Wednesday, 19 November 2008
In your face with interface
The interface of your website is key to useability. Jakob Nielson found only 10% of users ever scrolled beyond what is first seen on screen. This means when making your website you have to decide to scroll or not to scroll. I personally don't scroll, i am one of the 90% of people that don't so i'm gonna choose not to scroll.
The navigation tools and menu should also be clear on the page. I personally don't like using icons and logo's and prefer having words as navigation tools. www.asos.com has good navigation tools, it also subsections to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for. they are also in an obvious place and you're not left wondering "how do i get back to that?" The menu should be clear and succinct so that the page doesn't look cluttered or overloaded.
The use of pictures and pull quotes within your writing can be used as a tool as it can help keep draw the attention of the reader and keep the reader engaged. Although pictures of a high quality can take a long time to appear for some users. Its important to keep in mind that a user will only really allow 10 seconds before they lose focus. re sizing images in photoshop can help with this problem.
Link colour is also important. Many people are happy with using the blue that most used links have but nowadays you can use other blues for example to keep it more modern. Nielsen suggests to keep links used links a similar colour to the default as most people will recognise that. However you can choose whatever colour you like if you feel its clear to the user of the website and it may fit in with your design more.
The navigation tools and menu should also be clear on the page. I personally don't like using icons and logo's and prefer having words as navigation tools. www.asos.com has good navigation tools, it also subsections to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for. they are also in an obvious place and you're not left wondering "how do i get back to that?" The menu should be clear and succinct so that the page doesn't look cluttered or overloaded.
The use of pictures and pull quotes within your writing can be used as a tool as it can help keep draw the attention of the reader and keep the reader engaged. Although pictures of a high quality can take a long time to appear for some users. Its important to keep in mind that a user will only really allow 10 seconds before they lose focus. re sizing images in photoshop can help with this problem.
Link colour is also important. Many people are happy with using the blue that most used links have but nowadays you can use other blues for example to keep it more modern. Nielsen suggests to keep links used links a similar colour to the default as most people will recognise that. However you can choose whatever colour you like if you feel its clear to the user of the website and it may fit in with your design more.
Writing for the web
The main aspects of writing for the web is determining what is going on for the user. With the web there is a lot more distractions, pop ups, other tabs and also the fact the people use the web while they are doing primary tasks such as working. Unlike a newspaper where you are able to give it full attention and to lay it down ready for when you next have time to read more.
Observing that the web is predominantly used by people at work or doing these other tasks means the writing first and foremost must be interesting and quick to the point. The writing MUST keep the reader engaged. This improves chances of the reader coming back to look at other written pieces.
In a practical sense the way an article is layed out on the page also helps the user keep focused. By chunking into 4/5 sentences per paragraph it breaks the text up making it easier to take in information. Also keeping what is written short, usually 50% less than what you would write for a magazine or newspaper. Using hyper-link text to give the reader the opportunity to expand on what is being told, and giving the writer the more freedom.
An inverted pyramid style of writing used for predominantly for news stories is helpful. As its easy for the reader to click away and still get the main points. which brings us back to keeping it interesting. With an effective first paragraph, the reader will want to carry on reading the article.
Humour is deemed to be good thing when writing on the web, but its important to be careful as people may not be familiar with your sense of humour, and it could come across the wrong way. Writing for the web gives you a chance to be a lot more informal and expressive but always keep in mind , what you are writing for? who your writing is aimed at?
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:
Observing that the web is predominantly used by people at work or doing these other tasks means the writing first and foremost must be interesting and quick to the point. The writing MUST keep the reader engaged. This improves chances of the reader coming back to look at other written pieces.
In a practical sense the way an article is layed out on the page also helps the user keep focused. By chunking into 4/5 sentences per paragraph it breaks the text up making it easier to take in information. Also keeping what is written short, usually 50% less than what you would write for a magazine or newspaper. Using hyper-link text to give the reader the opportunity to expand on what is being told, and giving the writer the more freedom.
An inverted pyramid style of writing used for predominantly for news stories is helpful. As its easy for the reader to click away and still get the main points. which brings us back to keeping it interesting. With an effective first paragraph, the reader will want to carry on reading the article.
Humour is deemed to be good thing when writing on the web, but its important to be careful as people may not be familiar with your sense of humour, and it could come across the wrong way. Writing for the web gives you a chance to be a lot more informal and expressive but always keep in mind , what you are writing for? who your writing is aimed at?
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:
- Useability
- Chunking
- Keep it interesting
- Inverted pyrmaid
- Use humour but be careful
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