Blogs

The people at NetLifeResearch have put together a funny little ‘Bad Usability Calendar’ which is an interesting look at some bad habits in interaction design. I’ve reposted it here (bad_usability_calendar_08_us_english.pdf) for download but you can also get it off their site here (http://www.badusability.com/).

Some highlights:

• Only add personalization where it adds value
• Dont require login where it isn’t needed
• Bigger is better (at least easier to click)

Earlier this week, I speculated about what M$ might do with Yahoo!’s Zimbra property should they get acquired.

Mark Levitt from the IDC made these interesting comments. There might be too big a gulf, not only in a technological sense (Zimbra is a J2EE product), but also in a cultural sense (a lot of customers chose Zimbra to get away from Exchange and other M$ solutions). Microsoft might end-of-life Zimbra, or maybe re-engineer it to become a sort of .NET extension for Exchange-online.

The news broke earlier today – Microsoft is making a pass at Yahoo!. What would this mean for consumers? Here is my guess:

1. Zimbra becomes the platform an online offlice product resembing Google docs but fitting into Office Live.
2. Microsoft becomes a leading content producer, cross-polinating their MSNBC stake with online material including video, with everything from news journalism, to entertainment.
3. With the talent imported from Yahoo!, Microsoft slowly takes on a more credible R&D role and actually begins listening to developers.
4. Microsoft gets into a host of other service businesses including Travel, Financial Services, and eCommerce enablement.

I wonder what the E.U. and antitrust groups will have to say about this. In any case, it will probably take upwards of a year to sort all this out. Does anybody have any other opinions on this?