ウェブサイト数、1億を突破

初期の頃の爆発的な成長も徐々にそのスピードを緩め、成熟に達しつつあるWebではあるが、その歩みは留まることなく、最近、ウェブサイトの数が1億を突破した。

Nielsen, Jakob. U-Site (2006). (Japanese) Articles>Usability>Web Design

デジタルデバイド：3 つのステージ

経済的要因による格差は、たいした問題ではないが、ユーザビリティと活用性の格差は、膨大な数の人たちをインターネットの潜在的利益から引き離している。

Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2006). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Online

ユーザテストはエンターテイメントではない

観察している人たちを最優先に考えた調査をすべきではない。たとえ観察していてつまらないタスクばかりだとしても、デザインを真に検証するテストを実施すべきだ。

Nielsen, Jakob. U-Site (2006). (Japanese) Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

参加の仕方は一様ではない：もっと大勢のユーザに書き込んでもらうには

多くのオンライン・システムでは、ユーザの90%は読むだけで自ら書き込むことは決してしない。9%は、ほんの少し書き込みをする。システム上にみられるアクションのほとんどは、残る1%のユーザによるものである。

Nielsen, Jakob. U-Site (2006). (Japanese) Design>Web Design>Community Building>Usability

段階的開示

段階的開示は、高度な機能や使用頻度の低い機能を2段階目の設定画面に譲り、学習容易性の向上とエラーの軽減を図るものである。

Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2006). (Japanese) Articles>Usability

2D is Better Than 3D

Most abstract information spaces work poorly in 3D because they are non-physical. If anything, they have at least a hundred dimensions, so visualizing an information space in 3D means throwing away 97 dimensions instead of 98: hardly a big enough improvement to justify the added interface complexity.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1998). Design>Web Design>Usability

画面サイズと生産性

大きい画面の利点についてのテストには、2 つの間違いがあった。現実的なタスクでテストしていなかったことと、現実的な利用方法でテストしていなかったことだ。生産性は、労働環境のユーザビリティを語る上で重要な項目になるが、それを計測する場合は、注意深く行わなければいけない。

Nielsen, Jakob. U-Site (2006). (Japanese) Articles>Usability>User Interface

簡単なホームシアターで必要な

台のリモコンを見れば、複雑で統一性のないユーザインターフェイスによって引き起こされる問題が明らかになる。

Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2004). (Japanese) Articles>User Interface>Usability

紛らわしい情報構造を正す 6 つの方法

もしユーザが、いつもウェブサイトの間違えたセクションを開いているなら、ラベリングの改良から、構造の明確化まで、幅広い改善策がある。

Nielsen, Jakob. U-Site (2006). (Japanese) Design>Web Design>Information Design>User Centered Design

見つけてもらうためには昔ながらの言葉を使おう

検索を行うとき、ユーザの頭に浮かぶのは、慣れ親しんだ言葉だ。もし使い古された言葉よりも、造語や新語を使っているならば、ユーザは貴方のサイトをみつけることはない。

Nielsen, Jakob. U-Site (2006). (Japanese) Design>Web Design>Writing>Usability

"About Us" -- Presenting Information About an Organization on Its Website

Study participants searched websites for background information ranging from company history to management biographies and contact details. Their success rate was 70%, leaving much room for usability improvements in the 'About Us' designs.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Writing

Accessibility Is Not Enough

A strict focus on accessibility as a scorecard item doesn't help users with disabilities. To help these users accomplish critical tasks, you must adopt a usability perspective.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

Accessible Design for Users With Disabilities

Making the Web more accessible for users with various disabilities is to a great extent a matter of using HTML the way it was intended: to encode meaning rather than appearance. As long as a page is coded for meaning, it is possible for alternative browsers to present that meaning in ways that are optimized for the abilities of individual users and thus facilitate the use of the Web by disabled users.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1996). Design>Web Design>Accessibility

Alertbox #200

Jakob Nielsen has published 200 Alertbox columns on the Web since 1995; in addition to promoting usability, the column's readership statistics validate the practice of archiving content.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Usability>Web Design

Alternative Interfaces for Accessibility

The key difference between user interfaces for sighted users and blind users is not that between graphics and text; it's the difference between 2-D and 1-D. Optimal usability for users with disabilities requires new approaches and new user interfaces.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Design>Accessibility>Usability>Universal Usability

Amazon: No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design

Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Design>Web Design>E Commerce>Usability

The Anti-Mac: Violating the Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines

Graphical computer interfaces have become the norm. They are based on a number of principles such as metaphor, see-and-point, direct manipulation, user control, and WYSIWIG. The Anti-Mac project explored alternative interfaces that might result from violating the principles behind conventional graphical interfaces. What emerges is a human-computer interface based on language, a richer representation of objects, expert users, skilled agents, and shared control.

Nielsen, Jakob. ACM SIGCHI (1995). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface>Standards

Archiving Usability Reports

Most usability practitioners don't derive full value from their user tests because they don't systematically archive the reports. An intranet-based usability archive offers four substantial benefits.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Usability>Methods

Are Users Stupid?

Opponents of the usability movement claim that it focuses on 'stupid' users and that most users can easily overcome complexity. In reality, even smart users prefer pursuing their own goals to navigating idiosyncratic designs. As Web use grows, the price of ignoring usability will only increase.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Articles>Usability

Authentic Behavior in User Testing

Despite being an artificial situation, user testing generates realistic findings because people engage strongly with the tasks and suspend their disbelief.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing

Automated Email From Websites to Customers

Transactional email can be a website's customer service ambassador, but messages must first survive a ruthless selection process in the user's in-box. Differentiating your message from spam is thus the first duty of email design.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email

Avoid Within-Page Links

On the Web, users have a clear mental model for a hypertext link: it should bring up a new page. Within-page links violate this model and thus cause confusion.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Design>Web Design>Hypertext

Avoiding Bias from the Survivor Effect

Only a few of the survey sites we analyzed in 2000 are still around. We can safely assume that the surviving sites are not a random sample of the original group, but rather that significant differences exist between the sites that made it and those that died. Survival might be due partly to luck, but it is mainly a result of good management and an understanding of Internet fundamentals. Thus, the surviving sites are likely to be disproportionately clued-in about what it takes to run an online business.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Articles>Usability>Methods>Web Design

Avoiding Commodity Status

Software innovations are the main way to differentiate both high-tech products and websites.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Usability

B2B: Help Your Fans Convince Their Bosses

B2B websites must support a more complex buying process than B2C sites. Three key goals are to make a buyer's shortlist, offer a downloadable advocacy kit, and build a reputation for great service.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>Community