Gosh, this week has just flow by, and at the same time it feels like about a million years since the holidays ended. We’re quite blessed to have a fast start in the New Year. Happy 2010!

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Our first item is best summed up with it’s executive summary:

Usability is like cooking: everybody needs the results, anybody can do it reasonably well with a bit of training, and yet it takes a master to produce a gourmet outcome.

Anybody Can Do Usability – Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox

I’ll be the first to say that what we do here at Normal Modes isn’t rocket science. Just about anything you do takes a training, experience, and perspective (e.g. think like a website.) (Maybe I should trademark that.) Making usable websites isn’t some special innate gift. It’s just about getting appropriate training, mastering the craft (generally through years of experience), and developing the humility to let user feedback trump other agendas.  It helps immeasurably to like what you do.

What I’m not so sure I subscribe to is the notion that the usability and ux field is so robust that there are the levels of hierarchy NNG likes to believe.  True, they do some fabulous work and they’ve been instrumental in the usability movement. True, there are some people who call themselves “usability experts” or “user experience experts,” but have no actual usability or ux experience and who dilute the meaning. (In these latter cases, I find, they’re adopting the moniker as 1:1 replacement for “web designer” – which is decidedly not the case. Web designer does  not equal user experience/usability expert.)

But the idea that there’s expertise in scale (e.g. “a second-tier usability firm or even a third-tier local consultant instead of bringing in a world-class usability firm”) is somewhat elitist and – perhaps most troubling – inaccurate. In my experience that means you’re paying for the name behind the study (which none of your customers is ever going to see) and that company’s kool-aid. I’ve worked with NNG as well as other companies (before Normal Modes) – they have a particular ideology they subscribe to and that ideology, brand, and independent status is what companies pay for when they hire NNG. It’s not that their reports are so much more insightful or thorough or valuable than any other well written, thoughtful report. To reap the most value from from a usability study choose the right type of well-run study (eye tracking, hueristic evaluation, ethnographic research) with appropriately selected users.

Establishing a hierarchy may be good for the NNG brand, but it’s not good for the craft. Most of that post is a backhanded “helpfulness” and “sharing in the wealth” for other usability firms. That’s disappointing – if not surprising – from NNG.  There’s plenty to go around, guys.

And wasn’t the thesis of “Ratatouille” that anyone can cook – without all kinds of fancy degrees and titles and training?

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On a lighter note, FUI Fantasy User Interfaces from the movies.  Awesome.

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Considering company-wide design guidelines?  Paul Sherman’s wrote a thought response to an inquiry at IXDA forum of guideline considerations.

11 Best practices for doing Software Usability testing – I agree with most of what’s said, EXCEPT – or perhaps with a caveat – that you don’t need to record these sessions. I love watching live usability tests. Watching video of usability testing is second only to watching paint dry, but it’s often necessary to get key stakeholder buy in. It’s really hard for someone to argue with user after user after user explain why they can’t use X feature, and quite often that is the only evidence that’ll convince stakeholders that X feature is a problem for users. Not everyone has 4-8-16 free hours needed to sit through usability testing, so that edited video is really key. And lemme tell you, writing accurate – much less nuanced – notes for 16 hours of user dialog is almost as painful as watching those videos.

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Tool Alert: Visual Website Optimizer – I haven’t checked it out yet, but the tool looks interesting.

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10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling – Make it a New Year’s resolution.

I took the “2009 Survey for People Who Make Websites“, have you?

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Liable for defamation for pointing out Photoshop blunders? Or liable for defamation for labeling a professional critique of bad work as a liar who doesn’t know his stuff?

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At Normal Modes, we love things with thoughtful, useful design. So when we came upon this video from 1970 detailing how Eames chairs were designed and fabricated, we were captivated.

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I’ll admit my reluctance to attend meetings was once a hindrance on my Corporate America career. Even worse, I had the audacity to grouse when the meetings I actually attended ran unnecessarily longer than the scheduled a hour.

Remember the NPR piece, “This I believe“? This I believe Corporate America Edition: meetings should only be scheduled as an absolute last resort and should never run longer than 30 minutes. If you’re not abiding by that rule, then you’re just not working. Period. End of discussion.

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Is a knock off or “inspired by” piece the same as the real deal? Not always. Bad Design Within Reach looks at Design Within Reach’s bad remakes.

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Virtually every Phase 1 of our projects includes building out wireframes that take into consideration a competitive analysis and design pattern exploration, which culminates in wireframes. Earlier in 2009, we adopted Balsamiq as our wireframing tool of choice in part because the product produces wonderful low-fidelity, computer-based wireframes that have a “sketchy” feel, which reinforces the flexibility of this phase of the design process. We love wireframing because it allows us to nail down functionality and interaction before we get the visual design phase of the project, which is the phase where clients generally have the most feedback and/or changes. By nailing down functionality (or gently tacking it down – structured flexibility) we can easily make aesthetic changes without disregarding user best practices and expectations. Our clients universally love our computer-based sketchy wireframes and comment on them frequently.

If you’re new to wireframes, Boxes and Arrows just published “Sketchy Wireframes: When you can’t (or shouldn’t) draw a straight line” which includes a review of the popular wireframing products on the market.

(One last note: we LOVE Balsamiq and recommend it to everyone who asks.)

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And finally, if you’re going to be in Houston Tuesday, Decemeber 22, 2009, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg will be speaking at the Westchase Technology Center, 7850 Parkwood Circle Dr. Ste. B3. Matt will be presenting on the state-of-the Web, status of Wordpress and other Automattic endeavors. The event is being sponsored by PopLabs.

Anyone who’s flown halfway around the world in a uncomfortable airline seat will appreciate this. What’s the difference between a regular, everyday seat and a regular, everyday seat that makes people giggle, giddy with excitement? Inspired Design Is Essential, and All Too Rare (WSJ)

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Good website usability isn’t just about thoughtful UI and dazzling design. It’s also about engaging copy writing. 10 Secrets to More Magnetic Copy (Copyblogger)

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Can giving users what they ask for have unforeseen adverse effects? You betcha. A usability study for Google found that the a 1/2 second delay and returning more search results – a feature users had asked for – decreased site traffic and revenue by 20%. So much for giving users what they asked for. (via Kottke. Thanks, G)

Incidentally, they solved the problem by not making people wait. But I wonder if there was a threshold at which they could offer MORE results like users requested, without adversely effecting traffic and revenue. Pinpointing THAT would be fun.

Are you on Facebook? Duh…I know. Who isn’t? Facebook can be a surprisingly powerful advertising and marketing tool. The New York Times piece, How to Market Your Business with Facebook, is a handy guide to getting started with your Facebook marketing efforts.

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Smashing Magazine recently featured an article about iPhone application design trends. This article discusses recent and fading trends for iPhone apps. But the best part, for me, was all the cool apps this article showcased. I drained my battery fast after reading this!

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Hartmut Esslinger, who collaborated with Steve Jobs on the designs for the original Mac, recently published a new book, A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business. The book features this collection of design prototypes for Apple. Cool stuff!

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Think you’re a typeface nerd? I thought I was until I read this piece, Mistakes in Typography Grate the Purists. These folks are off the cuff!

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HTML5 and CSS3 seem to be reigniting the design fires. Designers are becoming passionate about their work again. For a Beautiful Web has an eye-opening post about how they updated their blog for HTML5 and CSS3.

Last week I was tasked with creating a GUI for an iPhone application. My first! Excitement was soon followed by a case of nerves. Now what? I found this seriously cool set of iPhone Omnigraffle Stencils that have proven to be immensely valuable.

And on a related note, I also learned how to take an iPhone screenshot. Press and hold the Power button, then immediately press the Home button. Release both and voila! A screenshot in your camera roll.

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Core 77 recently presented the winners of their 1 Hour Design Challenge – The Future of Digital Reading. The participants submitted some charming solutions, with the best entries focusing on the social aspect of reading books.

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We all know Whitney Hess is a design goddess. But I didn’t realize that she’s also human! In her Pleasure and Pain blog, Whitney relates her experience presenting at An Event Apart in Chicago last month. Here you can learn about her stumbling blocks, nervousness and ultimate rock-star presentation.

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In his blog post, Great Designs Should Be Experienced and Not Seen, Jared Spool discusses how great designs typically go unnoticed, while users often remember — and deconstruct — glitchy designs.

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Woo hoo! Jeffery Veen’s Typekit has finally been released. A subscription-based service, Typekit allows you to legally link to hundreds of Open Type fonts to embed within your web page.

Jason Kottke’s recent post, People Read More than Books, is a thoughtful musing about how the newest generation of e-readers isn’t extensible for other purposes.

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RIP Geocities! Yahoo’s trailblazing web-hosting site has now officially shut down.

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For a great listing of useful UX resources, visit UX Booth’s  10 UX Blogs You Should Be Reading — other than ours of course! 

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Nostalgia can be so intoxicating. Sigh. Check out the L.A. Times’ 1984 review of the original Mac. It’s so cute! They put quotes around mouse, and one of the highlights is the display’s “crisp and readable text.”

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How many times have you given up on a form and said, “Forget it!”? If you’ve done this, you can bet your users will, too. Think Vitamin’s 10 Tips on Writing Hero-worthy Error Messages provides some helpful pointers on avoiding this fate.

For a great showcase of girl power web talent, check out 40 Amazing Female Role Models for Web Designers. Not only will you learn about some fabulous artists, you can also get inspiration for your own designs.

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From necessity comes motivation. Mark Owen spent 10 uncomfortable years in a wheelchair before teaming up with furniture designer Angela Gidden and creating the Nomad Wheelchair.

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Gizmodo loves the  Apple Magic Mouse. But more interesting than their review are the user comments. Are they just as in love? An excerpt: “Someone might want this mouse ’supposing that they don’t really care about ergonomics.’ That basically translates into ‘nobody who uses a computer for more than 5 minutes should buy this.’”

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Anyone out there working in an Agile development environment? I just started, and my biggest concern was Agile’s effect on UX design. I discovered Can UX Be Agile? over at UXmatters and found it reassuring.

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iPhones and Droids and Blackberries, oh my! With the proliferation of mobile devices, mobile UX design is becoming a hot commodity. The Mobile User Experience Conference is two solid days mobile design panels. And better yet, it’s in London!

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Love him or hate him, Jakob Nielson is unarguably the foremost leader in web usability. In this Webdesigner Depot interview, Nielson talks about everything from the supposed death of breadcrumb navigation to economical usability testing.

Many Eyes helps you create informational graphics by simply uploading a data-set and choosing a display method. This is a slick way to create beautiful — and useful — graphics for any use.

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Don’t miss book cover designer Charles Brock’s Office Space parody Kill the Kindle / AIGA Make Think 2009 on YouTube. I think we’ve all had moments like this as user experience designers!

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For a great look at varying wireframe styles and methods, check out I Love Wireframes, a Tumblelog managed by Ivana Jurcic, a web developer from Belgrade, Serbia.

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I appreciate elegant design in everything, from my car to my shoes. And anyone who’s experienced pasta sliding off their fork (and you know who you are!) can appreciate the Calamete Noodle Fork.

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Sometimes the little guy does win, at least just a little. In How a Fight Over a Board Game Monopolized an Economist’s Life, see how Ralph Anspach took on Hasbro, and won the right to market and sell his anti-capitalism “Anti-Monopoly” game.