Just finished one course and straight into the next. Seemed a pity to have to wait a year to do this again so will work though the holidays and take the computer where ever I go. I know there will be two weeks that I will be off air will just have to get cracking from the start.
I sent my web site final document to the company Evolved Analytics for comment and have had some good feed back todate. I am hoping this course will fill in the blanks on how to build the site. Fingers crossed.
Sunday, 27 May 2007
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Forgot a few things
So I am working my way though the many posts on the discussion page and realise that I have forgot a number of pages in my flow diagram.
Sitemap, site info, privacy, shop online and search are all items that appear on all pages either in the header or in the footer of the pages.
I think this is a better representation that the initial am sure it's not perfect.
Sitemap, site info, privacy, shop online and search are all items that appear on all pages either in the header or in the footer of the pages.
I think this is a better representation that the initial am sure it's not perfect.
Breadcrumbs to be or not to be?
Breadcrumb position? 
Krug would have you place them at the top of the page.
But who puts them there?
A quick look at 50 sites randomly picked from google and my ballooning favorites found 1/50 who used this position.
Why would you put it there?
It is easy to see, it's the first thing you come to so from an accessibility point of view that's great, they know where they are without any problem. It does not get cluttered up with the rest of the page. It really does not impact the rest of the page in this position.
But NED23's don't like it and 49/50 other pages did not like it. Probably because it looks a little lost up there. It does not have any distinctive style as we are trying not to detract from the rest of the page.
If I move it to the more conventional position above the main content title...
I personally don't like it there as it interfers with my main title and in later pages you have the primary and local navigation plus the breadcrumb all in the same area.
So do you need it at all? For the home page and second level pages probably not. You can see where you are and what your options are but once you get to lower levels it is concievable that you could be in to a long article for instance covering a number of pages, and lose where you are without having a breadcrumb. By losing I don't mean you could not get home or back to the second level nav but rather have difficulty returning to the original list of publications you choose the article from and there is nothing worse than having to start over when looking though a list for something so yes I do need a breadcrumb and contrary to the "norm" I am going to leave it at the top of the page.
Saturday, 19 May 2007
Logo musing
In discussions with the comapny they had some ideas of using the L in both words of their comany name: 
This did not go down well with the family critics so back to the beginning. 
Adobe stock photos
I quite liked the italic style which lead to:
This did not go down well with the family critics so back to the beginning.
I started then thinking about what the company Evolved Analytics does-basically they manipulate data using computers. This got me thinking about numbers and come across a pic of binary code and thought that could be interesting.
Adobe stock photosTried using it in a variety of ways, small to big, sloped
Started to work on colors and using embossing on the background font.
I wanted to keep the font simple as the business is complicated enough.
Saw some graphs while looking into how they use there mathematics and came across these two:
Which lead to many hours working on:
But could never get the background graphical plane to really pop on the page and it lost all resolution when you went small. Back to the drawing board.
Went back to earlier
but it did not really do anything for me, though I did like the version where the text is in line with the numbers:
but it did not really do anything for me, though I did like the version where the text is in line with the numbers:
However it lacked pop so started working with filters to distort the image. I knew once I tried the sperical distort I was on to something I liked. Many versions later and tweaking of the font postion and we end with the final product. As an added bonus it worked well both large and small.
page design
Original thoughts. Not crazy about the pink but looking for contrast to meet blind standards using HP, “Color contrast Verification tool,” http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/webaccessibility/color_tool.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
Home page some many hours/days later. Much research into accessability (see last post) and more reading of Krug. Still no idea how to actually build many part so this hope ned 24 has some answers.
Subpage after reading on copyright:
Copyright Basics. http://www.copyright.com/ccc/viewPage.do?pageCode=cr10-n#registration
Legalzoom.com. “Trademarks FAQ,” 2007 http://www.legalzoom.com/law_library/trademarks/faq-faq_common.html
Much self debate on whether to go for standard blue links in the left side bar or black on blue background. The blue on blue did not pass the contrast test.
Black and white test.
Home page some many hours/days later. Much research into accessability (see last post) and more reading of Krug. Still no idea how to actually build many part so this hope ned 24 has some answers.
Subpage after reading on copyright:
Copyright Basics. http://www.copyright.com/ccc/viewPage.do?pageCode=cr10-n#registration
Legalzoom.com. “Trademarks FAQ,” 2007 http://www.legalzoom.com/law_library/trademarks/faq-faq_common.html
Much self debate on whether to go for standard blue links in the left side bar or black on blue background. The blue on blue did not pass the contrast test.
Black and white test.
Thursday, 10 May 2007
Accessablity
Spent the better part of today following up on accessability. After reading through
W3C., HTML Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0,
W3C Note 6 November 2000,
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/
html and css guidelines I think I have a feel for what is required and a large headache. Remembering back to NED11 and the first tables site we made I would hate to have to go back and make it accessable, would go cross eyed in the process and that was only a very simple site. I can see why many (probably most ) existing tables sites are not compliant. The examples were very eye opening.
Much of the rest of the recommendations made sense, especially with the examples they provided. Complying maybe time consuming but not impossible (thankfully) and just paying attention to images, the use of instead of text and alt tags, long desc etc and using valid html and css goes a long way to creating assessible pages.
Cynthia D. Waddell and Kevin Lee Thomason Is Your Site ADA-Compliant ...or a Lawsuit-in-Waiting? http://www.icdri.org/CynthiaW/is_%20yoursite_ada_compliant.htm 1998 was an excellent article on why compliance came to being, how to start etc. I actually started here and followed their links to W3C.
Krug's advise in Don't make me think! on the subject of accessibility was also very straightforward:
Use CSS
Add appropriate alt text to every image.
make your forms work with screen readers.
Create "skip to main content" link at the beginning of each page. A point not mentioned in W3C.
Make all content accessible by keyboard.
Don't use javascript without agood reason.
Use client side image maps.
Fix the usability problems that confuse everyone eg error messages. Test often as even if your site is compliant according to the guidelines it still may not be usable.
Plus read some good texts on the subject.
W3C., HTML Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0,
W3C Note 6 November 2000,
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/
html and css guidelines I think I have a feel for what is required and a large headache. Remembering back to NED11 and the first tables site we made I would hate to have to go back and make it accessable, would go cross eyed in the process and that was only a very simple site. I can see why many (probably most ) existing tables sites are not compliant. The examples were very eye opening.
Much of the rest of the recommendations made sense, especially with the examples they provided. Complying maybe time consuming but not impossible (thankfully) and just paying attention to images, the use of instead of text and alt tags, long desc etc and using valid html and css goes a long way to creating assessible pages.
Cynthia D. Waddell and Kevin Lee Thomason Is Your Site ADA-Compliant ...or a Lawsuit-in-Waiting? http://www.icdri.org/CynthiaW/is_%20yoursite_ada_compliant.htm 1998 was an excellent article on why compliance came to being, how to start etc. I actually started here and followed their links to W3C.
Krug's advise in Don't make me think! on the subject of accessibility was also very straightforward:
Use CSS
Add appropriate alt text to every image.
make your forms work with screen readers.
Create "skip to main content" link at the beginning of each page. A point not mentioned in W3C.
Make all content accessible by keyboard.
Don't use javascript without agood reason.
Use client side image maps.
Fix the usability problems that confuse everyone eg error messages. Test often as even if your site is compliant according to the guidelines it still may not be usable.
Plus read some good texts on the subject.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Tag lines and other musings
More plane musings for taglines.
Thoughts based on a company handout from Evolved Analytics. Aiming to keep the tag line simple but still say what they do, not an easy combination when your business is "Data Modeling". Most peoples reaction is what the ...is that?
And it gets worse when you start to see what they do - long terms like symbolic regression, particle swarm optimization???? Naturally paralleizable, model transparency etc and I have only quoted from one powerpoint slide. Hence the musing on possible ways to present the company in simple terms like The problem. Why and How and for the tag line looking more at the benefits than at the how or what.
I can see where not knowing an industry could be a benefit when designing a site as you have to focus on the usability rather than the detailed content as you often will not understand the content. Not sure that come out right, I guess I am saying there will be a place for all these long winded technical terms in the site but making it usable to everyone who enters does not have to involve these terms.
Basically it is a business that has a product or service to sell.
So the key questions are what is that product or servies?
How have they sold it to others in the past-portfolio or case history?
How can you contact them?
How can you buy their stuff?
Search
Something About the Company.
Then you can get fancy with blogs, news, company events, code of ethics, staff etc
-Use our technolgy to stop your company drowning in data. Does not say what they do.
-Data modeling and something
-extracting value from your data using data modeling too wordy
-Data modeling, extracting value from your data. Possible
-Specialists in data modeling, extracting value and insight from your data. Better
-The world is drowning in data, is your company? Too obvious sales plug does not say anything really.
-Turn your data into value for your company. the end result but not enough
-Data modeling, turing your data into value for your company. hmm a bit long
-applying data modeling to your company data. a bit dry
-leaders in data modeling. Are they?
-the future of data modeling. Yuck
What is data modeling? Applying technology to make sense of data, solve problems with data, develop predictions based on data.
-Specialists in data modeling technologies, applied and deployed. very military
Oh for an online theasurus.
Thoughts based on a company handout from Evolved Analytics. Aiming to keep the tag line simple but still say what they do, not an easy combination when your business is "Data Modeling". Most peoples reaction is what the ...is that?
And it gets worse when you start to see what they do - long terms like symbolic regression, particle swarm optimization???? Naturally paralleizable, model transparency etc and I have only quoted from one powerpoint slide. Hence the musing on possible ways to present the company in simple terms like The problem. Why and How and for the tag line looking more at the benefits than at the how or what.
I can see where not knowing an industry could be a benefit when designing a site as you have to focus on the usability rather than the detailed content as you often will not understand the content. Not sure that come out right, I guess I am saying there will be a place for all these long winded technical terms in the site but making it usable to everyone who enters does not have to involve these terms.
Basically it is a business that has a product or service to sell.
So the key questions are what is that product or servies?
How have they sold it to others in the past-portfolio or case history?
How can you contact them?
How can you buy their stuff?
Search
Something About the Company.
Then you can get fancy with blogs, news, company events, code of ethics, staff etc
-Use our technolgy to stop your company drowning in data. Does not say what they do.
-Data modeling and something
-extracting value from your data using data modeling too wordy
-Data modeling, extracting value from your data. Possible
-Specialists in data modeling, extracting value and insight from your data. Better
-The world is drowning in data, is your company? Too obvious sales plug does not say anything really.
-Turn your data into value for your company. the end result but not enough
-Data modeling, turing your data into value for your company. hmm a bit long
-applying data modeling to your company data. a bit dry
-leaders in data modeling. Are they?
-the future of data modeling. Yuck
What is data modeling? Applying technology to make sense of data, solve problems with data, develop predictions based on data.
-Specialists in data modeling technologies, applied and deployed. very military
Oh for an online theasurus.
Website Musings
While sitting on a plane for 12 hours you can get a lot done
Navigation - tab headings maybe?
Check conventions for portfolio / success stories
Home page doodle
Navigation - tab headings maybe?
Check conventions for portfolio / success stories
Navigation musings with third level shown
Converting these ideas to frames etc
Home page
Converting these ideas to frames etc
Home page
Subpage frames
Tuesday, 24 April 2007
The essential Krug-or what should be on a web page!
As a prelude to stating the final assignment I wanted to get down the essentials of Krug's Don't make me think. I found it very useful in getting my thinking started as to what will be on the home page and the type of navigation I might use.
Krug Summary
Essentials of a page:
1/LOGO: something that identifies that you are still on the same web site, unifies the site.
2/ TAGLINES: 6-8 words, right below, above or next to the site ID.
2/ TITLE: every page needs a name, prominent, in right place, needs to match what I clicked, left or right location better than center!
3/ SECTIONS: Primary navigation, be consistent across the site, use conventions, simple is better, some exceptions do occur but should always have a way home, site id etc
4/ UTILITIES: Search, Home, How to buy . Use conventions don’t try to reinvent and confuse the audience.
5/ Obvious click regions
6/ Clear visual hierarchy-the more important a thing is the more prominent.
- things that are related logically are also related visually (usually)
- nesting visually to show what’s part of what.
7/ Each page should be self evident-what it is and how to use it.
8/ Navigation: can you answer the question where am I?
9/ Breadcrumbs: You Are Here: home>…>here I am
-Put at the top
-Use > greater than signs
-Include words YOU ARE HERE:
-Boldface last item
Trunk Test
Q/What site is this? A/ Site ID
Q/ What page am I on? A/ Page name
Q/What are the major sections? A/ Sections
Q/What are my options at this level? A/ Local navigation
Q/ Where am I in the scheme of things? A/ You are here
Q/ How can I search? A/ Search box
Other Krug
Scan ability – what you see at a glance, users only scan pages
TABS
Krug prefers tabs to drop down menus
-self evident
-hard to miss
-slick
-suggest a physical space
-color coded
-show a tab selected when I enter the site.
Krug Summary
Essentials of a page:
1/LOGO: something that identifies that you are still on the same web site, unifies the site.
2/ TAGLINES: 6-8 words, right below, above or next to the site ID.
2/ TITLE: every page needs a name, prominent, in right place, needs to match what I clicked, left or right location better than center!
3/ SECTIONS: Primary navigation, be consistent across the site, use conventions, simple is better, some exceptions do occur but should always have a way home, site id etc
4/ UTILITIES: Search, Home, How to buy . Use conventions don’t try to reinvent and confuse the audience.
5/ Obvious click regions
6/ Clear visual hierarchy-the more important a thing is the more prominent.
- things that are related logically are also related visually (usually)
- nesting visually to show what’s part of what.
7/ Each page should be self evident-what it is and how to use it.
8/ Navigation: can you answer the question where am I?
9/ Breadcrumbs: You Are Here: home>…>here I am
-Put at the top
-Use > greater than signs
-Include words YOU ARE HERE:
-Boldface last item
Trunk Test
Q/What site is this? A/ Site ID
Q/ What page am I on? A/ Page name
Q/What are the major sections? A/ Sections
Q/What are my options at this level? A/ Local navigation
Q/ Where am I in the scheme of things? A/ You are here
Q/ How can I search? A/ Search box
Other Krug
Scan ability – what you see at a glance, users only scan pages
TABS
Krug prefers tabs to drop down menus
-self evident
-hard to miss
-slick
-suggest a physical space
-color coded
-show a tab selected when I enter the site.
Wednesday, 18 April 2007
Speeding up Web pages
Notes from research on speeding up web pages.
http://webdesign.about.com/od/speed/a/aa020800a.htm
table optimization
http://colorfilter.wickline.org/
color blndness
http://www.how-to.com/Marketing/Speedpages.html
images, scaling, code, use ccs
When is it OK to use Flash?
In product demos.
Virtual Tours or anything that needs a spatial feeling
Games, art, movie clips
Banner Ads
http://www.topwebsite.info/website-optimization-speed.php
Factors that affect the speed of the web site
Technical factors – the quality of the hosting package: speed of the web hosting server machine, number of web sites hosted on the same machine, Internet connection bandwidth (speed) available to the hosting provider and to the customers in their hosting packages
Software and design factors – quality of the web design and web programming. These are the factors that directly depend on the persons involved in the web Web site /web page/ optimization for speed
Web page graphics objects – pictures, images, photos, charts, etc. These are the most common objects that increase the web page total size and cause delay when it loads in the browser. The total size of one web page should be kept less than 50K that will guarantee the page can be loaded for less than 10 seconds using Internet with speed 56Kb/s. To achieve this recommendation consider the following basic rules:
Keep the number of different pictures in one web page as less as possible
Keep the picture size (in pixels) small, this will decrease the picture file size as well
Keep the number of colors in the pictures small. This has direct impact on their file size.
Reuse the images in the different web pages where it is possible, especially where the images are used for background formatting. Once the image file is downloaded to the visitors computer, it will be cached and its local copy reused afterwards for the next web pages opened from the same web site
The total size of all images in one web page should be less than 30K. This will left another 20K to be shared between the web page code elements and the web page content.
The web page code is not visible for the visitors. They see textual content and images only. Hence, to left more room for the actual web site content, it is important to optimize the web page code elements too.
http://www.netmechanic.com/cobrands/zd_dev/
web site testing
http://webdesign.about.com/od/speed/a/aa110998.htm
Speeding up your web page by Jennifer Kyrnin
http://webdesign.about.com/od/speed/a/aa020800a.htm
table optimization
http://colorfilter.wickline.org/
color blndness
http://www.how-to.com/Marketing/Speedpages.html
images, scaling, code, use ccs
When is it OK to use Flash?
In product demos.
Virtual Tours or anything that needs a spatial feeling
Games, art, movie clips
Banner Ads
http://www.topwebsite.info/website-optimization-speed.php
Factors that affect the speed of the web site
Technical factors – the quality of the hosting package: speed of the web hosting server machine, number of web sites hosted on the same machine, Internet connection bandwidth (speed) available to the hosting provider and to the customers in their hosting packages
Software and design factors – quality of the web design and web programming. These are the factors that directly depend on the persons involved in the web Web site /web page/ optimization for speed
Web page graphics objects – pictures, images, photos, charts, etc. These are the most common objects that increase the web page total size and cause delay when it loads in the browser. The total size of one web page should be kept less than 50K that will guarantee the page can be loaded for less than 10 seconds using Internet with speed 56Kb/s. To achieve this recommendation consider the following basic rules:
Keep the number of different pictures in one web page as less as possible
Keep the picture size (in pixels) small, this will decrease the picture file size as well
Keep the number of colors in the pictures small. This has direct impact on their file size.
Reuse the images in the different web pages where it is possible, especially where the images are used for background formatting. Once the image file is downloaded to the visitors computer, it will be cached and its local copy reused afterwards for the next web pages opened from the same web site
The total size of all images in one web page should be less than 30K. This will left another 20K to be shared between the web page code elements and the web page content.
The web page code is not visible for the visitors. They see textual content and images only. Hence, to left more room for the actual web site content, it is important to optimize the web page code elements too.
http://www.netmechanic.com/cobrands/zd_dev/
web site testing
http://webdesign.about.com/od/speed/a/aa110998.htm
Speeding up your web page by Jennifer Kyrnin
Monday, 16 April 2007
Final test subject
Just to be more demographically correct my final user was a guy. His job would have suggested quite some familiarity with web sites in general yet I was surprised at how many times he missed the obvious links to areas like Contact us. If it was a the very top of the page he did not see it, same if it was at the very bottom of the page (never scrolled that far). I am wondering if it is a vision thing as I know he wears progressive ground glasses and he really just does not see these items unless they stand out or he moved his head slightly as usually happened as he become frustrated. In all my sites the Contact Us was in the the same place so much for repetition.
He was much more prepared to continue looking for the required item than my female users who tended to give up.
Writing this all up as fast as I can as will be heading to Australia first week of May and want to post it from there.
He was much more prepared to continue looking for the required item than my female users who tended to give up.
Writing this all up as fast as I can as will be heading to Australia first week of May and want to post it from there.
Saturday, 14 April 2007
Video assignment
Have now done two of my three interviews and was very surprised by the differences between the two so far. One of my users showed me scanning in action in a big way. I don't think she read more than 5 words in any page section - dropdown menu, side nav column etc before she moved on to something else. Compared to my other user who scanned but on not finding what she was asked to went back and more thoroughly read. For the first user most of my sites were therefore a pain to use being very wordy in content, she certainly was quite frustrated.
The other major problem identified and one I thought I would see was the lack of a home buttom resulting in the use of the back button to eventually find the home page again. The logo was not identified as being home. Was found by one user by chance and commented "Would you look at that!"
Number three user is scheduled today, should be interesting.
The other major problem identified and one I thought I would see was the lack of a home buttom resulting in the use of the back button to eventually find the home page again. The logo was not identified as being home. Was found by one user by chance and commented "Would you look at that!"
Number three user is scheduled today, should be interesting.
Friday, 13 April 2007
Good usability testing references
Good usability testing references including examples of reports using video testing.
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=826491
Usability Testing Basics
Jeffrey Graham July 17, 2000
http://usableweb.com/
http://www.dialogdesign.dk/cue.html
Comparative Usability Evaluation –
http://www.hennigweb.com/presentations/il98/index.htm
Going Forward: Usability Testing the Web Site
Nicole Hennig, Systems LibrarianBose® Corporationhennig@bose.com
Internet Librarian '98November 4, 1998
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=826491
Usability Testing Basics
Jeffrey Graham July 17, 2000
http://usableweb.com/
http://www.dialogdesign.dk/cue.html
Comparative Usability Evaluation –
http://www.hennigweb.com/presentations/il98/index.htm
Going Forward: Usability Testing the Web Site
Nicole Hennig, Systems LibrarianBose® Corporationhennig@bose.com
Internet Librarian '98November 4, 1998
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Working on my script
Am about to start my videoing of users viewing the three sites I have chosen.
The script is written but am unsure how long I should make this being they are friends doing this and there is no monetary incentive, probably a liquid one. I trialed it on my daughter who failed miserably but then the sites are very business orientated and she is only 12. When I say failed she did not understand the business terms used for half of what I was asking her to do.
Which got me thinking about the audience you are pitching your site to, you never really know who will visit, it could be kids doing a school project in which case only one of the sites I have is kid friendly. The other problem can just be the internet experience of the user so they miss things that while obvious to an experienced user may not be to them - the logo being the home key comes to mind, or the assumption that you will recognise the web address as home.
The exercise was useful for working the bugs out with the video and sound recording. Now on to the real thing...
The script is written but am unsure how long I should make this being they are friends doing this and there is no monetary incentive, probably a liquid one. I trialed it on my daughter who failed miserably but then the sites are very business orientated and she is only 12. When I say failed she did not understand the business terms used for half of what I was asking her to do.
Which got me thinking about the audience you are pitching your site to, you never really know who will visit, it could be kids doing a school project in which case only one of the sites I have is kid friendly. The other problem can just be the internet experience of the user so they miss things that while obvious to an experienced user may not be to them - the logo being the home key comes to mind, or the assumption that you will recognise the web address as home.
The exercise was useful for working the bugs out with the video and sound recording. Now on to the real thing...
Sunday, 1 April 2007
Been just a tad busy
Has it been that long since my last post!!!
Madly trying to finish my assignment. Have gotten some very interesting responses to my questionnaire, seems Krug has it right as far as my audience are concerned. Look no further.
I should also be buying stock in Google as the most favored site for searching. Seems internet users are also no longer worried about online purchasing, everyone is doing it now. Not to say the system is perfect, users have some definite ideas there about what makes for a good experience but I will save that titbit for the assignment.
Seems Jakob Nielsen's has an Alertbox online http://www.useit.com/alertbox/annoyances.html
that is sent to managers of intranets which is who sent this to me. a bit of a plug for his up comming day seminar but also some interesting comments. I did like the links to past pages and came up with these comments:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/design_priorities.html
Indeed, the biggest design flaws destroying business value typically involve:
-Communicating clearly so that users understand you. Users allocate minimal time to initial website visits, so you must quickly convince them that the site's worthwhile.
-Providing information users want. Users must be able to easily determine whether your services meet their needs and why they should do business with you.
-Offering simple, consistent page design, clear navigation, and an information architecture that puts things where users expect to find them.
Interesting that they happen to exactly match what my questionnaire respondents found makes a good web site experience. Guess we can all be experts.
On the home front I have finished my job as event organiser so will now be giving 100% of my attention to NED23, well maybe 70:30 the kids have to get some attention. Husband you question, he gets about 0.1%, the dog rates higher I think, you only have so many hours in the day...just kidding Dear!
Madly trying to finish my assignment. Have gotten some very interesting responses to my questionnaire, seems Krug has it right as far as my audience are concerned. Look no further.
I should also be buying stock in Google as the most favored site for searching. Seems internet users are also no longer worried about online purchasing, everyone is doing it now. Not to say the system is perfect, users have some definite ideas there about what makes for a good experience but I will save that titbit for the assignment.
Seems Jakob Nielsen's has an Alertbox online http://www.useit.com/alertbox/annoyances.html
that is sent to managers of intranets which is who sent this to me. a bit of a plug for his up comming day seminar but also some interesting comments. I did like the links to past pages and came up with these comments:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/design_priorities.html
Indeed, the biggest design flaws destroying business value typically involve:
-Communicating clearly so that users understand you. Users allocate minimal time to initial website visits, so you must quickly convince them that the site's worthwhile.
-Providing information users want. Users must be able to easily determine whether your services meet their needs and why they should do business with you.
-Offering simple, consistent page design, clear navigation, and an information architecture that puts things where users expect to find them.
Interesting that they happen to exactly match what my questionnaire respondents found makes a good web site experience. Guess we can all be experts.
On the home front I have finished my job as event organiser so will now be giving 100% of my attention to NED23, well maybe 70:30 the kids have to get some attention. Husband you question, he gets about 0.1%, the dog rates higher I think, you only have so many hours in the day...just kidding Dear!
Saturday, 17 March 2007
Week 3 - the world is full of bad sites
So I have spent the last week surfing hundreds of really bad sites including some of those listed below. I gave up listing bad ones as what was the point i am after something good to compare with.
I started by looking for consulting companies vis google which of course gives you thousands of hits, I then looked at software companies which can be equally daunting and depressing, the tech geeks definitely rule here. Then tried data research and finally data modelling (or modeling depending on where you are from) and did finally get some site that show some promise. They are not exact matches to the company I am involved with but the services or site requirements match in some ways. In all the sites there was still some points that could be improved in terms of navigation and does chearly point out the need to test sites with users outside of the company or development team as the problems could be easily fixed in some cases and would improve the flow greatly and then lets face it some sites just should not be and makes you wonder what the owners of these businesses are thinking (or not thinking) when they put their names to them.
I have also come to the realisation that my current level of skill will not be enough to get all parts of this site designed what is php and cold fusion??? When do we get to these courses?
http://www.rginfotechnology.com/Services/software_services.html
http://www.jinssoft.com/
http://www.dayspring-tech.com/
http://www.acromediainc.com/index.htm
interesting
http://www.psisolutions.com/
http://www.fowlersoftware.com/
boring too many words
url removed as requested.
simple
http://www.isdweb.com/
busy
http://www.quantumcloud.com/
busy
http://www.dobhaltechnologies.com/
not bad –need punchline
http://www.schipul.com/
interesting portfolio arrangement
software leads
http://www.alibaba.com/archives/company/280507/Software_Design.html
google data research
http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu/demo/index.shtml
Very nice introduction style.
Google Data Modeling
http://www.utexas.edu/its/windows/database/datamodeling/index.html
http://www3.ca.com/solutions/SubSolution.aspx?ID=3819
clean look. Not sure what they are selling
http://www.embarcadero.com/
Good ideas for customers, partners
http://www.universaldatamodels.com/
no home, navigation is bad
http://www.datamodeling.com/
similar company activities, boring web site, very basic navigation, too much on page
http://www.blackbaud.com/default.aspx
I like this site. Nothing really to do with what EAnalytics does but very well laid out. Clean, easy to read. Good navigation, nice dropdowns,
http://support.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=homepage.homepage
Software company with blogging. Interesting layout. Tried to put too much on the home page, would be better with someform of drop down leading to other pages. Contact us for example is just at the bottom of the homepage which if not maximized would be missed. Very clean look to the page, good colors, obvious search and login. Knowlegde base is listed by area which could be a good way of going. Blog does not open in same page and you don’t realize it immediately until you go to leave and there is not common navigation. Too many instructions on blog page. Who is going to read all that.
http://www.telelogic.com/index.cfm
Nice flash opening on home page but probably not necessary. Navigation needs work on showing second level. Interesting flag to indicate where you are. Clean and easy to read. Colors are easy on the eye. Links are obvious. News announcement are an interesting feature and easy to read. Navigation is integrated so you know where you are within sub groups. The try/buy/contact me/ print is always prominent on every page. The interactive corporate Brochure is very interesting method of demonstrating how the company can help you, though slow to load and does not link back without using back button – a nice way of getting some complex information across without having to read reams of text. I did not like the way you were sent to a new page when using the tools at the bottom of the page. Lost the plot on navigation here.
http://www.stevehoberman.com/
A one man company. Very casual site very poor navigation. No links to home anywhere.
http://www.sas.com/index.html
Another interesting site. Navigation is integrated until you get to the support and training tab which for some reason opens in a new page with different navigation and no obvious home – it is there but you need to recognize that the web name is home now located in the right side navigation box – build by a techi I would guess.
I like the colors, easy to read. Maybe a bit wordy on the home page.
http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1044150
A very plain home page but when you mousing over does come to life with dropdowns. It is almost like the home page is not finished or maybe just not working as the subpages have some flash. The navigation is actually very good with the exception of not having a recognizable home key. The logo is actually the home key. And when I went there I got something very different.
Dahhh the first page was not the homepage just some junk page on their site they have forgotten to remove. Pity was not a good look for what is really a good looking site.
Nice blog setup.
Is actually very close to what I need.
I started by looking for consulting companies vis google which of course gives you thousands of hits, I then looked at software companies which can be equally daunting and depressing, the tech geeks definitely rule here. Then tried data research and finally data modelling (or modeling depending on where you are from) and did finally get some site that show some promise. They are not exact matches to the company I am involved with but the services or site requirements match in some ways. In all the sites there was still some points that could be improved in terms of navigation and does chearly point out the need to test sites with users outside of the company or development team as the problems could be easily fixed in some cases and would improve the flow greatly and then lets face it some sites just should not be and makes you wonder what the owners of these businesses are thinking (or not thinking) when they put their names to them.
I have also come to the realisation that my current level of skill will not be enough to get all parts of this site designed what is php and cold fusion??? When do we get to these courses?
http://www.rginfotechnology.com/Services/software_services.html
http://www.jinssoft.com/
http://www.dayspring-tech.com/
http://www.acromediainc.com/index.htm
interesting
http://www.psisolutions.com/
http://www.fowlersoftware.com/
boring too many words
url removed as requested.
simple
http://www.isdweb.com/
busy
http://www.quantumcloud.com/
busy
http://www.dobhaltechnologies.com/
not bad –need punchline
http://www.schipul.com/
interesting portfolio arrangement
software leads
http://www.alibaba.com/archives/company/280507/Software_Design.html
google data research
http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu/demo/index.shtml
Very nice introduction style.
Google Data Modeling
http://www.utexas.edu/its/windows/database/datamodeling/index.html
http://www3.ca.com/solutions/SubSolution.aspx?ID=3819
clean look. Not sure what they are selling
http://www.embarcadero.com/
Good ideas for customers, partners
http://www.universaldatamodels.com/
no home, navigation is bad
http://www.datamodeling.com/
similar company activities, boring web site, very basic navigation, too much on page
http://www.blackbaud.com/default.aspx
I like this site. Nothing really to do with what EAnalytics does but very well laid out. Clean, easy to read. Good navigation, nice dropdowns,
http://support.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=homepage.homepage
Software company with blogging. Interesting layout. Tried to put too much on the home page, would be better with someform of drop down leading to other pages. Contact us for example is just at the bottom of the homepage which if not maximized would be missed. Very clean look to the page, good colors, obvious search and login. Knowlegde base is listed by area which could be a good way of going. Blog does not open in same page and you don’t realize it immediately until you go to leave and there is not common navigation. Too many instructions on blog page. Who is going to read all that.
http://www.telelogic.com/index.cfm
Nice flash opening on home page but probably not necessary. Navigation needs work on showing second level. Interesting flag to indicate where you are. Clean and easy to read. Colors are easy on the eye. Links are obvious. News announcement are an interesting feature and easy to read. Navigation is integrated so you know where you are within sub groups. The try/buy/contact me/ print is always prominent on every page. The interactive corporate Brochure is very interesting method of demonstrating how the company can help you, though slow to load and does not link back without using back button – a nice way of getting some complex information across without having to read reams of text. I did not like the way you were sent to a new page when using the tools at the bottom of the page. Lost the plot on navigation here.
http://www.stevehoberman.com/
A one man company. Very casual site very poor navigation. No links to home anywhere.
http://www.sas.com/index.html
Another interesting site. Navigation is integrated until you get to the support and training tab which for some reason opens in a new page with different navigation and no obvious home – it is there but you need to recognize that the web name is home now located in the right side navigation box – build by a techi I would guess.
I like the colors, easy to read. Maybe a bit wordy on the home page.
http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1044150
A very plain home page but when you mousing over does come to life with dropdowns. It is almost like the home page is not finished or maybe just not working as the subpages have some flash. The navigation is actually very good with the exception of not having a recognizable home key. The logo is actually the home key. And when I went there I got something very different.
Dahhh the first page was not the homepage just some junk page on their site they have forgotten to remove. Pity was not a good look for what is really a good looking site.
Nice blog setup.
Is actually very close to what I need.
Sunday, 11 March 2007
Defining website/questionaire
Having now spoken to the possible client it seems I need to slightly change my topic;The site would be a company site where the company sells consultancy and technology in the form of software. Their expertise is data modeling which after a google search is not your everyday company. In fact I have yet to come up with one example of a similar company via search, making comparitive analysis a little difficult. It seems most companies in this area either sell software and don't consult or consult and don't do technology. One such example: http://www.natural-selection.com/ Is not particularly excitingNor is the company they currently use to sell their software:
http://www.wolfram.com/
Am waiting on their list of competitiors but in the mean time it might be more prudent to go with generic business consulting with or without software as the basis of my comparitive sites. Many of the content headings are similar as will be required:
http://www.eclipsegroup.com.au/site/page.cfm?u=257&c=74Was included for its use of a blog, a feature I will need to include.
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/index.wssas an example of a large very successful company.
http://www.consultbiz.com/Very boring and too much repetition of the buttons. fuzzy background is very irritating.
http://www.alphawest.com.au/scripts/viewoverview_contact.asp?NID=503Very minimalist but clean.
http://www.abeam.com/global consulting company. Very wordy, nothing really pops out at you.
also tried http://www.accenture.com/home/default.htm?viewType=Flashbut am still waiting for this to load 10 minutes later. So much for being one of the biggest does not equate to having the best.
I put the questionaire together on the basis of it being a predominantly software company.
Questions for Questionnaire
1. Age range
A/ less than 20years of age
B/ 20 – 30 years of age
C/ 30-40 years of age
D/ 40- 50 years of age
E/ 50-60 years of age
F/ Greater than 60 years of age
2. How often do you surf the internet?
A/ Less than one hour a week
B/ 1 to 5 hours a week
C/ 5 to 10 hours a week
D/ 10 to 20 hours a week
E/ More than 20 hours a week
3. When you load a new web page what is the first thing you look for?
4. What do you hate most about surfing the internet?
5. What do you like most about surfing the internet?
6. Have you ever bought goods online?
7. Have you ever bought software online?
8. Did you have any problems with the purchase?
9. When buying goods on the internet and two sites offer the exact same thing what would make you buy from one and not the other?
10. What search engine do you prefer?
http://www.wolfram.com/
Am waiting on their list of competitiors but in the mean time it might be more prudent to go with generic business consulting with or without software as the basis of my comparitive sites. Many of the content headings are similar as will be required:
http://www.eclipsegroup.com.au/site/page.cfm?u=257&c=74Was included for its use of a blog, a feature I will need to include.
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/index.wssas an example of a large very successful company.
http://www.consultbiz.com/Very boring and too much repetition of the buttons. fuzzy background is very irritating.
http://www.alphawest.com.au/scripts/viewoverview_contact.asp?NID=503Very minimalist but clean.
http://www.abeam.com/global consulting company. Very wordy, nothing really pops out at you.
also tried http://www.accenture.com/home/default.htm?viewType=Flashbut am still waiting for this to load 10 minutes later. So much for being one of the biggest does not equate to having the best.
I put the questionaire together on the basis of it being a predominantly software company.
Questions for Questionnaire
1. Age range
A/ less than 20years of age
B/ 20 – 30 years of age
C/ 30-40 years of age
D/ 40- 50 years of age
E/ 50-60 years of age
F/ Greater than 60 years of age
2. How often do you surf the internet?
A/ Less than one hour a week
B/ 1 to 5 hours a week
C/ 5 to 10 hours a week
D/ 10 to 20 hours a week
E/ More than 20 hours a week
3. When you load a new web page what is the first thing you look for?
4. What do you hate most about surfing the internet?
5. What do you like most about surfing the internet?
6. Have you ever bought goods online?
7. Have you ever bought software online?
8. Did you have any problems with the purchase?
9. When buying goods on the internet and two sites offer the exact same thing what would make you buy from one and not the other?
10. What search engine do you prefer?
Monday, 5 March 2007
End of week one and diving into week two
I have to admitt that this course is not getting my full attention at the moment-am co-leader for a school auction seating 500 people so just a little distracted at present but using lots of photoshop skills so not all bad. Todate have read 6 chapters of Krug (the advantage of not being able to drive over here) and agree with everything he has said so far. I find myself looking a websites in a very critical manner and asking why did they do that, what were they thinking.
Have not given too much thought yet into what my site will be on - but have had a offer for a job designing a site for a software designer (yes one of those friends jobs) but it could be a good fit as it would be a commercial site so would have all the requirements I think. Me thinks I had better call the guy and have a chat asap. Otherwise it might have to be a site for my own future business but that seems to be a popular theme so probably not a good idea.
Have not given too much thought yet into what my site will be on - but have had a offer for a job designing a site for a software designer (yes one of those friends jobs) but it could be a good fit as it would be a commercial site so would have all the requirements I think. Me thinks I had better call the guy and have a chat asap. Otherwise it might have to be a site for my own future business but that seems to be a popular theme so probably not a good idea.
Tuesday, 27 February 2007
My First Blog Ever
If you are reading this hopefully you are part of NED23 and I must have figured out how to get this note onto the Blog site. Isn't technology wonderful...now that is a topic for another day and a few drinks.
Having made it through NED11 and12 I am looking forward to my next foray into the world of internet design - Usability. Have just read the unit outline and me thinks I will be busy, sorry kids you will have to figure out your own homework for the next 13 weeks, I have too much of my own to do.
Having made it through NED11 and12 I am looking forward to my next foray into the world of internet design - Usability. Have just read the unit outline and me thinks I will be busy, sorry kids you will have to figure out your own homework for the next 13 weeks, I have too much of my own to do.
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