Network Website Most Usable

A report from Web research firm Change Sciences Group suggests that major networks' websites were among the most user-friendly of video streaming sites.  CSG used their proprietary metrics to measure the ease of finding specific episodes, user engagement, and conversion.  In those measures, Hulu and Netflix rated significantly more poorly.
  (Anecdotally, as a user of both Hulu and Netflix, I'll agree that navigating their sites can be frustrating, particularly on mobile devices and through set-top boxes.  The visual interface is nice, and Netflix's recommendation system is a plus when you're looking for something to watch, but finding something specific can be a hassle.  But their real strength is the vast range of content available - something that does make search a bit more problematic.)
  On the down side for the networks, the research showed that the network websites didn't do very well when it came for finding out about new shows, show schedules, or when a new season of episodes is starting.

Surprise: Network TV sites out-web Web OTT giants, Broadcast Engineering

Apps rule! (among users)

A new study of more than 3500 smartphone and tablet users around the globe has found an overwhelming preference for using dedicated apps, rather than mobile websites, for information.
Some 85% of the survey's respondents preferred using apps, citing their speed, convenience, and ease of use.  The study found that people spend an average of almost 2 hours a daily with apps, twice the time they spent with apps a couple of years ago.  Those factors help explain why global app store revenues are expected to reach $25 million this year (a 62% increase).
  Happiness with apps isn't uniform, however.  Two-thirds of respondents indicated that they had a bad app experience - the app crashed, froze, or returned an error message.  Almost half (47%) had experienced slow launch times, and 40% have tried an app that failed to even open.  Users weren't very tolerant of problematic apps - 79% said they'd try an app that failed initially only one or two times before deleting it.
  Finally, the study found that app ratings were very influential when looking at apps.  84% said user ratings posted in app stores were an important component in their decision whether or not to try the app.

Source -  Speed Wins: Users Favor Apps Over Mobile,  OnlineMediaDaily

Issues with Microsoft's Outlook 2011 for Mac

The latest Microsoft Office 2011 release for Mac OS is creating a lot of the wrong kind of  buzz on the Net.
Apparently, the Outlook portion was not as well-integrated or as well-tested - failing to open Outlook databases without a rebuild of the full Office database.  The problem is widespread enough that Microsoft had to create and release a support document that provides step-by-step directions on how to get Outlook up and running.  In fact, the support document "fix" was released the same day as the upgrade, suggesting that this wasn't some unknown error, but a decision to release a version incompatible with previous Outlook datasets.
  Whether this was an attempt to push more computer folks to Windows, or an attempt to trim costs (or keep to a tight release schedule) by failing to include a database translator, or ensure that the software was backwards compatible, is unknown.  But it never helps your image to provide a clunky product - particularly one that makes users have to first find out what the problem was, and then have to go through a lengthy process to fix it.

Source -  Undoing the damage wrought by Microsoft's Outlook update,  Macworld Business Center

Google’s new iOS app a direct challenge?

  Google released an improved app for Apple’s iOS that could well become a threat to Apple and Safari’s control of web-surfing on the iPad.

  The updated Google app significantly improved on the basic search process, coming much closer to the kind of ‘instant search’ users experience on computers and laptops.  It has voice search capability, and integrates a dynamically served search results that evolves with keyword entry.  However, the real integration is with the applications button, which gives the user access to the full Google suite of Web apps, including Gmail, Picasa, Google Earth, Blogger, YouTube, Reader, News and Google Docs – which lets you open and edit documents saved across the various Google platforms.  As such, the new Google for iPad is approaching the functionality and integration of an alternative desktop on the iPad.

  As long as Apple’s iOS interface remains a collection of discrete apps, the new Google for iPad may provide a strong alternative for those seeking the kind of integration promised in the iCloud.

Source -  Google’s Trojan App,  Mobile Insider

Design online

Post submitted by Britney Dougherty -

We are all very familiar with e-commerce. Almost every website we visit contains at least some advertising. One of the challenges media companies and advertisers are currently facing is how to make the transition from the web on a computer to the web on a tablet. There are questions like how much should there be, where will it fit and how do we make it jump out at users. Stefanie Botelho for FOLIO magazine spoke with Alex Schmelkin. Schmelkin is president at Alexander Interactions, a company that provides solutions for e-commerce. He has plans for these new problems with the move to the tablet.

“It’s important to minimize the navigation, and the clutter…with media sites like NYT or TIME magazine, there could be literally hundreds of links above the fold. This doesn’t work when it comes to the tablet. We need to prioritize to keep the truly most important info on top.”

He is not sure how to easily excite consumers with the ads. One of the most used ways is now ineffective.

“Over the years, web designers like us have overused the concept of when you hover over a certain part of the page, something big happens,” Schmelkin says.

During the next few years, we will surely see new ideas and methods of e-commerce on tablets, or t-commerce.

Source: “E-Commerce Solutions for The Tablet Transition,” FOLIOmag.com

editted to add headline, address some formatting issues.