Transcript Metaphors, Graphics and Labels

Information Architecture & Design
• Week 8 Schedule
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Metaphors, Graphics and Labels
Other Readings
Research Topic Presentations
Research Papers Returned
Labeling Systems Design
• Labels are More Than Link Descriptors
• Convey the Structure and Purpose of the
Web Site
• Describe in the Language of the (Analyzed)
User(s) (But Not All Jargon)
• Differentiate Each Topic
• Imply Hierarchy
- News – Tech News – Computing News –
Macintosh News
• Nouns and Verbs (Mixed & Consistency)
• Reading Behavior
Varieties of Label Designs
• Contextual Links
• Headings
- Text
- Narrative Help
• Navigation System Choices
- Toolbars & Navigation Bars
- Application Functionality
• Index Terms
- Searching (Results)
- Browsing
• Graphics (Iconic)
- Maps
- Images
• Email Subject Lines
Rosenfeld p 80
Labels in Use (Affecting Design)
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A-Z Indexes (“Term Rotate” and Flatten)
Thesaurus of Labels (and Relationships)
Narrowing the Possibilities of Use
Examine All the Labels at End of Tech-Independent
Design
Consistent with Headings and <TITLE>
Bookmark Uniqueness
Work With Your Content (Content Analysis – Use
Search & Evaluate Results)
Card Sorting to Determine Structure and
Metaphors/Themes
Dates, Times, Sizes, Rankings & Categories Too
Well-Designed Labels…
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Go Unnoticed
Use Size and Color for Hierarchy
Follow Consistent Graphical & Textual Representation
Describe and are Parallel to Other Labels
Metaphorically Correct
Use Rollover Text
Communicates Part of the Structure of the Site (The
Name of the Label is like the Name of the Page it
Links to)
• Notes If It Breaks The Browsing Metaphor (another
Window via Links)
Bad Labelling Exampls
• Typos & Misspellings (See Above!)
• Too Much Text or Extraneous That Really Doesn’t Tell
You Anything About The Link That Makes You Less
Likely To Understand The Link And Actually May Take
More Time To Interpret Than Actually Clicking On The
Link Name
• TOO MUCH UPPERCASE TEXT THAT IS MORE
ARDUOUS TO READ AND COMPREHEND
• Links in Color
• “Click Here”
• Are Too Numerous
• Are Too Cute
Metaphors
• What Does the Web “Look” Like To You?
• What Does an Individual Web Site “Look”
Link To You?
• How Do You Integrate with Labels?
• How Does Metaphor Affect Memory of a Site
(during use and after a visit)?
• Always a Physical Space (Movement)?
- Information Highway
- Maps
- “Explorer” & “Navigator” (Opera?)
• How Do People Describe a Web Site Visit?
Maglio & Matlock (1998)
• Great Bibliography
• Users Remembered Little of Site Visits
- Anchor Points - Key Nodes that lead to Target Information
- Personal Routines – What Worked Before Will Work Now (!)
• Consistently Among Web Sites
• Consistency Among Search Engines
• Bad User Habits Continue
• Bad Design Conventions Continue
- Language of Web Site Use
• Visiting
• Went…
- Talk Aloud Protocols When Studying Web Use
- Users Conceptualize Themselves Moving
TOWARD Information, not Information Being
BROUGHT to Them.
Maglio & Matlock (1998) 2
• Metaphor and Thought
- Lakoff and Johnson
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Not Only a Literary Device (in Study)
Linguistic Analysis
Cognitive Analysis
Trends and Metaphors of the Times
- Clockwork to Computers
• “Image Schemata”
- Pre-conceptual structures from our embodied experience
- Habits and Assumptions in terms of understanding
Maglio & Matlock (1998) 3
• Language Use on the Web
- Outside & Inside Actions
• System Actions
- Click, Scroll, Type
• Move
- Go, Follow
• Computer Assistance
- Display, Bring Up
• Information Action
- Look For, Search, Browse
• Individual Process
- Look, See
• Physical Motion Most Common
- What about the Browser? (Agency)
- What about Other Users? (Collaboration)
How to Design Text (from Metaphor)
• Labels and Graphics
• Jakob Nielsen
• Other News Examples?
- NY Times
- WSJ
- AAS
• iSchool