Mobile Content: If in Doubt, Leave It Out

Writing for mobile readers requires even harsher editing than writing for
the Web. Mobile use implies less patience for filler copy.

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for October 10:
  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mobile-writing.html

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Usability Week 2011 conference

  * London: November 13-18
  * Las Vegas: December 4-9

Full program:
  > http://www.nngroup.com/events

DEADLINE to save 10% on London early-bird registration:
  * THIS FRIDAY, October 14
  > http://www.nngroup.com/events/london/agenda.html

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DESIGN COMPETITION: APPLICATION DESIGN SHOWCASE

Deadline: THIS WEDNESDAY, October 12

   ** Call for Entries **

Think you have a great application, or a particularly compelling feature?
Enter the Nielsen Norman Group's Application Design Showcase competition
that will recognize the world's best applications.

The winners will be announced in February 2012, and recognized in a
published Nielsen Norman Group report and on our website. Winners will
also be invited to attend a Nielsen Norman Group Application Usability
seminar in Las Vegas (with registration fee waived).

  ** Who Should Enter **

Any well-designed application is eligible, from complex productivity
applications to lightweight Web applets to programs intended for
entertainment. We will consider apps designed for any platform including
web-based, native desktop and mobile applications.
 
While no application is perfect in every way, the winners will include
some features or elements that exemplify innovative and usable design. The
complexity of the problem space and the history of improvement will be
considered when evaluating entries.

  ** How to Enter **

Please see:
  > http://www.nngroup.com/reports/applications/contest

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NEW TRAINING VIDEO IN HD: Paper Prototyping

We have released a new training video on paper prototyping:

  > http://www.nngroup.com/reports/prototyping

The video is in HD quality and available on Blu-ray disk. I believe this
may be the world's first usability video on Blu-ray. (It's also available
on old-fashioned DVD for those of you who don't have a Blu-ray player yet.
But the HD version looks *much* better.)

It's interesting to compare stills from this new video with equivalent
scenes from our previous paper prototyping video, which was produced in
2003:

  > http://www.nngroup.com/reports/prototyping/video_stills.html

Most of the basic usability testing methodology hasn't changed in 8 years.
The main difference (other than the quality improvements coming from
filming in HD) is that our testing of mobile devices looks very different
now.

The fact that learning usability methodology will last throughout your
career is one of the reasons I believe so strongly in the value of
usability training. (Most other things you learn will probably be outdated
in 5 years, but user research methods will still work in the future.)

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MORE PERSONAL IT

The Economist has a nice (long) article on the impact of personal
technology. While recognizing that the personal computer was "the first
machines truly to democratize computing power, boosting personal
productivity and giving people access" the author feels that mobile
devices are even more personal:

  > http://www.economist.com/node/21531109

In particular, the article points out that user expectations for
enterprise computing are being set by the support people feel they receive
from their personal devices. Many employees bring their devices to work,
and are appalled at the often-poor state of the company's information
environment. Something I addressed earlier in an article on "Enterprise
2.0" as we called it:

  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/social-intranet-features.html