About
Locus of Control presents topics that spark discussion among website creators and users, with a focus on enhancing web user experience. It regularly spotlights useful, innovative web applications as well as examples of exceptional design. About the author...Keep in Touch
Featured Posts
Specials
Topics
adobe air blogging collaboration communicating copy writing design tools desktop apps everyday design facebook flash gadgets icons information architecture information design inspiration interaction design interface design logo design mobile productivity requirements research tools shops social twitter usability user experience vector wallpapers web 2.0 webapps web design web dev windows 7Time Warp
March 2010 S M T W T F S « Dec 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Make Yourself at Home
A Work in Progress
I'm using a free theme until I can make my own. I promise it will be well worth the wait ^_^
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Allowing Integration is Key to any Webapp’s Success
The web, as we know it today, provides a wide array of applications and social media tools, which we all use in different ways. One day, I was feeling quite overwhelmed by my own use of the web, and attempted to draw a diagram of how my various web applications were interconnected by the flow [...]
Can You Find the Missing Link in Target’s “Itso Builder”?
So the other day, I stumbled across a cool project called Itso Storage that IDEO did for Target some time last year. The product is the typical IDEO output: clever, practical and elegant. However, the web aspect of Itso appears to be missing an important feature. Either that or I’m blind. (Was that a bad [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged everyday design, flash, shops, usability, user experience, webapps Leave a comment
Determine Your Client’s True Goals Without Jumping to Conclusions
The Problem
When a client asks for a new website or a redesign of their existing site, it’s often difficult to get them to explain why. In many cases, they’re not even aware of the goals underlying their strategic choice to create a new website.
Once you determine the client’s true business drivers as well as the [...]
Tweetizen – A Simpler Way to Group Tweets
I’m sure a lot of you wish you could split the people you follow on Twitter into groups based on friends, family, co-workers, or subject matter. Well you can. Maybe you’ve tried TweetDeck or PeopleBrowsr – both of which can do this, among many other things. You have to download TweetDeck and (correct me if [...]
Etsy Provides Innovative Ways to Browse Products
Etsy is a site where people can buy and sell homemade goods, craft supplies and vintage items. This site offers over a dozen unique and innovative ways to browse through products. My top 3 favorites are:
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged flash, inspiration, interaction design, interface design, shops, user experience, web design Leave a comment
Error Prevention vs. User Satisfaction – What’s the Deal with Duplicate Form Fields?
Lately, it seems to be increasingly common to find web forms with duplicate fields, particularly for the email address. It’s a low likelihood that a user would make the exact same typo in both fields, so by ensuring that the two fields contain matching data, we can more thoroughly prevent user error.
In his “Eight [...]
Lessons to be Learned from Facebook’s Latest Homepage Changes
Normally I don’t post such negative commentary on Locus of Control, but I decided to make an exception this time. Regarding the recent homepage updates on Facebook, I would like to point out a few things that I think we can all learn from.
Lesson 1: Don’t lie to your users.
Facebook’s preview of the upcoming changes [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged facebook, information design, interface design, social, usability, user experience 16 Comments
Two New Tools for Quick Usability Testing
In a previous entry, I discussed the need for better UX design tools. Now, from the makers of OptimalSort, come two new tools for testing the usability of your IA and interface design.
Treejack
You input a sitemap in the form of a hierarchically structured list and assign tasks for test participants to perform.
Participants navigate through the [...]
Get an RSS Feed of All Your Comments Across the Web
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a nice, consolidated feed of all the comments you’ve made on other people’s blogs? BackType gives you this for free, and it’s really easy to use. In addition to the RSS feed, you can also use BackType to:
Five Ways to Create Online Forms & Surveys Without Code
As a compliment to my recent post about form design, here are 5 free WYSIWYG editors for building online forms and surveys. I’ve also included screen shots of each form builder interface so you don’t have to sign up for anything to compare them.
Wufoo – Lets you adjust label positioning on form fields (as [...]
How to Make the Most of Five Seconds
You might be amazed how little time it takes for users to get a first impression of a website and how difficult it is to change that impression once it’s made. Wouldn’t it be great to know what users see in the first 5 seconds of viewing a site design – before building it out?
Conventional Doesn’t Mean Comprehensible – Common Labels That Aren’t So Clear
Has anyone ever noticed how ambiguous certain terminology is online? I’ve heard complaints from users of varying levels of experience, and I’m sure for new users it’s especially confusing. Most experienced web users may not notice how confusing some wording is, and even if they do, it’s not hindering their ability to get things done. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged communicating, copy writing, information architecture, information design, user experience, web design 2 Comments
Two Card Sorting Tools For User Experience Design
Following from last week’s discussion about UX design tools, here are a couple of free webapps that allow you to set up card sorting exercises and analyze the results.
For those who may not know, a card sort is an exercise often used by Information Architects and other UX professionals to reveal natural patterns in the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged design tools, information architecture, research tools, user experience, webapps 1 Comment
Improving User Experience Design Tools – The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh is Weak
User Experience professionals are frequently concerned with bridging the gap between themselves and the users of systems they design. However, there is a parallel gap that needs to be closed between UX designers and the developers of UX design tools. A series of surveys conducted in 2006 by associates of The Information Architecture Institute revealed [...]
Two Ways to Add Chat to Your Website or Blog
Adding a chat widget to your website is a quick and simple way to provide a social element for your users, without managing a complex forum or starting a corporate blog. On the other hand, perhaps you’re a blogger and you just want to give your users a way to interact with one another in [...]
Three Tools to Generate Background Patterns
If you’re looking for a quick way to add a nice looking background pattern to your website, blog or twitter profile, here are a few options – besides the Tartan Maker and Stripe Generator I mentioned in an earlier entry:
PatternCooler – With over 31,000 designs to browse, you’re sure to find something here that will [...]
Please Wait…
We’ve all sat in front of our computers watching the words “please wait” blink on the screen, watching some dot move in a circle indefinitely, or worse, watching a progress bar get to 99% in 10 seconds, then get stuck there for hours. Is there anything we can do to improve this user experience nightmare?
Top Ten Twitter Tools To Try Today
Alliteration is fun. Anyway, what follows is a list of what I believe are the top 10 tools to use with Twitter, roughly in order of usefulness:
Adjustments To My Work-Life Balance