Media: It wouldn't be that Time of Year without...

"Yeah, but can you give me a reference? 2.0" is the annual round-up of interesting research that is becoming a traditional year-end offering for Human Factors International.

I shan't list their summaries here, but point to their selection criteria:

* Provocative new findings (e.g., In some cases, users read the blurbs!)
* New data to answer perennial questions (e.g., Consumers' eyes are drawn to an animated ad, but they don't necessarily remember it.)
* Forward-looking findings (e.g. Grown-ups are tipping to adopt SMS as a messaging channel)
* Papers intended to move the field of usability forward

'As in the past, our recap presents research findings, not guidelines,' they say. 'This approach, shaped by user feedback, allows practitioners to access the right research reference at the right time.'

Associated Link: HFI: Yeah, but can you give me a reference? 2.0

Online poker company uses Science to assess Player Preferences
Source: Recentpoker.com, 8 January 2009
 
Working with customer experience consultancy Foviance, PKR is exploiting the benefits of electroencephalography (EEG) technology to gather information on poker players' emotional relationship with a brand or service.

Do Users really love Laptops?
Source: channelinsider, 7 January 2009
 
More than one-fifth of all laptop computers will break down over the course of their life, and other limitations frustrate their users. From this list of user complaints come laptop opportunities.

User Interviews - Analysis Simplified
Source: Webcredible, 6 January 2009
 
You’ve conducted your user interviews, but now you need to make sense of all that information you’ve gathered.

Why Products Fail
Source: ComputerWorld, 5 January 2009
 
Most gadget and software makers don't understand what users want most: control.

How to Design Websites for Mobile Phones
Source: stemkoski.com, 3 January 2009
 
Tips from Ryan Stemkoski's web design blog.

Pioneer of Cyberspace honoured
Source: BBC, 2 January 2009
 
A professor who invented a forerunner of the world wide web has been made a dame in the New Year Honours.

2008 in Review: Developments that rocked the world of User Experience
Source: Catalyst Resources, 1 January 2009
 
A look back at 2008 highlights some of the key developments that rocked the world of user experience.

2008: The Year Online
Source: MIT Technology Review, 31 December 2008
 
The business of social networking, cloud computing, and a flaw in the fabric of the Internet top the most notable stories of 2008.

Shoveling through the Spamalanche
Source: UN, 30 December 2008
 
A ‘Spamalanche’ of 3,000 emails will be waiting in your inbox by the time you get back to work. What can you do besides 'delete all'?

New guidelines boost Web Access
Source: BBC, 29 December 2008
 
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has announced a new standard to make sites more accessible to older and disabled people.