Nothing is special

Numbers abound in interfaces, hopefully delivering a great deal of information. Bigger numbers usually indicate more activity (like when you're looking at comment threads), or more work to do (like when you're looking at your inbox); smaller numbers generally indicate low activity. However, when the number zero must be represented in an interface, it should be treated differently than other values. Why? As I'll show below, "zero" can actually imply a variety of things, depending on its context.

Search results

Zero results can mean either that the term isn’t represented in the searched data set, or that the user mis-keyed the term. Each possibility would suggest a different recourse.

• Correct term, but no results? You need to find another term or look elsewhere.
• Bad term mis-keyed? You need to supply the correct term.

When the search results are zero, help the user notice the error with attention getting graphic design, and provide options about alternate terms or places to look.

Google provides helpful “Did you mean?” suggestions when a search produces no results.

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Whither Clippy?

Remember Clippy, the Microsoft Office Assistant? If you're like me, you remember Clippy because you hated his guts. Figuring out how to do basic stuff in Microsoft products is (often) frustrating and difficult, but being patronized by a grinning cartoon paperclip while doing so was infuriating. The fact that Clippy seemed to offer help at all the wrong times — well, that just added fuel to the fury. When Clippy joined his anthropomorphic predecessor Microsoft Bob in the UI dustbin, every user became a little happier and more productive.

Clippy came to mind when I was in Japan, a nation and culture richly populated with animated characters. On every surface, there are characters — talking penguins, inflatable dogs, instructive manga characters — and their cumulative presence seems to make the environment more engaging and friendly.

I saw this little guy in the UI of a Nintendo DS when I toured ATR, the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute in Kyoto.

I don't know what he's saying, but he sure is cute.

So, after my trip to Japan, I'm worried that we've taken the wrong lesson from the shortcomings of Clippy. There must be an appropriate a place for characters in interactive systems that are not simply games — not all interactive systems, but some, maybe?

My question: Can anyone point me to some good implementations of characters in non-game software? Or recommend some best practices?

Better ways to login

With Governor Sarah Palin's very public web-email security breach this week, there are dozens of blogs and websites pointing out how common password reset schemes are broken and debating how to improve the security of password reset tools.

Of course, password reset is just one part of the login experience which could use some improvement. There are a variety of ways to set up a web login system. A survey of many of the leading social networking and web services reveals some best practices and a number of less than satisfactory solutions. The choice of approach to a login ID determines how users must act to recover usernames and passwords and what kinds of verification must be provided.

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