Usability:
Does anybody really know what it is?
Like the song by Chicago… “does anybody really know what time it is… does anybody really care?”, I ask you: does the average person really care about USABILITY?
YES! However they probably don’t know what you are talking about. If you can throw around a few terms like Usability, UX Design, Accessibility or Development – you’d better be careful where you use that language!
And be sure you put initial caps on all those things while you’re at it. And throw out the Chicago Manual of Style! (For you youngins, this reference is for writing guidance, not how to dress like you’re in a band.) Those rules don’t seem to apply anymore to writing or have anything to do with web content. Things like readable English are a thing of the past!
Instead, you’ll want to reference the Urban Dictionary as often as possible so you can remain cool at any age, gender or race! And start your sentences with AND a lot as well as use lots of exclamation points! Lastly, make sure you use the word “myself” incorrectly… you’ll score a lot of points for trying to sound like an intellectual. (If you want to know the proper usage, check out what Chris Hibbard has to say. Thanks Chris!)
Back to Usability Please…
With the economy in a flushing toilet, many companies are using what many of my colleagues call “cost cutting measures”. These days, designers are expected to write and crack code and developers are expected to be crack designers. Drumroll please for the result – products that look like they were developed on crack!
Tomorrow, we’ll discuss the evolution of humanity and how the dinosaurs went bye bye. Seriously, we’ll dig into a good discussion (even if it is by myself) about all those usability terms, where to find some user-friendly usability organizations and how many people can effectively use the left and right sides of the brain (aside from the two of us, of course).
Affectionately yours,
My F*N Blogger
© Copyright 2009, Janet Kyle
belmontshaman
