Blogger and Usability

Conduct a usability test of blogger. Have someone try to set up a blog, and post your results.

Remote usability testing- at least that's what I like to call it. I have to admit that I was not able to conduct my usability test in person. However, I did have one of my friends act as a test subject and take Blogger for a test drive. He took notes to record his experience, and the transcript is included below. A couple of words about my test subject- he is an experienced computer user and programmer, an apologist in Cooper's terms. He could be called a discerning technophile. He appreciates the importance of design in technology and he constantly swaps his engineer hat with his user hat. His blog can be found at: http://searchlightcasting.blogspot.com/

Mark's experience with blogger:

Into the Blogosphere

It was a cold and windy night in Tallahassee as I sat down at my computer and prepared for my first voyage into the blogosphere. Excitement, anticipation, and a certain sense of dread lay at the core of my being. What was I doing? Why was I here? Is this the pivotal moment of my life’s trajectory? Well, the first step was to visit the “Blogger” web site, where my journey begins in earnest.

I’m very impressed and reassured by the simplistic and inviting nature of this site. Maybe I was a fool to have not blogged before. Could it be this easy? The layout of the site suggested that I proceed.

The actual process was incredibly easy. The first step is to set up your core user profile elements. This includes providing a valid email account as well as setting up your profile name. In this case it is TomBanjo. Once you agree to the terms, and it validates these initial settings, you move on to the next step. All told, first step takes maybe 5 minutes, depending on how good a typer you are. Also, I did want to spend some time thinking about my user name and dug deep into the treasure trove of Grateful dead lyrics for this one.

The next step involves making a blog name, and then getting the URL name specified. Here’s where I spent a huge amount of time (20 minutes) trying to come up with something offbeat and theme-based (Grateful Dead). I chose Searchlght Casting (again, research your GD lyrics for both the site name and URL. So here it is, my URL:
http://searchlightcasting.blogspot.com/

The final step, and I was exhausted after the previous one, is simply to publish your first blog material. You pick a “template” and can easily preview any of the samples. There was enough choice to be interesting, but not overwhelming. I chose a dark background and this matches with my Blog name and URL. Next, you need to actually publish something. I came up with some off-the-cuff-fluff, previewed it, and then BAM! Published it. It was that easy.

I think this site is very easy to use and is a snap for anyone to create a blog, should they desire. I don’t have any complaints about any part of the process. Each step was logically organized and the site provided the right balance of feedback and user-driven action. For example, when you type a password for your site, the feedback includes a description of how “strong” your password is. Also, if your blog URL is not unique, it provides a very quick list of alternatives.

Google does it again. In fact the experience was so pleasant, that I actually started thinking about what I may do for my next blog. Hmmmm, maybe I’ll have to retract my comments about this kind of internet content being much like the Powder River. A mile wide and an inch deep!

TextPad - the friendly, usable text editor

Critique the usability/user friendliness of a software program that you use frequently. Illustrate with screen shots as is helpful.



Jakob Nielsen mentions on his site that there are three common ways in which bad applications fail:

"...they (a) solve the wrong problem, (b) have the wrong features for the right problem, or (c) make the right features too complicated for users to understand." (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/application-mistakes.html)

TextPad, a text editor made by Helios Software Solutions, makes none of these mistakes. I use this software nearly every day and have done so for almost five years. It is the kind of well-designed software that does not get in the way of what you need to do. It is so easy to use that I sometimes feel it was designed for me.

Solves the right problem
TextPad is an amazing tool for editing any type of text file. I essentially use it as a scaled-down integrated development environment (IDE) for my web development tasks because it allows me to get things done quickly. Most IDEs are heavy because they contain a great many tools and controls which allow you to connect to databases, to web servers, compile, deploy and debug code. Though this functionality is extremely useful and necessary for certain environments and situations, I find it unwieldy and unnecessary for most of my needs. TextPad allows me to check log files, develop code, tweak code and search for text all in the same lightweight environment.

Right features for the right problem



TextPad makes finding files and text extremely easy. It actually allows you to load an explorer control in one of the tabs so that searching and loading needed files is a breeze within the program. Also, launching the program is always just a right-click away, as the TextPad executable is always available in your context menu once you select a text file.




Makes the right features easy for users to understand
Finally, TextPad has features that make searching multiple files very quick and easy work. Their "Find in Files" feature allows you to search within subfolders, search based on case or regular expression, and even allows you to search within binary files. Along with the right features, TextPad also is able to use custom clip libraries and dictionaries which are add-ons developed by other users for specific programming languages or syntax. Clip libraries provide access to tags or bits of code that can be selected and easily added to a file. Dictionaries allow special highlighting and formatting capabilities that allow TextPad to act more like an IDE than a pure text editor. These are just a few of the ways that TextPad can be customized, there are many, many other options available under the Configure>Preferences menu.

TextPad is a software product that has been designed with usability in mind. This statement can be found in its help documentation:

"When just getting the job done is work enough, the last thing you need is to waste time having to learn yet another computer application. Your experience with other tools should be relevant to each new application, making it possible to sit down and use that new application right away."