From: Gleanings
To: faithful readers
Subject: Gleanings: dropdowns and recounts
GLEANINGS
OPENING THANG
Useit.Com: Drop-Down Menus: Use Sparingly.
Drop-down menus are often more trouble than they are worth and can be
confusing because Web designers use them for several different purposes. Also, scrolling menus reduce usability when they prevent users from seeing all their options in a single glance.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20001112.html
HEY
I’m *also* writing an article about dropdowns.. can every/anyone send me any tales of drop-down madness? Usability tests are of particular use. thanks, kids…. gleanings-comments@eleganthack.com
MORE ON THE ELECTION NONSENSE
Got more than one mail lately asking for me to express my own opinion… well, it’s not very gleanings-like, but what the hey. Every ballot in America was probably confusing. And probably has been for a long time, it’s just this election was so close it called attention to the situation. Perhaps now they’ll pay professional designers to design the dang things. or maybe — radical thought here– they could have a check box next to each candidates name, and give up all these cute hole punches, arrow completions etc. And better yet, perhaps they will TEST those ballots with a range of typical voters.
Well, I can dream, right?
Just gotta mention Dynagirl is running a contest to design a better ballot. check it out
http://www.dynagirl.com/contest.html
of course, I think the usability party’s electronic ballot design should win, both this contest and the election (tongue firmly in cheek for those of you who easily panic)
http://www.ntk.net/nielsen2004/
Here’s a couple more article on the election for those of you who are insatiable (thanks Marnie!)
Online voting is neat, efficient — and robs the political process of its human spirit.
http://earthlink.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/11/08/online_voting/index.html
Now Republicans have also requested a recount in Palm Beach County. Why? And what if they come up with different results?
http://earthlink.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/11/11/tallahassee/index2.html
APROPOS OF NOTHING
Pickle knows who will be president
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/11/pickle.pollster.ap/
great, I’ve been classified
http://earthlink.salon.com/tech/books/2000/11/07/yettie/index.html
wondering what to make for thanksgiving?
http://www.epicurious.com/e_eating/e04_thanks/main.html
And you thought the ballots were confusing
Take a tour of Palm Beach, the bad design capital of America
http://www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0011/florida/
Theory! Argh! This sentence is a crime.
http://carmen.artsci.washington.edu/panop/home3.htm
NEWS
All from Tomalak today, cause it’s nearly time for me to drag my lazy carcass to work.
Lighthouse: From July 17, 2000; A flying menu attack can wound your navigation
http://www.shorewalker.com/design/design116.html
Web Informant: Remind Me.
I think my issue is the quantity of reminders that I now get on a daily basis. It used to be intriguing, or at least fun to show family and friends, that my car or whatever was sending me email. But now I want to turn a few of these nags off, or at least fine tune them…
http://strom.com/awards/223.html
News.Com: Walmart.com CEO Jeanne Jackson does some remodeling. Jackson asserts that although industry pundits may not find Walmart.com’s site particularly fashionable, it is the product of some very conscious choices. “Go look at Target and BlueLight. They have decided to be sexy, we’ve decided to be fast and reliable.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-3623664.html
Publish: Mutants in cyberspace.
As brave new tacticians follow the principles and manipulate the components searching for their holy grail, one factor in the viral equation will stay the same: The customer is always right. In an age of rampant spamming, companies must work to earn back customer trust.
http://www.publish.com/features/0011/feature5.html
as ever, the rest of *his* gleans are here http://www.tomalak.org