- Web user should know what site they are visiting by the page
design, without having to look at URL. [WWW4]
- Jakob Nielson's Top Ten Mistakes in
Web Design:
- Using frames
- Use of bleeding-edge technology
- Scrolling text, marquees, constantly running animators, <BLINK>
- URLs in a Web page
- Orphan pages: pages that do not indicate what they are a part of
- Long scrolling pages (90% of users won't scroll)
- Lack of navigation support: give users sense of structure, site map,
and search feature
- Non-standard link colors
- Outdated information
- Overly long download times (see Javamatic page
for an example of a carefully designed logo that is small but
eye-catching.
- A Web site could attract more visitors if run as a monthly magazine,
with the content varied monthly.
- "It is the responsibility of the Web editor to prioritize the
information space for the user and to point out a very small number of
recommended information objects. The beauty of hypertext is that the user
can then browse the information space further and dive deeper into the
specific information of interest to that individual user." [Jakob Nielson,
Interface Design for
Sun's WWW Site]
- People have little patience for poorly designed Web sites, they don't
want to scroll, and they don't want to read (reading a computer is 25%
slower than reading paper). So organize your Web site, make everything fit
on a single page, and write 50% less. [Jakob Nielson, Interface Design for Sun's
WWW Site]
- Design a Web site that builds a relationship with users. For example,
Hotwired's "What's New" page, that
keeps track of when each user last visited and highlights new stories.
Users can also customize the "What's New" page. [Jakob Nielson, Relationships on the
Web]
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Last modified on 19 September 1996.
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