Transcript Web design - Personal Web Pages

UI Design for the
WWW
Creating Effective Sites and Pages
Dilbert’s Design for the Web
User Behaviors: Browse,
Search
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Search - Seeking to find a particular item,
fact or piece of information.
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-> Buying products, doing research,
downloading software, ...
Promote ease and speed
Browsing - Scanning for “interesting” item,
fact or piece of information.
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-> Surfing, doing research, ...
Without a goal, attractiveness trumps ease &
speed
Page/Site Goals
• Convey information/access
employees, shareholders, customers
colleagues, public
• Sell products
• Advertise/market service
• Recruit
• Announce, survey
• Nurture communities
• Convey image or impression
• Meet people
• Raise money/donations
• Entertain an audience
• Promote myself
• Teach people about a topic
• Get famous
• Tell a story
Developing a Site
1. Identify objectives
2. Generate content - typically a topics list
3. Logically organize content - clusters
4. Provide structure to clusters
5. Transform content to pages with graphic
design
6. Test and iterate
So what else is new????
Identify Objectives
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Develop brief statements for the
following questions:
What is the purpose or goal of the
site?
 Who is your intended audience?
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Web site sometimes used to describe
an administrative organization, not to
give the user what they want :-(
Generate a Topics List
Raw brainstorming of just anything
College of IT, e.g.:
classes
people
faculty
students
administrators
equipment
directions
programs
degrees
mission
undergraduates
awards
unique points
table of contents
index
contact information
map
buildings
academic units
graduates
alumni
research
Put each on index card or post-it note
Organize Content
Group items into categories
People
Faculty
Students
Undergraduates
Graduates
Staff
Academics
Courses
Undergraduate
Graduate
Degrees
...
Put notecards into piles
Provide Structure
Sketch out the high-level organization
of the categories
College
People
Faculty
Students
Undergrads
Research
Staff
Grads
Academics
Courses
Degrees
Current Index on COIT
Home Page
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Departments
 Computer Science
 SIS
Institutes
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Faculty/Staff
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Faculty Listing
Staff Listing
Research Areas
Charlotte Visualization Center
…
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Search
Bioinformatics
…
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Computer Science
Research Labs
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Information
 Programs
 News
 Events
 Undergraduate Admissions
 Graduate Admissions
 Contacts
 Student Laptop Program
 Dean’s List
 Bioinformatics Intitiative
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Undergraduate Program
Master’s Program
Ph.D. Program
Graduate Certificate
Software and Info. Systems
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B.A. SIS
Master’s in IT
Ph.D. in IT
Certificate Programs
Research Projects
Transform Content
Start transitioning to pages, text, images, interaction, etc.
Use
sketches
lists
storyboards
drawings
outlines
Will help you organize your
thoughts and plan
COIT Homepage
Special Design Challenge

On WWW, you don’t know your user’s
platform and capabilities
Screen size - from PDA to huge
 Connection speed - from dial-up to
really fast
 Plug-ins
 What else????

Web Design
Dimensions/Tensions
Tension Between Opposites
Structure
Design
Scientist
Artist
Organization
Library
Aesthetics
Gallery
Why Web Site Design
Matters
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Tests of time to complete shopping tasks at
several major on-line stores - number of
clicks varied from 8 to 50; high
abandonment rate on poor sites
Jakob Nielsen review of comparative tests
on web sites - average 68% difference in
task completion times
Nielsen finds 135% improvement from
redesign effort
see http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040119.html
Web Site
Usability Problems
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What problems do YOU have on the
web?…
1.
2.
3.
…
…
…
Five Usability Issues
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Text content
Graphic design
Navigation
Structure
Links
Others????
Text Content
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Attention spans are short on the web - users
want instant gratification, and reading is 25%
slower on screen than on paper
So…
 People tend to skim web pages, just read
headers, highlights, selected paragraphs
Therefore
 Tune your writing style to this reality
J. Nielsen column on writing for WWW
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http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html
INVERSE PYRAMID WRITING STYLE
Inverse Pyramid Writing
This is the short blurb describing
the article
Most important info
This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical
text To see how well this thing w This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical
text This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some
nonsensical text
Title
Short
Blurbs
To see how well this thing works
This is some
nonsensical text This is some nonsensical
text This is some nonsensical text Does this work at all? I don’t know. I am in love with
XXX To see how well this thing
works This is some nonsensical text This is some
Summaries
nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is
some nonsensical text Does this work at all? I don’t
Overviews
know. This is some nonsensical text This is some the dog is barking nonsensical text
This is some nonsensical text DoesTeasers
this work at all? I don’t know. What is love? What is
the good life? What is, and is not? That which
.
is, is. The world is all that exists. Nothing unreal
. exists, metaphysics law #1. This is some
the the the the nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text Does this work at all? I
don’t know. This is Is there a god? Are we a. quantum accident? Will we ever know? Are
there questions that should never be asked? What is the nature of goodness? Why are
we so mean to each other? How can we be so cruel to one another?
Less important info
This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical
text To see how well this thing works This is some nonsensical text This is some
nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is
some nonsensical text
To see how well this thing works
Background Information
Supporting Details
This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical
text This is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some
Quotes
nonsensical What is good inLong
life, he asks? That
is a question we may never have an
answer to. is some nonsensical text This is some nonsensical text This is some
James Landy,
U Washington
Journalists Use Inverted Pyramid
from
www.nytimes.com
James Landy,
U Washington
ZDNet Uses Inverted Pyramid
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Start with a good concise title
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Continue with the most important points
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50% less than you would offline
Use a simple writing style
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Use hypertext to split-up information
People often won’t scroll or read
Use less text
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Reflect the content
Simple sentences -- no hype or advertising
Use EMBEDDED LINKS to help visitors find more
information
Use bullets and numbered lists
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Supports skimming
James Landy,
U Washington
Using Bullets
James Landy,
U Washington
Graphic Design
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All the graphic design considerations
apply here, too
Consistency
 Visual structure reinforces logical
structure
 Color
 Typography
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Images & Download Speed
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Avoid anything slow
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Text-only version for slow-speed connections
Completely different design for PDAs
User expectations differ for
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Gratuitous decorative images
• Banners and backgrounds
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Desired content
• Map, picture of new grandchild
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As networks get faster, ground rules
change!
The Useful Web
Navigation
Often the most critical element
 Often the weakest part of a web site
 Problems due to
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Users don’t have domain knowledge
 Site structures don’t meet expectations
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www.amazon.com
Navigation
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Give user understanding of
information space structure
Table of Contents (Site Map)
 Search, Index, Breadcrumbs
 Navigation bar - tabs or similar
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www.washingtonpost.com
Alternative to Breadcrumbs
Site map showing current page
 Called “Context + Focus”
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Structure
Connectivity - distance between page
pairs, averaged over all pairs
 Branching factor - how many out-links
 Long scrollable pages vs linked
shorter pages
 Number of links (clicks) to get to a
goal page - major cause of users
abandoning a site
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Sample Structures
Home
Page
web or
network
First
Page
sequence
Home
Page
hierarchy
Inconsistent Structure
Multiple paths from 4 pages
 No way back from Sports Flash
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Grandstand
Sports Flash
Sports Chat
Rooms
Fantasy
Leagues
Sports
Message
Boards
Sports
Libraries
Entry (aka Tunnel) Page(s)
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Typically a flashy graphic or animation
with single link to home page
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To lure/entice viewer in
Entry
Page
Site
Map
FAQ
Home
Page
Credits
Exit
Page
Content
Pages
Entry Pages
Controversial
 Would be OK for a sculptor’s site,
 Not OK for news or shopping site
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Always provide “Skip this introduction”
link to get past the hype
Home Page
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Most important page at your site
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Critical for image
Entices viewer to look at more
Give viewer a good idea of what can be
found at the site
Make sure vital content is “above the fold”
Place real content on home page
How much graphics do you use?
If links are in images, have parallel text
labels near page bottom
Home Page Design Has
Evolved
From graphics-rich with few links –
mostly to top-level pages of major
subsections
 To link-rich pages that give access to
real content in one click, plus have
some content
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Home Page Evolution
Georgia Tech College of Computing
Ancient
home page
Old
home page
Current
home page
Structure of Pages Templates
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Layout consistency important
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Graphics, banners, grid, breadcrumbs,
navigation aids, search box
Design just once, use for all pages
 Design tools support this Dreamweaver etc
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Evaluating Templates “Greeking”
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Have people guess what the areas are See: www.useit.com/alertbox/980517.html
Topology
Abolish linear thinking, that is,
dependence on prior pages
Search engines can send user straight
to any page ==> Each page should be
able to stand on its own
Return
Go back
Link all pages to the home page
Links
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Success of link depends on
How well user can predict where link
will lead
 How well user can differentiate one
link from other nearby ones
 Useful content at other end of link
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Link Style
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Short, terse sound bite
Prices
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Long textual explanations maybe even with
trailing (non-link) clarification
Listing of car prices - Current suggested prices
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Link provides expectation of where it goes
Be our guest
 What does that do?
Link Wording
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Beware the famous “here”
Click here to learn about my BMW Z3
vs.
I drive fast in my BMW Z3
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When a link will take someone a good
distance, use word “jump”
For more on iguanas, jump to Fred’s iguana
page.
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Say explicitly where link is
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Check out the tax calculator by Money
Magazine.
Multimedia Links
Tell what it is and how big it is
Flight of the Valkyries
Click may get surprise
Bell jingling (.au file, 700,00 bytes)
<IMG SRC=“/icons/sound.gif” ALT=“[SOUND]”> <A HREF=“bell.au”>
Bell jingling (.au file, 700,000 bytes)</A>
Bell jingling (Quicktime movie, 3 meg)
<IMG SRC=“/icons/movie.gif” ALT=“[MOVIE]”> <A HREF=“bell.qt”>
Bell jingling (Quicktime movie, 3 meg) </A>
Cool if cursor changed form according
to what kind of link it’s over
Link Issues
• Embedded Links - Links set in surrounding
text. They can be harder for user to pick and use.
• Wrapped Links - Confusing - 3 or 4 items??
Janus Twenty
Investment Company
of America
Royce Premier
• Too many on a page can be confusing and
take too long to parse
• Problem with Image links - Don’t change color to indicate
prior traversal
Link Issues
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Within-page links
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Can be confusing
• Is this the same page or a differnet page?
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Use shorter pages to avoid scrolling
Good Links
James Landy,
U Washington
The “Killer Site”Has
Site:
• Table of contents / Site
map
• Short descriptions of
what’s there
• Index (if big enough)
• Search
What else??
Page:
• Navigation bar
• Organization
• Last updated
• Problem report
• E-mail contact
Top Ten Web Design
Mistakes of 2005
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Legibility Problems
Non-Standard Links
Flash
Content That’s Not Written for the Web
Bad Search
Browser Incompatibility
Cumbersome Forms
No Contact Information or Other Company Info
Frozen Layouts with Fixed Page Widths
Inadequate Photo Enlargment
Also – Pop ups
Jacob Nielson
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/designmistakes.html
Bad Design Bugaboos
All capitals text
Scrolling sideways
Teeny, tiny text size, especially in italics
Dead links
Telling the user how to set the browser
Poor contrast in text-to-background color
Large typeface (one without impact and contrast)
Animations that don’t stop
Things that look like buttons but aren’t
“Under construction” notices
Neglecting ALT tags for images
Not denoting image sizes
Do-nothing home page
Changing color for the heck of it
Lack of mail to/feedback throughout site
Sites requiring advanced browser or plug in
Blink tags
Jeff Johnson’s Web
Bloopers
Chapter 1 – Content Bloopers
1. Home page identity crisis. Home page
doesn’t clearly identify organization or its
purpose.
2. Confusing classifications. Content
categories seem arbitrary or nonsensical.
3. Unhelpful descriptions. Content
descriptions do not support choosing
among items.
4. Conflicting content. Information in
different parts of site disagrees.
5. Outdated content. Content on site is outof-date, but not clearly marked as archival.
6. Missing or useless content. Information
users need to accomplish goals is missing.
7. Unfinished content. Blatantly incomplete
areas of site.
Chapter 2 – Task-Support Bloopers
8. Redundant requests. Asking users for the
same data repeatedly.
9. Requiring unneeded data. Making users
provide non-essential information.
10. Pointless choice. Offering or requiring
meaningless choices.
11. Omitting important options. Choice
excludes options some users need.
12. Clueless back-end. Back-end lacks
"common sense" data needed to support
user tasks.
13. Dead-end path: Now you tell me!
Allowing users to go down a path towards
a goal before telling them it is unavailable.
14. Agonizing task-flow. Accomplishing tasks
requires many unnecessary, distracting
steps.
Jeff Johnson’s Web
Bloopers
Chapter 3 – Navigation Bloopers
15. Site reflects organization chart. Site
structure reflects organization’s structure
or history.
16. Numerous navigation schemes. Many
ways to navigate, but no clear guidance.
17. Deceptive duplicate links. Making users
think: "Do those go to the same place?".
18. Not linking directly. Specific-looking links
that go to generic pages or home pages.
19. Lost in space: Current page not
indicated. Page doesn’t clearly show
where user is.
20. The circle game: Active link to here.
Page has active link to itself.
21. Missing links: It’s BACK or nothing.
Page provides no navigation links.
Chapter 4 – Form Bloopers
22. Making people type. Using a text field for
a choice setting.
23. Intolerant data fields. Text field is too
picky about how data must be typed.
24. No defaults. Controls and form fields with
no default value.
25. Faulty defaults. Controls and form fields
with the wrong default value.
26. Compulsory clicking: No default text
input focus. Users can’t just start typing.
27. Lame label placement. Labels misaligned with, or too far from, data fields.
28. Checkboxes or radiobuttons?
Checkboxes misused as radiobuttons, or
vice-versa.
29. Looks editable but isn’t. Using standard
data-input controls for display-only data.
30. Mysterious controls. Operation of
controls is unclear due to poor labeling,
poor layout, or uniqueness of controls.
Jeff Johnson’s Web
Bloopers
Chapter 5 – Search Bloopers
31. Baffling search controls. Search options require
knowledge of computer or industry-insider
concepts.
32. Dueling search controls. Competing search
boxes on page, with no guidance.
33. Hits look alike. List of found items cannot be easily
distinguished by scanning.
34. Duplicate hits. List of found items contains
duplicates.
35. Search myopia: Missing relevant items. Items
that should be found are not.
36. Needle in a haystack: Piles of irrelevant hits.
Many items don’t match search criteria.
37. Hits sorted uselessly. Sort-order of found items
doesn’t support user tasks.
38. Crazy search behavior. Modifying search criteria
yields unexpected results.
39. Search-terms not shown. Not showing what
search terms produced these results.
40. Number of hits not revealed. Not showing how
many items were found.
Chapter 6 – Text & Writing Bloopers
41. Too much text. Overly-verbose
instructions, messages, or link-labels.
42. Speaking Geek. Computer jargon in error
messages, commands, or instructions.
43. Calling site visitors "user" . Using the
computer jargon term "user" on a website.
44. Insider jargon. Using the vocabulary of
industry experts, rather than that of users.
45. Variable vocabulary: Different words for
the same thing. Inconsistent terms.
46. Inconsistent style. Text on site does not
follow consistent style rules.
47. Typos and grammos: Sloppy writing.
Failing to check and fix text before going
live.
Jeff Johnson’s Web
Bloopers
Chapter 7 – Link Appearance Bloopers
48. Links don’t look like links. Links not
marked well enough, so users miss them.
49. Non-links look like links. Non-link text is
underlined; or non-link graphics look
clickable.
50. Bizarre buttons: Click target smaller
than it seems. Entire boxed area
surrounding link label looks like part of
button, but only label accepts clicks.
51. Wrapped links: How many? Multi-line
text links.
52. "Click here": Burying links in text.
Important navigation links embedded in
prose.
53. Been there, done that? Can’t tell.
Traversed links not clearly marked.
Chapter 8 – Graphic Design & Layout
Bloopers
54. Tiny text. Text typeface too small for many
users to read.
55. Camouflaged text. Text contrasts poorly
with background.
56. Centering everything. Centering prose
text, bullet items, controls, or data fields.
57. Unobtrusive error messages. Error
messages easy to miss due to poor
placement.
58. Shades of beige: color differences too
subtle. Relying on small color differences
to convey important meaning.
59. Dead or Alive? Active buttons look
inactive. Buttons appear "grayed out" but
aren’t.
60. Terrible tabs. Navigation tabs don’t look
and act enough like real tabs.
Sources
• Designing Web Usability, J. Nielsen, New Riders, 2000.
• The Non-Designer’s Web Book, R. Williams and J. Tollett, Peachpit
Press, 1998.
• Web Style Guide, P. Lynch and S. Horton, Yale Univ. Press, 1999.
• Creating Killer Web Sites, 2nd edition, D. Siegel, Hayden Books, 1997.
• Web Site Usability: A Designer’s Guide, User Interface Engineering,
North Andover, MA, 1997.
• Web by Design, The Complete Guide, M. Holzschlag, Sybex, 1998.
• Web Concept & Design, C. Waters, New Riders, 1996.
• Hot Wired Style, Principles for Building Smart Web Sites, J. Veen,
Wired Books, 1997.
• The Web Design Wow! Book, J. Davis and S. Merritt, Peachpit Press, 1998.
• How to Set Up and Maintain a Web Site, L. Stein, Addison Wesley
1997.
Sources
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Jakob Nielsen’s home page, hotlist, recommended books
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www.webtechniques.com
Web design fundamentals
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http://www.web-bloopers.com/index.php
Web Techniques magazine
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webreview.com/wr/pub/
Web Bloopers (Jeff Johnson)
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
www.useit.com/hotlist/
Web Review Design tips
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www.useit.com/jakob/
www.useit.com/books/
www.pantos.org/atw/basics.html
User Interface Engineering

www.uie.com
Good/Bad Sites
Good
Creating Killer Web Sites
www.killersites.com
Project Cool site of the day
www.projectcool.com
Bad
Web pages that suck
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/