CAPTCHA" is an acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart".
If you posted a comment,or ordered something online you have seen captcha.CAPTCHAs have also found active use in stopping automated posting to blogs or forums.
A method prevent robots from automatically submitting forms on a Web site by requires a person to visually view text in an image and enter its value in the form, which robots cannot do.
The Worst part of CAPTCHA is User's are not able to understand what is written in the image,yet there are some irritating captchas, which results in user gets frustrated and leaves the site. Drop-off rate increases due to bad captchas.
Good captcha should be easy to understand and straight forward.User should be able to view the text in a image when they see.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
KISS Principle
The term KISS stands for "Keep It Simple, Stupid", and the KISS principle states that design simplicity should be a key goal and unnecessary complexity avoided. It serves as a useful and frequent verbal exhortation (or even dedicated policy) in software development, animation, engineering, and in strategic planning.
Other versions of the phrase include "Keep It Simple & Stupid", "Keep It Sweet & Simple," "Keep It Short & Simple," "Keep it Simple, Sweetheart," and "Keep it Simple, Sherlock," and the obvious scatological variation.
Other versions of the phrase include "Keep It Simple & Stupid", "Keep It Sweet & Simple," "Keep It Short & Simple," "Keep it Simple, Sweetheart," and "Keep it Simple, Sherlock," and the obvious scatological variation.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
ROI of Usability
ROI (or return on investment) refers to the returned value in profit or productivity that can be attributed to a given investment. When the investment is lower than the resulting gains, we get a positive ROI.
The returns generated from investments in website and software development are measured. Improving the usability of a website can
increase sales,
reduce customer service calls,
increase customer satisfaction.
For intranets and timesheets systems, improving usability can
increase productivity by reducing the time to complete a task,
reducing the error rate,
increasing satisfaction.
Most of these improvements can be quantified by measuring saved time, gained revenues, and increased productivity.Building usability into the processes can reduce development costs, reduce development time, and ultimately improve the end product.
The returns generated from investments in website and software development are measured. Improving the usability of a website can
increase sales,
reduce customer service calls,
increase customer satisfaction.
For intranets and timesheets systems, improving usability can
increase productivity by reducing the time to complete a task,
reducing the error rate,
increasing satisfaction.
Most of these improvements can be quantified by measuring saved time, gained revenues, and increased productivity.Building usability into the processes can reduce development costs, reduce development time, and ultimately improve the end product.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Ten Usability Heuristics
These are ten general principles for user interface design. They are called "heuristics" because they are more in the nature of rules of thumb than specific usability guidelines.
Visibility of system status
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
Match between system and the real world
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
User control and freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
Consistency and standards
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
Error prevention
Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
Recognition rather than recall
Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
Help and documentation
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
Visibility of system status
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
Match between system and the real world
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
User control and freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
Consistency and standards
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
Error prevention
Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
Recognition rather than recall
Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
Help and documentation
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
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