What’s Driving the Mini Cooper? Not the User Experience by User Centric, Inc. (US)

User Experience professionals from UXalliance partner, User Centric, Inc. recently conducted an evaluation of the Mini Clubman's dashboard user interface. A good portion of the 'eval' focused on the Mini's powerful and feature-rich audio system.

Most of the controls for the audio system and the car's computerized settings are situated near the oversized analog speedometer. Although most controls are well-labeled (including 'Audio' for switching modes and 'Main Menu' for navigation), the system suffers from an inefficient layout of controls and poor error recovery.

The main selection dial for the audio system is located just below the FM tuner buttons and could be easily mistaken for the separate volume control, which sits below the CD player outside of the main area of interaction. This volume control seems disconnected from the rest of the audio system.

The system has direct iPod and iPhone connectivity providing users versatility and flexibility with inputs for both auxiliary and USB cables that can double as device chargers. However, when we tried using the iPhone in both AUX and USB modes, a message read "This accessory [cable] is not made to work with the iPhone". The Mini's user manual says that the cable is only made to work with some iPhone models, but it does not say which ones it works with or where to find out which models it does work with. It is important for users to be able to recover from errors and build trust in the systems that they use.

Read the full article or visit the UXalliance website.

Travel in the Economic Downturn by Xperience Consulting (Spain)

Weakening in the economy has not affected international travel and number of airline passengers, according to the International Air Transport. International travel has risen 9.3 percent in March 2009, compared to the previous year. The internet is the most widely used tool for searching travel options. Airline and hotel websites are optimizing their sites to meet demands and improve the functionality of their sites.

UXalliance partner, Xperience Consulting conducted the expert usability evaluation of online travel agencies and hotel web-sites. Xperience Consulting found people traveling in the economic downturn are more selective, tend to analyze options more, and looks for deals. The study explores opinions, preferences and behaviors of consumers, plus analysis of search strategies for booking travel.

Read the complete report on the UXalliance web-site.

Fashion: A Useful Usability Placebo by Andrew Swartz, Managing Consultant - Serco Usability Services (UK)

Let’s swallow hard and say something difficult but true. It may feel like a dietician being forced to discuss the merits of chocolate cake, but still it has to be said. So here it is, straight and clear, right at the beginning: sometimes fashion is more important than usability.

Why is that so difficult to say? Maybe it’s because we’ve spent decades trying to get developers and designers to pay any attention to the user’s needs whatsoever. Not just that, but also we’ve been building a profession from scratch, cost justifying our very existence, and fighting boneheaded ideas, such as all you need to do to fix a bad interface is to make one horrible screen slide elegantly into the next. So it is difficult to admit that simple usability is only one component of the users’ entire experience—an important component of course, but still just one of many.

Here’s a story I’ve told before. A while back, we studied two versions of a mobile phone Menu screen. The first showed 12 icons, each with a name underneath it. The second showed the same 12 icons but without names. All the people who tried the two versions were much more successful using the version with the names. But they greatly and unanimously preferred the version without the names. They weren’t fooling themselves either. They knew they were more successful with one version but preferred the other. Why? The version without the names was more fashionable‐looking at the time than the version with names. And because the version without the names wasn’t too difficult to use, fashion trumped usability.

To read the full publication go to the UXa website - Reports & Publications