The Life of Kevin Hauge

As I have been researching and setting up all new services for my move, I’ve noticed a serious lack of thought in some of the websites out there. In particular was Frontier, a phone / internet / tv provider.

Since I am moving to a new area with a new zip code, I am in need of a new phone number. However, when trying to get pricing on the Frontier website I am constantly asked for my phone number to provide pricing? I don’t have a phone number yet, that’s what I’m trying to sign up for. What ever happened to entering your address, city or zip code to check pricing?

I ended up looking up the city online and found a random phone number for my neighborhood so I could at least get past their initial screening. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would rather see pricing online instead of calling a phone number, so having such a hindered method to view prices will surely harm their credibility (and thus number of sign-ups).

Just goes to show you how important outside input is in a website design. The programmer may have worked everything out perfectly, but unless you put yourself in the shoes of every type of visitor, you could be losing valuable visitors.

If you are frustrated with IE7 on PC ruining your hard work and having to call up your buddy to constantly look at your work on his PC, you may want to check out NetRenderer. It will take a snapshot of your website in Internet Explorer 7, 6 or 5.5 and display it for you.

Seems like a decent alternative to browsershots.org since NetRenderer will display it instantly … and as a designer, time is a luxury I don’t have.

Adam Pash over at lifehacker.com posted an interesting tutorial on how to use your iSight to snap a photo of anyone who tries to (unsuccessfully) log into your Mac!

I unfortunately don’t have an iSight with my Mac but the idea intrigued me. A new way to monitor who’s snooping where they shouldn’t belong. Now there’s an actual use for your iSight besides video chatting with your one other iSight user or making your “home movies”.