Is There A Problem Here?: 29 March 2009

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Problem ID: 4436397726595176996
Entered by: Zach Fisher

Is there a problem here?

Pandora's Box needs to be closed; Please re-open

Listening to tunes on Pandora while posting a blog. Hey! That song is nice! I want more like that! Let me measure my acceptance by clicking on the thumbs-up icon I've used every other time. And the song's still playing...perfect. I have time to vote on it while it is active. Here we go...um...wait. What's this:

Okay. So did my vote count? Did you get it, Pandora? Am I going to suffer the aural-warblings of some emo kids before I get to the songs that I like? And why is my copy out of date? I didn't do anything except let it play it the background. And on top of it, I recall hearing some songs I really liked 3 songs back. Will I be able to the see my play history after I take your prescribed advice to reload?

Nope. Great. Now that indie-artist, the one who REALLY needs the money in this economy, has just lost a potential sale. But at least MY Pandora is up to date. I'll take respite in Allison Krauss and Union Station ( whose music I really do like ).

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Monday, April 6, 2009

Problem ID: 3862465912539836017
Entered by: Pradeep Soundararajan

Is there a problem here?

Following stop versus Stop following: The LinkedIn Englishhhhh

I posted a job opening for a test consultant in LinkedIn groups under the job category. Take a look at the arrow marks in the following images.

There is an option for me to follow my discussion or job posting and before I selected it:

After I selected it:

To the best of my knowledge of English, "Stop Following", makes sense in this context. What does "Following Stop" mean?

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Problem ID: 6529495247685100278
Entered by: Pradeep Soundararajan

Is there a problem here?

Gmail Spell Check: not supported for what?

I hit compose e-mail and typed in "experential" and with my signature on, I did a spell check and got the above.

What is ut?
Should I interpret it that the letters "ut" will not undergo spell check?
Isn't "ut" English text?

I tried investigating further and changed the language to Kannada ( The native language of Karnataka state in India ) and did a spell check and I got the below:

As you might observe instead of "ut" there is "Kannada" and I infer that "ut" might be pointing to a language.

Is there a problem here?
Am I missing something in my education?

Edit

Usability Heuristics

Visibility of system status Visibility of system status: The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.

Match between system and the real world Match between system and the real world: The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.

User control and freedom User control and freedom: Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.

Consistency and standards Consistency and standards: Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.

Error prevention Error prevention: Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.

Recognition rather than recall Recognition rather than recall: Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.

Flexibility and efficiency of use Flexibility and efficiency of use: Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.

Aesthetic and minimalist design Aesthetic and minimalist design: Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors: Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.

Help and documentation Help and documentation: Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

Consistency Heuristics

H istory History: The present version of the system is consistent with past versions of it.

I mage Image: The system is consistent with an image that the organization wants to project.

C omparable Products Comparable Products: The system is consistent with comparable systems.

C laims Claims: The system is consistent with what important people say it’s supposed to be.

U sers’ Expectations Users' Expectations: The system is consistent with what users want.

P roduct Product: Each element of the system is consistent with comparable elements in the same system.

P urpose Purpose: The system is consistent with its purposes, both explicit and implicit.

S tatutes Statutes: The system is consistent with applicable laws.

F amiliarity Familiarity: The system is not consistent with the pattern of any familiar problem.

FAILURE Heuristics

F unctional Functional: The error detecting, reporting, and handling functions properly.

A ppropriate Appropriate: Errors are reported at the appropriate time in an appropriate manner.

I mpact Impact: The impact of the failure is communicated to those impacted.

L og Log: The error is appropriately logged; or not logged.

U ser Interface User Interface: The error is reported in the user interface in terms that the user understands.

R ecovery Recovery: The user is informed of what they need to do to recover from the error.

E motions Emotions: The error handling and reporting has a positive influence on user emotions.

Is There A Problem Here?

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Pandora's Box needs to be closed; Please re-open

Monday, April 6, 2009

Following stop versus Stop following: The LinkedIn Englishhhhh

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Gmail Spell Check: not supported for what?

Fail or No Fail?

Usability Heuristics

Consistency Heuristics

FAILURE Heuristics

Search Failure

Follow Failure

Archived Failure

Talk Failure