Usability Articles

• ALWAYS Put the Record ID in the Edit Form Users might have multiple pages of your app open in different tabs or windows. Use a page-specific ID, not something shared like a cookie or session data.
• Auto-Switching a Website to Dark Mode You can easily tell your site to use darker colors when a visitor is using a dark theme by using CSS media queries.
• Don’t Hide Version Numbers It breaks user expectations with no real benefit, and makes it hard to tell if you’ve actually gotten the latest security fix.
• Don’t Use Infinite Scroll Infinite scroll is like finishing a sandwich, and the server plops another one in front of you without asking what you want on it, or if you want it at all.
• Mobile Web Layouts vs. the Viewport Mobile web browsers now use a larger virtual screen to provide an imitation desktop experience - even if you’ve provided a better one tailored for small screens.
• POS Touchscreens When touchscreens first hit POS terminals, they tried to replace the PIN entry pad too. It was awful to use. I’m surprised they brought back real buttons.
• Preventing Notification Overload My approach: figure out which ones are most and least important, then turn off the least and only keep sound for the most important.
• Readable Email and Web Pages It’s 2024. If you’re still designing websites or email like you would design an 8.5x11" promotional hand-out on a sheet of paper, you really haven’t been paying attention to how people use the internet over the past decade.
• Separate Stop/Reload Buttons When a button changes in response to something over which you have no control, it may change between the time your brain tells your finger to click or tap and the time it registers.
• Tell Me What Changed! When you release a new version of your software, tell me what’s new!
• The Right Tool… Think about when to use client-side scripting vs. server-side scripting.
• Update Checks Should Be More Honest Software updaters have a bad habit of telling you they’re up-to-date before actually checking - and worse, telling you they’ve just confirmed it’s current when they actually couldn’t get an answer.
• What to Put In About Boxes What I want to see when I open the About box for your application
• When Not To Use A Redirect Don’t use a redirect when changing a setting on your web server would do the job better.
• Wrong Tech for the Context: Fry’s Line Spotters If you’re going to replace an old technology with a new one, make sure it’s actually an improvement in the context in which it’s used.

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