Comments for Usability Thoughts

Comment on And the prize for the most idiotic interface goes to… by Chantal

Chantal — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:36:06 +0000

Eeep, that’s painful. Such small mistakes that make such a big difference.

Comment on Simple things by libby

libby — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:16:22 +0000

i have to disagree with both posts above – the switch for a US bathroom light is _usually_ on the inside of the bathroom for houses built in the 80s or later. anything built in the 60s or earlier the switches are often found *outside* the bathroom.

1st – yes, on when occupied, off when room is empty
2ns – location if inside is usually there, but not always.

Comment on And the prize for the most idiotic interface goes to… by Emerald

Emerald — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:20:11 +0000

I strongly agree with this !

Comment on And the prize for the most idiotic interface goes to… by Goran

Goran — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:14:33 +0000

Comment on And the prize for the most idiotic interface goes to… by Adrian

Adrian — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 11:22:01 +0000

- the main, call to action (if you can name it that way) button is “Clear”, which deletes everything you wrote.
- the export icon is actually the “add row” icon from famfamfam, and the import is the “delete row”. The visual aid is not only nonexistent but confusing.

Comment on And the prize for the most idiotic interface goes to… by Goran

Goran — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 10:33:35 +0000

Some explanation?

Comment on Login with email vs. username by Moein

Moein — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:48:53 +0000

Well I had to implement a login form and the model for it
So let me tell you if the programmer isn’t lazy he can’t easily resolve this problem
I did it this way
I added a check box after the email saying if the user wants to use a username and if the check box is not checked then I generate a unique random username and save it in the table
Then the user can login either with email or the username(just like twitter)
And he can always change the username as he likes
Like this you can have the both side happy right?

Comment on Login with email vs. username by Joe Burke

Joe Burke — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:30:57 +0000

I would say that email for login is the only appropriate method, but that does not remove, for some applications, the requirement of a username. The two should b e treated as separate entities used for different purposes.

Comment on Login with email vs. username by Mitchell Pilot

Mitchell Pilot — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:34:54 +0000

I don’t like email addresses as login IDs (although I see I am the outlier here).

The original concept of using both a login ID and password (as opposed to just a password as was done in the early days) is that the ID can be a public identifier and only the password need be kept private. Because of spam abuse, email addresses cannot be made public, thus making them a poor substitute for a user ID. Adding a “screen name” while still using the email address to login further complicates what should be very simple: your login ID is public, your password is private, your email address is a data item in your account (also private).

In my mind, the trend toward using email addresses as login identifiers is a touch of laziness on the part of website designers. As you mentioned, it avoids the problem of checking for duplicates, and of storing an additional data item (the username) in the database. It does this at the expense of using as a personal identifier something that was never meant to be that.

I will admit that I am biased because I use a disposable email service that assigns a different email address to every forum I visit; I have many email addresses and cannot remember any of them. I can remember my username (for the few sites that let me use one).

Comment on Login with email vs. username by Josh

Josh — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:11:02 +0000

I dislike screen names, but what about the privacy and usability concerns associated with using an email address to log in? Can I set up an account using steve@apple.com? If so, I’m not going to see communications about my account, and Steve’s going to get spammed.

If the site requires me to verify that I own the email address, that introduces an extra step and a bunch of friction as my signup is interrupted by the need to go find the email and click its link.

Also, if the email address is a unique account identifier, can I plug other people’s emails into the signup form and find out whether they have accounts already? Shouldn’t that be private information?