As everyone knows, usability doesn’t just stink on the web or with that latest computer application. I’m sure you’ve all seen the sign, elevator, door handle, car, ATM, instructions, etc. that just don’t make sense. Seth Godin, the author, has a nice little video from his session at Gel 2006 that’s pretty funny. My favorite…the Taxi cab line at the airport. Yes, at JFK and other airports, why do we have to wait in a line at the airport when there’s 20 people in line and 20 taxi’s waiting? Check out the video on Google here.

Now with usability we do our share of number crunching, but this is just hilarious. I guess I should just try some novel comparisons to get my point across…

HP Ink Costs More Than Human Blood, Booze…comparing the price of HP ink to other various fluids, some bodily in nature. He calculates that a $30 HP #45 black ink cartridge gives you 42ml, pricing out to $0.71/ml. Meanwhile, blood apparently costs $200 for 500ml from the Red Cross, pricing out to $0.40/ml.

(Via Gizmodo.)

Andrea Wiggens has written a good article over at Boxes and Arrows discussing why IA’s need “to understand why visitors come to the site and what they seek, so that the content can be best presented to meet user needs and business goals.”

Using heuristics
Providing a context for heuristics is the most useful application of web metrics in a site redesign: a framework for measurement is critical to future evaluation of the success and value of strategic but intangible investments like information architecture. Analyzing pre-existing web traffic yields insights to user behavior and measures how well a site meets user needs. By comparing analytic data to an information architect’s heuristic evaluation, a basic validation emerges for otherwise subjective performance measures. In addition to heuristic validation, web analysts can use the information to engineer effective key performance indicators (KPI) for future evaluation, and the information architect can use the information to provide direction for the design.

(Via Boxes and Arrows.)