I was recently involved in a project where there were two multi-select lists involved, with a big number of options – around 300 in each.

These things are a usability nightmare:

• The user has to ctrl-click to select multiple options (‘where’s the central key?’)
• A stray click will unselect everything already selected (Critically important on a site sign-up form)
• They are just plain ugly

So the workarounds I’ve been trialling?

Jquery multiselect plugin – Very nice plugin that solves all three of the problems above. One problem however – it was taking over a minute for my page to load in Firefox!

Interestingly, Chrome displayed the page in under 5 seconds. Guess that new javascript engine is a fast as they say…

Half-assed Jquery solution I cobbled together for fun – This lets the user use a single click instead of a control click on multi-select lists. Solves problem one and two, problem three would still need someone with more artistic leanings working on it. Oh, and it doesn’t work in IE. Told you it was half-assed.

Current favourite option – A div with overflow hidden, full of checkboxes. Sort of solves the main problems, but still not ideal.

How would you deal with this interface problem? I’d love to hear your suggestions.

Today sees the launch of Cuil (pronounced ‘Cool’), a brand new search engine launched by ex-Google employees.

So far, the launch has not gone smoothly. Having tested it quite a bit today I can report the following:

• It’s really, really slow just now. Probably just teething issues, but not a good sign.
• “No results because of high load…Due to excessive load, our servers didn’t return results. Please try your search again.”
• Nasty interface. A three column layout for results by default (ew!) means that I don’t immediately know where there most relevant results are. I’ve been trained to read search results top to bottom since the days of AltaVista – I am supposed to be reading left to right? One column then the other?
• Related searches at the top, and related categories on the right. Wha? Where? Who?
• Their about us page returns a 403 forbidden error!
• Thumbnails for search results that don’t relate to the content (for example, superstring theory – NSFW! Well spotted by digger Crypticlabs)

The performance issue on day one are forgivable; the usability issues less so. With excessive AJAX, and the issues mentioned above, the site is uncomfortable to use, at best.

Having said all that, I hope they do manage to provide an alternative to Google; everyone will benefit from a more competitive search market (rather than Google eating an ever-increasing slice of the pie), and their committment to privacy is laudable.

However, they’ve got a long, long way to go before they can match the power and simplicity of the big G.

Have you tried Cuil yet? What have your experiences been like?

Digg‘s users have been complaining for months about the horrendous adverts plaguing the site. Most notably the type of advert that shakes, flashes, and tries to convince you that “YOU ARE VISITOR NUMBER 1,000,000!!”.

This type of stuff doesn’t tend to bother me so much – I can install adblocker or just plain ignore them.

What does annoy me, however, is when their adverts break the primary means of navigating the site. Have a look at this:

Yep, it is now impossible to click on any of the drop down menus ‘behind’ the advert. That means that most of the subcategories in Science, Gaming, Lifestyle, Entertainment, Sports, and Offbeat are now off-limits to me. This has been going on for about a week, I think.

I appreciate that advertising is a necessary evil for big sites, but if you sacrifice usability for short term profit, I’ll be happy to take my disposable income, advert-clicks, and interest elsewhere.