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usability
2004 September 12 • accessibility, design, usabilityDynamic Elements
article: Explains why hiding and showing elements as a result of user interaction can reduce both usability and accessibility. Article explains the accessibility problems that are common in designs that hide and show elements. [credit: 456 Berea Street]
2004 September 12 • accessibility, e-mail, usability, writingText Email Newsletter Standard
proposed standard: TEN for short, this is a new standard being formed for text email newsletters. It is designed to increase usability and accessibility of plain text email newsletters. [credit: Digital Web Magazine]
2004 September 5 • usabilityReduce visual clutter to improve usability
article: "A modern home page often includes a barrage of information. We need to reduce this visual clutter or we risk overwhelming site visitors and making it difficult for those visitors to find what they're looking for." [credit: WebWord Usability Weblog]
2004 September 5 • seo, usabilityWeb Traffic Analytics and User Experience
article: A primer on web traffic analytics. This method allows you to get a picture of user behaviour that doesn't come from an artificial test setting, but from the true user environment. It can help you find areas that need to be improved, and by looking at how a redesign affects user behaviour, it can help you learn whether redesigns really work. [credit: GUUUI]
2004 September 5 • design, usabilityWhen Search Engines Become Answer Engines
article: According to Jakob Nielsen, the Internet user experience is becoming one of dipping a toe into websites rather than truly visiting them to explore and use them in depth. Users view the Internet as an integrated whole, and use search engines to hunt for specific answers. [credit: GUUUI]
2004 September 5 • usabilityOlder Users and the Web
article: Fifteen speakers present information on usability issues faced by older users on the web. [credit: UI Designer]
2004 September 4 • ia, usabilityIA Heuristics for Search
article: Guidelines based on the common steps a user takes when searching a site. [credit: Digital Web Magazine]
2004 September 3 • design, usabilityDesigner and user partnership
article: Forging a partnership between designer and user, this article argues that both designers and users need to adapt to the flexibility of the web. [credit: 456 Berea Street]
2004 September 3 • business, design, usabilityHoliday E-Commerce Ideas
article: 'Tis The Season: Holiday E-Commerce Ideas is a new (free!) site from 37signals. In these pages you'll find dozens of ideas for improving the holiday customer experience at your website. Each idea is accompanied by examples taken from top retail sites.
2004 September 3 • design, usabilityThe Ideologies of Web Design
article: This new article by Jakob Nielsen covers some terrific points about what works and what doesn't work with website design. [credit: Brainstorms and Raves]
2004 August 21 • design, usabilityNINE Effective Tips For Improving Your Website's Usability
article: "Web usability is perhaps the most important factor in any web design. This is the driving factor that keeps your visitors coming back to your website. Here are a few points you need to consider to increase your website's usability." [credit: WebWord Usability Weblog]
2004 August 18 • design, usabilityOptimal Line Length
article: An excellent summary of the ideal line length for web pages. [credit: Digital Web Magazine]
2004 August 14 • seo, usabilityFix Your Search Engine
article: A great essay on Quick Ways to Fix Your Search Engine. Also check out their report on Site Content Search which is available for a moderate fee. [credit: Digital Web Magazine]
2004 August 14 • tools, usabilityUsability Test Data Logger
tool: Todd Zazelenchuk has developed a usability test data logger, a customised spreadsheet for recording and presenting the results of usability tests. [credit: Column Two]
2004 August 8 • usabilityAre Web Sites Working for Older Users?
study: "This study looked at 36 websites that were intended to be accessed by people ages 60 and above to determine how “senior-friendly” the sites were in relationship to guidelines set out by the National Institute of Aging (NIA). The results indicate that even though seniors are often the audience sought, the websites themselves may not provide a very ergonomic fit in terms of ease of use for their visitors." [credit: WebWord Usability Weblog]
2004 August 8 • design, usabilityReading Online Text
study: Reading Online Text: A Comparison of Four White Space Layouts is a study of how margins and leading affect online reading performance. [credit: 456 Berea Street]
2004 July 25 • accessibility, usabilityoptimal web design
website: Designing a website that takes into account the human element requires both an understanding of our nature as well as our physiological limitations. Usable websites incorporate human tendencies and limitation into its overall design. The questions below are meant to address some of the more important human factors concerns in the design and building of usable websites.
2004 July 23 • business, design, usabilityROI Is Not a Silver Bullet
article: : Five Actionable Steps for Valuing User Experience Design. For years now, the “ROI of User Experience” has been sought as a means to justify larger corporate investments in web design. Although ROI methodology can be a useful tool for prioritizing possible web development projects, by itself ROI is not the answer to building a stronger user experience design competency.
2004 July 23 • design, usabilityReading Online Text
study: Reading performance with four white space layouts was compared. Margins surrounding the text and leading (space between lines) were manipulated to generate the four conditions. Results show that the use of margins affected both reading speed and comprehension.
2004 July 16 • code, usabilityError Handling and User Experience
article: 'Not Found' Is Not An Option: how to improve your 404 messages to enhance the user experience. [credit: dwh!{dezwozhere:blog}]