bad_usability_calendar_06.jpgA new year is just around the corner, as well as a new edition of the (in)famous Bad Usability Calendar. The past two calendars have both been successful in distributing examples of bad design. We have recieved lots of e-mails and calls of people requesting if we will make one for next year. To make a calendar for 2007 that has the same level of unusual unusefulness, we would like your feedback.

Give us your best examples of bad usability!

The best idea will get an honourable mention, as well as a numbered limited edition of the 2007 Bad Usability Calendar. All suggestions that make the final cut will get a prize.

If you need inspiration, check out the Bad Usability Calendars for 2005(jpg), and 2006 (pdf). Thank you in advance for all your help.

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17 kommentarer


Jesper Rønn-Jensen
9. november 2006
kl. 14:39

My first suggestion is that you announce to release it under some sort of Creative Commons license. This way, it could be translated into even more languages and benefit more people.

Thanks!


Martha
9. november 2006
kl. 14:58

We are planning to do so for the 2007 calendar; we just have to look into it a bit more. We are happy that so many enjoy our examples of bad usability,- we hope it can contribute to increase awareness of usability problems in a positive way. Thanks for your help, Jesper!


Dov
9. november 2006
kl. 18:01

Here are some ideas:

#1 Forcing the user to make too many decisions and/or technical decisions:

e.g.:

1 _Configure display_ >> 2 Show month

Display month:
Display year:
Font:
Font Color:
Font Size:
Align:
Start from:
Show holidays:
Hide weekend days:
Show trivia:
Encoding:

etc.

[Next]

#2 Bad error messages

e.g.: unknown error, using codes, technical errors

#3 Paradigms that confuse the user because they don’t match their mental model

e.g.: days shown vertically

Sun 7 14 etc.
Mon 1 8 15
Tue 2 9 16
etc.


Christian Watson
10. november 2006
kl. 07:04

How about this?


Robin Laurén
10. november 2006
kl. 15:40

A variation on the consistency would be to show one month with the weeks going downwards instead of left-to-right (indeed i have seen such calendars). Or you could just make it right-to-left for effect, though it might be seen as overly comical.


sebastien billard
11. november 2006
kl. 14:40

- Use plain language : not “the month of the god of war” for “mars”


Efrat
12. november 2006
kl. 10:03

Match the content to your target audience.
For example, the week in a Hebrew calendar begins on Sunday, but if a calendar with “Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat” is intended for a Christian audience it can cause confusion, and vice versa.
Same applies to dates in a US format: 12.11 is December 11 or November 12?


Thor
16. november 2006
kl. 11:43

We’ve got a Slovak translation of the Bad Usability Calendar made by Spravodaj. Thanks a lot!


Simon North
20. november 2006
kl. 18:22

Make sure that content that is the same, looks the same;
make sure that content that is different, looks different –
completely different.

Mo Tu We W Th Fa Sa Su
2 3 4 5 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 6 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 7 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 8 26 27 28 29
30 31 9


Anitha
12. juli 2010
kl. 11:36

Thank you for the information…….

[...] Netlife Research: Suggestions for 2007 calendar [...]
[...] Je parlais il y a quelques jours du Calendrier de la non-utilisabilité, mis en ligne par l’agence norvégienne NetLife Research. Thor Fredirk Eie, de cette même agence, nous annonce que la version 2007 est en cours de réalisation. Si vous avez des suggestions à leurs fournir pour cette nouvelle édition, une page de leur blog est dédiée à ce calendrier. Lâchez-vous ! [...]

Filter for 9/11 2006 - Felt10. november 2006
kl. 16:40
[...] IAllEnkelhet: The worst 12 usability problems – give us your ideas for Bad Usability Calendar 2007 NetLife Research are putting together a 2007 calendar, and are looking for input. [...]
[...] Nachtrag: Wer die kommende Ausgabe für 2007 unterstützen möchte, ist eingeladen Vorschläge zu machen.  Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
[...] Prosessen med å lage en ny kalender startet allerede i november og vi takke for alle kreative innspillene vi har fått til årets kalender! Vi utlovet en nummeret utgave av den nye kalenderen til den som kom med det beste forslaget til presentasjon av en enkelt måned. Vinnerforslaget vi har plukket ut kom fra designarkitekt Dov Rosner ved Amdocs, som foreslo en måned med dårlige feilmeldinger. [...]
[...] The process of making a new calendar started in November when we asked for suggestions on the new version. A special thanks to all of you that contributed! We recieved many creative ideas that we enjoyed and some that we used. We pledged that the best suggestion would be awarded a numbered version of the 2007 edition. [...]
[...] Wer die kommende Ausgabe für 2007 unterstützen möchte, ist eingeladen Vorschläge zu [...]

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