Once Again, Neilsen Advises Us to K.I.S.S
Jakob Neilsen's suggestions for improving usability for lower-literacy users seem like common sense advice for any website, regardless if they are targeting lower-literacy users or not. I don't think prioritizing information, streamlining page design and simplifying navigation are too outrageous to ask for in a quality website. The ironic thing is that the suggestions he gives are still not followed by a number of websites out there.
For example, the case study he describes. I'm not surprised that a website such a pharmaceutical product’s site would increase usability with both lower and higher-literacy users by incorporating his suggestions. Again, using common sense, pharmaceutical sites often use technical language anyone outside of the medical profession would have a hard time understanding. By making changes to a site like this, of course usability will go up for both sets of users.
It always seems like the usability lessons Neilsen writes about can be identified and solved by looking at our own online experiences. It just baffles me that more people don't think about their own usability frustrations with websites when designing their own site! Just like when we reviewed the email newsletters from the Bush and Kerry campaigns, the best advice we can give ourselves comes from our own online and inbox frustrations.
For example, the case study he describes. I'm not surprised that a website such a pharmaceutical product’s site would increase usability with both lower and higher-literacy users by incorporating his suggestions. Again, using common sense, pharmaceutical sites often use technical language anyone outside of the medical profession would have a hard time understanding. By making changes to a site like this, of course usability will go up for both sets of users.
It always seems like the usability lessons Neilsen writes about can be identified and solved by looking at our own online experiences. It just baffles me that more people don't think about their own usability frustrations with websites when designing their own site! Just like when we reviewed the email newsletters from the Bush and Kerry campaigns, the best advice we can give ourselves comes from our own online and inbox frustrations.
2 Comments:
I agree with your post. We need to take our own experiences about what frustrates us about website to make sites we design user friendly. I do disagree with Neilsen that I do not believe we should dumb down the information we provide because that is creating a disservice to the user.
By Sarah Pearl, at 10:16 AM
Ditto to Sarah Pearl's comments. I also believe that we are our greatest allies in web design friendliness because we know what we like and exactly what frustrates us about certain sites. Dumbing down a site is not neccessary, we should instead try to make it as user friendly as possible to make the site as effective as it can possibly be.
By dcae, at 12:43 PM
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