordance" tells me what to do

A stab at pinning down a term, Definition #1

Perceived affordance is when the appearance of an object suggests how to use the object, without further instruction being required. Note: not all objects have this quality.

Also see: wikipedia's definition (new window).

Desire paths

It's not the first time I've seen photos like these used to make a point about usability/(non) user-centred design, but it is an amusing collection of photos and I do love the name: "Desire Paths".

Apart from making me homesick for my native green and grassy England, basically it brings us around again to the idea that if something is not useful or usable, people will find a way around it. If you're going to make people work harder than they need to, think again! And, despite the "correct route" being blindingly obvious to designers, planners etc, it doesn't mean that users are going to "see" it!

These are clear examples of the need for user observation, common sense and user-centred design.

The group says the inspiration came from a book by Nick Crane 'Two degrees west' (Viking 1999):

Claire was photographing desire paths... the imprints of 'foot anarchists', individuals who had trodden their own routes into the landscape, regardless of the intentions of government, planners and engineers... They were expressions of free will, 'paths with a passion', an alternative to the strictures of railings, fences and walls that turned individuals into powerless apathetic automatons.

Call me unromantic, but I'm not so sure about footpath anachism and expressions of free will so much as the practicalities of getting from A to B!

Thanks to the Desire Paths flickr group and to John Gibbard on the IxDA mailing list for bringing this collection to my attention.

Letter to Blogger

Hey guys!

I like the blogger site, it looks good and it's pretty easy to use. But still, with a few tweaks here and then the accessibility of the blogs created would be much better to everyone's benefit.

One thing that's missing are easy-to-add alt tags from the image upload dialogue box:

>>>An alt tag is a description of the image or its purpose. This way, users of screen readers or those with the images disabled know the function of or the information portrayed by the image.

According to the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG), all authoring tools, including blogging websites such as this one for example, should make it easy for the author to create accessible content, this includes prompting for alternative information:

ATAG 1. Checkpoint 3.1

Prompt the author to provide equivalent alternative information (e.g., captions, auditory descriptions, and collated text transcripts for video).

ATAG 2.0 (Draft)

Support the production of accessible content
B.2.1 Prompt and assist the author to create content that conforms to WCAG. [Relative Priority]

Currently we have to edit the HTML by hand.
>>>Click on the edit HTML tab and look for: alt=""
Add your image description between the "", e.g. alt="type short image description here"

Of course, if you are not familiar with accessibility issues, you are unlikely to be motivated enough to take that step, - assuming you have the knowledge required to do so.

Please make it easy for bloggers to create accessible content with an extra "alt tag" field and "What is this?" link in the dialogue box. A couple of examples, e.g. "Blogger logo", "Me blowing out the candles on my ninth birthday" and problem solved.

Blogger, Tumblr, all you other sites out there, please listen, the responsibility is yours!

Read more:
A quick and dirty introduction to accessibility
Introduction to Accessibility from the W3C
Report by Jakob Nielsen: Beyond Alt tags (PDF)

Accessibility, Windows and icons

In the same week that Microsoft announced they are reducing the price of Windows Vista by 40%, I came across this report which takes a look at the differences in the accessibility options of Windows XP and Windows Vista.

The article by Magnifiers.org starts by mentioning a Forrester Research report commissioned by Microsoft in 2003 which found that:

One quarter [of users included in the study] had a visual impairment, nearly the same percentage had dexterity difficulties, and one fifth had hearing problems. [And therefore that] ...nearly two thirds of the survey sample would be likely to benefit from accessibility technology in one way or another. The real eye-opener was that the survey sample consisted entirely of 18- to 64-year-olds.

The good news is this equates to a lot of positive publicity for the need and demand for accessible websites and computer applications.

>>> As a Microsoft Vista user myself, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find so many options available to users. I have tried using them to try to get a better understanding of both the tools available, the advantages they offer and difficulties encountered when using the computer. However, I'll let you read the article for yourselves and come back to my experiments another day.

Peter Verhoeven of Magnifiers.org considered the changes to be a positive move forward and an extension of the previous toolkit.

Peter goes on to mention that one of the most eye-catching changes is that the icon of a wheelchair used to represent accessibility options on Windows XP has been changed to one of a round button with arrows on Windows Vista (see picture).

What I found interesting about this is that the wheelchair icon is still found many sites today, in fact I'd say it's becoming more and more common.

I would think this could be on account of google using it on their gmail sign-up page, as so many people look to google for examples of usable design and best practice.

However,

1. the wheelchair gives a fairly limited perception - to say the least - of the users who need or are more comfortable using accessibility tools.
   The report mentioned above gives evidence of this as all the difficulties and disabilities mentioned do not imply the users were wheelchair bound, and that accessibility needs are varied.
2. The icon may confuse, discourage or even offend users from using that option who could benefit from it.
3. What does it suggest? What tool or feature could it represent?! In the case of the gmail sign-up page, it provides the acoustic version of the captcha. However, if I couldn't make out the captcha or had the images

Conclusions

• It's great that Vista, with so many more accessibility options than Windows XP, has been reduced in price.


• Hopefully the change in perception of the accessibility market resulting from the Forrester Research report and Microsoft's efforts will encourage more people to concentrate more of their resources in that area.


• And finally, let's hope that goes hand in hand with a little more imagination and appropriacy when it comes to designing icons!

Compare your site's SEO with the competition

Interesting report generated by a free online tool which compares the marketing impact and Search Engine Optimisation score of your website and optionally that of the competition. See Website grader

It's nicely written, (it doesn't sound like your typical computer-generated report) and gives you tips on how to improve on your weak spots.

How useful it is, I couldn't say, interesting though, that's for sure!

Video tour of accessibility

Definitely the best and the only way to learn the importance of accessible websites is to see users using assistive technologies for yourself.

Here is a collection of online videos about assistive technologies which do just that.

With thanks to dotjay's lab for putting this resource together.

Customer service 2.0?

Happily it seems some are making the most of email and getting online customer service right.

11870.com is one example of a web 2.0 site with personalized customer service with a human touch.

A couple of days after I signed up and added a few of my favourite bars and restaurants to the listings of 11870, I received an email - shock horror from a real person!! - offering help and encouraging me to keep using the service. Not only that, but she pointed out that they had a help blog where I could go should I need to and, if all else failed, that I should contact her directly.

>>> Interestingly, the help blog was basically a collection of FAQs: a little more organization, regular updates and more dialogue with and between users and this could be the future of website Help sections.

What's more, the email made specific reference to my choice of restaurants, my taste and interests and the tone of the email was in keeping with the website; friendly and approachable.

De todas formas, ya sabes: para cualquier duda o consulta que tengas, me comentas y te echo un cable ;)

...and in English:

Anyhow, now you know, let me know if you have any questions or queries and I'll help you out ;)

Makes a nice change!

Next week they're having a party in Madrid, not sure I'l make it, but I might just give it a shot.