What fresh hell is this?

I'm passionate about User Experience. I come across horrible, terrible things concerning human-machine-interfaces each day. Every now and then I'll find a gem. Once in a blue moon I'll have an idea.

What fresh hell is this? is this fresh-faced Information Architect's place for sharing.


http://compl33t.com

  1. 18 February 2009
  2. If you’ve ever seen this in a browser window, my heart goes out to you. Slow, bloated, ugly UI, usability nightmare. WebCT feels like one big kludge. If I were ever to give a practical example of an application where no thought was given to usability whatsoever, I’d demo WebCT. I hate it more than the Kyocera KM-3050. Addendum: Here’s what Blackboard can do about it… Get rid of all the code. All of it. In fact, they should use this. Start from scratch. No Java this time. None. Use a proper language. Python, PHP or C# (if you must). Well written JavaScript, in fact, use a lightweight framework like jQuery. A well designed, normalized database is a must. As are well-written queries. Don’t even think about using frames. Forget about popup windows. Use proper, semantic XHTML and CSS (and make it cross-browser compatible too…) Read up on accessibility. Do some research on usability. User testing. User testing. User testing. This may all seem quite straightforward. In fact, to any developer worth their salt…it is.

    If you’ve ever seen this in a browser window, my heart goes out to you. Slow, bloated, ugly UI, usability nightmare. WebCT feels like one big kludge. If I were ever to give a practical example of an application where no thought was given to usability whatsoever, I’d demo WebCT. I hate it more than the Kyocera KM-3050.

    Addendum: Here’s what Blackboard can do about it…

    • Get rid of all the code. All of it. In fact, they should use this.
    • Start from scratch.
      • No Java this time. None.
      • Use a proper language. Python, PHP or C# (if you must).
      • Well written JavaScript, in fact, use a lightweight framework like jQuery.
      • A well designed, normalized database is a must. As are well-written queries.
      • Don’t even think about using frames.
      • Forget about popup windows.
      • Use proper, semantic XHTML and CSS (and make it cross-browser compatible too…)
      • Read up on accessibility.
      • Do some research on usability.
      • User testing. User testing. User testing.

    This may all seem quite straightforward. In fact, to any developer worth their salt…it is.

  3. IMAGE