Closed Captions Should be Modernized
With high resolutions and plenty of pixels, captions should be rethought for the modern era.
On Taskbar Text Labels
Having identical text of “Mi…” repeated next to every Microsoft program doesn’t help the you find your application. It provides no value and slows you down. Just look at this, this mess isn’t improving usability:
UX Matters: Windows Mail
I need to give some tough criticism here. The Mail app in Windows 10 is so unreliable that it really diminishes the perception of reliability for the entire operating system. I have for so long wished that I could write a blog post about the virtues of using it for all the great shell integration, but I can’t.
4K@60Hz with Surface Dock
Although the Surface Dock doesn’t have standard DisplayPorts or HDMI, it does have two Mini-DisplayPorts, and ostensibly supports a single 4K-resolution display at a 60 Hz refresh rate. Actually achieving that frame rate can be frustrating and difficult. Here’s how I did it.
Mobile App Release Notes
Modern development release notes are lacking to say the least.
UX Matters: Controlled Folder Access
Windows Defender Controlled Folder Access is promising protection from ransomware, but implementation can put users in a panic.
UX Matters: The Modern Web Experience
Another case where Windows seemingly goes out of its way to punish mobile users is with responsive websites.
UX Matters: The Windows 10 Unlock Experience
Whether you swipe to unlock, drag out a pattern, touch your fingerprint, or any other magical incantation, you do it as much as a hundred times a day or more.
UX Matters: Small Things Matter
Windows Ink Workspace is a compelling reason to use the slate form factor, but tablet mode’s user hostility ruins the experience.
Surface Dock Transformed How I Use Surface
I never owned the original Surface Docking Station, and I’m glad I held out. The Surface Dock, as the new brick is known, absolutely changed how I use Surface.
Blindly Sounding Sirens By County is Crying Wolf
Tonight KOCO ran a story about a perceived very real false alarm by Oklahoma City’s emergency management this morning. Just after 6:15am, the city activated their Whelen outdoor warning siren network, yet for a weak storm that had itself already moved through the area hours earlier.
Verizon Cripples Group Communication
Sorry Verizon, there’s no easy way to say this. For a communications company, you really suck at enabling your customers to communicate with their world. In a day where real-time collaboration is a necessity, consumers expect a certain level of functionality. This includes the ability to communicate in text conversations with a group of colleagues.
Consider Services as Gifts this Christmas
This Christmas, consider tech services gifts for your non tech friends and family. Because they provide access to services and content year-round, they’re sure to be gifts that keep on giving. You don’t need to be a geek to appreciate these fine services that make great gifts for anyone.
Why I hate Walmart: Abridged Version
It's dirty. From the moment you enter the parking lot full of oil spills and garbage, to the floors and shelves, everything is sticky, grimy, and gross. Everything is broken. The place looks like it's being run by 8-year-old McGuiver wanna-be's. Everything is tapped up, tied up, wrapped up, and bandaged together. Both ad-hoc signs and even actual product displays. At the checkouts (if…
User Experience Optimization
Users that have immediate, unfettered access to their resources and information are more reliable, better performing, and happier. When a workforce is more reliable, better performing, and happier, the entire business benefits with better SLAs, less turnover, and happier clients. User Experience Optimization is taking steps to consolidate and simplify the user experience, and is proven to have a very real and direct impact on a business's ability…