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Chapter 6 Web Bloopers. Web site structure reflects organizational structure or history. Blooper 57. Blooper 57. Problem: Usability suffers Appearance of an ad hoc design Happens when: Designing new site Multiple people working on a site. Blooper 57. Solution:
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Web site structure reflects organizational structure or history Blooper 57
Blooper 57 • Problem: • Usability suffers • Appearance of an ad hoc design • Happens when: • Designing new site • Multiple people working on a site
Blooper 57 • Solution: • “What do users want to accomplish using the site?” • Design around answer to that question
Back button doesn’t go where users expect it to go Blooper 58
Blooper 58 • Problem: • Confuses the user (like with frames) • Will form data be saved when going back? • Solution: • Do what your best to make the back button do what users expect. • Avoid problem areas.
Complicating Searching Blooper 59
Blooper 59 • Problem: • Not including search criteria in search results • Giving users complicated search options • Solution: • Include Search Criteria (but not in every result). • Simplify searching options.
Hidden Links Blooper 60
Blooper 60 • Problem: • Images that aren’t clearly links • Image maps with no clear boundaries • Inconsistent link colors • Burying links in text, Click here • Solutions: • Leave default border • Let browser set link colors • Don’t put links in bodies of text
Links that don’t provide enough information Blooper 61
Blooper 61 • Problem: • Links that don’t indicate that you’ve been there • Internal anchor point links vs. external links • Links that unknowingly bring up separate browser • Solutions: • Convey links that have been visited • Use formatting to distinguish between internal and external links • Label links that display in new browser
Buttons that provide no click feedback Blooper 62
Blooper 62 • Happens with images of buttons defined as links • Problem: • User is not sure if they have clicked the button • Only feedback is busy animation or cursor change (not fast enough) • Solutions: • Use submit buttons or GUI toolkit buttons • Replace image with another that looks pressed on mousedown.
Displaying long lists as very long pages Blooper 63
Blooper 63 • Especially a problem with variable length data • Problem: • Important information could be being missed by users who don’t scroll much • A bigger problem when controls are towards bottom of page • Bad Solution: controls at intervals
Blooper 63 • Solutions: • Let the page be long • Use a scrolling container for the long list • Show only N at a time (like in search results) • Use multiple pages (only applicable when list contains meaningful subsections)
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