I have a small paper shredder at home. Lately, it’s been running too long after each shred, and it gets clogged up quite often. Since it was only $30 and I got a solid two years of service from it, I should just replace it, right? Well, not so fast. I’ve been checking out shredders […]

This month has been colder than usual, so virtually everyone has started breaking out their winter coats. As these people go into restaurants, stores, and other venues, they naturally need a place to put their bulky pieces of clothing. While getting a haircut the other day, I noticed that the coat rack filled up very […]

Whenever I go to the doctor, there is a fair amount of confusion about the copay due for the services. Often, they’ll just ask me how much it should be, leading me to memorize the more common ones. But memory is an imperfect thing, so sometimes they end up sending me a bill or a […]

Although user skills can vary widely, virtually everybody that browses the web will be familiar with the Back button, scroll bar, and other basic controls. So, why do so many sites still insist on presenting alternate sets of controls that do the same thing? Providing another way to accomplish a task that the user already […]

Most hardware and software products are designed to be used for a relatively long period of time, typically one year or more. During that time, the user will grow accustomed to how to operate the product, and the product has the opportunity to collect quite a bit of data about how its owner uses it. […]

I’m often surprised at how effective the average person can be at picking the “better” of two designs, or saying which colors or fonts look “right” and “wrong”. As others have written before, the typical individual probably has no idea why they like a specific design approach. However, this doesn’t stop them from providing valuable […]