everythingUX

After my earlier post on Kohls.com’s “high contrast style” feature, I wrote to Kohl’s customer service department informing them of the accessibility failure they were ultimately trying to fix.

After the initial automated response, I received a second email from Kohl’s Technical Help department thanking me for bringing my concerns to their attention and helping them ensure that their customers can “Expect Great Things” from Kohl’s. The email went on to tell me that my comments have been forwarded to the appropriate department. I was pleased with the personalized attention that was given to my concern and making me feel that my opinion was valued. But of course, it is one thing to accept criticism and another to act on it. Today, I was happy to see that Kohls.com has made a few changes.

The changes are minor and mostly limited to a switch in the color of the top navigation bar, movement of the search box to the left and enhancing the shopping bag summary display area. read more »

While at Kolh’s website recently, I noticed a feature that I thought was quite interesting, the ability to change the page contrast.

The kohls.com original version

I have see sites that allowed visitors to change the color scheme, but not specifically between high and low contrasts. The intention was probably to help those with visual impairments by allowing them to switch to a version of the website they can read more easily.

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I came across this log in/ registration form on moof.com.

Moof.com log in and registration form

This form reminded me of the old school paper forms. Even though it’s an unusual design for a web form, I think it’s quite an interesting spin on the all too common log in/ registration forms. I also like the use of humanized language.

My earlier post on the misleading (confusing) trash can I came across at a Starbucks needs to be updated.

Recycle Collection Can at PDX

On my way back after attending the UPA 2009 conference in Portland, I saw a similar recycle bin at the Portland PDX airport. I think I might have misunderstood the intended use of the complicated trash can at Starbucks. First of all, the one I saw at Starbucks should not have been used as a trash can because it is supposed to be used as a recycle bin. Second of all, in spite of how it appeared, the different slots on the cover are not to separate the items as they are collected. They are simply supposed to indicate what kinds of material are to be put into these bins for recycling.

My problem is no longer only with Starbucks for using the wrong bin to collect trash, they were clearly improvising for the lack of a regular trash can.

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I recently listened to a podcast by Jared Spool and Robert Hoekman, Jr. from the UIE Userability podcast series where they answer questions from others in the field. This series has been both entertaining and informative, much like other UIE podcasts.

The question posed to Jared and Robert Hoekman, Jr. in this particular podcast was “Why do so many bad designs exist 20 years after Donald Norman’s legendary book on design – Design of everyday things (DOET). It was a lively discussion that talked about, among others, how many badly designed doors (a main point of discussion in Don Norman’s book used to illustrate the principle of affordance) still exist today.

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I saw this trash can at Starbucks. Trying to be a responsible citizen, I spent a few seconds to evaluate where I was supposed to put my stirrer and sugar casing only to find that all the holes led to a single trash bag! Why even bother? Unless this top was supposed to go over a specially designed trash can with built-in compartments, there is no way to keep what goes into it separate.

This was next to the sugar/napkin station at the Starbucks, so where do  you get the glass and aluminum cans anyway? Newspaper- I can understand. This is clearly in the wrong place, confusing customers like me who try to care.

I asked my collegue who had his  iPhone handy to take a picture.

This blog has a long way to go before it becomes what I ultimately want it to be. I want it to be a useful resource for people in the field as well as one that would help express who I am, my experiences, views and opinions.

I hope you will bookmark this page so that you can come back and check what I’ve been up to.

Thanks for visiting.