Some of my most popular blog posts have been rants on poor usability. That such rants from a layman are popular and accurate reflects poorly on the current state of product and software design. It’s as if consumer electronics and software were astronaut tools, designed by earthbound marketroids with no knowledge of microgravity.

Yet usability is not astroscience.

I wouldn’t call myself a usability professional, but I’m happy to take on the mantle of usability expert. As should you. In my mind, all users are usability experts, and have a duty to speak out against poor usability and product design. After all, what is usability if not the ability for casual consumers to get the most from a product? And who better to decide the success of that product’s design than the casual user?

Instead, we’ve fallen into a lazy, disinterested mode of consumption. We put up with crap design and poor usability in exchange for ubiquity and “innovative consumer-driven synergistic marketing opportunities” – products and designs foisted on us because we fall into some definition of a particular market segment. It’s an extension of what Paul Lukas calls inconspicuous consumption:

It’s about deconstructing the details of consumer culture — details that are either so weird or obscure that we’d never see them, or so ubiquitous that we’ve essentially stopped seeing them. This can mean anything from a bizarre canned good, like sauerkraut juice, to a beautifully designed light-industrial object that we’ve always taken for granted, like the Brannock Device (that gizmo they use to measure your shoe size).

In the same way, we’ve stopped caring about the way our products are designed. We assume that modern shampoo bottles have to be aerodynamic, and that electronic volume controls have to be buttons. We take it as given that registration is required on many websites, and that every software package must have a hundreds of different “options” in the preferences pane. Read more…

Popularity: 5% [?]

It’s been a long time coming, but Geosmart and the AA will start transmitting traffic data via coded FM radio messages from next week. NBR has some details, but basically any device capable of receiving the signals (and licensed to do so) can tell you what the traffic is like nearby.

The first device out of the block will be from Navman. I’ve had, just politely, mixed experience with Navman, but have been told that the new batch is greatly improved.

I’m really interested to know if the system will use the NZTA’s new occupancy sensors. If you’re observant (like me), you’ll have noticed inductance loops buried every km or so all over Auckland’s motorways. Look carefully next time: they look like a grid of cuts in the road, and are often connected to a little junction box sitting on top of the median barrier. These sensors will give awesome, granular info on every part of the motorway system. Unfortunately I’m guessing they’re not ready to go yet.

If you’re a codemonkey, you might be interested to know that NZTA plans to create an open API for the sensor information once it is up and running. Data mashups ahoy!

Popularity: 22% [?]

It’s amazing that Apple have got as far as they have with the App Store. Looking back now, I wonder if it was more about the lack of decent competition rather than some massive Jobsian mind trick. Look, the iPhone is hands-down the most wonderfully designed and usable smart phone on the market – no doubt about it. You guys saying your Nokia 3110 is “better” can bugger off. People claiming the N97 or HTC Magic have a better user experience are on crack.

The App Store is amazing because Apple treat their developers like lepers. I’ve experienced the process of submitting an app first-hand, and completely concur with PolarBearFarm that the experience is appalling.

I’ve also long since given up any benefit of the doubt regarding their banning of selected apps. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s banned because it’s not an Apple duck. It’s not because Apple is trying to shield the world from the horrors of ducks. It’s flat out anti-competitive.

Yet they keep saying non-Apple ducks are dangerous. Apple keep saying that people mustn’t be allowed full access to their device because they’ll blow up cell towers or some other madness. This is such total, unadulterated birdshit. It makes me angry. People have been walking around for years with mallards on their Windows Mobile phones and geese on Symbian. I don’t see AT&T or Vodafone constantly rebuilding cell towers on the molten wrecks of previous ones.

But lo! What is this: Apple seem to be doing quite well at completely knackering their own devices by allowing nefarious code to run.

Glass houses. Put your stones down Apple, then come out and play.

Popularity: 4% [?]

It’s been a bit ungadgety around here lately, but never fear! I’ve got some cool stuff coming up in the next couple of weeks:

• Reviewing the new Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 kit.
• Reviewing the Arduino starter kit from Mindkits.co.nz
• Giving away an LG HFB-500 Bluetooth hands-free kit
• Noisy and fast gadgets for Fathers’ day.
• A new daughter.
• …and more.

On the personal front, I’m speaking at the PRiNZ Northern networking event tonight, and attending Vodafone’s mid-winter christmas dinner on Friday. It’s a hard life!

Also, a quick plug for my wonderful employers, who are trucking along having yet another incredible year.

Popularity: 3% [?]

In a comment on iPhonewzealand.co.nz, a user has pointed out that changes to tethering have been locked out in iPhone firmware 3.1. I imgaine this is at the behest of the big carriers like AT&T, in order to stop people making changes to their tethering APN to get around plan limits.

The unfortunate side effect is that it prevents users in New Zealand from modifying tethering to work on the XT network. iPhone calling and browsing still works, but tethering is currently broken.

There is a suggestion that small changes to the profile (ipcc) file will fix the issue. Check back for updates.

Popularity: 17% [?]