Usability is No Longer Enough

Dr. Eric Schaffer, the founder and CEO of Human Factors International, has just started a blog with the above title.

The sub-title of his blog states: "We're nearing the end of the time when usability is a key differentiator. Websites must now be designed for Persuasion, Emotion, & Trust (PET) in order to stay ahead."

His first blog posting dated 12 September 2008 is: Why usability is no longer enough: the need to design for Persuasion, Emotion, & Trust (PET) where he goes on:

Whether a website is e-commerce, informational, or transactional, its mandate is to establish deeper relationships with customers. Understanding how and why people make online decisions that lead to conversion, and the subtle motivators and emotional triggers that influence how they react to website messages and content, is vital to maximizing the success of a site.

Hmmm. Plain old design for usability now is not "good enough" is it? ... Was it ever?

When is information security good enough?

Jaikumar Vijayan in a Computerworld article asks: How secure is secure enough? which of course is a question that fits in well with the theme of this "good enough" blog.

Describing the answer to the question as the Holy Grail of the information security industry. "... by adopting the right approaches, it is possible to arrive at a better answer than some might expect" he goes on to say.

He then lays out five steps to help you determine whether your company is secure enough. Go read his advice, here.

Cloud Computing -- When will it be Good Enough?

On the same general "good enough" theme as this blog, over at iTWire I've just submitted a relevant article that you should read:

Cloud Computing -- When will it be Good Enough? ...
Should we already be thinking about leaving all our desktop system cares and woes behind and take supposed advantage of what cloud computing is tempting us with?