Forum Moderators: not2easy
Usability guru Dr Jakob Nielsen says some things have stayed constant in the past decade, namely the principles of what makes a site easy to use.
Some design crimes, such as splash screens that get between a user and the site they are trying to visit, and web designers indulging their artistic urges have almost disappeared, said Dr Nielsen.
While I agree with splash screens being a design crime, I can't imagine what the web would look like if web designers didn't "indulge their artistic urges"
Mind you, this is coming from the same guy who has yellow and cyan as the background colours on his website :o
Sly.
It is possible Dr Nielsen to get a site that looks half decent and is functionally sound, and with good usability - until you do just that, you lose a deal of credibility.
It doesn't really matter that a wide range of people can use the site without a problem, if some don't end up reading the content due to it's plain look......
"Subconciously there are many who feel that if a design is boring, then the content probably is too. " The Cricketer 2004
Dr Nielson
Usability = Top Marks
Aesthetically pleasing design = nearer to 1994 than 2004.
his site
As it stands, his site can only be faulted for having no design. Once he has something with more than a "pure function" design, then he opens himself up to the same criticism he's been dishing out over the years.
For myself when I first started using the web and had a web page hosted on the university server (the instructions were sent around via email) in 1995, I never would have imagined I would eventually be able to buy my own domain name and hosting space to host my site.
Thanks.
i agree with saoi_jp, once he makes any attempt at a "look" he will be critiqued. the man makes his living at critisizing others so i'm sure he won't allow his site to be a target.
that said, there are plenty of excellent/great-looking sites that load fast and use web/usability stadards to enhance their user experience. a great place to start is zeldman.com
I have done several sites for customers - they are paying me, so I have to do the sites exactly to their (sometimes appalling) specifications. It's no good pointing out to them that something is bad design, e.g. a hit counter - if they WANT a hit counter on their page, then I just have to give them a hit counter.
Some of the sites I've done I would CRINGE if anyone ever associated them with me, but at the end of the day I've got a happy customer who thinks I've done a good job for them.
Dr Nielsen said the success of sites such as Google, Amazon, eBay and Yahoo showed that close attention to design and user needs was important.None of them have a fancy or glamorous look," he added, declaring himself surprised that these sites have not been more widely copied.
I'm surprised too. If most of a site's referrals come from Google, why not resemble Google? Plain, easy & fast sells.
>>i cringe everytime i visit useit.com
The longer I do this the more I like Mr Nielsen's site. Do webmasters/surfers mature to design/prefer 'ugly' sites?
As taken directly from useit.com
1. Download times rule the Web, and since most users have access speeds on the order of 28.8 kbps, Web pages can be no more than 3 KB if they are to download in one second which is the required response time for hypertext navigation. Users do not keep their attention on the page if downloading exceeds 10 seconds, corresponding to 30 KB at modem speed. Keeping below these size limits rules out most graphics.
2. I am not a visual designer, so my graphics would look crummy anyway. Since this website is created by myself (and not by a multidisciplinary team as I always recommend for large sites) I didn't want to spend money to hire an artist.
Dr Nielsen said the success of sites such as Google, Amazon, eBay and Yahoo showed that close attention to design and user needs was important.
Okay.......
Download times rule the Web ... Web pages can be no more than 3 KB if they are to download in one second which is the required response time for hypertext navigation. Users do not keep their attention on the page if downloading exceeds 10 seconds ... Keeping below these size limits rules out most graphics.
So, I quickly checked download times (using an online tool) for Amazon, eBay and Yahoo..
Amazon:
28.8k - 97.45 seconds
56k - 50.12 seconds
eBay:
28.8k - 93.55 seconds
56k - 48.30 seconds
Yahoo:
28.8k - 19.68 seconds
56k - 10.12 seconds
Do webmasters/surfers mature to design/prefer 'ugly' sites?
Maybe not 'ugly', but I've certainly matured to appreciate usability and simplicity more.
What did you use to check the page loading time on those sites?
-Mike
While I can't post the URL here at WebmasterWorld, if you were to use a logical combination of keywords (eg: page loading times) in a major search engine ..I think you'd be able to figure it out.. ;)
On a sidenote, I would like to add that those times were recorded just days before Christmas, while the websites in question had Christmas shopping graphics plastered about.
Sly.
