Web Design
Less is more. The less cluttered your page, the
more readable it is. (Nigel Harrison)
No gratuitous use of images! (Rosenfeld,
Nielsen, Harrison, Driscoll, Spool, and so on.)
WEB PAGES
Success of a link depends on
how well the user can predict where the link will lead
how well the user can differentiate one link from other nearby links
Information should appear at decision points. (e.g., users
want a navigation bar after they've determined that the page won't give
them what they need; this is either at the top or the bottom of the page).
(Jared Spool)
Fundamental Design Concepts (Jakob
Nielsen)
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Less is more. If everything is highlighted, then nothing
has prominence.
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People have very little patience for poorly designed WWW sites.
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"the more well-organized a page is, the more faith I will have in the info."
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Users don't want to scroll.
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Users don't want to read.
Five principles for designing graphics (Edward
Tufte)
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Above all else show the data
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Maximize the data-ink ratio
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Erase non-data ink
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Erase redundant data ink
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Revise and edit
WEB SITES
Computer scientists aren't necessarily trained in user-centered approaches
to designing information systems. (Rosenfeld and Morville)
Navigation systems: one size does not fit all. (Rosenfeld and Morville)
Like most aspects of usability, navigation is invisible when it's working.
(Spool).
The kinds of things designers put on web sites to attract surfing users
proved to be distractions during information retrieval tasks (e.g., advertising
is visual noise, animation is very irritating). (Spool)
Users don't form mental models of sites. Users explore till they
find what they're looking for, or become so frustrated that they give up.
(Spool)
Successful labeling systems mirror the thinking and language of a site's
users, not its owners. (Rosenfeld and Morville)
Seven Deadly
Web Site Sins (And Why You Must Avoid Them at All Costs), Jesse Berst,
ZDNet Anchor Desk, January 30, 1998.
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Inconsistent navigation.
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Broken links.
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Browser-specific sites.
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No contact information.
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Frames.
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Sites that open new browsers.
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"Under construction" signs.
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