The Overnightscape MetaFeed

Today we launched the WordPress Showcase, a display of some of the best and brightest WordPress users, who are using it to do a whole lot more than blog.

Pick your flavor and check out the possibilities available through WordPress MU, WordPress.com, WordPress.com VIP and WordPress.org.

Site screenshots are constantly updated, so what you see is a realtime look at what’s going on with our hottest users.

Don’t see something there that should be? Suggest an addition! We’ll check it out and add it to the bunch if we think it makes the cut.

A question I hear pretty frequently is, “Why a redesign of the admin panel so soon after 2.5?” Those who have attended WordCamps in the past few months have already heard the answer, but for the people who haven’t had that opportunity, this post is for you.

When the community response to the 2.5 admin redesign was mixed, it seemed like a good idea to do usability testing to find out which issues were based on actual interface problems vs. which complaints were just a result of not liking change. To prevent bias, a third party was contracted to conduct usability testing, Ball State University’s Center for Media Design, Insight and Research division. Try saying that three times fast with a mouth full of peanut butter. Or fitting it on a business card. To save time, we’ll just call that third party CMD, since that’s what they call themselves.

The plan that was developed involved multiple rounds of testing, as well as the creation of two prototypes, hardcore! The first phase involved a usability review of 2.5 by CMD, the results of which were discussed with lead developers. A quick prototype was created that addressed some of the lightweight issues, so that the test participants could use both 2.5 on their own blogs and the prototype on a test site. Results would be analyzed and compared, leading to a second round of suggestions. A second prototype would be developed over a week or two, which would then be tested with the same participants, and a final report delivered. But you know what they say… the best laid plans of designers and developers often go awry.

After the first round of testing, it was clear that a prototype delivering the kind of fixes that could be coded in a week or two wouldn’t make much of a difference overall. We all decided a more ambitious prototype was in order, one that would experiment with a new approach to screen real estate and attempt to address as many of the issues from 2.5 as was possible with a few extra weeks of time. A rapid design process was followed by an even more rapid development cycle. The second prototype is what you know as Crazyhorse.

The second round of testing blew everyone away. The research team had never seen such consistent results. Tasks were completed faster, participant opinions rated it higher, understanding of how interface elements worked was greater, and it wasn’t even a fully functional application. Of the test participants, every single one said they would choose the prototype over their current administrative interface, and it wasn’t even pretty (those of you who remember the original Crazyhorse will vouch for this).

A presentation on the process from start to finish was part of the schedule at WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco, and the slides are available online, but as always the slides only tell you so much without the videos, live demo and verbal narration that went with it. (Use Google and you can see audience videos of the presentation.)

Here, then, is a PDF of reasonable size that you can download and peruse at your leisure that outlines the usability testing project in some detail. I wanted to include some eye tracking videos, but the file was so huge it would have been ridiculous for anyone to download it, so I stuck with eye tracking outputs called gaze trails to illustrate the findings. I also tried to pare down the text to the more salient points, since more than 50 hours of test video really does reveal an insane amount of data. I also cut out the section about designing Crazyhorse in the interest of staying under 25 pages. Hopefully you’ll think it’s a good balance. I’ll try to put together a separate document on the design process of 2.7 in a couple of weeks that will include the early Crazyhorse material.

So, if you want to know what we learned from the usability testing this summer that caused us to create what is now 2.7, go ahead and read the report.

WordPress 2.5/Crazyhorse Usability Testing Report (PDF)

05-39 ug: (end of Day 5) Popeye Saves The Earth (10/25/08) (21:39 / 19.9 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 39 - 11:38 PM (23:38:21)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
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Topics include: Outro to “The Hawaiian Phonograph Records and More”, the end of the Day system, tea/candy review (”Ricola Natural Herb Blend”), pinball machines (”Popeye Saves The Earth”, “Last Action Hero”, “Guns N’ Roses”), and The Overnightscape Underground continues, in its new form, in November 2008.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”

05-38 The Hawaiian Phonograph Records and More (11/4/00) (1:21:57 / 75.1 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 38 - 10:16 PM (22:16:24)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
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Frank plays a bunch of records on an old Edison phonograph, in the basement of his grandmother’s house in New Brunswick, NJ on November 4, 2000. Some rough notes on the records played (spellings may not be correct): “Feniculi Fenicula, by L. Denza, Charles Harrison, Edison Recording”, “Aloha Sunsetland, Ioane J Kawelo, Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra”, “(flip side) My Sweet Sweeting Waltz
Hawaiian Guitar Duet, Helen Louise & Frank Ferera”, “An Edison Recreation, 50906-R, Bluebird Inspiration by M.H. Ryder, The Imperial Marimba Band, 8329″, “50906-L, In Storm and Sunshine March, by J. C. Heade, The Imperial Marimba Band, 8331″, “80685-R, I Need Thee Every Hour, Robert Lowry, The Metropolitan Quartet, 8049, (excerpt)”, “Somewhere in Hawaii, Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra with Louise and Ferera”, “Kiss Me Again Waltz, Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra with Louise and Ferera”, “Ellis March, Instrumental Duet, Ford Hawaiians”, “1234 Medly Waltz, Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra, (excerpt)”, “On Yonder Rock Reclining, Fra Diavolo, Auber, Soprano and Tenor Orchestra Accompaniment”, “Light As A Feather, Bellswith Orchestra, John F. Burckhardt”, “The Jolly Coppersmith March, Descriptive, C. C. Peter, Band”, “Aloha Oe, by Queen Lili’uokalani, Frida Hempel and Criterion Quartet”, “Roamin in the Gloaming, Scotch Song with Orchestra, Harry Lauder, Glen Ellis”, “Glow Worm, Paul Lincke, Edison Concert Band”, “Underneath the Stars, Foxtrot, The Jaudus Society Orchestra, (Fox Dancing)”. Additional notes: Thinkfang.com, flip out at work, Fuzzy Daupner “RidiculousFortune”, weird time for Obliviana, Pete Christian thing, paintball with Mad Mike, CNN report on online audio, walks around NY, Rockefeller Center, Julie coming over, the real Millennium, and saying hi to the me of the future.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”

05-37 ug: Luver Premiere (10/25/08) (1:12:30 / 66.5 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 37 - 8:41 PM (21:03:54)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
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Topics include: Outro to the previous 35 tracks, Flip Video Ultra, new ONSUG system coming, voting for Frank Moore for president, listening to the premiere of The Overnightscape on Frank Moore’s Internet radio station, Luver.com (Love Underground Visionary Revolution), Steely Dan, Nanny and Nonno’s house, Howard Johnson’s, clams, and the intro to “The Hawaiian Phonograph Records and More”.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”

05-37 ug: Luver Premiere (10/25/08) (1:12:30 / 66.5 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 37 - 8:41 PM (21:03:54)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
——————————
Topics include: Outro to the previous 35 tracks, Flip Video Ultra, new ONSUG system coming, voting for Frank Moore for president, listening to the premiere of The Overnightscape on Frank Moore’s Internet radio station, Luver.com (Love Underground Visionary Revolution), Steely Dan, Nanny and Nonno’s house, Howard Johnson’s, clams, and the intro to “The Hawaiian Phonograph Records and More”.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”

05-36 Stale Product Reviews (8/10/08) (22:34 / 20.8 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 36 - 8:41 PM (20:41:20)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
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Frank reviews a variety of stale products in The Overnightscape Studio.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”

05-36 Stale Product Reviews (8/10/08) (22:34 / 20.8 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 36 - 8:41 PM (20:41:20)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
——————————
Frank reviews a variety of stale products in The Overnightscape Studio.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”

05-35 Oceana (NYC-8/8/08) (41:05 / 37.7 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 35 - 8:00 PM (20:00:15)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
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Frank walks around Midtown Manhattan talking about a wide variety of topics. This was the last NYC field recording before The Rampler began on 8/14/08.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”

05-34 Criminal (NYC-8/5/08) (32:56 / 30.3 MB)
Day 05 (Fall 2008) - Track 34 - 7:27 PM (19:27:19)
The Overnightscape Underground (onsug.com) - “A neverending late night broadcast…”
Created by Frank Edward Nora (frank@theovernightscape.com) in New Jersey, USA
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Frank walks around Midtown Manhattan talking about a wide variety of topics.
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License for this track: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Attribution: “by Frank Edward Nora - more info at onsug.com”