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design
2008 December 29 • design, writingBlock reading
article: How we read on the Web. Gerry McGovern says we don't scan a page, we scan blocks or sections of it. Breaking the page up into various sections or blocks and then scan within these areas.
[credit: elearningpost]
Five Home Page Mistakes
article: A list of five common Home Page mistakes.
[credit: Web Design from Scratch]
Writing an Interface Style Guide
article: The design style guide provides a reference in which developers can describe the way the interface is intended to look, and helps designers to be consistent as the interface is updated so that, in turn, the interface continues to feel consistent.
[credit: elearningpost]
The Principles of Beautiful HTML E-mail
article: Covers the core principles of designing for email vs. designing for the web.
[credit: Campaign Monitor]
How visitors View Websites
article: When planning and improving a website, it is important to know how people view websites. Knowing this will help you to design your site in such a way, that people will be able to find and do what they want on your website.
2007 September 8 • design, writingUse Text Instead of Graphics
article:
Excellent overview of why web designers shouldn't overlook the power of properly placed text. One surprising snippet... 78% of viewers are first drawn to text when a page loads.
[credit: Graphic Define Magazine]
Common Shopping Cart Mistakes
article: SURL (Software Usability Research Laboratory) revisits a study from 2002 of common e-commerce problems. They found that a number of the 2002 issues remain in 2007.
[credit: GUUUI]
Copywriting is Interface Design
article: Great interfaces are written. When you're writing your interface, always put yourself in the shoes of the person who's reading your interface. What do they need to know? How you can explain it succinctly and clearly?
2007 August 17 • business, designKeep Landing Pages Simple
article: In every case, landing page effectiveness and measured conversion increased significantly when choices and unnecessary distractions were eliminated — and the overall design and orientation of the page emphasized the call to action.
[credit: SIGNAL VS. NOISE]
Complete Color Matching Guide
article: Research reveals human beings make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or item within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.
2007 April 28 • design, ia, usabilityBreadcrumb Navigation
article: Breadcrumbs won't help a site answer users' questions or fix a hopelessly confused information architecture. All that breadcrumbs do is make it easier for users to move around the site, assuming its content and overall structure make sense.
[credit: elearningpost]
Standards for good intranet & extranet design
article: Sixteen key characteristics for good intranet and extranet design.
[credit: elearningpost]
Web 2.0 Style Guide
article: Analysis of Web 2.0 design style elements, why they work, how and when to use them.
2007 January 7 • designAbout Color
article: Six things to consider when chosing colors, with examples of why there is a good and a bad choice.
[credit: ETC.]
Metrics for Heuristics
article: Web analytics typically provide intelligence for executives and marketers, but the real value comes from evaluating the online experience. Andrea Wiggins shows how designers can use analytics to quantify the user experience.
2006 October 22 • designLink-Rich Home Pages
article: "Jared Spool writes on the benefits of exposing more content on your home page by creating Link Rich Home Pages. But how many links you pile on and how you present all depends, as always, on your target audience.
[credit: paper & pencil]
Do links need to be underlined?
article: Jared Spool answers the question about whether links need to be underlined.
[credit: GUUUI]
Pantone Fall 2006 Color Scheme
PDF:
Looking for some color scheme ideas for your next design? Want to keep up with (or get ahead of) the seasons? Check out Pantone'sFashion Color Report for Fall '06.
[credit: Web Design Blog]
Screen Resolution and Page Layout
article:
Jakob Nielsen on what screen resolution to target when designing "Optimize Web pages for 1024x768, but use a liquid layout that stretches well for any resolution, from 800x600 to 1280x1024."
[credit: elearningpost]
Fixed or Liquid?
article: Weighs the pros and cons of fixed and liquid layouts, and arrives at a sensible conclusion: since screen resolutions have stopped growing for the most part, fixed is the way to go. Fixed layouts offer better readability and tighter control over the design.
[credit: Monkey Bites]