We spend a lot of time talking about good usability, so it’s always fun to switch gears and talk about the bad. Check out the Bad Usability Calendar, just released for 2008 in multiple languages.

I usually ignore news sensations. I change the channel whenever they mention Brittney Spears. But, today, like everyone else in the great state of Alabama, I am glued to the Weather Blog at ABC 33/40. That’s because it’s supposed to snow. If you live in a climate where it snows regularly, go ahead and chuckle. In Alabama, when it snows, first all the soccer moms get out in their Volvos and buy all the milk and bread. Then, the whole place shuts down. I wouldn’t really care, in fact I would be rejoicing in the event, except I’m supposed to fly out tomorrow morning for a week of cycling with my teammates in San Diego. Where it is warm. And never snows. And they have bike lanes.

The weather blog is pretty cool, though. I really like the candor of the meteorologists, and the fact that they really explain the science behind the forecast. Usually I don’t trust the weather forecast much. It never seems to be accurate. But I am putting a fair amount of stock in this snow forecast, because I’ve been able to read all the background information. There is so much more they can share on the blog than on the air. If only they had these when I was in school. I would have known for sure if I needed to do my homework, or if we were in for a snow day.

I was reading a nifty article today on Vitamin and found a nugget worth sharing: The Squint Test. Its purpose is to determine quality of design layout for a landing page. From Amy Hoy:

“I always use the Squint Test to evaluate landing pages. It’s as easy as saying “if the wind changes, it’ll stick that way”:

Close one eye and make the other go all fuzzy. Can you still identify the key parts of the design? Give special consideration to important areas of focus and the download/call to action button.”

This reminds me of similar tests we did in college with oil paintings. We would stand way back from the painting, to see if what we had been scrutinizing from 3 inches away made sense from 20 feet away. I like doing this type of thing with foreign language sites too. If I can’t understand any of the words, can the design still lead me down the correct path?

I often do heuristic evaluations of web sites and applications. I use a set of heuristics made famous by Jakob Nielsen. A heuristic, essentially, is a rule of thumb. So, you can imagine I have a special place in my heart for rules of thumb. They help settle disputes, ensure consistency, and provide a framework for design.

Imagine my delight when I ran across a site dedicated to rules of thumb, not just those involving usability and design: RulesofThumb.org. Here are a few of my favorites.

DESIGNING A MODERN CHAIR
If you’re designing a chair and want to know how well your design will stand the test of time, imagine 30 of them lined up in a laundromat.

PREDICT THE WINTER WITH WOOLY WORMS
An all-black wooly worm means the entire winter will be hard. An all-brown wooly worm means the entire winter will be mild. A multi-colored worm means the winter will have periods of severe and mild weather.

WATCH THE EYES
If someone is remembering a situation, their eyes tend to go up and left. If they are making up a story, their eyes tend to go down and right.

SAVING MONEY WITH COUPONS
If a coupon is worth less than a dollar, it’s not worth clipping, sorting, and storing.