Fre_entity's Favorite Links on study from Diigo

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Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:34:45 -0000

n our last issue of Usability News, we reported on the general usage of breadcrumb trails as a method of navigation on web sites (Lida, Hull & Pilcher, 2003). The term “breadcrumb” derives its name from the Grimm’s fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. Hansel left a trail of breadcrumbs through the woods as a strategy to find his way back home. Since today’s internet user often has a need to navigate back through a website path, the cyber-version “breadcrumb trail” was named1.

Tags: usability user interface breadcrumbs navigation study

Posted by: fre_entity

Eye Movement Patterns on Single and Dual-Column Web Pages

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:54:19 -0000

This study examines eye movement patterns of users browsing or searching a 1-column and 2-column news article on a web page. The results show a higher number of fixations for information in the second column of an article than for the same information in the lower portion of a single column. In addition, the typical "F" pattern appeared in the left column of the 2-column layout, but not in the right column. Users also fixated more on other page elements, such as ads, when they were browsing than when they were searching.

Tags: usability eye-tracking study columns column

Posted by: fre_entity

Four Bad Web Designs (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Wed, 07 May 2008 01:17:24 -0000

Bad content, bad links, bad navigation, bad category pages... which is worst for business? In these examples, bad content takes the prize for costing the company the most money.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Bad content, bad links, bad navigation, bad category pages... which is worst for business? In these examples, bad content takes the prize for costing the company the most money.

The problem is that every extra design element detracts from all the other design elements on the page. When you push irrelevant links at people, you teach them to ignore the ones that matter.

The New York Times is probably losing the least money; most users will simply skip the no-scent link. At the same time, of course, the generic link has an opportunity cost: in its place, the newspaper could offer a link to content that's closely related to the current article. People who actually read to the end of the page would be quite likely to click the link. The site could thus gain maybe 2–5% more pageviews through better use of that space.

My bet for biggest business loss is the content-poor jazz page. Our user testing of product pages shows that people are much more likely to buy when a page answers their questions about its offerings.

My guess is that, by adding more information, the site could sell at least 5 times as many tickets to non-fans. In studying the ROI of usability improvements, we sometimes find a sales increase of 1,000% or more. So, adding meaningful content might even make this page a tenbagger for non-fanatical customers. How much the overall sales would increase depends on the ratio between the rabid adherents of this artist and the people who simply like some jazz from time to time. My guess is that the second group is so much larger that better content would make sales explode.

Tags: jakob nielsen best practice usability study content

Posted by: fre_entity

Right-Justified Navigation Menus Impede Scannability (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Wed, 07 May 2008 01:12:48 -0000

Users scan lists by moving their eyes rapidly down the left edge. Menu items that are right-aligned make scanning more difficult.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

The menu design guidelines are thus clear, at least for vertical menus:

Left-justify the menu, so that the user's eyes can move in a straight line and don't have to re-acquire the beginning of each new line.
Start each menu item with the one or two most information-carrying words.
Avoid using the same few words to start list items, because doing so makes them harder to scan.

Aligning a navigation menu with the right margin might look cool, but the resulting ragged left margin severely reduces the speed with which users can scan the menu and select their preferred options.

(Of course, the left-alignment guideline is for languages that read left-to-right. For languages that read in the opposite direction, the guideline is reversed: you should right-justify the menu. In either case, the point is to make it easier for users to scan down the side on which they start reading.)

To complicate matters, two of these screenshots also violate the guideline against USING ALL CAPS, which reduces legibility by about 10%. When you mix cases, the ascenders and decenders produce varied letterforms, while all caps produce boxy shapes. Users recognize words faster when you preserve traditional word shapes. (As an example, compare the word "Employment" in the left-hand menu with the word "EMPLOYMENT" in the middle menu.)

Tags: best practice usability reading study menu

Posted by: fre_entity

How Little Do Users Read? (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Wed, 07 May 2008 01:10:41 -0000

We've known since our first studies of how users read on the Web that they typically don't read very much. Scanning text is an extremely common behavior for higher-literacy users; our recent eyetracking studies further validate this finding.

The only thing we've been missing is a mathematical formula to quantify exactly how much (or how little) people read online. Now, thanks to new data, we have this as well.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Obviously, users tend to spend more time on pages with more information. However, the best-fit formula tells us that they spend only 4.4 seconds more for each additional 100 words.

The formula in the chart above indicates that there is a fixed time of about 25 seconds, plus an additional 4.4 seconds per 100 words. (Of course, the numbers are not "fixed" in the sense that they're always the same — these are averages.)

This is a very rapidly declining curve. On an average visit, users read half the information only on those pages with 111 words or less.

In the full dataset, the average page view contained 593 words. So, on average, users will have time to read 28% of the words if they devote all of their time to reading. More realistically, users will read about 20% of the text on the average page.

Tags: jakob nielsen usability eyetracking study time

Posted by: fre_entity

Department for Children, Schools and Families : Byron Review

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:49:10 -0000

On 6th September 2007, the Prime Minister asked me to conduct an independent review looking at the risks to children from exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games.

My Review is about the needs of children and young people. It is about preserving their right to take the risks that form an inherent part of their development by enabling them to play video games and surf the net in a safe and informed way.

By listening to children and young people and putting them at the heart of this Review - and by replacing emotion with evidence - I hope I have provided some very necessary focus to what is a very necessary debate.

PDF versions of the Full Report, Annexes and supporting documentation are available below.

Tags: technology children safety study

Posted by: fre_entity

Study: There is No Tipping Point, Blog Readers Are Skeptical - ReadWriteWeb

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:32:55 -0000

A new study by Canadian research firm Pollara has surfaced data indicating that Malcolm Gladwell's popular theory about key influencers moving markets may not be valid. Gladwell's arguments in the 2000 book The Tipping Point had reached levels of cliche approaching The Wisdom of Crowds, in large part because of its seductiveness to marketers.

Tags: blog e-marketing influence skeptical study

Posted by: fre_entity

The Apple iPhone: Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:15:55 -0000

The Apple iPhone is easily the most publicized new mobile device in recent memory.
But despite all the discussion about the product, there's relatively little hard
information available to the public on its impact. How is it being used? What effect is
it having on customers and on the technology industry?

Tags: iphone mobile web research study usage

Posted by: fre_entity