Andrew Wong Interactive

Advice for a job-seeking usability researcher friend

2005-06-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Jeff has several years of experience as a usability research manager and an academic background in organizational development and psychology (and also law!). Times have been tough in our field, and he hasn't worked in usability for a few years. Recently, he's picked up new momentum in his efforts to return to the usability field. So far, he's had a few interviews and opportunities that haven't led to offers. I offered some recommendations on getting ready for the next wave of interviews, based on my own job-seeking experiences over the past few years:

Do a Web site and put up your portfolio. Talk about your strengths, research methods, accomplishments, and unique angle re: what you do. I found that a well-done Web site does help get you past some pre-screening processes with employers.

Do a PowerPoint presentation for the interview (you may already have one; I'd be happy to look at it on your behalf if you'd like). As you're presenting to each employer, pay attention to how your "message" resonates and keep refining it. It will take many iterations before you come up with a presentation that will "hit it off" with the audience. While your Web site can be more general about you and your work, your presentation can be tailored to the employer. Your presentation can cover the FAQs that employers are likely to ask you during the interview (what are your three strengths and weaknesses, why should we hire you, etc.). Remember what questions they ask in an interview and see if they can make their way into your presentation.

Refine your resume (although the one you have is really good already). Sometimes the lingo and what employers are seeking can evolve over time. This was true for my line of work, which went from "Web design" to "UI design," and then from "interaction design" to "user experience design." It is best if your resume reflects what employers are looking for these days. A good place to look is the BayCHI Job Bank listings. If you consolidate all the descriptions for your desired position, like I did for mine at:

http://awong-interactive.blogspot.com/2004/12/interaction-designers-job-description.html

your resume will almost be able to write itself.

Tap your professional network. When you are ready, tell people what you're looking for. Someone knowing someone is the best way to get leads. It's hard to apply as someone off the street. If you can get a referral, it will get the hiring manager's attention. You've worked enough years and at enough different organizations that the reach of your network may surprise you!

Extend the professional network. Show up at events and use your gift of gab. Do volunteer work for certain organizations if you have the bandwidth. You never know what it could lead to, but dealing with real people is always better than blindly applying for jobs as one of many.

I wish Jeff the best of luck. If you're reading this and you have other tips, or, better yet, a lead for Jeff, please let me know!

Eagerly awaiting Mac OS X Tiger Server

2005-04-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't entered a post in some time, partly because I've been awaiting the new version of Mac OS X Server, which is supposed to have a blogging feature.

My experience with Blogger is that it is generally easy to use and pretty convenient. It still has some glitches like very stale profile pages, but it is a good alternative for folks who don't want to host their own blogs. And it's free, so it's hard to complain about that. Some of the features like the instant previewing are really nice.

I do want to host my own blog, however. I already host my own site, and I want my blog to be integrated with it. I can spend some time setting up my style sheets to make this blog look like part of my site, but I can't seem to get rid of the Blogger banner at the top. (Those styles seem to keep getting imported.) Plus, with a blogspot URL, I won't be able to achieve full integration with my site.

I have thought about installing WordPress or something on my server, but I'm wary of going it alone on my server. I don't want to spend a lot of time configuring the heck out of it, only to discover it conflicts with something else Apple has in mind. As a result, I don't run any thing else on the server that doesn't ship with it. As soon as I heard Tiger Server was going to have a blogging feature, I decided to hold off on installing my own blog.

I'm also really curious what Apple's blogging features are, and how the UI is going to be. Can't wait!

The measure of an interaction designer

2005-02-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

While the job description may list a set of criteria that companies look, how an employee is evaluated after they get on board may be a whole different story. You may be evaluated on the following (from an actual peer evaluation form for an interaction designer position):

Job Knowledge:

Understands goals and objectives of the department
Knowledge of customer use models and committed to customer focus
Expertise and experience in user interface design principles, processes, and testing methodology
Depth and breadth of domain knowledge in user experience development technologies (XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, WSYWYG tools)
Experience in designing and architecting enterprise-grade (usable, efficient, and engaging) user interfaces, and demonstrated ability to articulate and make technology and/or design choices that maximize customer and shareholder value
Knowledge of user interface trends
Provides valuable, insightful feedback as a reviewer, buddy
Timeliness and commitment to respond to customer requests (external and internal partners)
Demonstrates original thinking and creativity in proposing and developing viable new concepts, contributor of new and effective ideas and methods
Dependability and flexibility to take on a variety of job responsibilities
Maintains effective communication with peers, management, and internal partners to minimize fire drills, anxiety, and missed customer expectations
Demonstrates follow-though, needs minimal supervision / works independently

Analytical / Judgment:

Makes timely, and objective decisions based on facts and experience
Ability to identify and think through problems in a logical manner
Distinguishes between theory and realistic implementation
Assesses situations and prioritizes course of action
Uses logic and common sense and knows when to ask for help
Demonstrates original thinking and creative approaches to problem solving
Knows when is the right time to debate, to decide, and to deploy a decision

Professional Attributes:

Organizes ideas clearly and effectively, produces clear, accurate documents and responses to queries
Plans are well-thought-out and clearly documented, tasks are accomplished in an efficient and timely manner
Reaches objective decisions by understanding and evaluating all aspects of a situation, makes quick accurate recommendations/decisions
Willing to lead and follow, inspires high quality/quantity results while maintaining team morale
Interacts appropriately to meet goals, shares information, credit and responsibility
Personal productivity, able to meet aggressive deadlines, make progress on multiple assignments with effective time slicing, and context switching
Verbal and written communication skills and proficiency in using necessary channel of communication
Is a quick learner of new technologies, technical concepts and comes up to speed rapidly in new areas of responsibility
Proactively seeks out and embraces best practices
Has a positive “can do” attitude. Helps identify problems, and potential solutions to make forward progress
Is a self starter, demonstrates initiative (for self growth, and reaching beyond area of responsibility)

Interpersonal / Leadership:

Performs well under pressure
Clearly communicates ideas and is responsive, candid, accessible, and consistent
Listens well, is understanding of other perspectives and points of view
Interacts appropriately, develops and maintains good rapport with team members, peers and superiors, both within and outside the department
Open to new ideas, demonstrates flexibility
Conducts himself / herself professionally (integrity, respect for individual, effective handling of proprietary and confidential information)
Serves as a good role model, is approachable, and provides coaching
Demonstrates culture / gender sensitivity and creates a positive and productive work environment
Constructively handles confrontations, gives benefit of doubt and works towards conflict resolution
Demonstrates influencing and negotiation skills with internal and external stake holders, thought leaders, and team members
Helps build a strong team through recruitment, coaching, providing constructive performance feedback, team building
Is viewed as an expert in terms of level of Industry experience, domain knowledge, and technical expertise
Thinks strategically, able to see forest from the trees

Email posting appears to work fine now

2005-01-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

Tested posting by email this morning, and it took only about two minutes to show up. Looks like they've addressed this problem.

The interaction designer's job description

2004-12-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

On salary.com, the closest title describing the Senior Interaction Designer/Architect position these days is actually called “Interface Designer, Sr. - Web (Internet and New Media).” Here is their description:

Designs HTML prototypes, visual interfaces and interaction of Web-based applications. Designs and evaluates visual human interfaces utilizing user-centered design principles. Implements the user interface design. Works with the product development team to design online user experiences. Ensures user experience is formulated to achieve the goals of the online entity. May require a bachelor’s degree with at least 3 years of experience in the field or in a related area. Familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on limited experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. Works under general supervision; typically reports to a manager. A certain degree of creativity and latitude is required.

Some companies I’ve talked to will call our position “Senior UI Engineer” to bring the compensation level on par with those of engineers, even if it is technically a design position.

I’ve compiled a massive, all-inclusive job description that aggregates requirements from the latest edition of the BayCHI Job Bank, the weekly job posting newsletter that BayCHI members can receive. I didn’t write any of this — this is all from actual job postings, pretty much verbatim. It goes a lot further than salary.com’s description in terms of detail, and the experience that is typically required for a senior-level position tends to be steeper than what salary.com describes.

If the job description below sounds like employers are looking for a needle in a haystack, you’re not alone. Even though this collection is very long, the requirements themselves are very typical for senior UI designers. Employers can afford to be picky these days, and are erring on the side of making absolutely sure a candidate knows what he/she is doing by making the requirements impossibly steep. The burden is on the candidate to prove everything.

The good news, however, is that the number of these positions appearing in the BayCHI Job Bank has increased about four-fold from the beginning of the year. Still, with requirements like these (and the relatively small pool of people out there that actually meet these requirements and are not working), no wonder companies are having a hard time filling these positions. I am seeing a lot of positions sticking around for a long time, sometimes even months.

Here it is:

Job Title: Senior Interaction Architect

Duration: Full-time, permanent

Job Description:
Company_Name is looking for a highly-motivated and experienced Senior Interaction Architect to join the User Experience team to conceptualize, design visual interfaces and interactions, build HTML prototypes, evaluate the design against appropriate metrics with user testing, and iterate to meet the success criteria.

As a Senior Interaction Architect, you will work closely with engineers and product managers throughout all stages of the product cycle. The individual in this position will primarily be responsible for hands-on creation of design solutions to improve existing suite of products and drive the design of our next-generation products.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience leading a user-centered design process for a major Web product or service. He or she will have a broad understanding of complex, enterprise-oriented systems and the methods for their creation, including participatory design and rapid prototyping. Significant experience with leading the design for one or more complex Web-based systems is strongly desired, as is the ability to effectively negotiate interactions between designers and engineers. A strong technical background is also desired. This position offers a combination of hands-on design work and leadership opportunities.

You should be prepared to work on multiple projects simultaneously. This position requires creativity — the ability to create a productive and engaging user experience as well as familiarity with human interface guidelines for Web applications. In particular, we are looking for professionals who have experience designing user interfaces for powerful business and engineering applications.

Understanding how to facilitate the user’s access to large amounts of data in an intuitive manner is key.

The ideal candidate for this role will have prior experience designing efficient and intuitive user interfaces for large business applications with rich feature sets.

Represent the end user and link business strategy to user needs in an effective setting, drawing on an analytical mindset and deep understanding of usability best practices.

You will understand the requirements of “power users,” as well as the requirements of many user roles (e.g., developer, manager, administrator) and how these roles interact with a highly customizable application.

Our group creates elegant, appealing, and extensible designs through user-centered design practices. These practices include gathering user needs, setting standards for design development, serving as user advocates on development teams, and performing usability testing for effective design iteration.

The Senior Interaction Architect will iteratively specify, design, and prototype UIs, and work with developers to convert those prototypes into production software for advanced Web-enabled applications.

The Senior Interaction Architect will research audience needs, stakeholder expectations, and business requirements within a technical platform and design the structure for a targeted and highly valuable online experience.

We’ll rely on you to collaborate with visual designers, user experience analysts and product managers to define the user experience strategy, spearhead a user centered design process and develop usable, useful and compelling Web site experiences, as well as identify target audience and objectives, analyze needs, set scope and interface strategies providing project teams with functional templates, prototype and site maps to be used as a blueprint for graphic design, content and technical development. You will also be expected to consult with and make recommendations to management on interaction design issues, plan and lead the design phase for projects that have a major UI design component, and analyze and communicate results of usability evaluations to stakeholders as necessary. The successful candidate must be recognized as an interaction design expert.

Our ideal candidate is smart, creative, talented, a quick thinker, good natured, flexible, creative, enthusiastic, well-spoken and writes well. We will consider trading some experience for schooling in view of your exceptional talent and potential.

You will be responsible for gathering, organizing, and writing UI requirements for Company_Name, and then designing the UI. Your first responsibility will be taking the lead in designing Web interfaces for our next generation product for both Web and rich clients.

Please have a remarkable portfolio to demonstrate your passion, attention to detail, and deep understanding of the medium.

Pay is commensurate with experience.

Responsibilities:
The individual in this position will work on the Company_Name Web-based software application. The general responsibilities will include (but are not limited to):
Gather user requirements
Understand the usage of the product and the businesses problems that the product addresses
Set conceptual direction for task-based products based on user research, product specifications, and functional requirements, business goals, and company-wide strategic objectives
Create information design, interaction model, and user interface for new and existing Company_Name product features
Develop an intuitive conceptual model for user interaction
Produce graphical user interface design that is easy to use for its target end user
Effectively communicate interaction and design ideas by identifying requirements and developing:

Interface solution concepts
High-level and/or detailed storyboards/wire-frames/schematics
Site/product/interface/information architecture specifications
User experience design aids such as user requirements, use-case scenarios, user personas, task analysis, and user workflow and task-flow diagrams
Interaction and navigation models
Mockups and high-fidelity, click-through prototypes
Interaction specifications and style guides

Structure information and task flow to make it easy to find information and complete tasks
Define all levels of navigation, functional flows, language/labeling conventions, and presentation of information at the page level
Define content structure, hierarchy, navigation and tagging standards for top-level elements of a portal environment
Define and maintain content attributes/metadata and tagging schemes for a role-based site experience
Design and maintain multiple controlled vocabularies
Create and document organizational UI concepts and user interface requirements as they relate to the cognitive flow of information
Coordinate with team members to make sure the visual design and concepts flow with the navigational components of the UI
Work with engineering to implement interface
Understand technical feasibility of a graphical user interface
Conduct heuristic evaluations on existing products
Gauge the usability of new and existing features, and making constructive suggestions for change
Evangelize UI design directions and UCD principles to all the stakeholders we work with to resolve design tradeoffs and implementation issues
Working with multidisciplinary development teams to build consensus
Conduct brainstorming, collaborative meetings, and design reviews, and usability testing during various phases of the product development to evaluate and iterate the designs
Aid in concept development through focus groups, user interviews, surveys and observational studies
Understanding end-user requirements in concert with User Researchers, and Product Managers
Focusing on the 80% use case, and progressively disclosing functionality that is less-frequently used
Designing screen layouts & interactions in a variety of ways from sketches to high-fidelity HTML prototypes
Supporting processes for gathering customer feedback & iterating prototypes (we’re leveraging online survey tools for more proactive feedback)
Collaborate with designers and product developers to maintain consistent look and feel across the product lines
Provide insightful feedback and use your experience to improve the quality of the product and reduce the complexity of the UI
Track and follow up on issues
Assist in planning and scheduling of requirements
Ensure consistency and scalability across the UI
Educate others outside the UI group on UI design methodologies and the benefits of good UI design
Stay abreast of new developments in fields of usability, information architecture and industry-specific issues
Learn and apply latest design trends and innovating new interaction design approaches that are technically feasible
Be an advocate for the end user
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the ability to engage with:
Product Managers in the Marketing organization to identify product and feature requirements
Visual Designers, User Researchers, and Tech Writers on the User Experience team to design user experience for new or improved products
Web Developers and Software Engineers in the Engineering organization to deliver new or improved products
Design and Technical Skills (Must Have):
5+ years of demonstrated experience in designing extremely usable, enterprise-oriented Web-based application interfaces
Hands-on development experience creating scalable and manageable interaction architectures
Strong conceptual design skills and demonstrated ability to prototype and design elegant UI solutions to user problems
Experience with user-centered design methodologies and understanding of the disciplines of:

Information Architecture
Information Design
Interaction Design
User-centered/User Experience Design
Usability theory and best practices

Proven problem-solving, analytical, and creative thinking skills in a complex environment
Conceptual design experience
Creative problem solving
Ability to translate usability test results into design requirements or adjustments.
Rapid storyboarding and prototyping
Strong design aesthetic and design sense, e.g., sketching, storyboarding, producing quality UIs with sensitivity to task flow/interactivity, and layout
Deep understanding of and commitment to user-centered design principles and methods (bordering on obsession)
Ability to develop new approaches to complex design problems and ability to convey these designs in the form of design specifications and prototypes
Ability to understand and interpret existing UI design and style guides and create effective solutions
Proficient in Visio and Dreamweaver or equivalent design and prototyping tools such as:

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Macromedia Flash MX 2004
Macromedia Fireworks
Macromedia Freehand
Omni Graffle
PowerPoint

Ability to promote effective product development processes
Understanding of all other major components of Web development such as Visual Design, Writing, Technology implementation and Strategic positioning
Good understanding of benefits and constraints of current Internet technologies including knowledge of download times, browser differences, and Web-safe palettes
Design and Technical Skills (Desired):
Expertise in user-interface development and building browser-based applications, with an emphasis on cross-browser capability
Visual design experience including screen layout, icon development and other visual design elements
User testing experience — usability test planning and moderating
Appreciation and understanding of enterprise market
Expert skills in hand-coding:

HTML/XHTML/DHTML
JavaScript
CSS

Knowledge of accessibility guidelines and assistive technologies
Knowledge of localization guidelines and best practices
Professional Skills:
Highly creative, motivated, and self directed
Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills
Ability to collaborate actively and effectively in a multi-disciplinary, cross-functional team environment throughout all phases of project development
Ability to produce deliverables and project work without constant oversight — high level of self-sufficiency balanced with a team-oriented attitude
Excellent interpersonal skills and clear, effective oral and written communication skills
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and exciting medium-sized company environment with a do-whatever-it-takes attitude
Strong capability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
Excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills — ability to prioritize quickly, meet ambitious deadlines, and deliver high-quality work on schedule
Strong leadership and strategic skills
Strong project management skills
Firm ability to grasp technical details and new technology, and to clearly articulate requirements
Ability to think quickly and assimilate complex issues and ideas quickly
Excellent meeting facilitation & small group presentation skills
Diplomacy — The ability to convincingly state your position on designs and priorities. You must exhibit passion for your designs; yet know enough to understand what is possible to do within time and technical constraints
Must be proactive, innovative, and extremely detail-oriented
Last but not least, a good sense of humor and a positive disposition
Experience/Education:
Equivalent combination of education and industry experience to a Bachelor’s or MA/MS from a major accredited college or university in human factors, human-computer interaction design, industrial design, visual design, user-interface design, cognitive or experimental psychology, or other related discipline such as computer science, computer engineering, graphic design, information science, or communications (also, perhaps less relevant: anthropology, sociology, library science, visual or performing arts, fine arts, English, journalism, literature, architecture). The candidate’s current skill set is more important than previous jobs or coursework.
5+ years overall experience in user interface design of significant Web-based applications for complex, sophisticated Web applications such as enterprise business applications, working on interaction design in a software product development environment, with full UI responsibility (designing and prototyping) in the release of several products to the market
Previous experience applying user research to user requirements and product design
Experience applying interaction design throughout the entire product development lifecycle
Evidence of continuing education in fields of usability and information architecture
Experience designing interfaces for developer products a plus
Experience with open source software a plus
Outstanding track record of success must be demonstrated
Portfolio:
Online portfolio demonstrating relevant work, available for review. UI samples (or URLs) must be included with Resume submission. Show examples from before and after you have worked your magic.

Being an interaction designer these days

2004-12-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

My friend Bobby Law works as a UI Manager in Texas. He moved from California about a year ago, and is currently working for a large, Fortune 50 corporation. According to Bobby, the demand for interaction design appears less concentrated outside of California — the rest of the country appears to be slightly behind the curve in this area as far as identifying and understanding the need for this role in the software development process. There seems to be way fewer jobs in interaction design/architecture outside of California.

A lot of organizations these days are looking to pure human factors practitioners to do interaction design. There appears to be a backlash against UI designers who came from the graphic design discipline. During the dotcom boom, companies wanted Web sites to dazzle and be “cool and hip,” often ignoring the usability of the interface with target users. Companies alienated users and ultimately failed in part because of this. Also, the field was flooded with many designers and Web developers who knew how to implement Web UIs and make them look nice, but paid no attention to the end user’s needs from a usability standpoint. As a result, many qualified UI designers, especially those with primarily Web-based UI experience, got lumped in with the crowd and are burdened with differentiating themselves from people who just know how to put a Web site together. The pendulum has swung the other way, and now employers are asking for HCI/human factors as part of their hiring requirements for UI designers. These days, it’s almost as if you don’t have a degree in HCI, employers don’t believe you know what you’re doing, regardless of your portfolio or actual experience. Also, designers with strong creative experience are sometimes looked down upon and lumped in with the dotcom designer.

The pendulum is bound to swing back to the middle somewhere. From what I’ve seen in the real world, designs by pure human factors people tend to need a lot of aesthetic help in order to make them successful in other aspects beyond usability. What companies will learn is that while usability is important, end users also need to like the interfaces they use, and will get no joy from using a highly usable UI that is an eyesore. Companies do not win if users hate their products, even if they are technically proven usable.

Human factors is perhaps better suited to validating the usability of a design, which is created by a designer actually trained in designing. A good designer should understand usability principles, but there also must be a creative aspect to the process as well. If you design solely based on usability, everything you design would end up looking the same because you would be deriving designs from conventions. Conventions come from something that becomes popular and familiar through widespread use — users recognize and know how to use them because they have used them before, and understand them. If you emphasize usability, you would leverage conventions and base everything on existing designs, and innovation would be looked down upon (or at least viewed with skepticism). There would be a burden to prove a new concept is usable, because users would have to first learn it and then retain that knowledge. The learning curve, even if low, would no doubt skew usability results, unless the new concept is instantaneously intuitive and requires very little learning.

It’s a tall order, but I argue that it takes a designer with a creative streak — not a pure human factors person — to be able to come up with something like that.

Email post test from yesterday

2004-11-30T09:33:00.000-08:00

When I tested posting from email yesterday, I experienced the longest delay yet: 3 hours, 5 minutes from the time the email was sent to the time it took to post on the blog.

Reply from Blogger support re: delays with email posting

2004-11-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

In response to my message to support on November 22, 2004:

Sending email to the “Mail-to-Blogger Address” I set up doesn’t seem to work. I’ve sent several messages to that address, and I don’t see any of the posts. Same effect with the “Publish” checkbox both checked and unchecked.

I received this response (on November 29, 2004, a week later):

Hi there,

I visited your blog and you appear to have resolved the problem yourself. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Christine
Blogger Support

My reply to Blogger support:

When I sent the message, it was taking about two hours for an email to post to the blog.

A day later, it was down to about 25 minutes, as I’ve described on the blog itself.

Today, I sent an email post about an hour ago and it still hasn’t posted.

I noticed the immediacy of posting from the Web site directly is instantaneous. I realize that email can be slower for various reasons, but I’ve tested posting from three different, well-working email accounts and got the same amount of delay.

Is there an explanation?

I can’t imagine being the only user experiencing this. It’ll be interesting to see what they say.

Stale profile page

2004-11-29T13:36:00.000-08:00

Came back from Thanksgiving weekend and noticed that the profile page has not been updated since November 23. Maybe it gets updated only once a week. In any case, this page does not provide the immediacy that is expected of it.

Latest test of posting via email

2004-11-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

The time it takes to post via email now has been cut down to 12 minutes. I will try this again next week (after the Thanksgiving weekend) to see if it continues to improve.

Yesterday I tried posting from three different email accounts, all with about the same results (25 minute delay).

Post vs. publish confusion

2004-11-23T15:32:00.000-08:00

I just posted a test entry via email, with the “Publish” checkbox (in the email settings) unchecked. The email post still showed up on the blog, so it got published. So what does “publish” mean? Does the checkbox not work? Seems to make no difference whether it is checked or not — an email post will get published. Might be broken.

Another quirk I found is with the profile page. It does not appear to reflect the current state of the blog. I deleted a bunch of test posts, and they disappeared right away from the blog, but those posts are still mentioned under “Recent Posts” on the profiles page. Worse yet, when you click on the link for a deleted post, you get a page not found error. Also, very recent posts don’ actually show up on the list.

Blogger should pay me for this heuristic evaluation...

Glitches with editing posts

2004-11-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I noticed that the edit icons that appear on the blog (if you are the author and you are signed in) tend to come and go. They aren't always there.

Also, the title that appears at the top of the browser window says “Create New Post” even if you are editing an existing post. This is particularly disconcerting when the edit page takes a while to load. You see a blank page, so the only thing you notice is the title. But the incorrect title makes you think you clicked on something wrong.

Pagination for list of posts

2004-11-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Just noticed there is no pagination on the “Edit Posts” page. It defaults to show only the five most recent posts, but provides no navigation to older posts before that. You have to change the number in the “Show” menu in order to get to older posts. There is no “all” option, so there is no way to go back and edit posts beyond 300, unless you use search or start deleting other posts. There really needs to be pagination for this page. My first reaction, since the page was set to only show five posts, was “where did all my older posts go?”

Posting from the Blogger site

2004-11-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

Posting from the Blogger Web UI is instantaneous. My last message posted (published) immediately after I clicked the “Publish Post” button. I have the blog set up to send me an email whenever a post is published.

I will try posting from another email account to see if it is more responsive. Perhaps the problem is with my email server or the path it takes from there.

Posting via email

2004-11-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

It appears that posting via email isn’t as immediate as one would expect — don’t know if this is temporary. Yesterday I tried emailing some posts and saw no effect, so I thought it was broken. I contacted Blogger with the issue, but received only an automated response. More than two hours later, the email entry finally posted. The time stamp was the posting time, not the time that the email was sent. I don’t know if it took that long for the email server to send the email, or if domain name servers took a while to update and route the email, since the address was set up not that long ago. In any case, there should have been some sort of message setting expectations for the immediacy of posting via email.

An email test this morning took about 25 minutes to post. A big improvement, but still not the immediacy that is expected, and certainly not the responsiveness required for rapid journalism.

The delay by Blogger in responding to the support request is disappointing.

The interface for setting up posting via email is unclear. There is a checkbox to “publish,” but it doesn’t explain on the page what “publish” means. The distinction between posting and publishing is not intuitive or clearly explained to new users. A new user may think that a post will automatically show up on the blog — it is not clear that an additional publishing step is required for the post to actually show up. There isn’t even a help link icon for that setting.

Evaluating Blogger after a post

2004-11-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

There, I’ve now posted a message. Other usability quirks I discovered after a successful post are:

1. On the profile page, the count of posts is not up to date, not even on refresh.

2. I had set the blog to not archive messages. The “archives” section in the right column on the page should not even appear if the blog is not set to archive, or if nothing has been archived.

3. It would be nice if the profile page could follow a user-defined design template, rather than the generic Blogger one. The template itself is okay, but for bloggers wanting a more complete “presence” on the site, it would be nice to be able to select a profile template that complements the design of the main blog (if the user has just one).

4. It would be nice to have an option to disable the “next blog” button at the upper right. While there may be a use case for someone wanting to channel-surf from one blog to the next, I suspect for most users it would create a jarring effect to jump to an unrelated blog. When I clicked on it, I got a JavaScript alert telling me (in jest) that it would cost me ten bucks to enter the site. I could see how the author thought that was clever and amusing, but at first it made me think I had made some sort of error. I wonder whether it creates a valuable user experience for most users. Perhaps for users who like to discover what’s out there, randomly. I guess if it’s another way to increase traffic to a blog, that’s cool, but I could see how some bloggers may want that feature disabled.

Joining the craze

2004-11-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

Blogs are gaining in popularity and are transforming journalism. Now, anyone with Internet access can be a publisher.

I’m starting this blog as an evaluation of its usability and also its viability as a platform for collaborative communications. So far I've found the Blogger interface to be very intuitive and easy to use. The fonts are large and readable, and I was able to set it up quickly and without assistance. Some areas for improvement that I noted:

1. I did experience some glitches when I “re-published” the blog and the changes did not take effect.

2. I was a bit confused by some of the terms and groupings of settings — I had wanted to change the look of my blog to a different template, and I expected to see that setting under “settings,” not under a tab of its own. I also mistook “formatting” to cover template changes as well.

3. The prominence of the “delete blog” button on the main settings page is problematic. A few times, I found my mouse moving in that direction after I edited settings and was looking to save them. The “delete blog” button should be moved to a different position on the page, where users would see it but where it would not encourage accidental deletion.

4. The handling of time stamping is curious. The time stamp is set to the time when you begin composing the post. The metaphor I expected was that it would be set to the time the post is actually published, the way an email is time stamped when you send an email, not when you start writing it. A lot of time can elapse from when you start writing to when you actually send or publish a message.

5. Another note on the time stamping is the amount of flexibility that is allowed. You can set it to anything — way in the past or way in the future. I think while that level of flexibility may be desired by some users, it also affects overall journalistic integrity — unlike traditional forms of media, when something is published or aired, where it’s an actual time you can trust. If you can set the time stamp to anything, the timing or even the relevancy of the post cannot be taken for granted. It encourages a revisionistic approach as well. While I believe revisions should be allowed, I think the freedom to set the time stamp reduces its effectiveness as a journalistic medium. (George Lucas would love this capability — he could go back and fix something, and then pretended the original versions never existed.)