Garrett, "The Elements of User Experience"

You had a bad day, you're taking one down

I would first like to formally thank Garrett for acknowledging that every once in a while we have a day that just goes terribly wrong.

Unfortunately, on a day like that, I don't think that all of the pieces that broke down could necessarily prevent a similar day from ever happening again. Do you believe that with technology in particular, the user experience will ever be perfect or will there always be an issue for someone?

User Experience Online

Although I often joke that I am technologically challenged, in reality I can maneuver around the Internet fairly well. However, it is one of my biggest pet peeves when I can't find what I'm looking for on a website, or when the site continually leads me to the same (unhelpful) page. So, when Garrett started talking about usability of websites and how we tend to blame ourselves, I immediately thought of my internship search.

Like I just mentioned, I am generally pretty Web-friendly and can usually find the information that I want. Unfortunately, there is one search where I always struggle to find applicable information; the search for a summer internship.

Trying to find an internship for the upcoming summer is like jumping into a rabbit hole. Respectable companies that you would expect to have clear information about their internships often have links labeled for "internships" but are really entry level jobs. Or, the page for internships claim they have positions available, but other little other relevant information, leaving the user with about a thousand questions.

This search is one I have been on for a few months now, and something that I have done several times before. And in agreement with what Garrett mentioned about self-blame, I used to think that I was missing information or accidentally overlooking links. However, again in sync with Garrett, I have come to believe that it is the fault of the website most of the time. Maybe this is because I refuse to admit how horrible I am at this particular search, or maybe it is true. 

Is there any particular research that you do periodically where you struggle to find what you're looking for?