UI Weekly

Google Chrome launched today.  And when it comes to a clean interface that is quick and easy to use, this thing blows Firefox 3 (or should I call it Safari) out of the water.  They must hire Usability PhDs over there, oh wait they do.

Here’s a screenshot of the browser’s default homepage.

Google Chrome homepage keeps track of the sites you visited.

Of course, as a web developer, I won’t consider a browser as a primary tool unless it has an element inspector such as Firebug.  Of course, Google thought of this.

Firebug who?

Google Chrome’s Wiki page lists September 2nd as the beta launch date for Google’s revolutionary new browser.  It looks to do what no other browser today can do - serve as a legitimate alternative to a typical desktop OS.  This browser is the OS.  For more information, refer to the  Google Chrome comic.

Attention all tab fanatics! Google has chosen tabs as the browser’s primary navigation tool.

Google Chrome Comic

A personal thanks to Jakob Nielsen and his team at Nielsen Norman Group for making the web a more usable place.

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I’m sure we’ve all struggled from time to time with the usability (or lack thereof) of a Microsoft product.  It’s nice to know Bill Gates has the same issues.  From the Seattle PI comes this eye-opening email.

Looking to upstage their former employer, former Google employees Anna Patterson and Tom Costello have launched Cuil.com, see Ex-Googlers launch rival search engine on cnn.com.  The husband and wife team claim Cuil.com’s search index spans 120 billion web pages or 3x what Google is currently capable of.  On this post, I will examine Cuil’s homepage and search engine results page and how they compare to Google in regards to layout and design.

Cuil’s Home page
Google’s design influence is apparent after examining Cuil’s homepage.  The minimalist look that drove millions away from search engine layouts of the past (Altavista, Yahoo, MSN) to Google appears to be the starting point of this site’s design.  However, it then becomes obvious that Cuil attempts to distance itself from Google by making the background black, adding top margin to the logo, and right aligning the logo with the text field.  While doing this, in my opinion, impacting the site’s usability in a negative way.  In fact, in my opinion, it resembles a warez search page, a similiarity I’m sure they were not looking for.

Cuil's homepage

Cuil’s Search Engine Results Page
Cuil attempts to further distance itself from Google in its search engine results page.  While I applaud their efforts in attempting to revolutionize the display of search engine results pages by using a three column (or 2 column if you choose) layout as opposed to Google’s one column list, the design falls short.  As any designer will tell you, attempting to neatly contain dynamic data in a 3 column grid layout is a difficult task.  One that does not lend itself to the unknown of search results.  That combined with eye tracking tests that suggest that users read from left to right in an F shape suggests a messy experience for the user.

Cuil's search engine results page

As opposed to Google’s proven one column layout for organic results.

So is Cuil.com the next Google?  We’ll wait and see.  One thing that’s certain, is that Cuil will need to be more like Google in terms of design and user experience if they wish to surpass them.

As promised, the team at Clearleft launched Silverback today.  In minutes, I was able to turn my macbook pro into a legitimate usability testing environment.  Forget the need for multiple cameras and expensive software or paying a professional to do it.  All I needed to do was download the application (free 30 day trial), write up a list of requirements I wanted my subject to perform, and bam I found 5 things to improve on the site.

Thanks to Kimmy for being a good sport.

The wait is over.  Clearleft has just announced, via Twitter, their highly anticipated usability testing software Silverback will launch tomorrow.

Better websites to follow.

On Friday, Smashing Magazine posted the first part of Web Form Design Patterns: Sign-Up Forms where they sampled 100 sites and analyzed each site’s web form. The results are interesting and a great way to see how sites are implementing web forms these days.

What’s surprising, however, is that Smashing Magazine has taken the if popular sites are doing it, than this is the right way to do it approach. But when it comes to usability, Jakob Nielsen argues that 99% of sites are doing it wrong.

So by encouraging designers to follow popular trends, is Smashing Magazine helping to proliferate bad design?

Do the popular sites do it right?  Is it right for you?  If you really want to design better web forms that will lead to more form completions, read Luke Wroblewski’s new book Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks.  He not only shows you what others are doing but explains why they are doing it. You’ll design better forms that fit your site.

UI Fails period.

ie only, originally uploaded by everyonepoopslol.

This email newsletter, from the otherwise brilliantly simple Moleskine company, suffers from horrible typography, tight margins, bad line heights, and more. It makes what should be a simple email into a confusing mess. I love their products but I delete their newsletters immediately.