| "Usability" is a complicated subject now that websites and display devices have gotten so complex. However, there are still a few simple rules that always apply.. Creative art sites of course have
different rules... |
1 Too
many menus pointing in too many directions are
confusing.
| The
best site organization is a hierarchical
menuing system that shows all the important sections
of the site right up front and breaks
the sections down in a logical way. Too many menus and lots of linked
headlines in the body wastes unnecessary time
while the user searches all those words for what
he or she wants. If there are too many links,
most users will start clicking at random on whatever
they think might be right item. If they don't
find it in a few clicks, they're off to the next
site on the list. |
|
2 Text
in undifferentiated blobs is unappetizing.
| Users
are scanning the content to find out what they
want to know--they don't read every word until
they get to something promising. If it's too hard
to
scan
and
locate information, they'll try another site. The
text needs to be easily readable, with plenty of
spaces, and bulleted or highlighted for scanning. |
|
3 Esoteric
menu labels or unlabeled menu graphics are not
cute to busy people.
| On
a business or information site, the
navigation buttons must be named in an obvious
way. They need to be large enough to
see, and placed to reduce mouse movement. If
a graphic-only
link is used, it needs to be completely cross-cultural--like
an envelope for email, or a printer icon for
a print-friendly page. The meaning of the graphic
link should be self-evident without a click or
mouseover. |
|
4 Flashing
or moving graphics on the screen distract the
user from reading your content.
| Surveys show that in mny cases, users not only
don't click on banner ads, even still ones, they
skip right over anything that looks like it might
be a banner
ad--and they even skip
the copy that is next to the thing that looks
like a banner. It's very hard
to read with something leaping around
in
the
corner
of
your
visual field.
In this case, less is more! What works better are low-key ads that look like editorials copy. |
|
