Jambell.com…

See Don’t Make Me Think by Steven Krug for full details. This is just to remind me what I should have done.

Chapters 1 to 5

• It should be instantly obvious (self evident) what a web page is about or at least self explanatory.
• Get rid of half the words on a page, then get rid of half of what remains (be ruthless)
• Links should be clearly clickable
• Search boxes should make it obvious what you are searching
• People don’t read web pages, they scan them
• People don’t think to much about optimal choices, they pick the first reasonable choice they find
• Web pages are best designed like posters that people see driving by at 60 mph
• Use contrast (strong headlines), repetition (for related items) and nesting to create visual hierarchy
• Use conventions unless you know you have something better
• Reduce visual noise to a minimum

Chapter 6

• Navigation has to be good
• Use site-wide navigation (can be a little different on the home page)
• Use a logo and a tag line to state identity and purpose
• Always have a home link and a way to search
• Plan all the levels of menus and submenus
• Use clear page names
• Use bread crumbs to let the user know that |they>are>here|
• Use tabs with strong contrast and matching colours on the page and active tab
• Use the ‘trunk test’ (see below)

The Trunk Test
Go to a random page on a site and ask yourself:

• What is the ID of the site?
• What is the name of the page?
• What are the main sections of the site?
• What local navigation options are available to me now?
• Where am I relative to the rest of the content?
• Where is the search feature?

Chapter 7

• The home page should convey the big picture
• Use a tag line and very brief welcome blurb to get the message across
• Welcome blurb should not be a mission statement
• Test the home page
• Tag lines should be clear and informative, not vague
• Tag line should be six to eight words long
• A home page should have a clear start point
• Home page navigation can be unique but should tie in with the rest
• Roll over pop-up text can be hard to follow if it is not close to the pointer
• Drop/pull-down menus with a lot of lines are hard to use
• Drop-down meus can make sense for some obviously alphabetically categorised items
• Don’t use lots of small adds, use one big one and rotate it

Chapters 8-10

• Don’t fight over questions like ‘users prefer xyz’, find out what works by testing
• Test the site early on (prototypes and paper copy) as well as during creation
• It’s better to test a small number of users and test iteratively than test a large number at the end

More to follow