------------------------------------------------------------ Website Analyst Newsletter Meeting Your Needs With Excellence ------------------------------------------------------------ Issue 24 January 2002 Editor: Lucian Millis mailto:editor@website-analyst.co.il Publisher: Website Analyst http://www.website-analyst.co.il/ ------------------------------------------------------------ A monthly digest of usability, information design and user experience that appear in my LucDesk weblog at: http://www.website-analyst.co.il/lucdesk/lucdesk.html This newsletter is perfect for designers, builders, testers and maintainers of websites. ------------------------------------------------------------ ATTENTION: You have received this email as a result of subscribing via email, or the subscription form on our website. SUBSCRIBE and UNSUBSCRIBE details are at the end of this email. Our subscriber list is never sold, traded or otherwise made available to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. For the full privacy statement: http://www.website-analyst.co.il/privacy.html Back Issues: http://www.website-analyst.co.il/archive.html MAILING LIST HOST Hosted by Topica at: http://www.topica.com/ Thanks for the good service! This ezine featured at EzineCenter.com - the Ezine Search Engine(tm) - http://www.ezinecenter.com/ ============================================================ IN THIS ISSUE ============================================================ 1. Editor's Note 2. Information Design - Web Usability - User Experience 3. List Management 4. Contact Information ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Editor's Note ------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Friend, First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a happy and prosperous New Year. Spread the word! Don't hesitate to forward a copy of this newsletter to friends and associates, but please include the subscription address so they can join us. Invite them to send a blank email to mailto:analyst-subscribe@topica.com Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy what you find here. Happy 2002 everybody! Best regards, Lucian ------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Information Design - Web Usability - User Experience ------------------------------------------------------------ Links for December 2001 - To view these links on the Web visit this page: http://www.website-analyst.co.il/lucdesk/dec01.html What was hot and what was not in the year 2001? http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html A Guide to Better Usability on the Web "This guide is intended for professionals working within the internet industry, such as producers, writers, editors, web designers, user interface designers, and marketing people who have an impact on the delivery and display of content on the internet." http://cleardesign.net/webusability/index.html DESIRE Information Gateways Handbook: User interface design "This chapter looks at the general user interface issues which should be considered when planning the development of an information gateway or when looking at the modification of an existing gateway. ... Poor user interface design can hide even the most powerful and useful Web sites from all but the most advanced and patient users." http://www.desire.org/handbook/2-9.html Information architecture versus graphic design "Much web design has suffered from an over reliance on graphic design principles. Too many graphic designers have tried to force the Web to be what it is not, in the process creating ineffective and sometimes unusable websites. Quality web design is driven by information architecture design principles. Graphic design should support these principles." http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2001/nt_2001_12_17_design.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ TIP: Slow load times may cause people to get impatient and go elsewhere, even though it registers a visit! ------------------------------------------------------------ Glossary of usability terms and definitions http://ergolabs.com/glossary.htm Conducting a web site evaluation "The best design is one that prevents a problem from occurring. The best way to avoid errors is to test, test, and test! However, when errors do occur (and they will), provide user- friendly messages, not than geek-speak." http://www.cyberwriter.com/TFM/2001/01-10.html Interview: Jakob Nielsen on usability and Intranets "Organisations have an awful habit of developing an intranet and publishing their corporate manuals and best practice quides exactly as they find them in print. And that is just so wrong." http://www.it-director.com/article.php?id=2383 The 10 Best Intranet Designs of 2001 http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20011125.html In Defense of Search "Many web sites and intranets can benefit most dramatically and immediately from enhancements to the search system. We're talking major ROI here. Lots of return with relatively little investment. ... But a search engine is not enough! Designers need to take a systemic approach that recognizes the roles played by the search interface, the content and the results presentation." http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/search.html ------------------------------------------------------------ TIP: The most important factor in any monetary transaction is trust, this is especially important in Internet selling since you do not have that personal contact. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fighting Linkrot (1998) "The overall quality of the user experience strongly influences people's assessment of the credibility and value of a site: if a site doesn't work well, users will abandon it." http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980614.html Microsoft, terrorism, and computer security http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23418.html Who needs hackers when we've got MS? "Microsoft needs to review its software code line-by-line and clean it up. Years of service packing, patching, re-patching, updating, critical updating, and hot-fixing Windows products have made them dirty and prone to breaking, as we see every few months." http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/23496.html Why a PDA is not always a killer app "I recognize that the PDA is the way of the future, and even the present. But having a Palm Pilot in my life does not make my daily routines any easier." http://www.netwert.com/ideapad/palm.html Some of these URLs change quickly so we recommend printing out any articles of interest as soon as possible to read at a later date. --- LucDesk weblog is my daily pick of noteworthy news and features on topics related to usability, information design and user experience. What's new at the LucDesk weblog? Check it out at: http://www.website-analyst.co.il/lucdesk/lucdesk.html --- Please feel free to forward this newsletter in its entirety to anyone who may find it of interest. ------------------------------------------------------------ 3. List Management ------------------------------------------------------------ To subscribe to this list, send a blank email to mailto:analyst-subscribe@topica.com To be removed from this list, send a blank email to mailto:analyst-unsubscribe@topica.com ------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Contact Information ------------------------------------------------------------ Website Analyst PO Box 183 Netanya, 42101 - Israel (c) 1999-2002 Website Analyst. All rights reserved. This newsletter is for informational purposes only. Thanks for reading another issue of WA Newsletter! ----------- End of Website Analyst Newsletter #24 ----------