Oops! before I go...
Professional Website Usability - 5 Parts.
Think of Web usability as a pay now or pay later proposition. If you don’t check in with users early in the development process, you run the risk that you won’t meet their needs when you launch the site. When you realize their needs haven’t been met, you have to go back and rethink your whole approach, rehire the web developers and get them refocused on the project so they can redevelop the site. The terms, rethink, rehire, refocus and redevelop should be conjuring up visions of dollar signs for you, not to mention the fact that your brand, image and credibility were damaged in the process of launching a site users weren’t able to use.
via xblog.
6/27/2000 7:42:46 PM
Summer Vacation fellas.
See you again around 10-July. In the meantime visit any of the very fine weblogs listed along the left margin.
6/27/2000 4:17:45 PM
Eye candy from the underground.
Problem: The look and feel of most U.S. corporate sites is very similar due to inbreeding. Solution: Stop sleeping with your cousin. Look elsewhere for design inspiration. Introduce some new web design ideas into the mix. Fresh meat, new blood for the design gene pool.
Where NOT to look for fresh design ideas, and Where to look for fresh design ideas.
6/27/2000 12:50:49 PM
Report hits Web sites' builders.
Systems integrators blamed for online retailers' woes. "'What you need to understand is that there were a lot of chefs in the kitchen," ... "The real problem is that those chefs don't always agree on what's best for their customers".
6/26/2000 11:15:41 PM
Rated XHTML.
Those fanatics who think that everything W3C says has the power of a Divine Commandment and therefore treat anyone who doesn't use XHTML as a heretic to be burned at the stake at the earliest opportunity, are simply wrong. XHTML isn't about the present, it's about the future.
Personally I've started to modify my HTML writing to conform to the XHTML standard. For me at least is almost effortless, it works just the same and, should we really move to the brave new world the W3C envisions, I'll be a little better prepared.
6/24/2000 4:16:13 PM
This Man Can Save Your Website.
"I am not a digital hairstylist. That is not the point. The Web is completely goal-oriented. 'I want this information, where is it? Give it to me now. GET OUT OF MY WAY.' You see people putting up their beautiful little pictures, not even realizing they could close the deal right there! [voice rising in disbelief] HEY! Go all the way, man! This is the WEB! Wake up! And they're thinking, [whining inflection] 'Well, I've spent half a million dollars so it must be good.' Yeah, it looks fine. AND IT'S JUST TOTALLY USELESS!"
via WebWord.
6/22/2000 12:02:18 PM
Hey Flasher, Stop Abusing your Visitors.
Flash can be a powerful tool to assist a site in providing a better user experience. As designers we have to look past the flashy features of Flash and start thinking about how it can make our sites better and easier to use.
6/21/2000 12:11:42 PM
Creative Good: Conversion Rate Calculator.
Many e-commerce companies have no idea how to measure their success, mistakenly measuring their "hits" and "eyeballs" as if their websites were actually TV shows. But the conversion rate is the single best measurement an e-commerce site can make.
6/21/2000 11:42:42 AM
The Reality Club: The Second Coming.
Interesting responses to the article posted earlier about the future of computing.
Via Glish, who also posted a copy of a relevant NYT article.
6/20/2000 9:56:56 PM
Gartner Interactive web site-ings, what makes a good site good?
Gartner is sharing their Web evaluation tool to answer that question. The tool (a 187Kb zipped MS Excel worksheet) comprises both overall criteria and industry criteria.
6/20/2000 5:14:11 PM
The Second Coming -- A Manifesto.
Fascinating read about the future of computing and today's outdated system of metaphors and under-utilization of computing power.
via Eatonweb.
6/20/2000 10:10:49 AM
Fast Is No Longer Fast Enough.
Building a super-fast Web site isn't cheap or easy--but it's the goal of just about every business on the Internet, because a slow download can lose a customer just as easily as a rude salesperson can.
via WebWord.
6/20/2000 9:28:38 AM
Information Architecture of the Shopping Cart.
PDF document (179Kb).
6/19/2000 2:47:24 PM
Gimme Five Blunders.
Although they span the spectrum, most dot-com marketing mistakes can be bundled into categories based on five basic blundering lines of thought.
6/17/2000 10:59:21 AM
The Best Offense Is a Pit Bull Patent Lawyer.
6/17/2000 10:49:36 AM
Effective E-Commerce Design II: Beyond Infomercials.
Get ready to talk with, not at, your "students." Once a company starts really giving to customers, sharing real and useful information, customers start talking back. But when you demonstrate a commitment to customer-centered strategy, you'll soon discover that your customers are willing to be your best strategists. Teacher, get ready to learn.
6/17/2000 10:40:57 AM
DOM Design Tricks.
These tutorials will show you how to use the W3C Document Object Model (DOM), Style Sheets, and JavaScript to add value to your website's content. Examples work only in IE5 and NN6.
6/17/2000 12:43:15 AM
- What is Interaction Design and What Does It Mean to Information Designers
- Make Way for Interactive Assistance
6/15/2000 8:56:35 PM
Trying to get back into the groove after several days disconnected...
6/13/2000 5:46:35 PM
Online branding.
Slide-show-type presentation, also via xblog.
6/13/2000 5:27:02 PM
User-centered design forum.
A forum about putting usage-centered design into practice--ideas, techniques, and tips.
Then again, too many documents are in PDF, Argh!. I agree with antenna that this is the a real cancer on the web.
6/13/2000 5:22:33 PM
logotypes.
Free service with over 3,400 logos in vector format (AI).
via xblog.
6/13/2000 5:16:33 PM
> Why user experience disasters happen at the start of web projects.
> 13 common objections against user requirements analysis, and why you should not believe them.
6/13/2000 5:13:42 PM
Effective E-commerce Design.
Whether you are a designer, manager, or strategist, you need to accept that your e-business is nothing but bits. Your job is to make these bits as valuable to customers as possible.
via Tomalak.
6/13/2000 4:50:36 PM
Introduction to Information Architecture.
Good information architecture makes a website easy to use. Good architecture keeps customers happy.
via xblog
6/8/2000 6:12:13 PM
Concepts for improved visualization of Web link attributes.
This paper discusses methods to generate and display automatically additional hyperlink information to the users of the Web.
via xblog.
6/7/2000 9:34:41 PM
Proceedings of the CHI 2000 Workshop Designing Interactive Systems for 1-to-1 E-commerce.
6/6/2000 11:18:54 PM
Principles of Graphic Design.
[Requires Flash]
6/6/2000 3:17:59 PM
frontend.com Usability InfoCentre.
Any application is only as powerful as the person who uses it. 'Usability' enables the user to leverage the power of any given application in the most effective and efficient manner possible. In the online business environment, usability and intelligent interface design are no longer just desirable - they are a necessity.
via xblog (welcome back!)
6/6/2000 12:24:43 AM
nublog by Joe Clark.
A Weblog on online content and everything that entails. Usability rules!
6/6/2000 12:20:31 AM
Animation, Titan A.E., and Usability.
Cool! my brother gets interviewed by John Rhodes of WebWord.
6/5/2000 7:43:01 AM
Composition and Usability.
by emphasizing the importance of preparation before design, the site composition process does give you plenty of opportunity to design a UI that is both usable and visually appealing.
via WebWord.
6/3/2000 9:43:16 AM
Comparison of Usability Evaluation Methods.
via WebWord.
6/2/2000 11:48:36 AM
Europe's Online Tax Overhaul
Internet commerce cannot be forced into geographic boundaries, and governments will never give up the power to tax within those same borders. One of those two statements is wrong, and watching Europe wrestle with the question will begin to tell us which one it is.
via Tomalak.
6/2/2000 11:43:08 AM
Protecting Yourself, Your Site, and Your Clients from Cross-Site Scripting Attacks.
Examples use Active Server Pages. via Lekhani.
6/1/2000 9:48:31 PM
Web sites stolen by hackers.
Criminals have discovered ways to confuse the domain name system and hijack addresses.
6/1/2000 5:20:18 PM
A cancer on the Web called Flash.
When Flash first hit the web (back when it was called Future Splash) it was all about streaming and small file sizes. You could design a Flash menu that would load faster than a bunch of JavaScript rollover GIF files, and it would stream in. Now, four years later, no one understands the art of streaming in their content. Flash designers would rather make their visitor wait for a 100k download than learn how to keep their files within the download stream.
6/1/2000 3:18:32 PM