Happy talk: fluff and often self-congratulatory promotional talk usually intended to be friendly but generally just getting in the way of people trying to get a job done. On the web, and to be honest most places, happy talk must die.

Happy talk must die is a gem from Steve Krug's legendary book on usability Don't Make me Think. Here's an excerpt on happy talk.

Also in Don't make me think: Omit needless words

Happy talk must die

The curb-cut effect illustrates how when we design to benefit disadvantaged or vulnerable groups we end up helping society as a whole.

Angela Glover Blackwell explains how campaigning by students with disabilities in Berkeley in the early 1970s led to adding curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. Yet it wasn't just people in wheelchairs that it helped. Curb cuts also made life easier for people pushing children in strollers, people using trolleys for deliveries, people pulling a suitcase, those wheeling bikes or on skateboards, and it also helps save lives by guiding people to cross at safe locations.

Another example is adding closed captioning to TV that helps anyone watch in a noisy bar, a waiting room, or watching an airline safety video. Or a classic example of universal design in the OXO Good Grips range originally made to be comfortable for holding a peeler even if you have arthritis.

It's also a useful analogy for "how laws and programs designed to benefit vulnerable groups, such as the disabled or people of color, often end up benefiting all," (PolicyLink) whether that be increasing broadband access, improving public transport or taking cuts out of curbs.

Here's a short, fun video of Gary Karp explaining the curb-cut effect.

Thanks to my patron Quintin Balsdon for sharing it with me.

The curb-cut effect

The number of connections that your brain has to make to figure something out.

It seems like David Demaree may be the reference for this.

Cognitive overhead

Classic rule of thumb from Jakob Nielsen. Probably the most useful corollary is if you can afford 15 tests, tests 5 users 3 times each and iterate the design in between.

5 user tests finds 85% problems

Two and a half words of wisdom from Steve Krug. Still worth reading Don’t Make Me Think.

Sketchplanations tagged with usability