Sneaky Usability Testing Trick

Earthlink is evidently building a new "My Earthlink Start Page" kinda thing.

They've been blogging about some of their usability testing for it.

It's the usual kinda stuff (secret mirrors, recording devices, etc), until the very last paragraph.

http://blogs.earthlink.net/2006/12/new_myearthlink_part_3_three_l.php

At RSG, some of our biggest "eureka!" usability dicoveries have occured by simply peering over someone's shoulder while they worked. No fancy cameras, tin-foil hats, lab coats, or nipple-electrodes required (but you can still do all that for the dramatic effect, of course).

You can lead a horse to water...

You can launch a new upgrade, but you can't make customers actually use it. You can send emails, post announcements, build tutorials, and blog about it all you want.

Fact is, people don't have time to read about your cool new accomplishment.

Here's a sneaky little "non-marketing" way that Google's using to tell me about their new version of Blogger. Hmm, I might actually convert one day.

Dos and Don'ts for Entrepreneurs

The Knowledge@Wharton site has a do's and don'ts article from entrepreneurs who've made it.

I'll paraphrase it for you:

1. Be a weirdo
   
2. Bootstrap it
   
3. Solve a problem
   
4. Keep it simple