Jared Spool is a smart and funny man
Jared Spool - Designing Really Usable Websites
As usual, Jared Spool gave an entertaining workshop on usability, user testing and website analysis. Though I would have welcomed an exercise or two, he did impart a huge wealth of knowledge. He will be sending the slide deck along, which I will post when I get it, so most of my notes were focused on the gems of information not on the slides. It was a long day, so here it is in point form, do with it what you will.
Good content on a website sucks the user deeper into the site towards the information they are seeking. The links that you find on each page should help the user get closer to their goal with every click.
Trigger words are words that cause users to act. These words can be determined by analyzing search logs, or interviewing users.
Banner blindness - users tend not to look at the top 15% of the page as this is where banner ads are usually placed. You will note the Wikipedia article has a slightly different meaning than the one Jared gave, though I can see the similarity.
Information masking - when focusing on relevant content on the page, other parts of the page will disappear from the users' view.
7-12 word links have a 45% success rate. This is because there is higher likelihood that trigger words are in them. Support one word links or headers with more meaningful descriptive links.
Determine how often users will visit the site prior to setting your information update policy.
Horizontal rules can prevent scrolling. So do margins and small print. Try to vary the how the columns are aligned, this will encourage scrolling through visual cues.
If your sitemap is a popular page on the site, consider moving some of those links to the home page.
Start designing your site by designing the content page that the user is looking for instead of the home page. Then you can design the pages that lead to that page.
The fold will keep moving around the page as the user scrolls - try to design a fluid page that doesn't have cross page margins.
Don't frustrate users by getting in their way of their task with the content you want them to see. Wait for the user to accomplish their task, and then give it to them, but make it relevant to what they were doing. Take advantage of the Seduceable Moment. Users are single task oriented, but can be distracted.
When interviewing users, get descriptions of what they have done, not assumptions on future decisions.
Rotating banners confuse and lose people if they are clickable. How can you guarantee the same content will be in place if the user hits the back button.
Watch how much marketing speak you use on a page. Make sure every sentence adds something valuable to the page that the user will want.
The Back button is the Button of Doom and it means your page is failing.
Pogosticking - when the user jumps back and forth between levels of hierarchy on this site. A fail? Or just a method of browsing?
In eCommerce, as the number of pages it takes to make a purchase increases, the number of purchases decreases.
Create a code pattern library rather than a style guide. It is more flexible and encourages people to think about the context they are designing in.
As usual, Jared Spool gave an entertaining workshop on usability, user testing and website analysis. Though I would have welcomed an exercise or two, he did impart a huge wealth of knowledge. He will be sending the slide deck along, which I will post when I get it, so most of my notes were focused on the gems of information not on the slides. It was a long day, so here it is in point form, do with it what you will.
Good content on a website sucks the user deeper into the site towards the information they are seeking. The links that you find on each page should help the user get closer to their goal with every click.
Trigger words are words that cause users to act. These words can be determined by analyzing search logs, or interviewing users.
Banner blindness - users tend not to look at the top 15% of the page as this is where banner ads are usually placed. You will note the Wikipedia article has a slightly different meaning than the one Jared gave, though I can see the similarity.
Information masking - when focusing on relevant content on the page, other parts of the page will disappear from the users' view.
7-12 word links have a 45% success rate. This is because there is higher likelihood that trigger words are in them. Support one word links or headers with more meaningful descriptive links.
Determine how often users will visit the site prior to setting your information update policy.
Horizontal rules can prevent scrolling. So do margins and small print. Try to vary the how the columns are aligned, this will encourage scrolling through visual cues.
If your sitemap is a popular page on the site, consider moving some of those links to the home page.
Start designing your site by designing the content page that the user is looking for instead of the home page. Then you can design the pages that lead to that page.
The fold will keep moving around the page as the user scrolls - try to design a fluid page that doesn't have cross page margins.
Don't frustrate users by getting in their way of their task with the content you want them to see. Wait for the user to accomplish their task, and then give it to them, but make it relevant to what they were doing. Take advantage of the Seduceable Moment. Users are single task oriented, but can be distracted.
When interviewing users, get descriptions of what they have done, not assumptions on future decisions.
Rotating banners confuse and lose people if they are clickable. How can you guarantee the same content will be in place if the user hits the back button.
Watch how much marketing speak you use on a page. Make sure every sentence adds something valuable to the page that the user will want.
The Back button is the Button of Doom and it means your page is failing.
Pogosticking - when the user jumps back and forth between levels of hierarchy on this site. A fail? Or just a method of browsing?
In eCommerce, as the number of pages it takes to make a purchase increases, the number of purchases decreases.
Create a code pattern library rather than a style guide. It is more flexible and encourages people to think about the context they are designing in.
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3 Comments:
I attended Jared's workshop at WDN too, and it was great! I was wondering if he sent you his slides yet? I haven't heard from him, and I would love to get my hands on a copy.
thx for taking the notes... appreciate the info. Meryl SF
I haven't got any slides yet, but will inquire with the WDN crew - they may have them.
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