Briefcase in Microsoft XP

Many years ago, I have heard the joke or truth about computer. A person called the help line and claimed warranty because the coffee mug holder on the CPU has broken. That user treated the the tray of the CD-ROM as a coffee mug holder. Whose fault?

I was sitting after the dinner in my friends house. As many people find some illness while the see a doctor in the party, my friend sure find some problem with his Windows XP computer. He was talking about some problems, and I saw a brief case icon on his desktop. I was amazed to see, because I have not considered him as enough intelligent user to use brief case. I asked him how is he utilizing it. The answer was straight and clean, he stores the large or important file in brief case! What a nice use.

How to use a commode!

Yes! Does this question seems an innate one? I have been studying about the history of commode of a while. I have found there were commodes of lot of different shapes and sizes, all have one thing in common, it allow its user to sit on it, possibly comfortably. I was wondering, what was the alternate before commode era? I am aware about some primitive style commode in different countries, still popular. In those countries an usual char shaped commode is know as high commode, and there is other kind of commode call low commode, where the user will have to sit on his foot and his heap touching his ankle is the position for work!

One of my colleagues here in ***, Belgium went to France for a seminar. He went to the hotel. And he could not figure out how French people use that thing! After coming back to our lab, he was expressing his feeling with simple sentence, some French people to their call of nature while standing...but how? Here is the usability issues. Do really French people do that?

While you are complaining the key knob on the door, just think once more, is that supposed to be what you are thinking about. Do not put your own liking as bardain of lack to the the designers shoulder. There are some users who are just not for that design.

Usability in email...

In a funny exam, the teacher handed over the question papers among the pupil. And asked them to read the paper carefully before they answer! The questions on the paper were so easy, every one started answering as soon as they have got the question paper. When the have finished answering the question, they reached the text at the bottom saying not to write any answer rather just filling the name and sending back the question paper as it is to the teacher! (Jan)

A simple email requires usability; yes I have started taking about a plain text email. I friend of mine received an email, very short. Only four or five short lines. Just after two lines, he found a link to a blog, he just clicked and read the whole text. And afterwards he has learnt that the email was not to read the blog now!

A Mobile game...

Few years ago when the mobile with camera and colour screen boomed and become cheaper I wished to buy one. Right after bring the mobile phone home, I have found when I enter into the game menu, the interface rotates ninety degree, and to play the game I have to hold the mobile horizontally instead of holding it vertically. This phenomenon shook me so badly that I have thought that the design of the mobile is faulty. I even wanted to change that mobile hand set, and the urge was so strong I even went to the shop! Later words, as the shop keeper informed me it is the style(!) and as I have read the manual and concentrated on their design issues it become so clear that I was thinking why they came with this solution so late!

Preface...

I have been studying usability issues for many years. I have read a lot of influential writings. Those are inspiring no doubt, in most of the cases the fame of the author swiped off the original fact of usability rather have argued for lack of usability in things in daily live. This book is not all the a row, rather the author has been trying to be neutral, he also tried to thing from the designer point of view as well as the user experience. A simple but prominent example is, if some one just got a chance to sit on the pilots seat in a MIG-29, should he supposed to understand anything? Unfortunately many famous authors have not considered this issues, the user should fulfill some requirement. Many observers with their lack of knowledge within a correct domain argued for lack of usability. A simple door key to lock the door requires some primary knowledge about door, key or how tos. Not all the doors in the universe are issues of usability discussion. We have reached in such a time, usability engineer should have self realization, criticism; it is the hight time.