Web Usability

That’s the term I’ve been looking for ever since I started toying with the front page of my website.  I initially thought that it was navigation that I had to address, whilst now it is clear that it is web usability, or rather ways of designing it. Unfortunately, I am no artist, which means that I have to adopt the engineering ideal of website design at the expense of the artistic ideal of expressing myself.

J. Nelson’s advice seems to be very sound, although the book is ancient in www terms.  I wonder whether I should get a copy of S. Krug’s text, too – the amazon reviews are more than positive.

It might seem that what these two authors talk about is self-evident and you do not really have to be explicitly told that, and yet I do manage to look at what I have created so far differently after having read their insightful comments.  For example, I have only recently realized that as a web designer you actually cater for several different audiences as opposed to a homogeneous group of users. It only seems obvious when you know it – when you haven’t verbalized this idea, it is unlikely you will take account of it. For example, when I think about my own website, this is what the situation is like, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Those who visit the site can be classed into bots and people. The two groups can be further subdivided into

The list is not complete, but the point is that I have to define my priorities:

Posted on December 13, 2008 at 1:40 am by Stacey · Permalink
In: Web Design

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