Chance BlissThe strength of a GRIZZLY, the reflexes of a PUMA, and the wisdom of a MAN.

I’m so on board with this women. The creepy “Think positive or be punished” campaign has swept throughout the corporate America. Rather than do work, let’s sit around and think positively about this opportunity (never say “problem” or you will become the problem).

From Jakob Nielsen,

“Users don’t just confuse search fields; many less-techy users don’t understand the differences between many other common features:

• Operating-system windows vs. browser windows
• A window vs. an application,
• Icons vs. applications,
• Browser commands vs. native commands in a Web-based app
• Local vs. remote infoDifferent passwords and log-in options (users often log in to other websites as if they were logging in to their email)”

I can attest to all points after watching my mom, dad and non-tech friends use a computer. For my parents, I believe it’s because they never form a functioning concept around “the computer”. I’ve tried to explain directories vs. folders vs. files a 100 times to my dad. It never translated into a working concept in his brain. So I stopped explaining and now use Logmein to take control and get his brain out of the equation.

Not understanding the “mental model” (as Nielsen puts it) or “conceptual aptitude” (as I just now put it) of the user is the numero uno mistake of web design.

I hate agreeing with Jakob Nielsen, but I will admit he right most of the time. I just wish he could frame his idea better than the typical “84 Rules You Should Follow”.

Why is social media always broken out into it’s only special entity? When I look at Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin I only see a piece of software that facilitates a specific set of functions (communication), just like any other piece of software (e.g. Email, text messaging, instant messaging, etc.). I guess the problem I have is that clients and people not familiar with software development want to treat social media as something different from a web site or application. And by treating it as something different, I find that expectations, understand and rationale often gets thrown out the window.

I will agreed that social media platforms are unique in that they have made it easier to connect and communication more easily. But isn’t that what the telephone did too? So why are we approaching differently in terms of strategy, design and development?

The map is a real revelation. I never realized Africa’s relative size. See this and other data visualizations at Information is Beautiful.

Instead of going paperless (I did that awhile ago), why don’t we try going “fileless”? When I say “fileless”, I mean going throughout the day without saving a file to your computer. I’ve been using so many online apps lately that I rarely save a file to my desktop. Now I think I finally understand what “Cloud Computing” means.

Don’t save and save a hard drive today!

Love the reference about Predator’s swinging braids