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	<title>Alex Metcalf &#187; usability</title>
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	<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com</link>
	<description>Web expert and technology explainer in British Columbia, Canada</description>
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		<title>Google&#8217;s search improvements need improving</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/05/googles-search-improvements-need-improving/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/05/googles-search-improvements-need-improving/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 May 2010 22:33:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=439</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, Google announced they are rolling out an improved search results page.
However, they seem to have battered it with an ugly stick and made the page very &#8216;heavy&#8217; (click for larger version):

So again, a few hours&#8217; work, and I&#8217;ve created an improved version. Most of my time was spent:

Removing unnecessary details, such as grey dividing [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/05/googles-search-improvements-need-improving/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Refreshing the BBC sport website</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/04/refreshing-the-bbc-sport-website/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/04/refreshing-the-bbc-sport-website/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:30:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bbc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=284</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So I&#8217;m watching the live football text on the BBC website, and it strikes me that the page design is rather heavy-handed. Solid slabs of colour everywhere, excessive wordage, and a general lack of focus on the content.

I sighed, and resigned myself to spending three hours refreshing it.
My version, with which I&#8217;m rather happy:

(Manchester United [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/04/refreshing-the-bbc-sport-website/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Clearer Movie Rentals in iTunes</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/clearer-movie-rentals-in-itunes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/clearer-movie-rentals-in-itunes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:38:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[itunes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[movie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rentals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[user experience]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=257</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[iTunes movie rental screens – see the before-and-after graphic below – would benefit from some simple user experience improvements:

You do not need to rent directly from a search screen such as &#8216;New to Rent&#8217;. I would anticipate most people click through to the movie first, then choose rent, to reassure themselves on making the correct [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/clearer-movie-rentals-in-itunes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Better Safari browsing: more vertical space (part 3)</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/better-safari-browsing-more-vertical-space-part-3/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/better-safari-browsing-more-vertical-space-part-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:13:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[browser]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[safari]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=230</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We (still) need a better browsing experience, and I&#8217;m on a mission to promote it. For part 3, I&#8217;ve created a comparison picture to again show easy gains in vertical space.
Browsers, such as Apple&#8217;s Safari, need to make better use of vertical space. Less focus on functionality and more on page content.
Here&#8217;s my mockup. (Click [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/better-safari-browsing-more-vertical-space-part-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Recipe for making iPad&#8217;s iBooks easier to read</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/recipe-for-making-ipads-ibooks-easier-to-read/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/recipe-for-making-ipads-ibooks-easier-to-read/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:47:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iBooks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ipad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recipe background
My great-great-great-great-grandfather once sat me on his knee and said, &#8220;You know what kid? People read books for the words.&#8221; He then wrote that insight down as a magic recipe.
Today, I&#8217;d like to share that recipe with you for improving Apple&#8217;s new iBooks.
Ingredients

One (1) Apple picture of a two-page iBook spread on an iPad, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/recipe-for-making-ipads-ibooks-easier-to-read/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Improving the iTunes store &#8211; search results</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/improving-the-itunes-store-search-results/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/improving-the-itunes-store-search-results/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:31:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[itunes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[user experience]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=198</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Following from my last post about the iTunes store, I appear to be on a roll here. Here&#8217;s how you can give the iTunes store&#8217;s search results a makeover.
Here&#8217;s the current store search results page (click to embiggen) for &#8216;TomTom&#8217;, where inexplicably the app search results aren&#8217;t at the top – even when you search [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/improving-the-itunes-store-search-results/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Improving the iTunes store &#8211; TV shows</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/improving-the-itunes-store-tv-shows/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/improving-the-itunes-store-tv-shows/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:17:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[itunes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[user experience]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=186</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An iTunes thread on Ars Technica inspired me to give the iTunes store a user experience spring clean – specifically, browsing TV shows.
Here&#8217;s the US store&#8217;s current presentation of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 1 (click to embiggen):

It&#8217;s crowded. Information is duplicated, such as the main season picture, the show title and season number, and many [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/03/improving-the-itunes-store-tv-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The little things&#8230; bookmarking in Google Chrome</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/02/the-little-things-bookmarking-in-google-chrome/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/02/the-little-things-bookmarking-in-google-chrome/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:24:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bookmarks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chrome]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/?p=168</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bookmarking in the latest beta of Google Chrome is confusing. Here&#8217;s why, and how to fix it.
Here&#8217;s what happens when you click the &#8216;Star&#8217; button in Google Chrome. You get the following &#8216;dialog&#8217; (or panel or whatever):

As you can see, the bookmark is already created, and we&#8217;re given the chance to edit the bookmark&#8217;s name [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/02/the-little-things-bookmarking-in-google-chrome/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Browsing movies in iTunes</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/01/browsing-movies-in-itunes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/01/browsing-movies-in-itunes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:40:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[itunes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/iguanafuture/?p=79</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Browsing movies in iTunes needs to be much more interactive and visual, like it is in a video store. Here&#8217;s just one concept of how you could do this, using Cover Flow in a really appropriate way.

]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/01/browsing-movies-in-itunes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Improving Safari vertical space</title>
		<link>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/01/improving-safari/</link>
		<comments>http://www.alexmetcalf.com/2010/01/improving-safari/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:15:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>alex</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Usability ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web browser]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.alexmetcalf.com/iguanafuture/?p=62</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is how I&#8217;d like to see Safari on the Mac&#8230; or indeed, how I&#8217;d like to see every web browser. Maximise the vertical space, use all the space on the left and right on our widescreen monitors.

]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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