Jay McGavren's Journal

Notes from Jay Philips on Adhearsion...

One of the more exciting talks at MountainWest RubyConf… Looks like I could have something simple running in a weekend.

Asterisk front end. Native integration with Rails. Project:

	dialplan.rb:
		adhearsion {
			simon_game
		}
		sandbox {
			play "hello-world" #Sound file stored on server.
			menu "hello-world" do |link|
				link.adhearsion 1 #Dialpad number to press.
				link.foobar 2
			end
		}
	events.rb
	components/
		sandbox/
			sandbox.rb
			sandbox.yml
				username: dfsklh
				password: dafsjkh
		my_component/
	config/
	startup.rb

Notes from Adam Dunford & Jason Edwards: Improving the Usability of Your Ruby on Rails Applications

Usability: Can a user accomplish THEIR goal?
Use actual users in usability testing.
Investment in usability usually offers 10x-100x return in increased profit.
Creating structure:
	Organize
	Prioritize
		Most important stuff is most obvious
	Group
		Similar stuff goes together
	Separate
	Differentiate
Don't defy user expectations (ex: link description doesn't match where it goes) - it makes them mad.
Reduce barriers:
	Allow quick account creation and signon.
		Pict.com lets you upload pictures even before you create an account.
	Don't require framework (Flash, Javascript, Silverlight) to be enabled/installed, at least not right away.
	Try to anticipate problems.
		Phone number validation - for God's sake, don't use 3 separate fields!
Affordances:
	Increase text size.
	Make form fields bigger.
	Add label tags that move cursor to field when clicked.
Give feedback:
	Make it clear and obvious that your app is responding appropriately.
	If validation fails, mark the fields with problems directly (indicator *right* next to them).
	Anticipate actions:
		Really cool - validate fields (in Javascript?) even before user submits form.
Simplify:
	"Every time you provide an option, you're asking the user to make a decision."  Avoid it where possible.
	Principles:
		Reduce
			How many elements can you take out of the signup form?
				Get rid of COPPA age validation.
				Tumblr got it down to 2 - username and password.
		Replace
		Hide
			Hide things that can't be acted on right now.
		Remove
			Remove info that isn't necessary.
Use terminology user is comfortable with: it's "delete", not "destroy".

Integrum invades MountainWest RubyConf...

Hey to @jamesbritt from the #mwrc Zonie row! Would've said hi first thing this morning, but you were enjoying your talk with that bum. :) 8 minutes ago from web

#mwrc attendees interested in Puppet might want to take a look at Rush (RUby SHell) as well: http://rush.heroku.com/ 11 minutes ago from web

Back at #mwrc after looong walk to RV. Shoulda left laptop where it was, but glad to be fully wired again. 12 minutes ago from web

At MountainWest RubyConf- on phone cuz laptop's in car. :( about 5 hours ago from txt

Drivin thru Utah, listening to polygamist jokes. about 12 hours ago from txt

7:28pm Diana Oh, Jay says he wants you to change your profile picture... :):) 7:28pmJennifer why? 7:28pm Diana I don't know, I like it, but he doesn't like it? who knows the mind of a man 7:29pm Jennifer Is it to sexy for him? :):) 7:30pm Diana LOL 7:30pm Jennifer He shouldn't talk though because his profile picture is upclose and personnal. 7:30pm Diana LOL

Diana’s friend is, of course, referring to THIS:

Street Fighter IV is a rock solid game, but I’m having a hard time staying interested. Part of it is a lack of parries, part of it is my taste in games maturing, and, well, part of it is that I’m getting old.