This week's reading discusses the advantages of visual hierarchy and web conventions, making it obvious what is clickable, presenting users with choices that are mindless, and Krug's third law of usability "Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of what's left". Visual hierarchy is certainly a quick and efficient way to scan any written document and retrieve specific information. I think that a lot of users value this particular principle because it allows them to perform selective reading and make the best use out of their time. Web conventions are beneficial as they provide users with a familiar structure to operate within which can also save them a lot of time and frustration. An experience that I can relate to is with sites that have questionable links. I have noticed that it has become common for some web links to take the form of an image rather than text. Although the intent of doing so is to foster creativity, I think that this technique often results in frustration, especially when no mouse-hover effect is added, which ultimately reduces the overall experience for the user. Images are not usually expected to be links so without any indication it is less likely for someone to know that the image is a link.
Krug’s third law of usability refers to the process of eliminating or reducing ‘happy talk’ and instructions on your site. It is important to make your site as convenient and visually appealing as possible to ensure a great experience for your users. This means excluding massive amounts of text or any unnecessary text by making the content self-explanatory. I tend to feel discouraged when I am on a site that is overwhelmed by text as it often appears cluttered and noisy. This kind of experience would divert my interest and compel me to continue searching on another site that is much more satisfying.
Related Links:
http://www.forever21.com/ (Images as links – vague!)
http://www.amazon.com/ (Too many search options!)
http://www.matthewmcconaughey.com/ (Clickables are not so obvious!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment