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Subject:Writing for the Web? (take II) From:"Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:54:45 -0500
Samuel Choy added a few points: <<People scan on-line rather that read. When
I write for web based documents, I try to use shorter paragraphs and use
more sub-headings to make it easier scan the page.>>
A qualified yes. As noted in my previous post in this thread, people scan
only while they're looking. Once they've found what they're looking for,
they actually read. You need to design to support both behaviors.
<<I didn't come up with this from my own little brain, but from Jakob
Nielson, who is as influential in web design as he is annoying. His web site
is at www.useit.com.>>
He's not only annoying, but also outright wrong more often than you'd think
(usually when he mistakes his own opinion for research, as he did when
slamming Acrobat as an online technology). Moreover, his research
methodology is often <ahem> questionable. His own site is cluttered, busy,
and (imho) virtually unusable if you don't already know what you're looking
for and where it is. I also recall checking out one of the sites he
redesigned and finding it difficult to use; it ignored some very obvious
user behaviors, though it did make some inobvious behaviors easier.
Trust experts only so far as their conclusions make sense to you. (Yes, that
includes me. Particularly me, since I'm not a cap-N Name. <g>)
<<If I am going to use more than one HTML page, I provide some form of
navigation so the readers can figure out where they are. I believe that is
also a Nielson principle.>>
It predates Neilson by a good many years, though I wouldn't be surprised if
he's written on it too.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"Wisdom is one of the few things that look bigger the further away it
is."--Terry Pratchett
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