Leap Blog: The “Doomsday Rule”

Archive for February, 2012

Leap Blog: The “Doomsday Rule”

Happy Doomsday, everyone! Did you know that the last day in February is called “Doomsday”? not in a “the world is ending” way, but it’s a mathematical equation called the “doomsday rule”, figured out by mathematician John Conway. You can read all about it on places like Wikipedia, but the jist is this: Doomsday is just a name, he could have called it “Conway Day”, but Doomsday has more punch! Doomsday is the last day of February each year. (a.k.a. March 0, or ZEROth of March).

What day does Christmas fall on in 3 years?

Where this rule is helpful is finding out what day of the week a certain date, holiday, birthday, etc. falls on. You might be thinking: I can always just Google it, or search for it on my calendar. Yes…IF you are at a computer. But what if you are not at a computer? What day is Christmas in 2015? Well, its on a Friday, of course! Isn’t that a great day for Christmas, because you probably get the Eve off, and then Boxing day is a Saturday – Sunday is an extra day. Boxing day always falls on Doomsday. So does Halloween, and the 4th of July, and that’s just for starters. Read on!

How to remember the rule { impress your friends }

These dates also fall on Doomsday (remember even numbers after 2): 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12. For the odd months these dates are also on Doomsday: 5/9, 9/5, 7/11 and 11/7 (remember “Seven Eleven is open from Nine to Five”). There you have all the months except January. For January, in regular years it is 1/10. Think of the tenth as 1 year, 0 extra days. On leap year it is 1/11 – 1 year, 1 extra day.

In normal years (the next three) Doomsday advances by one day (365 is 52 weeks + 1 day), and leap years it advances by two. This may seem like a lot to remember, but once you know the Doomsday for one year, you get used to figuring ahead. This year, 2012, doomsday is on Wednesday, so the next three years are Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So, in 2014, July 4th is on a Friday – a good day for that holiday.

But wait, there’s more.

*Warning – for the extra-math-geeky only! Yes, there is a whole algorithm for figuring out any year in any century, but for most people, knowing a few years ahead (and the current year, of course) can be helpful. If you really want to know what day will be New Year’s in 2099, you can do the math.

How much is your anonymity worth on the web?

Google has launched Screenwise, a 100% voluntary project that attempts to nail down internet usage statistics from normal, everyday users, rather than the ‘power-users’ that are typically monitored and seem to have the loudest voice. Google is willing to pay these regular Joes throughout the monitoring process as well, albeit via relatively meager Amazon gift cards.

What’s the catch? Well, once you opt in as a panelist, your every click around the vast interwebs will be captured by a browser extension and sent back to the Google mothership, to help them better understand how everyday folks use the web.

If you’re not a conspiracy theorist, or worried about being a part of a broad cross-section (and you’re at least 13 years old), you could have signed up to be a panelist through the Screenwise website. However, at the time of writing, there has been an overwhelming interest for this program and Google is urging those interested to “please come back later for more details”. If you got in early or the program opens back up, Google plans to reward panelists with a $5 Amazon gift card for the first month of tracking and another $5 gift card for every three months thereafter.

To take it a step further, of the folks that have already signed up, a handful have been approached to install a small black box to their home modem called a Screenwise Data Collector (SDC). Having an SDC box in your home will track your entire home network usage, no matter the time of day, chosen browser, or device you surf on. While more intrusive, the SDC program does award participants $20 for every month they participate and an initial $100 for starting the program.

So how do you feel about every keystroke, click, hover, or late-night Amazon impulse being tracked and recorded to provide the common user a better experience on the internet?

It takes a lot of work to look this easy

There are some things in life you just take for granted: oxygen, sunshine, toilet paper. Add to that list web usability and you’ll realize that in a lot of ways usability is like toilet paper. (I promise, this gets better.) You take it for granted and don’t take much notice of it when it’s around, but boy oh boy do you ever realize when it’s absent.

usability = error prevention

Many of us presume that good usability is about helping people accomplish something. The fact is, good usability is the polar opposite: to prevent users from committing errors. Errors create confusion, frustration, abandoned shopping carts and worst of all, users leaving your site. We understand that conversion is about getting users to do what you want them to do, but this is a lost cause if you can’t prevent them from doing what you don’t want them to do, getting lost and frustrated. Think about how users can make mistakes first, and you’re on your way to a more usable site.

for pete’s sake, give it a test

Remember that bit earlier about taking usability for granted? Designers and developers are also notorious for assuming that if it makes sense to them, it must make sense to the whole world. Even the most innocuous of decisions can prove to be mind-boggling to the average Joe. The only way to combat this is through simple user testing. In the absence of traditional modes of testing (eye tracking, user narration, performance tests, A/B testing), make sure that you validate your design against a group that is unfamiliar with the details of your project.

users don’t appreciate your creativity

Those that are too cool for school usually have the most to learn. Being overly original when it comes to user experience can hurt you unless you are truly building a better mousetrap. People are comfortable with familiar paradigms for navigation and interaction. There’s plenty of room to be creative in your design and messaging…don’t mess with foundational best practices for navigation and browsing.

Remember: web users are not stupid, but they are impatient and expect a lot. As much as we think we understand what is intuitive and logical, trying to get into someone else’s mind just isn’t that easy. Usability is not intuitive, it doesn’t just happen, and it’s not common sense. Keeping those points in mind will go a long way in keeping your users on your site, keeping them happy, and making your website work harder for you.

Archive for February, 2012