Web Site Usability

by Spool, Jared M.; Pool, Jared

• ISBN13: 9781558605695
• ISBN10: 155860569X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-17
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann Pub

Summary

Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guidelt;/i> is a report that every person involved in Web design, commerce, or online marketing will want to have. This book is, undoubtedly, the most comprehensive data demonstrating how Web sites actually work when users need specific answers. Researched and compiled by User Interface Engineering, the results are written in an easy to understand style, illustrating the need to make Web sites useful, not complicated. * Based on an extensive study of actual users -- not theory, not graphic design principles, and not new tricks to make a "cool" Web sites * Demonstrates how people actually navigate and extract information on Web sites * Offers guidance for evaluating and improving the usability of Web sites

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Purpose of This Report	xv	(1)
Acknowledgments	xvi
Part 1: Research Results	1	(96)
1. Web Site Usability: The Big Picture	1	(12)
What Is "Usability" on the Web?	1	(1)
The Sites We Tested	2	(1)
"Scavenger Hunt" Tests	3	(1)
The Results	4	(2)
The Rankings	5	(1)
Room for Improvement	5	(1)
Beyond the Rankings	6	(1)
The Major Implications	6	(7)
1: Graphic Design Neither Helps Nor Hurts	7	(1)
2: Text Links Are Vital	8	(1)
3: Navigation and Content Are Inseparable	8	(2)
4: Information Retrieval Is Different than Surfing	10	(1)
5: Web Sites Aren't Like Software	11	(2)
2. Getting Around: Navigation	13	(18)
Domain Knowledge and Navigation	14	(3)
The Domain of Travel	14	(1)
The Investment Domain	15	(1)
The Automotive Domain: Linking Content and Navigation	16	(1)
Web Sites May Have Different Users	16	(1)
The Structure of Sites	17	(3)
Users Don't Form Mental Models of Sites	18	(1)
Content and Navigation: Shells	18	(1)
Subsites	19	(1)
Devices for Navigation	20	(7)
Frames	20	(3)
Table of Contents	23	(1)
Navigation Bars	24	(1)
Hierarchical Maps	25	(1)
"You Are Here"	26	(1)
Site Maps	27	(1)
User Navigation Tactics	27	(4)
Searching	28	(1)
Just the FAQs	28	(1)
The Back Button	28	(1)
Backing Up to Advance	29	(2)
3. Getting Around: Links	31	(16)
Two Extremes: A Comparison of Links	32	(1)
Descriptiveness Aids Prediction	33	(5)
Ambiguous Terms in Links	36	(2)
Dealing with Ambiguity	38	(1)
"Differentness" Aids Navigation	38	(3)
Number of Links	40	(1)
Image Links	40	(1)
Link Layout	41	(2)
Embedded Links	41	(1)
Wrapped Links	42	(1)
Link Destinations	43	(2)
Within-Page Links	44	(1)
Links to Other Sites	44	(1)
Will Experience Help?	45	(2)
4. Within-Site Searching	47	(10)
Unclear Search Areas	48	(3)
Multiple Areas	48	(1)
Search "Tar Pits"	49	(1)
Confusing Search Areas	50	(1)
Search Results	51	(6)
Organization of Search Results	52	(1)
Not Enough Information	53	(1)
Redundant Information	54	(1)
Useless Information	55	(2)
5. The Difficulty of Comparisons	57	(10)
How Users Handled Comparisons	58	(1)
Remembering	58	(1)
Writing Things Down	58	(1)
Printing	58	(1)
Opening Multiple Windows	59	(1)
Multiple Comparisons and "Pogo-Sticking"	59	(3)
Designs That Prevent Pogo-Sticking	61	(1)
The Catalog Approach	62	(1)
Sites That Help You Choose	62	(5)
6. Readability and Page Layout	67	(14)
Our Theory: Skimming Is In	68	(1)
Readability and the Web	68	(4)
Calculating the Fog Index	70	(2)
Scanability	72	(1)
The White-Space Dilemma	72	(3)
White-Space and Text Density	73	(1)
White-Space and Skimming	74	(1)
Scrolling and "the Fold"	75	(2)
Rules as a Stopping Place	76	(1)
Button Gravity	77	(4)
7. Graphic Design on the Web	81	(10)
The Role of Graphic Design	82	(2)
The Only Correlation: Link Color	83	(1)
Download Time	84	(3)
To Wait or Not to Wait	85	(2)
Animation and Movement	87	(4)
The Distraction of Movement	87	(1)
Movement in Ads	88	(3)
8. User Preference	91	(6)
Success and User Likes	92	(1)
Success and User Dislikes	93	(1)
Web Sites Are Different	93	(4)
Part 2: Site Scrapbook	97	(44)
9. Edmund's	97	(4)
10. Hewlett Packard	101	(6)
11. WebSaver	107	(4)
12. Travelocity	111	(6)
13. Inc.	117	(4)
14. C/net	121	(4)
15. Fidelity	125	(8)
16. Disney	133	(8)
Part 3: Testing Sites	141	(12)
17. How We Tested Web Sites	141	(12)
Types of Questions	142	(2)
1. Simple Fact Questions	142	(1)
2. Judgment Questions	142	(1)
3. Comparison of Fact Questions	143	(1)
4. Comparison of Judgment Questions	144	(1)
Difficulty of Questions	144	(1)
Usability Testing Methodology	145	(1)
Data Collection	146	(2)
Mid-Test Questionnaires	146	(2)
Calculating the Site Ratings	148	(3)
Post-Test Questionnaires	148	(1)
Post-Test Questionnaire Results	149	(2)
How Good Is Good Enough?	151	(2)
User Interface Engineering	153
Additional Resources	154
Eye For Design Newsletter	154	(1)
UIETips E-mail Publication	155	(1)
User Interface Engineering Web Site	155	(1)
Contact Information	155