Media: PC Magazine on the worst Products of the last Year

"Ten to Avoid — The Worst Products of the Year" frames itself as 'what not to pick up' for the Christmas just past, but in fact it's also an informative roll-call. You may not agree with all Jim Louderback's views, but he makes some points to think with. And it makes a change from the 'best of' lists...

Accompanying it, there are the fifty-odd comments that he's inspired, many irate that he has dared to criticise Apple and the eMac. Wading through these yields little but mud-slinging. However, the article itself is a little more analytic: though he doesn't mention usability, he does give product reviews by device type and this is just a taster from 'phone':

'Sure, the phone looks cool. But svelte it is not. In fact, our reviewer called it a "big chunky slab," which is not what I want to carry around in my pocket. It's both big and difficult to manage. The four-way navigation pad seems to have been designed by orangutans without opposable thumbs. Finding a command in the menus takes longer than it took the Minnow's crew to escape Gilligan's Island, and selecting that option requires either two hands or a stutter-step of rapid finger movement. The audio's bad, the speaker phone is muffled, and the processor is slow.'

Associated Link: PC Magazine: Ten to Avoid—The Worst Products of the Year

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

And what do you do?
Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.