Archive for the 'Usability' Category

Features v human touch

-Nicholas Carr: The Same Old Microsoft
Microsoft has always been obsessed with “features,” with the new things software can be made to do. That obsession, which despite the lipservice routinely paid to “user-centricity” gives the technology precedence over the customer, served the company very well when the competitive battle was over control of the PC desktop. […]

Corkscrews, nappies, chip and PIN

Armed corkscrew and disposable nappies are some of the most usable products according to a survey carried out by User Vision:
The research asked 500 consumers to rate in terms of usefulness a range of everyday products and services developed over the past two decades which have made difficult, inefficient, inconvenient or time-consuming tasks easier. Armed […]

When more is less

Last month, when writing security policies for a City firm, I came to the topic of password policy. What is the best practice on passwords? What is a reasonable password length these days that will not make the life for people too difficult? I thought I could find some guidance in system hardening guides. I […]

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