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UX Myths

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Here's a UX Myth:

Disabling back-button keyboard shortcuts won't piss people off and cause them to leave your site.

(Using Safari 5.0 on OSX 10.6.4)

Same.

For all irked by this, try the root site: http://uxmyths.com/

The offending party is UXBooth, which adds nothing of value. Can someone edit the link to point to uxmyths.com instead?

From the same department: UX Myth

It doesn't annoy users when you require JS just to correctly display a static page with no fireworks. (big white box takes >50% of height on FF)

> Myth #18: Flash is evil

Flash steals my focus and my keyboard shortcuts. Flash is evil.

And there's no 64 bit Linux version nor one for iPhone&iPad.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=290785 (nswrapper) and http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-install-flash-on-your-ipad-... (frash)

(not that flash isn't evil...)

NB: although the browser is 64 bit, the Flash plugin is still 32 bit.

That's a feature (there is no 64 bit flash version period, whatever the OS is. On Windows and OSX this means that you either use a 32b browser or you use a browser opening the Flash plugin in a separate browser e.g. Safari 4, on Linux I believe you can also go through nspluginwrapper)

Myth #8 about stock-photos, and Myth #1 about people not reading on the web ... these are things I knew since forever.

But when working as a consultant, good luck trying to explain to customers that.

I subconsciously read UX as Unix.. (oh thank you HP-UX for past years with ye ;)

For some reason I really like this list format, and I am going to steal it.

Myth: power and usability are opposites

All users want power and control. If the UI is too confusing for the user, they are powerless. If the UI is too crippled to do what the user needs to do, they are powerless. An intersection must be found, where power emerges from simplicity.

Power by itself is useless unless the user feels powerful using the software. It is that feeling that drives the user to want to learn more. For them to get that feeling, the software has to be usable. It has to permit exploration (i.e, don't punish them for trying stuff) and give good, immediate feedback about what it is doing. The feedback allows them to build a mental model of the program.

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