Wait, What? Why??

I needed lunch.

I ordered lunch (and a couple days extra lunches).

And then I noticed one of those, "wait, what?" moments.

If you click on something on this site to add it to your pizza (in my case, by mistake green peppers, as well as tomato and chicken) then remove it (allergic, too cheap, too cheap)... it shows up on your receipt.

As, "no {whatever}."  Which makes sense, if your computer isn't smart enough to recognize "Hawaiian BBQ Chicken without BBQ Sauce," but makes no sense if there's no "standard menu item" involved.

In this case it's costing Domino's another pizza -- which I await now -- without green peppers.  Since the guy making it somehow saw the "no" in front of tomato and chicken, but not green peppers... which would make me very, very ill.

What was the developer thinking?!

You can think about big enterprises, and probably get the sinking feeling that this happens on a daily basis but none of the lowly franchise employees have a means or the clout to get it fixed with The Pizza Mothership Web Development team.

Small Things Make a Big Difference in Getting Retail Right...

I purchased some gifts for my mom, myself and a friend off of knockknock.biz.

I wouldn't normally do business with a .biz, but the brand is sold on about 50 other websites, and they had better combined pricing and shipping than the other options.

Two things they do right, little things, that made a difference in my order:

1. They offered to email me a coupon in exchange for my email address and the email showed up immediately.  As in, as soon as I had the tab open for gmail the code was already there. 

I don't know how many sites get automatic email communication wrong... I know that Kodak lost my over $200 order on some custom printing when their database couldn't email me a new password this year, and that I have take my business elsewhere on many sites when the email confirmation of a new account or a lost password took longer than 2 minutes to get to me.

2. They offered my receipt in a nicely named PDF file.  That's what I do with e-receipts anyway--- print to PDF.  Except I didn't have to do that AND the file is nicely named (knockknockreceipt.pdf).

Sweet.

In fact, this is one of the more nicely done order confirmation pages I've seen.  Simple to read, customer service phone numbers big and easy to see, nice use of their own product line, prominent print AND pdf buttons. 

The only beef I have is with the back-ordered note--- none of the things I ordered were marked as out of stock, so now I'm confused a little as to why that is there.

American Airlines Fires Designer For Admitting Site Could Be Improved

And that headline should tell you all you need to know about the AA commitment to Customer Service, never mind Usability.

It's validating to know I'm not the only one who thinks the AA site needs major help. (Here's my post from last time I used their site:  http://yetanothersite.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-get-annoyed-again-american-airlines.html)

Here's the dialog on another blog that got the AA staffer fired: http://dustincurtis.com/dear_american_airlines.html and http://dustincurtis.com/incompetence.html

I Think I'm In Love

Adobe has this tool (maybe they will build it into Photoshop Version.Next!) at Kuler.adobe.com.

With it you can take any picture and turn it into 5 color themes -- mathematically balanced to work together.

For example this image:

Gives me:

Or this:

Goes to this:

I'm in design love.

Of course, like all early infatuation, my lust is tempered by frustration as I get to know Kuler.  For example, Kuler is built into Adobe CS4 -- but not the photo tool, so I will be at the mercy of Adobe never taking it down if I want to love it forever and ever and ever.  Also, Kuler, like the punk rocker you dated in college, isn't ready to be brought home to Mom.  Specifically, there's no way to get Adobe Swatch Files into Dreamweaver -- I'm going to have to ink dropper each color to get its hex code if I use the ASE files.   (And really, Adobe, "Macromedia didn't support ASE files when we bought them" doesn't cut it as a reason to not allow Dreamweaver to pull hex codes from an ASE file.  That was four years ago! Get over it!)

Google Fixes Mystery Meat Editing!

Last month I blogged about the functionality of editing Google Bookmarks: http://yetanothersite.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-does-mystery-meat-functionality.html

Today I noticed that, at least in Mozilla for Mac, this has been fixed. The edit link is now visible, not a "hover to reveal the secrets of the universe" functionality.

I have no doubt that my blogger post had nothing to do with that being fixed... but at least I'm vindicated.

PDF Wackyness

My husband has been setting up a netbook for his mom. He was shocked and appalled by how big Adobe Acrobat Reader is... he kept muttering about PDF being an open standard.



He asked me how big the "whole thing" is.



I did some comparisons.



It does seem odd that Adobe Photoshop CS3 + Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 + Adobe Flash CS3 + Adobe Illustrator CS3 disk space = 76% of (Adobe Acrobat Pro 9) disk space.

And yes, my desktop color theme is "Spruce."

Why?!?! OMG, Why?!?! *Helpless Sobbing*

Ok, Target (I know, I know) sent me a coupon for 10% off anything left on our registry.

I think about it a moment and decide to check out the camcorders.

Only to take one look at the menus on this page and leave.

Seriously, Target, who does your IA and menus? The people who write Encyclopedia Britannica?

Blogger likes to super-shrink images, so here's the text of the menu:

• All Cameras
• All Digital Cameras
• All Digital Cameras + Camcorders
• Black
• Blue
• Brown
• Camera Accessories
• Camera Film
• Cameras + Camcorders Bestsellers
• Compact Digital Camcorders
• Compact Digital Cameras
• Digital Memory
• Digital SLR
• DVD Camcorders
• Extra Value Bundles
• Fashion Color Cameras + Camcorders
• Green
• Hard Drive + Memory Card Camcorders
• High Definition Cameras + Camcorders
• Image Stabilization
• Instant Cameras + Accessories
• Kids' Digital Cameras + Camcorders
• Large LCD Screens
• MiniDV Camcorders
• New Arrivals in Camcorders
• New Arrivals in Camera + Camcorders
• New Arrivals in Cameras
• Pink + Purple
• Point + Shoot Camcorders
• Pre-Owned Cameras + Camcorders
• Red
• Silver
• Waterproof Cameras
• White
• Yellow + Orange

So, ok, a couple of questions for Target's IA team (who obviously have never recovered from the accessibility lawsuits).

Why is camera film a link UNDER camcorders? Camcorders may use (yikes, if they are super old) tape, but they don't use film.

What if I want a Yellow, New, Camcorder that's Waterproof? Assuming I can even deal with your 36 item menu, how do I ever find something specific?

All the Target.com menus are like this. You do something that sounds simple and get this overwhelming flow of options that just confuses things.

I have no idea what I want, and Target.com has proven to me that their site isn't going to help. The thing is, even if I was dead-set on using that 10% off coupon, I might do the math and decide that a site that ships stuff for free *and* helps me find things is worth more than researching something on a site I can actually use and then coming back to Target.com....

Link to the page above, for the record: http://www.target.com/Camcorders-Digital-Cameras-Electronics/b/ref=sc_fe_l_1/188-3747068-6653066?ie=UTF8&node=1193626

Google Does Mystery Meat Functionality

Ok, look at this page.

Then you tell me how I am supposed to edit a Google Toolbar Bookmark's name.

Because when I click on a bookmark to edit the name (which, incidentally usually happens b/c the toolbar saved it before I stopped typing), this is the screen I get.

It's magic!

Once you move your mouse over the text, a box appears around it and you can suddenly edit.

That little down arrow on the side? Red herring. Just allows you to delete the darn bookmark... which I have done before in frustration!

Why, Google, Why? The boxes wouldn't mess me up not hidden, so why confuse the flip out of people by hiding them?

This strikes me as classic, "Developer thought it was really cool, never mind that users have no clue when left on their own" design.

Bad, Google, Bad!

The sad thing? I still use Google Bookmarks because I really like having them follow me from computer to computer on the toolbar.

I Can't Take it Anymore: Target.com Forces Me To Post

As our personal 10 month project nears completion I've needed to utilize some third party commercial tools to facilitate relevant communications.

Specifically, I've had to set up baby registries on several sites. I was going to just do Amazon.com, but then I found out that not all of my family knows how to use Amazon.com, so that wouldn't work for said communications...

Target has coated the country in red bulls-eyes and seems to be fairly well known, so I moved items onto their registry.

Only to discover what a living Hell it is to try and use Target.com.

I would talk about the entire site, but just explaining how frustrating the menus are would take three pages.

So, today we will discuss a small, small detail: trying to login and update an item on a registry.

I have a bookmark to our registry, so I went directly there. That is, after all, why we, as developers, make pages that CAN be bookmarked.

This is the page I see:


I need to make changes. So I click the big silver button at the top, the one that says, "Update."

Except, because Target.com is evidently operating in some logic schema that makes sense to only them, the "Update" button does NOTHING.

Actually, that's not true. It reloads the page. Unchanged.

So now I am stuck trying to figure out how to login. If it won't let me update, maybe it doesn't know who I am... even though the page says, "Hi, [my name]" at the top?

I click on the even bigger blue button, "My Registry."

Which takes me here:

Hmm, I wonder what to do now. I appear to be logged in, but there is no update or edit or anything like that. I click, "My Registry" again. It reloads the page.

I click, "Add Items to Registry," that takes me to a bunch of cribs and whatnot with, again, no way to edit what I already have added. I don't go far down that path because I really don't want to add anything else to this damn thing ever again at this point.

In final desperation I click, "Create New Registry."

I know I'm clicking on the wrong thing, but I'm out of options and maybe that page will have a link to what I need.

And lo, there it is. A login screen. I know, I know, I'm already logged in. But this looks more promising that anything ELSE I've seen so far.

So I login.

Which promptly takes me back to....

The very page I started on, but with different buttons.

This leads me to wonder: Why does the silver "Update" button even exist? If you're logged in enough to actually edit stuff, it vanishes. Why, Target.com, why?

Final note... see those comment boxes under items? Well, Target.com never tells you how long is too long on them, but if you fill them up with text, they don't take. Not only do they not take, but if you put comments in, say, 15 items, and ONE of those comments is too long, the site dumps all the comments and puts a notice at the top of the page.

This is how all my comments ended up terse and identical. There's only so many times you can type cute and friendly messages only to have a website destroy them and continue to be cute and friendly.

Typing this entire blogger posting took less time than launching our original registry... by a factor of about five or six...

Amazon Uses Me as a Guinea Pig, But I Like It

From only one computer-browser combination, I am currently being offered a "Beta" look at a new order tracking page on Amazon.

I like it.

(I would probably like it less if I ordered things I was embarrassed to have pictured on the screen -- and Amazon does sell some of that stuff... I wonder if they've thought of that?) [Less adult-entertainment example: I ordered my pregnancy tests off of Amazon. Would I want a co-worker to see that if I'm checking my order status at lunch?]

Anyway, here's some grabs.

Things I like:

1. At Christmas this would be really helpful as a quick and visual, "How much stuff have I sent family X" guide.

2. It's just more visually attractive than the old site.

3. I like the gift box icon (grab #3) next to items with gifts.

4. I like the hover box w/ shipping, although I'm not sure about it's accessibility. I'm using a roller ball, I think I would dislike that from a touch pad.

I do wonder what these pages will look like in a year or two when things go out of stock-- I have gone back into orders that old, before. (Ok, admittedly, usually to yell at them, "I have spent $xxxx.xx since 1997, don't you care you're alienating me?)

Oh, Google...Not Again

This am, open Google Docs, click on a link to one of my files (which Google Docs insists on opening in a new window, and uses Javascript to force, so I can't right-click and open in a new tab instead)....

only to be told, "Popup blocked by Google Toolbar."

Don't you people ever TALK?

Great Ideas...

This streaming media selection screen is an excellent idea! I particularly like that they don't criticize the user for not knowing and/or caring.

(If only the right video had played when I used it...)

It's ALWAYS the Fault of that Horrible Internet...

Heard this story on the radio and was annoyed...

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/41673662.html

Basic summary:

• Homes broken into while empty and for sale
• Appliances taken
• Homes listed on Internet
• Obviously Internet at fault

Nowhere in the story does it indicate if these home were listed in the papers, had signs in front, had open houses, had been very publicly moved out of, had had an eviction, etc.

Most homes for sale are now listed on the Internet.

While I do not doubt that someone would look at Internet listings to pick houses to steal AC units from (wish they would steal mine, I need a new one... well, ok, maybe not, we wouldn't get replacement value...) the concept of the stories seemed to be, "Don't list your home online or thieves will come vandalize it!"

How about, "Don't leave a home obviously empty while on vacation, for sale, or for rent unless you want Bad Things to happen?"

I guess there wouldn't be a story if it was just, "Some people continue to be stupid and others continue to be criminal" instead of "Internet EVIL."

Quick Hit: Poor Help

Worst Tool Tip of the Day:

Seen Online: Web Tech Guy and Angry Staff Person

Somewhat ironically, they don't have an "embed this flash presentation in the YouTube sized box on your site" link, so:

http://smithsonian20.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/web-t.html

Pew: Generations Online

"Compared with teens and Generation Y, older generations use the internet less for socializing and entertainment and more as a tool for information searches, emailing, and buying products. In particular, older internet users are significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health information. Health questions drive internet users age 73 and older to the internet just as frequently as they drive Generation Y users, outpacing teens by a significant margin. Researching health information is the third most popular online activity with the most senior age group, after email and online search."

-http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1093/generations-online

I've been participating in a series of Pew surveys, I think my data is part of this...

Careful With Those Ad Buys

Seen online: Fashion week slideshow from MSNBC... with ad banners from WeightWatchers.


I think the implications are a little too much. "Sorry, don't look like a 6 foot tall model? Try WeightWatchers so you can!"

The second screengrab shows the saddest part... Lindsay Lohan has been getting thinner and thinner lately, and some of the gossip sites are starting to use the word anorexia in conjunction with her....

So what's below the image? WeightWatchers. "Don't look like a celebrity with fake breasts slowly starving herself? We can help!"

Eating disorders are a real problem world-wide, and WeightWatchers is blatantly playing into the concept that if you don't look like this... well, there's something wrong with you.

If WW didn't mean to do this, they need to seriously look at how they buy ads (all "women's" stories?). If they did do this on purpose, they should be ashamed.

I Get Annoyed Again: American Airlines Dot Com

Background: Due to a specific 40 week project, we are booking some plane tickets to go from RDU to SAN. I have in the past accidentally booked the wrong return date on AA.com, so I'm super-cautious before I want to commit to the ticket. (AA currently has the lowest tickets.)

Anyway, I will vent on AA.com today. Whee.

Let's go ticket shopping!

I've already got tickets to SAN, so let's go someplace a little more fun. Nice, France. For a month. For our anniversary and my birthday. Sounds good.

I get this lovely "not quite stolen directly from southwest.com" grid.

Except I only get the grid if I don't care when I fly. This search specifically does NOT give all the flights in a day. For RDU-ICT (a different ticket), it didn't show me anything leaving after 5 pm. The flight routing does exist... but this search won't tell me about it.

I can find that routing if I select that I only care about Schedule.

But that interface won't tell me prices! (Yes, I realize that's an insane ticket below, but I want to see it as a choice, insane or not.) So now I get that"Enhanced" means "find out the price of each leg." Because, you know, that's obvious and I'm just slow...

So, sure, American will let me search by price... but they won't give me the whole picture. I can't willingly choose a more expensive starting flight if i want to, and then switch to cheaper seats for the rest of the ticket.

Ok, let's get back to today... we pick some tickets to Nice.

This looks good, but I hope no one is talking to you, the phone doesn't ring, and your dog doesn't bark...

because that's the last time you will see that information until after you buy your ticket.

The next pages in the transaction don't tell you what tickets you bought, what dates they are one, what flights.. anything.

If you get distracted, or maybe you're a bit confused because you've been shopping multiple routings on multiple airline sites, and you want to go back and see what you're buying before you commit to spending $3070 on non-refundable tickets... well don't get distracted or confused.

Sidebar: Raise your hand if you think buying airline tickets with PayPal® won't get you on the No-Fly list, or at least the belly-button inspection list...

Clicking back to check if that's really the flight choice you wanted and ignoring all the reload warnings (hah, the dangers of being a web developer, no fear!) leads you to a page that suddenly tells you that you are returning on your departure date... or departing on your return date. That's no good.

This is the point where I actually closed my browser, turned off the TV, told my husband to shush the dog and started the whole thing again. *Sigh*.

During the process of buying my "I'm so poor" tickets to San Diego, I gave up on actual seats on one of the flights.

The following flight has $99 seats. It's from Texas to California, so I doubt the seats ever sell for less than $99 AND there is no way they will sell the whole plane at that price. In fact, as soon as the plane starts to fill up, those $99 seats will be gone.

So why is this the available seating? (The 3 center orange seats)

Is the whole flight booked with the Society of Antisocial Sociopaths Annual Vacation Club, or is it that AA is not ever going to release that coveted aisle/window seat for a lowly $99?

Later in the week, I want to go back to see if more seats are available.

I've done this before, so I go looking for the place to check in/change seats that ONLY requires my "record locator number" and name, not an AA username and password which I think I had in 1997, but don't know anymore.

Hmm. Where do I go? View / Change Reservations, that sounds good.

No. Not there.

Here?

No. Same that's the same page, again!

Where? Let's try this. The words say no, but I can't see anywhere else to try...

Finally, aha! Yes, following the link to purchase tickets allows me to select seats for a flight I already paid for. Again, I must be slow because that's so obvious.

Why is this so hard?

And lastly, in the course of grabbing these screens I saw this ad approximately 5,432,232 times.

I have to say that the URL /onebigmillion is really lame on an ad that says ONE MILLION. What, it's a different million? There is a small million but this, this is a BIG million? Either the campaign is One Big Million and the ad image doesn't tie in properly, or the URL is just silly.

Or my patience with everything AA is out, and I haven't even gotten to the airport yet...

When Bad Design Goes Even Worse

I'm picking on someone in my own backyard today.

We have tickets for an event @ UNC this weekend.

I went online looking for a map to the building.

I find this page (look right).

I click the link indicated to pop-up the map.

And it's horrible. It's little, it's square, it provides no context. So I think, "aha! it's just that no-resize pop-up code. If I save the image, I will see the whole thing."

Bzzt. Wrong.

The content owner (I'm guessing there some sort of system where one person did the pop-up code and someone else reused it, basically b/c I can't see making a non-fitting non-scrolling window for any other reason) cropped the map down so it would fit better into the little pop-up window!

This is the point where, as a designer, I want to start beating my head on the desk.

So, they couldn't get the map to show the right part in the tiny window, so instead of getting a better window or a full page... they just cropped the map down until the one building they needed would actually be seen.

Oh. My. God.

Please stop the insanity!

I must be feeling better...

Dear Google®,

When I am writing an email in iGoogle's® window for Gmail®, and click the link "compose in Gmail" it is usually b/c I have my email 95% done and realize you have disabled some needed function.

You know, like cc or attach.

So then I click "compose in Gmail".

Do you suppose that you could take advantage of the 8,434 things you do with cookies and javascript states to NOT make me either copy everything line by line or retype the whole thing?

Thanks!

Love,

Me