Technology and the user experience

Discussion articles

  • Accessibility of AJAX application, part 1
    "AJAX will not work in all web browsers. As its name suggests, AJAX requires JavaScript. This alone means that AJAX applications will not work in web browsers and devices that do not support JavaScript. For this reason it is not accessible to many typical Web users. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines also require that web applications function when JavaScript is disabled or not supported. AJAX also requires that XMLHttpRequest be supported, which many browsers do not."
    (Jared Smith - WebAIM)

  • AJAX and accessibility
    "In this article we will have a look at the implications for accessibility and usability when using Javascript to dynamically update a web page. I will also show how you can increase accessibility for AJAX-based forms."
    (Peter Krantz)

  • AJAX and interface design
    "AJAX allows every element within a Web interface to be individually and quickly updated without affecting the rest of the interface. This, of course, is not what most Web users are accustomed to. Initiating an action within most Web sites triggers the inevitable blank screen and page loading process. Though not very responsive, the full-page update makes it very clear to users that their action has resulted in a reaction and that a response will be available as soon as the page is refreshed. Because AJAX-based updates are very fast and incremental (often affecting only a small portion of the UI), users may not notice them -especially when they are used to seeing full-page rewrites."
    (Luke Wroblewski)

  • Ajax: a new approach to web applications
    "Google Suggest and Google Maps are two examples of a new approach to web applications that we at Adaptive Path have been calling Ajax. The name is shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript + XML, and it represents a fundamental shift in what's possible on the Web."
    (Jesse James Garrett, Adaptive Path)

  • Ajax mistakes
    "Ajax is an awesome technology that is driving a new generation of web apps, from maps.google.com to colr.org to backpackit.com. But Ajax is also a dangerous technology for web developers, its power introduces a huge amount of UI problems as well as server side state problems and server load problems."
    (Alex Bosworth)

  • Experience attributes: crucial DNA of Web 2.0
    "The industry has spent a lot of time defining Web 2.0 and mapping its DNA. But as we attempt to emulate the fast-growth success of the Web 2.0 darlings, we need to zero in on the parts of the DNA that actually create this noteworthy new value."
    (Brandon Schauer, Adaptive Path)

  • Latency must die: reducing latency by preloading data
    The real payoff with RIAs happens when the latency just disappears, and you feel like the data is native to your hard drive, even if in reality it's living on a server thousands of miles away. This requires preloading of both UI and data. Generally, very large data sets cannot be cost-effectively downloaded. So it only makes sense to preload data that has some potential for being requested by the user.
    (Jonathan Boutelle)

  • Making rich web application architecture usable
    "Software designers have become notorious for concentrating on implementation patterns and neglecting the user. It is easy to get lost in grand concepts at an abstract level and get excited over stuff that makes your work as a developer easier; thus, the needs and desires of the "real" users may sometimes take a back seat. Identifying the usability constraints and designing within them keeps the focus on the user."
    (Viswanath Gondi, Sitepoint)

  • Modelling user workflows for rich internet applications
    "As Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) become more advanced, the tasks, problems, and processes they address become increasingly complex, making it more important than ever to accurately model user workflows."
    (David Hogue)

  • RIAs: the technology is exciting, but they really do help users
    "Recently, there has been a lot of talk about Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), how they work, and how to choose the appropriate RIA technology. Unfortunately, so far, we’ve had few discussions about the value of RIAs to users and how RIA technologies let us create better, more usable Web applications. This article addresses two questions: What is wrong with traditional, pre-RIA Web applications? How do RIAs remedy their problems?"
    (David Heller - UXmatters)

  • The Web 2.0 experience continuum
    "There’s been a lot of talk about the technology of Web 2.0, but only a little about the impact these technologies will have on user experience. Everyone wants to tell you what Web 2.0 means, but how will it feel? What will it be like for users?"
    (Dan Saffer, Adaptive Path)

  • To Flash or not to Flash? Usability and user engagement of HTML vs Flash
    "This paper reports on a comparative evaluation of Flash and HTML versions of a single site, focusing on user information-seeking goals, behavior, and responses to each version of the site. We then compare the two versions based on holding power, time on task, user satisfaction, and qualitative interviews. Testing found notable differences between the two versions of the site, and between youth and adult tester groups. The results provide valuable insights into the relative strengths and weaknesses of Flash and HTML. "
    (David T Schaller et al)

  • Using Ajax for creating web applications
    "In the past few years, developers could choose between two approaches when building a web application. The first approach was to create a screen-based system with very rich interactions using a sophisticated, powerful technology such as Java or Flash. The alternative approach was to create a page-based system using easier-to-learn core web standards like XHTML and CSS whose more basic capabilities force less-rich interactions. A new technological approach, dubbed Ajax, might just be the right mix between the two."
    (Joshua Porter)

  • Web 2.0: mistaking the forest for the trees?
    "I'm going out on a limb to say that Web 2.0 is really about users. It's how developers emerging from cubicle cocoons admit what we user-obsessed sorts have long understood--that users rule. All that Web 2.0 talk of systems, applications and platforms is ultimately about empowering end-users to achieve their dreams on the Web without restriction."
    (Dave Rogers - Goto Media)

  • Web application solutions: a designer's guide
    "Web Application Solutions is a guide that helps designers, product managers, and business owners evaluate some of the most popular Web application presentation layer solutions available today. We compare each solution through consistent criteria (deployment and reach, user interactions, processing, interface components and customization, back-end integration, future proofing, staffing and cost, unique features) and provide an overview, set of examples, and references for each."
    (Frank Ramirez, Luke Wroblewski)

  • Weblog usability: the top ten design mistakes
    "Weblogs are often too internally focused and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author."
    (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

  • XMLHttpRequest ("Ajax") usability guidelines
    "XMLHttpRequest is becoming more and more popular, and many people are currently exploring what we could do with it. Unfortunately this also causes people to reinvent old and forgotten usability problems."
    (Thomas Baekdal)