Matt Heerema

DontClick.It A new approach to user interface

DontClick.It is exploring a new method of user interface, clickless mousing.

Basically it looks like they are treating “hovering” over an area as an insinuated click on a link. The area you mouse-over automatically opens, selects, “clicks” through to the next level.

I don’t have any research to back this, so what I am offering here is unmitigated, personal, gut reaction.

I don’t like it.

I use my mouse not only as an indicator of what I’d like to click on, but also as sort of a reading guide, and a place mark for my eyes. I tend to move my mouse along with where I’m looking on a screen to help me “keep my place” if I get distracted by something else outside of the computer screen (which happens constantly). This interface mechanism doesn’t allow for that, as every time my eyes (and mouse pointer) hit a link or selectable area it opens that area… not cool.

Of course this is something that would require me changing my interfacing habits; a prospect that I don’t like so much, but could probably get used to.

An example: while reading through their site, a window popped up, asking me the question they are trying to discern with this Web site. “Do you like not clicking?” As I -went to read the choices (and thus, my mouse went with my eyes) I read (and mouse-ed over) the first response “NO BRING MY CLICKING BACK”, and inadvertently selected that option. Fortunately it was the right selection for me at the time. HOWEVER, if they would have made “Yes I like not clicking” the first response, I would have accidentally picked it, thus skewing their research.

I appreciate the innovation, and perhaps, in time, could get used to it, and may even come to love it. But for now, give me my clicks.

I haven’t even BEGUN to explore the implications with accessibility. What about people who don’t use a mouse? Can’t see the screen? I don’t see how this method can account for that as it is based primarily on visual cues, and your feedback with mouse-ing.

All in all, this method appears to be problematic.

CSS Image Maps a la Flickr

One of my favorite features of Flickr is the “notes” you can attach to photos to comment on various parts of it

Flickr Style Image Maps with CSS

Now I need to find a bit of Ajax to allow universal addition/editing of these comments…

Browsershots.org

Browsershots.org. “an open-source system for distributed automatic production of browser screenshots.”

I’ve been using Browsercam.com to get automatic screenshots of my Web sites in nearly all the different browsers. This appears to be a free approximation of that service.

It does not offer as many platform/browser combinations as Browsercam however, so, while it is cheap-as-free, Browsercam is still a better choice if you want to do thorough testing.

EIT Blogs

A standard template for all blogs for Iowa State University Extension

CMS: MovableType 3.16 Under the hood: XHTML 1.0 Trans, CSS2

Designing for ads

Asterisk has a helpful article with some thoughts to keep in mind when designing a site that will incorporate advertisements.

Fortunately, I very very rarely have to deal with this. I primarily design for higher education Web sites, in which (IMHO) advertising is completely inappropriate. If I’m not doing that, I’m usually doing smaller scale Web sites for business. But perhaps this info will be useful for you (or me in the future. who knows?)