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Usability Weblog 
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29-Feb-2000 (10:48 PM EST)

How to sell usability -- There is an interesting discussion taking place on the WebWord.com Discussion board about selling usability. In particular, what is the best way to convince people that usability is a good idea for your company or organization? Stop in and voice your opinion.

Making Text Legible -- "This brochure contains basic guidelines for making effective legibility choices that work for nearly everyone."

It hurts so bad (Salon) -- "I figured, like many suffering this malady, that I should renegotiate my relationship with technology. Do I have to e-mail when I can call? Do I need to work 10-hour days? Am I ever really too busy to take a two-minute break? Maybe, I thought, what we need is a cultural shift."

Controversial Software Patents -- "The news that Amazon has received yet another patent has raised awareness that patents are an increasing threat to the openness of the Web and could stifle innovation. We've compiled a list of recent patents that you might want to examine for yourself and comment upon."

Digital wallets attempt to save time, headaches (CNN) -- "According to Forrester Research, 66% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts at the checkout because of repeatedly having to fill in forms with credit card numbers and address details. Digital Wallets, including Microsoft's Passport and Novell's DigitalMe, hope to attract millions of would-be Internet shoppers with a simpler way of ordering online."

PCs Get Ready To Speak -- And Listen (Byte via Robot Wisdom) -- "But today, the pieces are falling into place and soon -- perhaps as soon as this April -- we'll begin to see new hybrid technologies that will begin to reduce our dependence on screens, keyboards, and mice. Instead, you'll be able to use a commercially available human-like software robot."

The Risks Digest -- "Forum on Risks to the Public in Computers and Related Systems." (The most recent issue just came out yesterday.)

Napster has Net music all shook up (ZDNet) -- "Ever noticed how investors looking for the next Net gold mine spend a lot of time studying business plans, revenue models and management bios? The wild, grassroots success of Napster suggests they should invest more time looking for Net-born weeds."

Summit on the Web, Wall Street (Wired) -- "He added that, given a choice between betting the future of America on the ideas of the best minds in the industry or on competition, he'd choose competition."

HannaHodge's User Experience Reports

28-Feb-2000 (10:34 PM EST)

IPO-driven Web Design -- "If you want to catch the trend, ride the wave and make big bucks in the Web business, you'd better learn fast how to build an IPO-driven site. Luckily, a wave of new sites in the US and Australia has clearly established the main techniques."

Site Design: Designing in Quality -- "While the following points are not the express responsibility of quality assurance, QA does speak for the user, and should stand in for the user during decisions that will have a strong effect on the user experience. Quality assurance should work to get the site going in a good direction from the get-go."

Revisiting the Myth of the Stupid User (Good Experience) -- "Thus, some users are ignorant, and we need not to call them stupid because they aren't. Some users are actually stupid." (This is, of course, true. There is such a thing as true stupidity.)

Capita taps brain waves to study Web ads' potency -- "Employing brain wave-tracking technology licensed from NASA, Capita Research Group will measure how effective banners are in causing an emotional response in Web users, and how that translates into click-throughs and brand recall."

Web registry of medical experiments to go online Tuesday -- "One reason is that it's difficult for sick patients to determine who's studying what and then wade through the scientific jargon to determine if an experiment might help them or is too risky. But beginning Tuesday, the government's National Library of Medicine will open a Web-based registry to help."

Site makes spam smell sweet (USA Today) -- "Advertisers select the type of consumers they want, and MoneyForMail forwards advertisers' e-mail offers to them. It never gives out personal information. Consumers receive 20 cents to $2.50 each time they click open one of the forwarded e-mails. When their fees total $10, MoneyForMail sends them a check." 

ICANN Launches Site for New Membership -- "In an unprecedented and daunting effort to build an international Internet democracy, the nonprofit organization charged with administering the global network on Friday launched a Web site where any Internet user with an email address can apply to become a voting member."

Do they know where you live? (Salon) -- "Several firms are developing software that could create 'borders' on the Net -- allowing sites to serve different content to different regions. Even the brash founder of iCraveTV, Bill Craig, says he's developing technology that will show sites where you are when you log on, so they can build pages targeted to people in that region."

Jakob Nielsen's slew of patents

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