Moving the Search is a Win

Sep 292009
 

Three weeks ago I took a leap of faith, and moved by search box from a location that would be perceived by most as the best place to have it. It was in the header on the right. Highly visible, on every page, and was very much in it’s own zone. Usability wise, it appeared to be a win. Apparently though, that was far from the truth.

Picking the Location

When the search box was in it’s old location it acted as a dedicated fail safe method for visitors to find my content. My main menu, running horizontal in the header, lead to the search box, so it appeared to be a logical placement. Can’t find what you are looking for using the menu? Try searching. Continue reading »

Poll – Masking Password Fields

Jul 012009
 

Earlier this week I wrote a post about how I disagree with Jakob’s findings that unmasking the password field in a form will improve usability, and could even improve security. I strongly believe password fields should be masked, and one of my points was that I think there is a potential to lose customers at an even great scale because they feel the site is not secure. So here is this weeks poll.

Here is the poll: Do you think masking the password field in a form improves security?

Archive of Web Usability and Design Polls

Making Correct UI Decisions

Jun 082009
 

Jakob Nielson announced today that the input from just two users on your website could vastly improve your chance of making correct UI decisions.

Polls Reflect Jakob’s Findings

I thought this great timing for one of my polls that asks, “Have you ever watched at least five people complete a task on your website?” Right now, looking at the results 38% of you have said no to this poll. There may be more than you that would have said yes if the question had ask if you had seen just two, but I am guessing many of you will still say no. Getting my analysis could be an easy way for you to get at least one new person, and it’s from one who knows many common usability mistakes made. Continue reading »

Site Emphasis

Oct 112008
 

Site Emphasis, Site Emphasis, Site Emphasis, say that three times fast. Your site needs to stay on topic to achieve the desired action. I learned that little tip from Jakob’s website, and it was a lesson that I will never forget. Keep your site focused, and your visitors will be able to see what you see.

I was asked to write a review about North London PC Repair, and I have to  appoligize. It’s going to be a lesson in keeping your site focused. Does this giant screen shot I took from their home page look like PC repair?

boss1

Nope…It’s a Boss Cart eCommerce ad. Ads to webmasters are important. It’s how we make money. Unfortunately in this case the ad is overwhelmingly huge, and kills the sites emphasis. The site was initially designed for a PC repair company in North London. Unfortunately the message is half way lost. I say halfway because that is about how big the Boss Cart Ad is. Site Emphasis is the second thing I check for when doing my usability analysis. When we design a website there are a lot of ways we can confuse a visitor. Giant ads that match site content isn’t confusing, is borderline misleading. Make a point to keep your site focused, and make the ads clearly ads as well.

When Picking your ads, or deciding whether or not to have ads on your site, make sure they don’t confuse the main message. Let your site be clear, and your ads (be clear that they are ads that is).

Jakob’s Bonus

Feb 202008
 

Yesterday, Jakob Nielson released his Top-10 Application Design Mistakes. His Bonus Mistake was the first issue I noticed today while reviewing sites. The use of a reset button on web forms.

What is Reset Button For?

Too often I find the reset button on forms, and I believe it is because most new webmasters just don’t know what it is for other than resetting the form. Well they are right. It resets the form, and clears all the data entered. Why would you want to do this though? Imagine you were signing up for a new service on a website, and the form requires you to enter all your contact information. Would you hit the reset button because you made a typo when entering your address? You might accidentally if the reset button was there, but otherwise no. There is no reason for it in this case. That would be a classic example of when not to include the reset button.

So when do you use it? An good example would be if the form was for repeated use by one visitor, such as entering contact information of all their friends. Even then, if done correctly, can be avoided. By simply having a link back to the form on the completed submission page should bring the visitor back to the form with cleared data. It is much faster to click a link than hit the back button.

Is there a reset button on your site?

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