usability – Data Science, Data Analytics and Machine Learning Consulting in Koblenz Germany

Open Source Facebook music streaming App for free download!

Rene — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:54:14 +0000

In an earlier post I have explained the need for a Facebook streaming app that has to be enhanced with some features in order to create viral word of mouth effects. Together with Yann Leretaille and Robert Naumann we programmed the facebook API and developed such an app for my band In legend. Today ( even though xmas is gone and 2012 has already started ) it is the time for me to share the source code of this app.

have a look at the app here:

Your Browser can’t display iframes. go to: this page in order to listen

Features and Problems

works on facebook and on any other webpage
enables setting more and more songs free for streaming while more people install the app (in order to spread the word)
users need to connect (with facebook or via email adress) in order to listen
some lightweight statistics
encrypted flash player (not open source yet) that makes it hard to download the music (Though I myself have some moral problems with this kind of feature. But well it is how the industry works…)
Slideshow of pictures to improve listening experience
optimized usability for high conversion rates

The app runs on PHP, MySQL, JavaScript (MooTools) and you will need your own webspace in order to host it

A kind warning

The App was developed with a lot of time pressure and we had some nasty bugs that needed to be fixed. That is why the source code is messed up with some really fast and dirty quick fixes. Afterwards I never really had the time to clean up the source and make a good documentation. As my PhD progresses this situation will not change in the foreseeable future. Since my prediction says that Facebook will be overrun by Google+ within this year it is more than time to share the app!
The good part: most of the stuff can be reused once Google+ opens its API and the app can be transformed to a great social network.

Source code on google code

http://code.google.com/p/in-legend-facebook-music-streaming-app/source/checkout

Will Google plus be the Facebook Killer? What do you think?

Rene — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:45:05 +0000

Hey everyone! Last week I sent out over 100 invitations to Google Plus. I know some of you are still waiting to be allowed to join. But for those who have seen G+ I would love to hear your oppinion on Google Plus.
Do you think it will become a serious major social networking site? Can it even push Facebook away?
My first impressions were quite nice. I still think the potential is huge but I also discover the first problems especially that the site and the android app are still very buggy (in the meaning of usability) and also it seems hard for some people to understand the concept behind the circles.
So please use my comment function and tell me what you think. I am planning to write a more complete review on Google Plus within this month and I would love to include some of your thoughts!
Oh and don’t forget to invite your friends to Google plus. Find my instructions here

Usability Test: Using Skype for testing the usability of your website.

Rene — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:18:29 +0000

After I have read the book Don’t make me think! by Steve Krug I have learned that you cannot start early enough with your usability testing. Steve pushes the fact that you don’t have to go to some fancy lab using an eye tracker or other stuff. He recommends to just show someone your templates and ask them to do a task and observe silently. After my experience from last week I can fully support his statements.

But what does this have to do with Skype?

Skype is a telephone software for your computer that enables you to chat and voice chat with your friends and coworkers. But Skype has another very neat feature that can be used to do a very cost efficient, fast and effective usability test!
On Skype you can share your computer screen with a friend while being on the phone. This is not only nice because you can kind of silently observe someone while testing your software. But even better the person will be at home in his everyday environment. I did this test with 5 people. 4 of them forgot right away about the test and about the fact that they are being observed. They had not only tested my website but at the same time have been chatting with people, checking email, surfing on several other websites and so one. So that was a usability test in a real environment and believe me I was shocked! The best moment was a user came back from a chat window to my site in the middle of th process asking loudly: “Oh what was I doing?” and then just reloaded the page because he wanted to start all over again.
Even though I knew before that the awareness of people is low and small I relized it is even smaller!

Sucess of my Usability test with Skype

I was able to see everything they saw and see the users perspective! I could record a video, making screenshots in certain moments and within 20 minutes figure out 3 major usability bugs and several smaller ones. I was able to fix them within 30 minutes of programming time.
Since my piece of software was designed as a Facebook app I could also observe some user behavior on facebook. It was amazing that even experienced users missuse facebook – one of the most spreaded and used websites in the world.
I wish I had done this earlier but for the next piece of software this kind of testing will be done before I go live! Actually I will never again write software without having a usability expert on my team!
Thanks to Skype for offering such a great piece of software!
What is your experience with usability tests and have you used Skype yet to do a quick test?