Today I’m going to give you two small grudges I hold against bad forms.
Those are not big “show-stoppers” issue, but I feel compelled to expose those usability quarks to help make more people happy. (Starting by me).
After getting a bit overwhelmed with my last facelift: Getting Carried Away, I’m giving you two very short UX update.
What is it you might ask me? Well it’s simple, I’m giving a “face-lift” to some website, web applications or any type of interface I come across while browsing.
It’s simple, a “face-lift” is me trying to make the interface more usable, easier to use and somehow enjoyable (I’ll try prettier but that’s a matter of taste isn’t it?)
I’m using simple usability techniques, a quick mock-up/prototype and some bullet points to highlights the before after.
But there is a trick: I only “face-lift” website that I actually use and I’m only giving me a few hours to get that done.
Let’s get started after the break
First to get on the face-lift chair today is my “MSN video player”.
The symptoms:
I’m trying to watch a trailer and due to “sensible content”, I must provide my “real” date of birth. (I never understood how this made the check worth anything in anyone’s eye but the legal team… but that’s another story).
It’s a very simple form done bad. I have to enter 3 times MM (what does that stands for anyway?) and I will, in microsoft fashion, click the left button to submit, not the right one that of course cancel my “real” date of birth.
The diagnostic:
- Give visual clue as to what is expected from the user and lead towards action.
The procedure:
- Better use of in area labels MM/DD/YYYY
- Big and clear Action button and reduce size of cancel button
Second on patient the couch today is sonystyle.co.uk
I’m on the lookout for a new laptop as my 5 year old is on the verge of retirement. Anyway, long story short, I had a go at configuring a possible machine. But it’s not as easy as it looks (I like the clear layout).
The symptoms:
- I can’t select a number of options unless I select a specific one. Dependant selection is not new, but when the dependency is only available as the 7th option, that’s a bit frustrating.
Click the image below to see how the content is ordered.
The Diagnostic:
- Just make it simple and in an order that does make sense.
- Use a bit of Information Architecture technique and common sense.
The Procedure:
- Just move the deciding choice before the others two, thus removing a cognitive punch in the face and paving the way for a nice choice selection. Choosing a laptop is a hard task for most people, and I want to be secure in my belief that I can choose what’s right for me.
Et voila for today.
