Krug....I finished this book today
Krug 7-8
wow, I just did a week's worth of HW in one day.
"Just when you think you've covered all the bases, there's always just one...more...thing" 95
We learned this through our website presentations last week. It was evident that everyone had spent a significant amount of time on their sites and was satisfied with the product. But when we spend too long working on a project, our vision becomes clouded. we skip over things. Though I did the week's homework today, it is certainly not ready to be turned in. I did everything in one shot, so it's to be expected that I missed some things. Revisiting your site after taking a break and usability testing will help you see those areas you forgot. The original site I created (the IF games one) had no links to the homepage on the sub-pages. I can't believe I made a stupid mistake like that. But these things happen. Others just might have to point them out to you.
"and given the tendency of most users to scan down the page just far enough to find an interesting link, the comparatively small amount of space "above the fold" on the Home page is choice waterfront property" 97
people.com is an excellent example. The most important.new stories are in the top left corner. As you scroll down, the material gets older: under the newest stories are day-old stories. Under that is a section that includes the week's most read stories.
"If it's not clear to me what I'm looking at in the first few seconds, interpreting everything else on the page is harder, and the chances are greater that I'll misinterpret something and get frustrated" 99
have you ever mis-typed the address of facebook by one letter. You're led to this weird website. I can't honestly say what it's purpose is. The home page is ambiguous. A website should never be this confusing.
"for most sites, there's no need to use a lot of space to convey the basic proposition" 103
I got several comments from our website evaluation last week about the fact that I did not have information spread out across the entire page. I know that personally, text spread out across the entire page is tedious to read and off-putting. There's no need to fill up unused space with ads and other things that don't add value.
"Make entry points look like entry points" 107
Never make a picture a link unless there is a sentence telling the user to "click here." But doesn't that defeat the purpose.
"But what they really hate is Flash used badly: large, complicated animations that take a long time to download and don't add any value" 129
I hated that as of two weeks ago, the Flash video on Nike's homepage consisted of a panning view of shoes set to music. There was no real purpose. There were no words telling the user the name of the shoes, what they do, what makes them special, etc. It was as if someone filmed their closet. The video didn't even market anything specific. That is what annoys me about Flash. That, and the fact that takes forever to create a Flash video. 3 hours=1 1/2 minute animation.
What happened to "an hour of homework for every hour in class?".grrrrr...whatever, at least its done.
wow, I just did a week's worth of HW in one day.
"Just when you think you've covered all the bases, there's always just one...more...thing" 95
We learned this through our website presentations last week. It was evident that everyone had spent a significant amount of time on their sites and was satisfied with the product. But when we spend too long working on a project, our vision becomes clouded. we skip over things. Though I did the week's homework today, it is certainly not ready to be turned in. I did everything in one shot, so it's to be expected that I missed some things. Revisiting your site after taking a break and usability testing will help you see those areas you forgot. The original site I created (the IF games one) had no links to the homepage on the sub-pages. I can't believe I made a stupid mistake like that. But these things happen. Others just might have to point them out to you.
"and given the tendency of most users to scan down the page just far enough to find an interesting link, the comparatively small amount of space "above the fold" on the Home page is choice waterfront property" 97
people.com is an excellent example. The most important.new stories are in the top left corner. As you scroll down, the material gets older: under the newest stories are day-old stories. Under that is a section that includes the week's most read stories.
"If it's not clear to me what I'm looking at in the first few seconds, interpreting everything else on the page is harder, and the chances are greater that I'll misinterpret something and get frustrated" 99
have you ever mis-typed the address of facebook by one letter. You're led to this weird website. I can't honestly say what it's purpose is. The home page is ambiguous. A website should never be this confusing.
"for most sites, there's no need to use a lot of space to convey the basic proposition" 103
I got several comments from our website evaluation last week about the fact that I did not have information spread out across the entire page. I know that personally, text spread out across the entire page is tedious to read and off-putting. There's no need to fill up unused space with ads and other things that don't add value.
"Make entry points look like entry points" 107
Never make a picture a link unless there is a sentence telling the user to "click here." But doesn't that defeat the purpose.
"But what they really hate is Flash used badly: large, complicated animations that take a long time to download and don't add any value" 129
I hated that as of two weeks ago, the Flash video on Nike's homepage consisted of a panning view of shoes set to music. There was no real purpose. There were no words telling the user the name of the shoes, what they do, what makes them special, etc. It was as if someone filmed their closet. The video didn't even market anything specific. That is what annoys me about Flash. That, and the fact that takes forever to create a Flash video. 3 hours=1 1/2 minute animation.
What happened to "an hour of homework for every hour in class?".grrrrr...whatever, at least its done.
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Anne Williams on Krug....I finished this book today: I can see how you are kind of
Dennis G. Jerz on Krug....I finished this book today: Last week, because all we were
Dennis G. Jerz on Krug....I finished this book today: Last week, because all we were
Last week, because all we were doing was showing our sites to the class, rather than reading through them with a purpose, the comments are going to emphasize apperance, layout, and navigation, rather than content. So it may well be that spreading information across the page just isn't important to a future project, or maybe, depending on the project, it will be even more important. We can learn some general things from any usability test, no matter how informal (your comment about navigation and links to the home page is a good example), but every web user is different, so there are only so many assumptions you can make far in advance. If your first usability test teaches you something, even something basic, that doesn't mean your first attempt at a site was bad -- it just means you're taking advantage of the chance to learn about your first attempt.
By the way, from page 24 of the catalog: "A minimum of two hours outside of class for every hour a course meets is a common guideline."
You're doing a great job, not only keeping up, but keeping ahead, and you're doing high quality work. If you're choosing to excel in everything you do, reaching that goal will typically take more than the minimum amount of time. One reason I started the "experience this creative electronic text for one hour" guideline is becuase some students picked works that presented the depth and complexity of novels, so that students can best spend their limited time on the activities that will help them learn the most.
I can see how you are kind of relating doing all that homework in one sitting, with designing a webpage. Sometimes it's frustrating to have that feeling of accomplishment and then realizing that the work is not done because you made this mistake or that mistake. But seeing your mistakes and going back to fix them is an even bigger accomplishment, even if it takes you a little longer or past the due date. I thought it was interesting to know in Ch 8 of Krug, that web designers are constantly changing their websites due to mistakes or certain feedback.