Usability Research

Running through EBSCO Academic premiere. Found many articles on usability. Did not find articles on Smartphones and Usability. Looking for the better Smartphone for tests. Palm Treo 700p, Motorola Q and Blackberry 8800. I really want to focus on a browser that is as similar to Firefox and Explorer as possible.

Netvibes

I came across netvibes tonight. Seems very interesting and could be a great place to keep track of a lot of little items. The interaction is slick.

Charts for little numbers

I was recently reading a presentation and came to the next slide and it had your standard bar chart. However, something seemed odd about the chart. It was tracking across the months on the x axis, six to be exact. However, the numbers for the y-axis were so low, we're talking six and under that the chart seemed overdone or even pointless. Are there cut off points or limits to bar charts and the type of content that should be presented? Would this have been better suited for another representation (pie chart, just numbers, a list?) Does presenting this information possibly detract from any amount of credibility because the numbers come across so low and unimportant? When I first saw it, I wasn't impressed but what if those numbers represent something major? In this instance a well designed table could have provide more impact. Maybe a graphical depiction of each month with the numbers inside.

Paradox of Navigation

I started reading through Schwartz's Paradox of Choice and already came across an interesting concept that can be applied to information architecture. In the subsection title "But is expanded choice good or bad" he begins to delve into the subject of many choices and does the help out a consumer or hinder him/her. On page 20 in reference to a study about choices, "A large array of options may discourage consumers because it forces an increase in the effort that goes into making a decision."
Applying this to navigation and information architecture, what does this do for designers and customers that still want to give their users as many options off of their navigation. Does the "Amazon" or "Target" show me all categories really work or does this present the users with too many choices? Is it better to let them narrow a subject with simple navigation and then broaden out once they see all their choices in further context? I would vote for the latter. Too many choices can lead to wasted time and false trails or distractions.

I'm reading(or skimming) through How We Reason. In one of my Information Architecture classes we've touched on sensemaking. I've also seen some posts on Jared Spool's site referencing the Paradox of Choice, which should be showing up soon. So I figure I'd pour through these three books over the next several weeks and see how they're related and overlapping. I'm interested in seeing how these topics can assist information architecture and usability. Especially as users begin to control their own experiences on sites, the choices that they have available are going to be critical. This will be a challenge(the good kind) for information architects.