By Mike Madaio

Mike,

Why do all of the coolest technologies have such major usability problems?! I’m pretty much an entry-level coder (HTML, some PHP), but I want to learn something higher-end like ActionScript (Flash coding) or Ajax. But then users seem to have such issues with Flash and Ajax. Which one should I focus on learning if I’m pretty concerned about usability?

Thanks!

Diane

(more…)

You asked your usability questions, and Mike has answered! We invite you to ask more questions

Hi Mike,

I really want to do focus groups for my sites, but I’m just getting my business off the ground and my clients aren’t exactly high-paying. How can I test out my site cheap and still get useful info out of it? Hope you can help!

Rob

(more…)

You asked your usability questions, and Mike has answered! We invite you to ask more questions here

Hi Mike,

I work for a small web design company, and have been arguing with one of the designers about when we should do usability tests for our projects. I think we should do them close to the beginning, after we have a few main pages done, so we can make changes if there are big usability problems. But he thinks we should wait until the site is considered final so the test covers everything. Which is better? (Keep in mind, I owe him lunch if I’m wrong.)

(more…)

Though it seems like something we should have figured out by now, it is amazing how often the subject of whether to underline or not underline links comes up in design process (or, alternatively, how often links that should be underlined are not underlined). From a design standpoint, underlining links, especially when there are quite a few of them, can create visual clutter and thus is often disliked from this perspective. Links, however, are the lifeblood of any website, so it is crucial — more crucial than a good design, in many cases — to ensure that these links are inherently obvious to users. And, despite the fact that most of us reading this blog are likely people who live on the internet and need little help determining what is a link and what is not, in many cases we still need to design for people who are only familiar with the most basic internet conventions (i.e. text that’s underlined is clickable) and/or use the web infrequently.

Guideline

If it looks like a link without an underline, it probably doesn’t need to be underlined. If it doesn’t look like a link, it probably needs to be underlined.

Though many qualified user experience designers can probably follow this vague-but-simple rule successfully, it may be beneficial to break down into more detailed guidelines, especially as a communication aid to use with designers who may be less familiar with user-centered principles.

Always Underline

When in Doubt: This may seem a tad obvious, but it’s worth repeating. If you aren’t completely sure, underline. It doesn’t look that bad, and it confirms for all users that this is indeed a link.
When You Can: Similar to my last point, if you can underline a link without causing too much of a design problem, you should. It never hurts to make things abundantly clear for your users.
Within Blocks of Text: Absolutely underline all links that are contained within sentences, paragraphs, etc. As users scan text (online, people rarely read from start to finish — they scan for key terms), underlines signify key works to read. Color is important too — but using both color and underline is the clearest, most obvious way to call out the links to users. If you just need to call out a word that isn’t a link, use bold or italics in the same color as the base text to reduce confusion.
Isolated Links: Links that are on their own within a section of a page should be underlined when possible. (more…)

While browsing through the new Dell catalog the other day, I couldn’t help but notice that ALL of the featured computers (desktops and notebooks) came with widescreen monitors. This has been the case with notebooks for some time now, but for desktops it is relatively new phenomenon (HP and Gateway still offer standard monitors on their cheaper units). What this means to designers is that the 1024×768 resolution, which currently the most common resolution for internet users, is already on its way out, giving way to 1280×800 and larger sizes featured by these widescreen monitors.

That being said, now seems like a good time to revisit the common usability debate about whether a site should be fixed width or liquid width. I don’t want to speak with too many generalizations, but on the whole, usability folks and IAs tend to favor sites that take up all the screen real estate that is available, while designers prefer to create fixed pages that allow for complete control of presentation (or as complete as is possible on the web). The correct answer, (more…)

Missed the first part, click here

Key Question 2: Are the Controls Intuitive?

No matter how great a new functionality is, if the user can not figure out how to use it (or that it exists), the value is obviously diminished. Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic have done a nice job utilizing AJAX to improve the interaction between customers and their website. Their “QuickLook” functionality, which shows a larger picture and more product information without taking the user away from a product listng page, saves time and frustration when trying to compare items from within the same category or promotion. This interface does, however, offer a few challenges. Instead of surfacing the QuickLook functionality to the viewable level, the user must hover over an image before the option appears. If a user is not aware of this feature, they may not look for it or expect to find it.

Even if (more…)

Designers and developers are often too easily ensnared by the hype of new technology — in today’s case, AJAX, etc. — and often ignore standard usability practices to be the first on the block with the latest and greatest. Remember splash pages with flash intros? How about cheesy animated gifs? Marquee tags? Of course you do. Yet you would likely never, ever put any of these elements on a website today (without giggling excessively about it).

A few years ago, however, web designers were regularly utilizing these tactics, jumping to implement latest trends. Looking back, it is quite simple to understand the errors in our ways, to see why these design tools were used both ineffectively and excessively. In order to prevent ourselves from making the same errors in the future, however, we must (more…)

The other day I got into a discussion about where a blog should be placed on a retail site, and it got me thinking in general about where blogs or community content should appear on any site that isn’t primarily a community site, retail or otherwise. While I could spend time discussing how to handle URLs, how many posts to feature on the homepage, and other similar issues, these details are not that relevant. The best way to generate traffic for a blog (or blogs) is to integrate posts or blog promotions into the site in places where the blog content relates to the current section or page. (more…)