natasha's corner

Many thanks to those who attended my presentation on “Connecting with Developers to Expand UX Influence” at the UPA Boston Mini Conference today. There were many excellent questions and I hope everyone found the presentation useful.

You can download the slides here (in PDF form) or here (in PPTX form).

I recently was looking for a way to connect my Xcelsius model to a Google Spreadsheet and thought I would share the process and some of my discoveries.

Installing the add-on

The first thing you will need to do is download the Xcelsius Web 2.0 Components Add-On pack from Business Objects Labs. All the usual disclaimers apply when using a Labs prototype, most importantly:

This is a prototype only and NOT for use in production environments.

Once the you’ve downloaded the add-on, you’ll need to activate it in Xcelsius:

1. Go to File > Manage Add-Ons…
2. Click Install Add-On.
3. Browse to the directory where you downloaded your add-on and select the file Web2Pack.xlx.
4. Close the Add-On Manager.
5. Exit and restart Xcelsius.

Now you should be all set to use the add-on.

Publishing the Google Spreadsheet

The next thing you should do is make sure your Google Spreadsheet is ready to be used by Xcelsius.

1. Open the spreadsheet in your browser.
2. Go to Share > Publish as a web page.
   
3. Click Publish now.
4. Select the “Automatically re-publish when changes are made” check box and copy the link URL.
   

Now we are ready to connect the spreadsheet to an Xcelsius model.

Creating a Google Spreadsheet connection

1. In Xcelsius, go to Data > Connections…
2. Click Add > Google Spreadsheet connector.
   
3. Name your connection and set the URL to the one you copied from the Google Spreadsheet (see step 4 above).
   
4. Bind the Spreadsheet Range and the Insert In range. The easiest thing is to bind them to the same range.
   
   Note: Spreadsheet Range refers to the Google Spreadsheet, while Insert In refers to the spreadsheet within Xcelsius.
5. Under the Usage tab, select the Refresh on Load check box.
6. Close the Data Manager.

Theoretically, you should now be able to bind the data from the Insert In range you selected to Xcelsius components.

Binding the data to an Xcelsius component

The following steps assume my sample data as input.

What I wish I could do in Xcelsius is add some placeholder text for my bound cells so that I can work with them more easily:

Unfortunately, as soon as you add any text to the area reserved for your Google Spreadsheet data, you get an HTTP request error at runtime. So instead, you have to make do with borders and highlight colors to make it easier on yourself.

Here is how you can use my data to create a line chart:

1. Add a Line Chart to the canvas in Xcelsius.
2. Bind the Chart Title to cell A1 and the Chart Subtitle to cell A7.
3. Bind the data to the spreadsheet as follows:
   
   Note that there are 3 series here, you just can’t see their names because they are bound to cells that will be loaded when the connection is refreshed.
4. Format the chart and dashboard to your liking.
5. Save and preview.

Final notes and quirks

Overall, the add-on works quite nicely. However, there are a few quirks that I noticed.

• As mentioned above, you can’t put placeholder text into cells where the Google Spreadsheet data will be inserted. Actually, this behaves somewhat erratically – I was able to do this in one Xcelsius model, but not in another.
• Sometimes, when you save and re-open your file in Xcelsius, the Google Spreadsheet connection information disappears from the Data Manager. It’ll still work, but you won’t be able to easily edit the connection without setting it up again from scratch.
• Blank cells in columns from the spreadsheet are ignored when the data is inserted into Xcelsius. Blank rows, however, are preserved.

  So, if my original data looked like this:
  

  It will be inserted like this (note the Homer Simpson row):
  

• If you want to publish an Xcelsius dashboard connected to Google Spreadsheets online, you’ll run into an error like this:
  
  If anyone figures out how to get around this, please let me know.

So there you have it: a connection to Google Spreadsheets from Xcelsius.

The next thing I want to do is create a Google Gadget that contains my Xcelsius dashboard and insert it into my Google Spreadsheet document. It’s a little circular, but here is my use case: I keep track of bills and personal expenses in a Google Spreadsheet document. I want to create a dashboard that takes in the data from my spreadsheet and provides some interactivity so I can explore where my money is going each month and how I can change my spending to get out of debt faster. Ideally, I want this dashboard right in my bills spreadsheet so I don’t have to go to two different places for my financial needs. I think this is possible to do. I just need to figure out that “security error” issue.

Don’t be fooled: this is NOT a ticket.

Read my Delta horror story here.

I just got off a strange phone call with AT&T customer service.

They called my phone and asked to speak with Nick. I said that I was his wife. The woman on the line then proceeded to explain how they would like to ask Nick a few questions regarding the quality of service he received when he recently exchanged his phone at their service center and was there a better time to call? I said that I’d giver her his phone number, since she was calling me on my line. She responded with “Oh, if this is your number, then the call won’t be necessary. Thank you for your time!”

It’s baffling to me that they would call, asking for feedback, but really all they care about is checking off some box saying they called a certain number.

They spelled out "ten" and "seventeen," but I guess they just couldn’t
squeeze in 3 more letters for the proper spelling of "through."

While funny, this would actually be pretty useful. Especially at book and electronics stores.

toothpastefordinner.com

It started innocently enough. I got an e-mail from a “Mr. Davis Adams” about a large sum of money that he thought I could help him acquire.

Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 4:15 AM

Hello,

I humbly crave your indulgence in sending you this mail, if the contents do not meet with your personal and business ethics, I apologize in advance. This is by virtue of its nature as being utterly “CONFIDENTIAL”. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day.

I have decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction, as I have been reliably informed of your discreteness and ability in transaction of this nature. Let me start first by introducing myself properly to you.

I am Mr.Davis Adams, of Dept of Bill and Exchange with Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom. I need your consent to handle this transaction because it entails a large amount of funds (6.4 Million GBP) deposited by a deceased customer in our bank who died long time ago but has an open beneficiary mandate on his file though, there has not been anyone from his family to make claim of this funds.

THE PROPOSITION:

I wish to know if we can work together. I would like you to stand as next of kin to my deceased client, who was among the people that lost their life in Kenya air crash in 2003, with the wife, children and entire generation.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html

He made some deposits to my bank, and died without any registered next of kin and as such the funds now have an open beneficiary mandate. Click on the link and see the details because this link gives a very comprehensive picture of what I’m saying. If you are interested do let me know so that I can give you comprehensive details on what we are to do.

I urgently hope to get your response.

Best regards,
Mr.Davis Adams

Of all the correspondences of this nature that I’ve received before, this one was the most elaborate, with a link to a legitimate news article and everything. Since he “craved my indulgence,” I decided to respond. Not as myself, of course, but as someone that would be interested in taking advantage of someone’s tragedy for their own financial gain… someone like Count Olaf.

What follows is my brief exchange with this Mr. Adams where I experimented with how far I could go before he gave up on me.

Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 8:45 AM

Dear Mr. Adams,

Thank you for contacting me regarding this opportunity. You could not have caught me at a better time, as I have recently become the guardian of three unruly orphans after their parents’ death in a mysterious fire that destroyed their home. You probably saw this on the news, very tragic:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/world/news/baudelaires-perish-in-fire.shtml

As you can imagine, in the current economy it is hard enough for a man to take care of himself (even a man with such enormous talent as myself). Since we are speaking in confidence, I can reveal that the Baudelaire children have inherited a significant fortune that will soon become mine, due to a brilliant scheme I cannot reveal at the moment. Perhaps once this fortune is in my possession, you can help me store it securely at Barclays Bank.

But I digress. Please, Mr. Adams, tell me more about your proposal. While I await for the Baudelaire fortune to become mine, I am most interested in business transactions such as the one you propose.

I look forward to hearing from you with great anticipation.

Yours truly,
Count Olaf

Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 12:23 PM

Dear Count,

I got your message and will prefer we have telephone conversation.

Please send your mobile number to enable me communicate you.

Regards

Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 8:24 PM

Dear Mr. Adams,

Thank you for responding. I was getting worried that the deal is off.

While I would also like to have a telephone conversation, the orphans I mentioned in my previous correspondence have managed to cut off my telephone access (it was the young one, Sunny, who has very sharp teeth and chewed through the telephone cord. I’m sure you can appreciate my predicament). Currently, I can only communicate via e-mail and regular postal mail.

Perhaps if you describe how we should proceed, I can arrange to have the Baudelaire children away for a night when we can properly talk.

I very much look forward to hearing more about this transaction and how you would like to split it. I should say right away that I will not settle for less than 50%.

Sincerely,
Olaf

Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 7:31 AM

Hello,

I acknowledge your mail. I want you to know that this transaction is very crucial and should be accorded seriousness that it demands. I work with the Bank where this fund is deposited. I want you to know that we will do this transaction under a strict legal arrangement where no law of any nation or organization or country will be violated.

My customer, died in the year 2003 from Air Crash and left some amount of money with my bank. After making the necessary account balancing, I discovered that he left a total of Six million four hundred thousand pounds (6.400,000.00 GBP) with my bank and without any registered next of kin.

It is now very obvious that he died intestate, as I have already made further enquiry to ascertain this. And this is where and why I contacted you, as the money is now marked unclaimed with my bank. If nothing happens and nobody comes up for the funds, the bank will reclaim it, as that is the bank’s policy with such unwilled funds. I now solicit your sincere cooperation so that we can work together to get the funds out of the bank before it goes back to the bank.

I would want us to have a fifty-fifty share of the funds as soon as it is cleared from the bank. Do not worry on how to do this, as I am here to give you the best advise on how to make it. You will represent to the Bank as the Next of Kin to my late customer and demand from the bank to release his deposit to you that you are the only surviving next of kin, I will check in the Bank’s account opening archive and bring out every information which the Bank may want to demand from you in order to approve you as the next of kin. I want you to be ready to do this transaction with me.

To this effect, I will like you to know that I will prepare an application to you, which you will send to the bank mandating them to release the fund to you.

The following information will be required for preparation of documents, which you will send to the bank.

I will need the following from you,

1) Your names in full

2) Your address

3) Your telephone number

4) Your age

5) Your sex

6) Your marital status

7) Your Occupation.
As soon as you make these available to me I will draft the application and will detail you once more on what we are to do.

I will be waiting for your response.

Yours,
Davis

Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:16 AM

Dear Mr. Davis,

I understand now what your scheme is! You want me to act as the next of kin so that we can collect the fortune we both know we are entitled to. Well, you have come to the right man, for I am a brilliant actor! In fact, this reminds me of the time I tried to collect the Baudelaire fortune in a very similar manner, but those three pesky orphans managed to get in the way. I guess great minds think alike, Mr. Adams!

Here is the information I am currently able to provide:

1) Your names in full: I go by many names, including Count Omar, Al Funcoot, and Shirley T. Sinoit-Pécer. However, my true name is Count Olaf.

2) Your address: I move around a lot, following the orphans.

3) Your telephone number: As I mentioned earlier, my telephone is currently out of service.

4) Your age: Old enough to conduct this transaction in full confidence.

5) Your sex: Male

6) Your marital status: Single

7) Your Occupation: The greatest actor in the whole world.

I very much look forward to hearing from you.

Yours in crime,
Olaf

Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 1:30 PM

I guess you lack the credibility to execute the transaction with you.

Regards

Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 1:32 PM

Dear Mr. Adams,

I am appalled that you find me to be incredible! What have I said that led to this negative opinion of me? Why do you feel justified in attacking my character, when all I have done is entrusted you with my personal information?

In fact, Mr. Adams, I believe it is *you* who lacks the credibility.

Good day sir!

Count Olaf

I don’t expect to hear from him again, but I will update this if I do. It was fun while it lasted. Being told by a scammer that I lack credibility was probably the best part of this little experiment.

Photo Credit: Right Lane Must Turn Right by Manish Bansal

If I drive to work, on my way home I encounter 6 or 7 signs like the one above all in a one-mile stretch. To make matters worse, the signs alternate between “Must Turn Left” and “Must Turn Right.” Even though I’ve made the trip many times, I still get tripped up by these signs.

There are several design problems here. The signs are small, the text is almost identical between “Left” and “Right” signs, and the wrong word is emphasized. When I look at the sign, the first thing my eye is drawn to is the “MUST” in the center – not only is it slightly bigger than the other lettering, it’s also centered (both vertically and horizontally) and is the only word that gets its own line. However, the information I really need is which lane will be turning. In order to distinguish between a “Must Turn Left” and a “Must Turn Right” sign, you have to read it every time, which takes attention away from what you should be doing: driving.

There is a simple and common solution: use arrows.

Photo Credit: Right Turn Only by pwinn

There is no confusion here. You know which lane is turning just by glancing at the sign. And yet, the text-only signs are so prevalent in my area. Maybe there is a reason for this that I am unaware of? I’d hate to think it’s a never-ending case of “well, everyone else is doing it…”

It is now.

I’ve always had a problem saying “he” or “she” when I really want to say “they.” For example, “The user can read the help information before they decide on the best option” just sounds so much better than “The user can read the help information before she decides on the best option.” The user, in this case, is gender-neutral so why do I have to choose a gender when talking about them? The other option, of course, is “he/she,” but that becomes even more awkward.

I’m happy to see that Tufte agrees with me:

Do not use masculine pronouns—use plurals
Even though it may not always be grammatically correct, you should say “they” instead of “him or her”
and it will sound better—both because it’s shorter and because no one can be alienated. Why risk not communicating simply because someone may be sensitive?

– Edward R. Tufte’s Presentation Tips