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Went Hot: July 24, 2007 - 9:36 am
Posted By: ANOnym 402 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.improvetheweb.com)
Category: Usability
15 Comments
Went Hot: July 24, 2007 - 9:36 am
Posted By: ANOnym 402 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.improvetheweb.com)
Category: Usability
15 Comments
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Comments
Nice one. Fits in well with my topic of the day, too (using powers of persuasion in search marketing).
Kind of funny that the page where the article is featured is just a white page with very little design :)
MattC, if his business requirements for his site were anything other than "Provide a blog" and functional requirements other than, "Enable ability to read posts in blog", you would have a point.
But, his article is exactly on the right page. He's not trying to sell anything, get sales leads, provide travel reservations, show clearance items or stand on his head.
He's simply offering people something to read, and he knows, as does anyone else who understands usability, accessibility and human factors - distractions are death when the goal for users is to simply read.
Captology, which is what he's touching on, is juicy stuff for those ready to understand why marketing works, and doesn't.
That is my point - personally I found myself initially looking at a page with no clearly defined columns so the left and right navs bled into the content area.
Matt, design alignment is radically different from the text vs graphics discussion (which I have had in my "use text instead of graphics" post: http://www.improvetheweb.com/use-text-instead-graphics-your-website).
I admit I am not a web designer and can have issues, including time, to actually tackle headings colors and alignment, the use of whitespace, borders and such. But it doesn't mean that we (including me) can't use words and content in its general sense to make our sites more appealing.
And lastly, Kim hit the nail on the head. The goal of the site is to be read. If someone doesn't want to read, at least he can make a quick decision and leave the site.
Thanks for standing up for me, Kim. Not sure, if I needed it (I have very well responded to comments from Diggers/Stumblers on the above-mentioned article), but it sure feels great to have a word from the person, who I consider my unofficial usability mentor.
"And lastly, Kim hit the nail on the head. The goal of the site is to be read."
Again, in my humble opinion I found it hard to read at first and a web page is like anything else in life - first impressions count.
"I admit I am not a web designer and can have issues, including time, to actually tackle..."
This is why there are programs like Word press, etc that have pre-made layouts for your convenience. They are directed towards the people who do not have time or do not have the skill.
"...content in its general sense to make our sites more appealing"
You can have very simple HTML colors with no graphics which will serve your purpose of focusing on content.
I am not trying to completely knock you for your choice of website layout but i found it very ironic that your headline says "Use Advanced Design Secrets to Create Great Websites" and your page is all white. If you notice, web design is getting more technical. Look at Sphinn for instance... its very busy but very readable.
I used the most suitable Drupal theme available and only tweaked the colors. I'll be doing my own later (time, yes).
I have tried to improve readability earlier, apparently, there's still some work to do. If you let me know what makes the site hard to read, I'll try to fix it.
"You can have very simple HTML colors with no graphics which will serve your purpose of focusing on content."
That's what I was and am trying to achieve.
I hope you'll also understand that the post speaks about many more things, than use of graphics (in fact, I think the focus is on the content).
And I have numerous quibbles with Sphinn, which I'll submit, when they are done tweaking. Not sure if it is readable and I already have issues with it being too busy with advertisement (the right-hand ads load slowly and once you hover over the top banners in Opera, you are poised to wait Snapshot to load).
I have always felt that in the Internet you have to design/program for the lowest common denominator - which is your visitor.
If you have a site for web junkies then you can get very liberal on your choice of layout. It is amazing how many web designers assume that most people are very web savvy when you'd be surprised how many people do not understand that blue words without underlines can be links too.
As for your site specifically:
1) You have a divider between the header but not between your left center and right columns.
2) Your Headline is the same color as your Site title, top navigation, left navigation links and right navigational links.
3) Your content headers are the same font styles as your Categories Navigations
4) On your homepage, there is no division of posts. Each one just runs right into the next.
5) Black text on a white background is the easiest to read, but everything is a white background.
6) We mentioned the use of simple HTML colors but White is not really a color, other than that you only use Blue and Black for everything else.
You asked me my opinion, so there it is without spending too much time on it. My main concern is that you are not defining the areas of content you wish your visitor to easily read.
MattC's list of design touches is helpful. Those are the little things that mean a lot, esp. for scanning pages. My angle was more on the intent but there's no denying that the inability to read is important (along with creating a desire to read).
I tend to go for minimalistic design, which are airy and white to a fault. I also have sight issues that make contrasts and fonts an issue. I'm married to someone who can't handle distractions while reading and he is more likely to switch to audio.
Designing for "visitors" will drive you nuts. There's too many folks to satisfy. This is why I keep harping on things like one's requirements and target market/reader. It narrows things down and gives you options and direction. Most people still don't consider accessibility but these people are visitors too.
If someone can't perform a task, with any luck you'll hear about it, and can then decide to make fixes or enhancements. Sometimes, in corporate-land, these are business decisions and not always well received.
Blogs are also an "out of the box" situation and not easy to customize for everybody.
Nice job MattC, btw. I stuck my nose in...but you did a great job explaining your position.
"who I consider my unofficial usability mentor"
btw, cut that out! :):)
Nice article, Yuri. The trick is in helping people to understand the difference between creating a good and memorable experience for the user and sabotaging yourself by thinking it's all about entertainment.
With the one, you get a pleasant, user-friendly site. With the other, you get dancing penguins. It can be hard to steer some clients in the right direction with this, but it is always worth it.
This was a terrific article, worth a sphinn for sure.
Miriam
I have saved the tips for future use. I do need to look at the design more closely. Thanks for pointing them out to me.
Am I too clumsy to be an unofficial pupil, Kim? ;)
Miriam, you just gave me a thought that this article is a vast distance from designing 'jump in your eye' websites, which is good. Then again, anyone can take anything and stick in their point of view, so this article can be used to create Flash-based websites, lots of useless graphics, if taken to an extreme by an unprofessional amateur (like an exec, boss, client, you name it).
Thanks for reading :)
"Am I too clumsy to be an unofficial pupil, Kim? ;)"
Heck no :) I just don't take compliments gracefully. You know your stuff. It's truly nice to have other folks like you around who like to write about usability topics too!
@cre8pc, you might not take compliments gracefully but you certainly give compliments gracefully :)
Kim, as far as I know, unofficial pupils can claim unsuspecting mentors pretty easily. It is the official pupils you have the control of :)
It is always nice to read more stuff on usability, indeed.