June 24, 2009

How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet

"1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;

2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;

3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really."

This Douglas Adams article from 1999 is filled with funny things and lots of common sense.

June 17, 2009

You Probably Know an Idiotphone Owner with Cellphone Inferiority Complex

Study: PowerPoint animations are comprehension killers

Most interesting: even just having your bullet points appear one by one seems to inhibit comprehension.

June 11, 2009

Bill would turn down volume on TV ads

"Under a proposal to be taken up today, the Federal Communications Commission would limit ad volumes to the average decibels of the TV show during which they appear."

Do you suffer from Internet fatigue?

"Do you ever get sick of your phone ringing? What about Facebook fatigue? Does Twitter sometimes give you stress headaches, making you occasionally wish you could just yank the plug on your online life?"

Sounding Human: The Difference Between Good And Bad Customer Service

June 08, 2009

Guesses vs. Data as Basis for Design Recommendations

"Even the tiniest amount of empirical facts (say, observing 2 users) vastly improves the probability of making correct UI design decisions."