Archive for the ‘usability’ Category

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Interactive Charts: Flash on the Retreat

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Everyone seems to be having a go at Flash these days. Steve Jobs rants about it, HTML5 fans look down on it, browsers are taking steps to shield themselves from some of its more buggy aspects.

Firefox is the latest browser to corral Flash to lessen crashes. Version 3.6.4 allowed only 10 seconds grace to unresponsive plugins before terminating them. Version 3.6.6 grants a more generous 45 seconds. Some say this time extension was granted with Flash in mind, because it “routinely hangs on for more than 10 seconds without crashing.”

Flash is facing stiff opposition from a combination of HTML5, CSS3 and various JavaScript frameworks. Early adopters are pushing these technologies to extraordinary lengths. Steve Dennis created an animated version of Twitter’s “Fail Whale” illustration, using only CSS3. Jacob Seidelin used Javascript, Canvas and Ajax to recreate Wolfenstein 3D in a browser. Apple has a Safari-only showcase of online video, audio and animation, with not a .swf to be seen.

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Posted in usability | 3 Comments »

Beneficial Games

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Combining useful learning with an enjoyable reward system

Computer games get a lot of bad press at times, but they aren’t just for pure entertainment or promoting violence and gore. They can also be used to impart useful skills and communicate ideas. According to Kathy Sierra, the best teaching systems utilize some of the most engaging aspects of games. (more…)

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Screen Resolutions Diverge

Friday, February 6th, 2009

Come a little closer.

Closer still.

Now, look carefully at the screen. You may be able to see some of the thousands of pixels which make up the illusion of text. These are the tiny building blocks manipulated by web designers to display websites. The problem is, there can be a big difference between both the number and density of pixels which each screen displays. (more…)

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Optimising for Students

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

In this article we will discuss webdesign guidelines, and how they apply to websites aimed at students. It’s vital that navigation and content are written in a style that facilitates the speed reading and information gathering habits of students. (more…)

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Advertisements Versus Usability

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Just a few months ago The Independent, one of the UK’s largest newspapers reported that the amount spent on online advertising could top television advertising this year. Advertisements have infiltrated almost every type of website, from individual bloggers seeking to “monetize” their writings, to content rich sites thanking sponsors, to behemoths like MSN generating income from their free services. (more…)

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Web 2.0: New possibilities for museums and learning

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Web 2.0 has opened up the possibility of new experience through shared knowledge and active participation. It offers a whole new set of tools for sharing and creating information, and for teaching and learning. Information is constantly in flux, being re-mixed and redistributed. Web 2.0 is user-centric, allowing users to compile information and structure that information to suit their specific needs. It facilitates the creation of communities centered on the content the members provide. The tools for doing so are freely available, open to everyone, ubiquitous and easy to use. (more…)

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