Usability Spotter #1: Setting Photo Licenses on Yahoo! Flickr

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Solution 4

This solution is again viable to make its way to implementation since it does not seem to violate the Flickr’s visual framework (The legend is used horizontally at at the Creative Commons page on Flickr). It also reduces kinematic load since the explanation of the licenses does not require the user to interact through the mouse at all.

Locating help in solutions 1 and 2 will be faster than in this case due to the location of the help which is below the ‘return to the photo page’ link. However, the time difference should be low since it uses icons that will attract the users attention. Cognitive load is mitigated effectively since there is adequate distance between the help and the license radio button values.

Running a well designed usability test on an interactive prototype for this would help reach a conclusion on the effectiveness of this solution.

Solution 5

This solution uses solutions 3 and 4 to its advantage and combines the use of hint text with the icon based legend that is available on the page, thus making it, I would think, the best solution that minimizes kinematic load as well as mitigates cognitive load concerns.

Note

I should have probably written about this in the beginning, but if you’ve read the entire article, I hope it helps you appreciate the intricacies involved in interaction design and why the most obvious solution is always not the answer. Then there is ‘Product’ or the product department which we shall talk about another time, who you need to sell your solution to. Having data by your side and a solid explanation of why a certain solution/ mockup/ prototype should be used is not important, it’s mandatory.

Having said the above, Flickr offers a fantastic and consistent user experience, we all love it. So why hasn’t Flickr fixed this issue as yet? It might be the (rare) case that it has not been identified as a usability issue, however in all likelihood, it has been identified, but either as a low priority issue, or a usability issue that will have to wait it’s turn in the product backlog.

What do you think?

What’s your say? Which solution would you go with and why? Got anything to share? Let me know.

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