typing the void

I was getting frustrated, as were others, about the Mac OSX default column width in column view. Yes, you could handily double-click the column handle and it would expand that column to the width of the longest file name (you knew that one right?), but I often have to use long filenames. So I recently [...]

I’m visiting Toronto at the moment and had an experience with a boutique hotel and their website. As you can see, their room request form is wonderfully simple and usable in design. It was easy to use, clear and offered just the right amount of options to get the request in. Very pleasing. I’m willing [...]

User experience in a nutshell, thanks to the always interesting XKCD: While I was at UX Australia last month I saw a load of venn diagrams, many of them useful as a conversation-starter, to focus on the subject, but to me they ended up mostly saying: “this bit in the middle is what I want [...]

I went to the PayPay Developer Day at The Grace Hotel yesterday, which was described as the launch of  a community for PayPal developers in Australia, the first country outside the US (and Canada?) to participate.  I’ve since noticed the UK in there as well. Since they rightly recognised that developers are their front line [...]

After my rant last week about restaurant sites that don’t take users into account, just like London busses, three good ones come along at once! I didn’t want to leave you thinking I was all whinge and no praise so decided to write about them here. We were looking for a good Indian food or [...]

Let’s cut to the chase! Who is advising restaurants, bars and clubs that what their visitors want is a Flash(tm) animated brochure? When I look up a bar, restaurant or club / music venue, I’m usually after a few basic slices of information, like where it is located, what the food is like or what’s [...]

I’ve been watching you. I mean, I like watching you. I mean, you’re interesting to watch. I’m digging myself a hole, aren’t I? I like to watch people using technology in a public place, to see how considered their planning might have been, just like I like to watch people use websites, to learn how [...]

Bought a guitar on eBay last week, out of some sort of desire to be a bit more analogue, and realised I had no good way to know if it was in tune. So back to eBay for a tuner from the US. Now who’s an eejit! Completely forgot I have an iPhone and that [...]

Yep, finally got my iPhone. So on the interest of usability I thought I’d try to blog on the train into work. Yes, the N96 is great and the blackberry does email like no other, but I have to say that the iPhone has them beat on usability even with the tiny letters on the [...]

I remember a Charles Bukowski poem, The Shoelace (AUDIO or TEXT), I may have mentioned it here before, but it’s the little things that drive people crazy, make them mad beyond the scope of the little thing. There’s no reason your broken shoelace drives you crazy but it does. Listen to people talk on the [...]