Review: Alertbox scores 1.7 on the Joy Index

Jakob Nielsen's recent activity is now starting to make sense to me. First we had the 'Flash not so bad' announcement. Then on 24 June we were informed that 90% usability guideline compliance should be reached in 2017. This means there is no need for any new usability guidelines from Jakob, as we just need to wait for designers to implement the ones he has already published.

What will Jakob do next?

With the latest Alertbox article (User Empowerment and the Fun Factor - 7 July 2002), we can see the blueprint for the next five year plan.

'...we must modify the methodology to encompass more awareness of fulfilling, engaging, and fun design elements.'

There we have it. Jakob has decided to embrace the touch feely side of usability, and is starting to redefine himself as the Joy Giver. In this Alertbox article, 'joy' was mentioned 9 times, whilst it has only been mentioned 8 times in all previous Alertbox articles. This 'statistic' illustrates the new direction Jakob is taking. It is a shame that Jakob has not published any reader comments on useit.com since October 2000, as I would love to hear what his readers make of this lurch towards the 'feelgood factor'. Is this an example of the new kind of metric we will get from Jakob?

Associated Link: Alertbox: User Empowerment and the Fun Factor

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

And what do you do?
Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.