No, I Don’t Want to Copy Now, but Thanks for Asking…Again

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When upgrading my iPhone recently to the 3.0 OS, I finally had at my fingertips what I’ve read so many people clamor for since the original iPhone debuted…copy and paste. Now, I’m glad it’s there, even though it’s limited for now just how far away you can paste your copy, and even though I haven’t actually used it for any real purpose other than to see how it worked—I’m sure it will come in handy before long. But what this “new” functionality reminds me of the most is just how much touchscreens, or touch-sensitive inputs in general, can be as limiting and frustrating as they are freeing and delightful. Read more

The 3 Rules of Prototype Fidelity

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I gave a presentation with a colleague at last year’s Web 2.0 Expo in New York on Prototype Fidelity. The first of two main points of our presentation was The 3 Rules of Prototype Fidelity. These are rules I came up with to help you find a good level of fidelity to use when creating a prototype. The second main point of our presentation, which I’ll go into in a later post, was to show different types of fidelity, or “Facets of Fidelity” if you want a nice buzzterm.

The 3 Rules of Prototype Fidelity in their most basic form are

  1. Make it
  2. Leave things out
  3. Throw it away

Now there’s a little more to these rules, but that sums up the basic points. Let’s go into a little more detail. Read more

Bad UX: Get Away Free or Be Labeled a Terrorist

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In case you needed a new argument for the importance of good user experience, police in Queensland, Australia, are making fewer arrests because their records management system has become too difficult and time consuming to use.

FRUSTRATED Queensland police are turning a blind eye to crime to avoid time-consuming data entry on the force’s new $100 million computer system.
“They are reluctant to make arrests and they’re showing a lot more discretion in the arrests they make because QPRIME is so convoluted to navigate,” Mr Leavers said. He said minor street offences, some traffic offences and minor property matters were going unchallenged, but not serious offences.
“There was an occasion where two people were arrested on multiple charges. It took six detectives more than six hours to enter the details into QPRIME,” he said. “It would have taken even longer to do the summary to go to court the next morning, so basically the suspects were released on bail, rather than kept in custody.”

In the other direction, The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists in 2005 and 2006, in part because “the software offered limited options for classifying entries.”

If you’re thinking of turning to a life of crime or activism, you might want to research the relevant law enforcement systems’ usability and taxonomies first.

Thanks to Bruce Schneier twice via Dorian Taylor.