Most of the time it’s hard to introduce usability to developers, they always start out by assuming it has something to do with GUI and that graphic stuff. After some discussion they see the value in usability but most of the time they need a lot more persuasion and argumentation before they accept that it has to be an integrated part of the development.

However, in this I have also found that developers are unknowingly starting to talk about usability, calling it something else. And when it comes to understanding and working with an API they can often relate to the concept of usability.

So what does this has to do with the agile manifesto as the title of this post says?

Well, a few well chosen words got the developer community to start thinking in new directions and it was a good and much needed change. But in my opinion they missed on a few things. So now it's time for the guys that stand behind the agile manifesto they start acting on their principals, especially the last one. With only a few small changes to the manifesto and the principles, you could push the agile community to be user-centric as well.

The first little change is Working software, it is far too vague. Changed it to Usable software, actually I think they had that in mind. (Oh no, something fluffy as usable, it's so much easier to test if something is working or not!). By using the working software terminology you loose on usability, working software in engineering terms can be far from usable.

Next is the word customer. To be able to reach the goal of usable software you have to talk to the users, not the customers. The word customers instead of users shift the focus totally. By using customer you lock on to older paradigms where someone acting as the customer or product owner or whatever is responsible for handling the requirements.

Well, actually if you would go through and update the manifesto with these two small fixes and adapted those principles in your agile methods. You would have gained a lot for the users, the ones that have to put up with your software.

Ahh, a tiring couple of days at Øredev conference. It's interesting but hard to stay alert for a full day of seminars. Next year, I and a colleague are planning for some usability focused stuff at Øredev. Finally the time might be right now when even developers are starting to acknowledge usability (they just don't know it yet). One example is what Martin Fowler describes with fluent interfaces. In its essence, fluent interfaces are nothing but usability for the developers. Make the API simple, readable and usable for the audience – the developer. Ring a bell here?Some, however, catch on and understands that essentially it's the users that count. The second day key-note speaker James O. Coplien / nordija. Did in fact, so geek he is, address that at hart agile development is about giving the user what the need. But that it has been lost in nerdism in most incarnations of agile development.When developers start talking about usability something might eventually happen, and the winner is the users.

So, close to world usability day I give you a story about things that break. Or especially mobile phones that break. You know they are not built to be used other than in the dry comfort of your home or office, away from any type of outdoor environment. If you don’t take care you might use it after a workout or on a cold foggy November morning. Next you know, you have a paper weight or a door stop in your hand. I have heard dozens of these stories and also had the opportunity of experience it myself a couple of times.So this is obviously a common problem, so common that the manufacturers decided to do something about it. So the came up with an excellent idea: a water indicator, telling the technician that you have been carless enough to use your phone outdoors. So actually they are not taking care of the real problem but finding a way of blaming the users, their main source of income. (hmm... remind me of another business...). They could actually have solved the real problem here, study how people use their phones and make sure it works in those environments, but no.For the user there are two solutions available right now: Either use a zip-lock plastic bag (I actually asked if that was what they suggested when I handed in my phone). Or you can open up your mobile, locate the indicator and place a piece of scotch-tape over it. That way, when its time for warranty repair you remove the tape and they can't blame you for dropping it in a puddle of water...My phone then? Well, first time it got back from repair they said it was water damaged - no warranty. So I returned it for another checkup and after a week I got it back. - They just cleaned the connectors and now it’s ok again.

Just found another cool detail in Vistas file explorer, just a small one but oh so nice. I often navigate folders using my keyboard. You know, go down a folder using enter and then move up again using backspace. When you do that in Vista you are no longer placed on the first folder. You are placed at the same folder you entered in the first place.This has been so irritating before and the solution was so simple. So I say it again - it's all in the details.

The autumn just came down on us this last week. From late summer one day and cold, rain and darkness the day after. Well time for everyone to look around yourself, make yourself useful. On the 14th of November it's world usability day. There are a lot of events all around you and if you check the europe map out, you may find something close to you.The reasoun for the event:World Usability Day promotes the value of usability engineering, user-centered design, and every user's right to ask for things that work better.So remember, 14th of November - World Usability Day!

Back in 2005 i posted a text about the actual resolution on the browser and how different it is to the screen size. My very unscientific numbers suggested that the width of the web app should be focused around 800-900.Well it turns out some others had made the same observations. Jesper Rønn-Jensen found similar evidence and in his design for browser size not screen size and a more elaborated measurement by Baekdal in actual browser sizes seems to support this findings as well.An interesting observation is that a wide screen 17" and 19" often have the resolution 1680x1050, it will fit two browsers side by side perfectly.The question still remains; is the size depending on personal preferences or is it a result of the current web designs used. In current designs, most of the time the lines are either too long in full screen or the site will only display blank information on half the page. Give me a column handled full screen version of a web page and I might switch to maximized.