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2003 December 5 • design, resources, usability

Web design and usability guidelines

PDF book: The book Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines is now available as a free download. The book provides guidelines for improving web design, navigation, and functionality. Each guideline is rated by "Strength of Evidence", based on findings from web design and usability studies.

2003 December 5 • design, process

Testing the Three-Click Rule

article: The rule simply states every piece of content on a site should take no more than three clicks to access. Well, Josh Porter of ULE is attempting to debunk the rule through known facts acquired in user testing. [credit: Nick Bradbury]

2003 December 5 • design, resources, tools

Easy RGB

tool: Search for color complements to your RGB values. Create color harmonies, combinations and themes. From your main (or background) color select, trim and accent tones. [credit paper & pencil]

2003 November 16 • design, usability

Ten Most Violated Homepage Design Guidelines

article: There are ten usability mistakes that about two-thirds of corporate websites make. The prevalence of these errors alone warrants attention, especially since they appear on sites with significant investment in usable design.

2003 November 16 • design, resources

xScope: six design tools in one

tools: ARTIS Software and The Iconfactory announce xScope v1.0, a powerful suite of tools for measuring, aligning, and inspecting onscreen graphics and layouts. Requires Mac OS X. [credit: Zeldman]

2003 November 16 • design, resources

Patterns for personal web sites

resource: "There are many personal Web sites. The vast majority are mediocre. Some are bad. Fewer are good. An extremely small number are excellent. (...) These patterns for creating personal Web sites have been distilled over the last few years from the most interesting personal Web sites I've found." (Mark L. Irons). [credit: InfoDesign]

2003 November 16 • blogs, design

Design Observer

blog: Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, Jessica Helfand and Rick Poynor are collaborating in a group blog and writing about design, designers... [credit: designwritings]

2003 November 5 • design

New Longhorn Graphics Tool Called "Flashkiller"

news: Buzz from Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference about a new
graphics and animation toolset for 'Longhorn' says it could challenge
Macromedia's dominance with Flash. [credit: Developer]

2003 November 5 • code, design, web standards

The CSS Vault

resource: www.9rules.com presents the CSS Vault, a collection of both CSS-driven commercial sites as well as links to tutorials and tips for the CSS tricks you'll need to create them. [ credit: redemption through standards]

2003 October 31 • design, resources

AIGA Conference Notes

review: Notes of the primary conference sessions from the AIGA: The Power of Design annual conference. [credit: Brightly Colored Food]

2003 October 25 • design, process, resources

Web Design on a Shoestring

book: Web design on a Shoestring reveals all sorts of free or inexpensive resources that are available but unknown. Learn how to test your web sites efficiencies and functionalities, to understand content management systems, and what commercial products to use or avoid. By New Riders.

2003 October 25 • design, resources

Semiotics: A Primer for Designers

article: Semiotics teaches designers that their work has no meaning outside the complex set of factors that define it. The deeper our understanding and awareness of these factors, the better our control over the success of the work products we create.

2003 October 25 • design, process

Examining the Role of De Facto Standards on the Web

article: What are the design practices on the web that have the highest frequency? And are there design practices that all (or nearly all) sites employ?

2003 October 25 • design

Nathan Shedroff: experience design

interview: A basic introduction to the discipline of Experience Design, Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering interviews Nathan Shedroff.

2003 October 24 • design, usability

Breadcrumb Navigation:
Further Investigation of Usage

report: SURL recently completed a second study of breadcrumb usage. Some major findings:

40% of the participants used the breadcrumb trail
Only 6% of the page clicks where accounted for by the breadcrumb – the main navigation bar, back button, and embedded links were used the majority of the time
The Back button was used significantly less often by users who used the breadcrumb trails
The were no difference found in efficiency between breadcrumb users and users who didn't use the breadcrumb
Breadcrumb trails positioned under the page title were used more than breadcrumb trails positioned at the top of the page

[credit: GUUUI]

2003 October 24 • business, design, resources

webdesignpractices.com

website: Begun as a Masters Thesis study of 75 ecommerce sites, this website is devoted to helping designers understand what design practices are currently in use on the Web — and aims to gather research about the usability of commonly-employed design practices.

2003 October 24 • design, resources

CommArts Interactive Annual 9

portfolio: The 39 winning projects(Web sites, Kiosks, CD-ROM projects and PDA's) are showcased.

2003 October 24 • business, design, usability

20 Tips to Minimize Shopping Cart Abandonment

article: Bryan Eisenberg from clickz.com lists 20 different ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment. Also see part 2. [credit: GUUUI]

2003 October 24 • design, ia, usability

Sitemaps and Site Indexes: What They Are and Why You Should Have Them

article: Sitemaps and site indexes are forms of supplemental navigation. They give users a way to navigate a site without having to use the global navigation. By providing a way to visualize and understand the layout and structure of the site, a sitemap can help a lost or confused user find her way.