Twitter.app versus twitter.com

a.k.a

an app versus a website 

It was not until recently that I got addicted to Twitter. And by addicted I mean, checking it 25-30 times a day as compared to once every two days. A lot of this I attribute to a lazy Christmas break I had.

As I said, I never was a big Twitter user to purchase any of their several unofficial iPhone clients. But once they acquired Tweetie and published ‘Twitter for iPhone’ for free, I bought it! And needless to say, I started using Twitter more frequently (still only once every two days).

Back in September when Twitter redesigned their website, I was one of their happy customers. The screen on the new design seemed way too cluttered yet it had a nice flow to it. Despite all the extra information provided on one page, I could easily differentiate between the tweet timeline and the profile tab. What I also liked was their unique marketing, something unusual for a redesigned website. (and I don’t understand what stopped Facebook from using this design in 2006.. but anyway..)

After graduating to be one of their heavy users and despite loving their new website, I found myself using their iPhone app much more than its .com version. The only time I would log onto their website was when my phone was tucked deep in my pocket and/or when I was already logged on to my computer. Even that incentive was taken away when Twitter for Mac debuted in the Mac App Store early this week. To be honest with you, I don’t see myself using the website any more. 

With the launch of the Mac App Store, there is no doubt that we are going to see people download more and more apps in the coming days and months.  Now the big question is, are we going to see these apps replace(kill) their web counterparts?

There are a couple of reasons I think they will.

1.     Apps offer a very lightweight version of the website without compromising on the data provided. By lightweight I mean,

a.     Occupies less screen real estate. Thus letting me have multiple windows open on my 13” screen.

b.     Opening/ClosingReopening is a one click operation – all with no/minimal typing

2.     Apps give you a feeling that they live on YOUR computer and not on the web, hence you are likely to use them more frequently as they sem readily available to you.

The experience I’ve had with using Twitter has reinstated my belief that though the web is not dead yet, it surely is dying a slow one.

Update: Square COO, Keith Rabois shares the same view in this article.

A couple of weeks back I received a frantic phone call from an old high school classmate of mine. She wanted to learn about usability in 2 weeks! Working as a software quality analyst at a leading tech consultancy firm in the country, she had no background in the field of usability. Her manager wanted her entire team to self-teach themselves the basics of usability in 2 weeks.

This is not the first time I've heard of project managers asking their software developers who have no prior usability experience to learn about usability. So my friend gave me the task of putting together a list of books, videos, podcasts and any relevant material that might help her understand what usability is all about. This was quite a daunting task primarily because she wanted an overview of what I learnt in 6 classes and 2 years of school, in 2 weeks.

I’m sure a lot of folks out there are in the same boat as her and want to know more about usability but don’t know where to start. The list I came up with isn't exhaustive but I do think it is a good starting point.

1. Ideo Shopping Cart Redesign Video
So on the first day of my first ever usability class, we were shown a video called The Deep Dive from ABC’s Nightline series. This video (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) documented the process used by a design firm, Ideo, to rebuild a shopping cart in 5 days. It is by far the best illustration of the human-centered design process I’ve seen. I still watch this video every now and then for inspiration. The video is not about the shopping cart’s final design, but its about the process and how they came up with that final design. Since its short and concise at 23 mintues, I often show it in my presentations to non-UX folks. Trust me, it goes well with bosses! 
I know that Steven Eppinger and Joel Greenstein, both design professors at MIT Sloan and Clemson University respectively, show this video on the first day of class. So I would highly recommend watching it! 

Introductory Books on Usability

2. Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug:
Usability is often considered the most hated job by developers. If you are a core software guy who knows very little about usability and you want to convince yourself to perform usability tests on your software, this is the book for you. Again, it only gives you a basic overview about usability but it’s a very quick read. Steve Krug advertises this book as one which can be read from start to finish on a flight from New York City to San Francisco.

3. Product Design and Development - Karl Ulrich, Steven Eppinger:
The only reason I have this book listed as the third resource on this list is because it is very theoretical and cannot be read in a week but I consider this book my bible. I’ve not only read it multiple times but also keep referring to it every time I’m in the middle of a design project. It's not a typical book on usability but a book about user-centered design. I think it should be on every product manager’s must read list. Almost all the UX teams I’ve worked with adopt this design methodology. 

4. Usability Engineering: Jakob Nielsen:
When you talk about usability, a lot of people will refer you Jakob Nielsen and his books. Usability Engineering is a very good guide to the different usability techniques you can use. To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Jakob Nielsen or his other work, but I read this book for one of my classes and found it to be helpful. 

5. Observing the User Experience: A practitioner's guide to user research. Mike Kuniavsky:
The title says it all. It is not a book you can read from start to finish, but it is your post 2 week reference guide. This is my go to book whenever I need a detailed description about a usability methodology. 

So are you all ready to become Usability Czars in 2 weeks?

P.S: As I said before, this list is not exhaustive. So keep those comments coming in and I’ll be glad to update the post based on your recommendations.