Posted on February 9th, 2010 in category Usability
Not only in computing but for every product, it is essential that there are instructions on how it can be used. This is the reason why every product comes with the a manual.
Help must be available for the user, for every task and subtask, they are trying to do. We can never assume, that the end user knows how to use the system.
In our prototype we have not implemented any help and documentation, yet but we are planning to add a phisical button on the kiosk machine, which will say “Help” and will open detailed help information on how to complete the current task. We will also let the user call a trained real person to assist with the kiosk usage, if needed.
Posted on February 9th, 2010 in category Usability
- The user knows where they should go next on every screen
- The UI controls are outlined and clear and the user knows which one is the button for what
- The user knows where they are within the application
- The user knows what they need to choose from the available products and options
- The user knows what the system is doing at the moment
- The user knows what they need to do – the system gives clear instructions and provides all the information which the user needs.
- The system is consistent.
- The system is standardised – all other cinema kiosks are made the same way.
- No pointless and additional work for the user. The system will not ask the user to perform an action, unless user’s interaction is required and cannot be done automatically.
- No unneeded information. The system does not display information, which is not needed by the user at the current moment.
Posted on February 9th, 2010 in category Usability
- The system is accessible
- The UI design matches all the existing accessibility recommendations
a.1. Nothing relays on colour
a.2. Screen fonts (sans-serif) (mostly Verdana and Arial in our case)
a.3 Large and readable texts
a.4 Enough contrast between texts and backgrounds
a.5 Easy language – the language used in the system is clear and understandable for everybody. The system “speaks the user’s language”.
Posted on December 22nd, 2009 in category Projects
Web Activations team has just finished working on First Home’s website:
firsthome.sco.biz
First Home are a home improvements specialist and manufacturer exporting around the globe.
Posted on November 13th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
Google reminds us again, why they are number one in the web world and
yesterday, they announced on the YouTube blog that full hd support (both 1080p and 780p) will be added. So now the ‘High Quality’ button can go really high! This is a step forward in the history of the World Wide Web and the modern technology (although there are other websites that already offer HD videos since long time ago).
Read more »
Posted on November 11th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
A new web browser was launched yesterday by my friends at the joejoe.org community.
The first version of Fusion Browser was released on 15 Oct:
http://www.joejoe.org/forum/index.php?s=8776efc7517d3a21a1474ebfb291b6f5&showtopic=20164
I don’t know a lot about this browser and its history, but it seems to be the beginning of something cool.
However, there are still a lot of issues to be fixed, such as ajax problems (things like google suggest don’t work right), browser speed (there are several delays when doing different things) and the browser doesn’t seem to be web standards compatible (doesn’t pass the acid 2 test).
However, I feel that this browser is what I have always wanted to see: something simple, good looking and easy to use.
Posted on October 20th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
1and1 was probably the worst mistake in my life. I just don’t know where to start from..
In February 2009, I got a windows VPS from them. I needed this VPS to host my personal web site but i needed windows programs running on it as well. I was fulled by the cheap price..
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Posted on October 11th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
I have moved the website to my new server. This time, the server is IN MY ROOM! It is a Quad-Core Xeon HP ProLiant Business Server.
The only problem we might have is with the internet connection, so please let me know how you find the website now (Is it fast, slow, normal? Let me know what you think and you could get a free web hosting account! Send me an email on
Update: I got fed up with this server buzzing in my room, so I turned it off..
The website is now hosted by Server Web Space.
Posted on October 6th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
These days, I’ve been working with data, by that I mean A LOT. In a few different circumstances : at the Uni/at work/as a favour. The result is that I have to deal with so much data in so much different formats, in different storages, in different organisations and different structures. I have never had problems with that but not until this week. In the past, one of my colleagues was surprised when I showed him that I can do database normalisation in my head for a few seconds (no need to write everything down and think about it for hours).
In a perfect world, you should be able to get all the data where you want it and when you want it. Unfortunately, the world isn’t perfect as you know… Here, it’s all about compatibility, currently nothing isn’t compatible with nothing. If you’re lucky, you might be able to get what you need with just a simple convert, but that’s very rear.
And here is where the Semantic Web comes. The whole idea is to make the web and all the information readable for computers, not just for people. This is what, all of us, the web experts and web scientists are working on now. But it’s still just a dream.
The way to get to that point is by strict standardisation. The first step was in 1996, when XML was born. After this XML was implemented into HTML and XHTML was born, but as you know XHTML doesn’t tell us anything about the data that the XHTML document contains. Computers can’t understand it, only human can read it.
One day, in the future, we will see this dream come true. Computers will be able to understand all that data on the web and this will help us, the people a lot.
Posted on September 22nd, 2009 in category Uncategorized
Happy one web day!
http://onewebday.org/
Wish you all the best and let’s really have one web not just for a day but forever..
Today, I have been designing a dynamic web system for dogs (based on PHP/MySQL of course 😉 all day long so now I am going to the gym.
Posted on September 17th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
One of my dreams is that every browser in the world renders CSS and XHTML the same way as Firefox does.
But this is just a dream, all the elements ususally have different parameters in different browsers (worst ones are the IEs), as a result it’s a hell for us.
As a result, even a totally valid CSS/mark-up website will look different under different browsers.
So what could we do? Simply, look every bit of your website under all the browsers, and see what’s different. After you see what’s different, redefine the CSS rules, so that they all match.
How browsers SHOULD render CSS: http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml2/xhtml2-style.html
Posted on September 3rd, 2009 in category Uncategorized
During the week 14th-21st September, the Mozilla Foundation is organising their service week. During that time everyone, who has internet skills could help people, who don’t have.
This would help us change the world and the way the people use the web.
If you would like to help others or you need help, visit the project website:
mozillaservice.org
I am one of the volunteers in there and will be glad to help you. One web for all!
Alex
Posted on August 27th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
Well, it’s been a crazy weekend. Here in Edinbugrh is full of people from all over the world and all the clubs are packed (they are full usually, but now its even more). This weekend I’ve spent around £100 for night life 😀
It’s crazy!
Next week, we are starting studies again (ready for the sedond year 😉
I am just comming back from work and I have to go to a few places now..
BTW when you got an Ajax web application which is sending requests every 10 seconds and at the same time you are streaming radio online from LA, USA while the webserver is based in London.. the radio starts spliting (the broadband in the UK is very SLOW!
Posted on August 20th, 2009 in category Projects
Web Activations has just finished working on the Weddings design company Designed Occasions website:
Have a look at designedoccasions.com
Posted on August 13th, 2009 in category Uncategorized
Today, officialy it’s been a year since I came to Scotland.
I must say that I love it, I have had lots of fun, I’ve met so much new people and made many friends.
For me, it’s not just going somewhere randomly… This is leaving home and starting an new, independent life.
Now I got everything that I need and I am happy.
But the biggest challange is, to keep all these things and keep on growing…
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