Posts from January, 2007
Andy Budd has created a brilliant set of Heuristics for Modern Web Application Development
His 9 heuristics are meant to be a starting point for fleshing out a more comprehensive list. It’s a good start.
- Design for User Expectations
- Clarity
- Minimize Unnecessary Complexity and Cognitive Load
- Efficiency and Task Completion
- Provide Users with Context
- Consistency and Standards
- Prevent Errors
- Help users notice, understand and recover from errors
- Promote a pleasurable and positive user experience
I have Qwest DSL as my home Internet service. I recently moved, and so while ordering the transfer of my service decided to ask what the best connection speed available to me was. I was told I could get 7 megabit, and was immediately excited. I ordered it and started to wait expectantly for the move so that I could have blazing fast Internet service.
The next day I received a call from Qwest to confirm my order (isn’t that nice of them?) and the man reads through my order, and quotes me 5 megabit DSL speed. I quickly correct him, and he says “well sir, 5 megabit is all that is available in your area.” I asked why I was quoted 7, and he told me that “well, when the technician comes to hook up your service, he’ll be able to tell you what is available.”
Okay, so apparently their sales people are actually clueless.
Moving day comes, the tech arrives, and I excitedly ask him to test the line to see what service I could get. The man is passionate about his work, and happily tells me “Well, this line is currently carrying 8 megabit, but don’t tell anyone, because we don’t sell that. You should be more than capable of getting 7. Just call in and ask about it and they should be able to hook you up.” Woohoo!!!
I call Qwest customer service this morning and report the tech’s findings. I was asked to please hold, while the sales woman went to research something (ask the person next to her?). She comes back on the line and tells me the 3 megabits is the highest connection speed they are offering in my area, and that I am experiencing a faster connection speed than anyone else in my neighborhood. That 7 megabit is not available in my area, that it will be soon, and that I should keep trying back.
I think I’m going to, in about five minutes. Maybe a different sales rep can hook me up.
So, what’s the deal? Why did I get quoted 3 different speeds from four different people? Why is it that the tech can test and see that in fact I am ABLE to get an 8 megabit connection, but they don’t sell it; while the sales rep sees that we have only 3 megabits available in my area? And why was I originally quoted 7?
I’m so confused.
I called back, just for giggles, and was told that “5 megabytes [sic] is the highest connection available in your area”. I know that she knew what she was talking about and actually MEANT megabits, but that’s beside the point. So, now I have three different sales reps, who have all “checked my address” and have told me that 7, 3, and 5 megabits are all the fastest available in my area. The last two were very insistent that their computers showed that 3 and 5 were the max they were able to give me, but the tech SHOWED ME his little gadget that says my line is capable of up to 8 megabits download.
I’m still confused.
I should also add that every sales rep I talked to was very sincere, articulate, kind, expedient, and generally helpful, given the information that they had available to them. So, even though I am slightly frustrated by the mixed messages I am getting, I am not upset with Qwest as a whole (yet).
The Internet is awash with great Web design books these days. The one I’ve become aware of most recently is HTML Mastery - Semantics, Standards and Styling by Paul Haine, the follow up to CSS Mastery.
it’s aimed at web designers and developers who have already mastered the basics of HTML and web design, but want to take their markup further, making it leaner and more semantically rich, for a more efficient, more usable/accessible web site.
Jeremy Keith has written another book! Bulletproof Ajax is set to be released in mid-February. I am all over it.
Bulletproof Web Design is about the best HTML/CSS book out there currently, and DOM Scripting by Keith is the book to have on Javascript, etc. I’ve been looking forward to an AJAX book by him for some time now.
Pre-order your copy at Amazon now!
