Internet Pollution - Jakob Nielsen

If users don't need it, don't write it.

[xcandyman]

[useit.com...]

Excessive word count and worthless details are making it harder for people to extract useful information. The more you say, the more people tune out your message.

[edit_g]

Sorry, I tuned out after the first sentence. :)

[Sinner_G]

Interesting, xcandyman. From your title and what you write, I'm not sure if too many words and details is internet pollution or if Nielsen is.

Everyone knows lots of detail make it hard to find information. Wasn't there something about hay and a needle?

So basically, Mr. Nielsen, users don't need your advice, so don't write it.

[dmorison]

I know exactly where he's coming from.

If anyone in the UK has travelled on one of the new Virgin trains recently, you'll have seen the small LED panel above each seat that indicates whether the seat is reserved or not.

The text scrolls in VERY slowly, from the right.

The message is either

"This seat is not reserved."

or

"This seat is reserved from London Euston to Birmingham New Street".

As you can see, the first 13 characters are identical, and leave you standing at the seat for about 8 seconds waiting to find out if the seat is free or not.

Some people should not be allowed to develop user interface software.

[bcolflesh]

Spam isn't even pollution, it's attention theft.

How long before we see Jakob on CourtTV as an expert witness in some spam lawsuit?

[martinibuster]

removing half of a website's words will double the amount of information that users actually get.

Ok Jakob, you first!

[xcandyman]

I'm not sure if too many words and details is internet pollution or if Nielsen is.

LOL, he does write some funny stuff sometimes dosn't he!

I partly agree with what he wrote but in some areas I disagree.

[4eyes]

He confuses 'efficient communication' with 'reducing the number of words'.

Related, but NOT the same thing.

[edit_g]

How long before we see Jakob on CourtTV as an expert witness in some spam lawsuit?

Maybe on Judge Judy...

removing half of a website's words will double the amount of information that users actually get.

I really did tune out after the first sentence - but that is funny stuff! :)

[xcandyman]

He confuses 'efficient communication' with 'reducing the number of words'.

Madness I tell you! Soon he will say write all your web content in sms style. The biz m8 talk lata cya. No pollution there! LOL.

[robertito62]

is he spewing word count again?

[Sinner_G]

Soon he will say write all your web content in sms style.

Yep, but please make sure it is embedded in a Flash animation...

[tedster]

Funny to read this right now. I just came through the bus terminal at Boston's South Station, where there's a classic example of what not to do. At the top of a large escalator space there is a 40 foot by 6 foot red LED display that is used only as a clock.

This huge display, complete with all kinds of PowerPoint-like animation, says:

The Time
---In---
BOSTON
---Is---
9:47pm

You actually get to read the time for about 5 seconds out of a 30 second display cycle. Of course, you're riding on an escalator and may end up stumbling because you were staring at the display waiting for the time to be displayed instead of watching your feet.

[victor]

You can get these sorts of bad interface design on the telephone too.

I once phoned an embassy in my country to see if I needed a visa. I pressed the menu buttons to get to a very slow recorded voice that said something like:

"If you are a citizen of Anguilla, Albania, Armenia, Angola.... etc etc ... United States of America ... Zambia, Zaire or Zimbabwe -- you do not need a visa"

Just think how much quicker it would have been for most of us if that "you do not need a visa" had been at the front.

On the other hand, it was a premium rate call, so they made a bundle out of me.

But I was so annoyed, I went somewhere else instead.

[StanBo]

Nielsen has once again stated the obvious while trying (unsuccessfully as usual) to pretend to be clever and/or original. What's the buzz?

If the life is such that a SYA principle has become dominant for any public activities, no need to "pollute" the web or whatever trying to evaluate whether it's bad or what. It's just life. Learn to sponge the useful info out of a mass of SYA warnings or skip the entire lot and be ready for consequences.

[choster]

Save yourself the NNG consulting fees and pick up a recent edition of Strunk & White's Elements of Style. Applicable tips include

• "Omit Needless Words"
  
• "Do Not Overwrite"
  
• "Do Not Overstate"
  
• "Avoid the Use of Qualifiers"
  
• "Do Not Explain Too Much"
  
• "Be Clear"
  

and

• "Do Not Take Shortcuts at the Cost of Clarity"
  

[martinibuster]

Strunk & White's Elements of Style.

Yes!

That should be in the back pocket of anybody who is just beginning to seo, as well.

[bakedjake]

In information foraging terms, information pollution is like packing the forest with cardboard rabbits: frustrated wolves are bound to hunt elsewhere.

In next week's article, we'll talk about how bad analogies hurt the user.

[cyril kearney]

This is the second time that a Jakob Nielsen article is being featured on Webmasterworld like it is earth shattering news. This one points out the communication problem of excessive wordiness.

Remember that lesson in your first year college writing course? I do. Why has his rants suddenlly become news? Am I missing something or are the forums being cleverly spammed?

To quote Jakob Nielsen "If users don't need it, don't write it. Stop polluting now."

I respectfully suggest that he follow his own advice.

[4eyes]

... being featured on Webmasterworld like it is earth shattering news.

Thats not how I see the thread.

More like 'being featured on Webmasterworld and getting a bit of a mauling' ;)
(Mostly deserved IMO - at least in this instance)

[Hawkgirl]

> "Omit Needless Words"

I had a writing professor shorten this to "Omit" ... while wearing a huge smirk on his face.