… for they’re cleverer than you think.
Two examples of user’s exceeding expectations this week.
1) Submitting availability from a cellphone
Squadlist is as web based system which allows rowers to share their availability for training sessions.
"POST /rowers_availability.php HTTP/1.1" 200 8381 "-" "Nokia6300/2.0 (05.00) Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1"
That looks like somebody in Wales using a cellphone to confirm their availability for an outing.
In the two years I’ve been involved in maintaining this system the idea that it might be accessed from a cellphone never occured to me.
In hindsight of course that makes perfect sense; the information in the system is most useful at 7am in the morning when everyone is standing around outside a boat shed; not when everyone is in the office in front of a PC.
2) Search Wellington tagging
This new submission for the Wellington City Chorus is correctly tagged with 4 relevant tags; even though the submission form is complete rubbish.
The tag selection form is the quickest, simplest implementation possible; a multiple select box.
It’s terrible for a number of reasons. Firstly, the user has to scroll through a massive list of options looking for possible matches. Secondly, to select more than one tag the user has to know who to perform a multiple select. This involves holding down a button somewhere in the bottom left of the keyboard and carefully clicking on a selection; then having to scroll to your next selection and clicking again (without been able to seen the effect on your first selection).
When this was implemented it was primararly for my own use; I expected no one would ever submit more than one tag through that interface.
In constrast, we’ve NEVER had a submission come through that form which didn’t have multiple, correct selections.
