Design Critiques

On occasion I find myself having a difficult time completing an assignment or project; constantly distracted by the other open programs on my desktop. I frequently turn to the browser application Write Space when I do, mainly because its design offers a simple, distraction free environment. Donald Norman would say that simplicity does not equal […]

I decided to write about the WordPress.com content management system (CMS) used for creating blogs and websites. I have used this management system for both school and work and at times have found it to be very frustrating. This content management system has poor usability qualities. As I reflect on my experience, I have found

It’s rare to actually enjoy visiting a health insurance website, and the site for my health insurance provider, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (HorizonBlue.com) is no exception. The homepage for Horizon Blue is heavily focused on attracting new health insurance members, as opposed to serving its existing members. The welcome screen is

When a product is branded across platforms, it would be natural to assume (or at least anyone supporting good design would assume) that the platforms would compliment each other. While my Nook eReader is a few years old, and I quite enjoy the reading experience, I sometimes I don’t bring it with me and I find

The design of the popular flight and travel booking application Kayak frequently leaves users confused and reliant on their long term memory to make use of the app. The main appeal of Kayak is the ability to search and find a wide range of options from one screen, seen below. However, the app becomes difficult

Ravelry is a multipurpose, user-driven site for knitters and crocheters. It is part social networking, part immense pattern library. My use of it over the past 7 or so years has been primarily in pattern searching, but the site design, which is good by many of Norman’s principles, has not changed in that time. The most

When we were given this assignment, I quickly thought of the most annoying flaw on any of my semi-regularly used apps on my Android phone – getting past the home screen on the New York Public Library app. Which I hardly use anymore because I hate it. The website is infinitely more enjoyable for me

  I have chosen the Amazon.com website as an example of good design. I use Amazon.com from time to time to purchase merchandise and what’s great about it’s design is that it has good, visibility, affordances, feedback and constraints. One of the first things that I noticed on the homepage is that, it has a

There are seemingly an infinite different ways to get the news online these days, but one of my favorite content apps to use on the iPhone is The Daily Beast “Read This, Skip That” app, which is linked to the site TheDailyBeast.com. Their articles range from topics including politics, pop-culture, world news and more. Instead of

Instagram is a photo sharing app, which utilizes several of Don Norman’s principles for good design, which make it a user-friendly social media mobile app. (You can also make 15 second videos with Instagram but this blog will focus on the photo sharing aspects.) There are a number of constraints that make Instagram easy for