#26957
本文的第一部分（二月份）介绍了如何通过优化代码来尽可能少的传输数据，在本文的第二部分中，我们将着重介绍如何利用Web端的缓冲技术（caching）来尽可能降低传输的频繁度。一旦您开始注意进行有效的缓冲设置，您便可以极大地减少网页加载的次数，尤其对于经常访问您网站的常客和忠诚的访问者来说更是如此，而且还可以降低您整体带宽的消耗，并减少您有限的服务器资源的占用。
Powell, Thomas A. and Joe Lima. uiGarden (2005). (Chinese) Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32358
User Experience Design: The Evolution of a Multi-Disciplinary Approach 
Easy task completion (traditional usability) is not enough in the Web world. Appealing visual site design is not enough. A site visitor needs to not only be attracted to a site and able to figure out how to buy (or register, sign up, etc.)-they need in addition to be able to tell quickly that a site will meet their needs, and they need to want to buy from this site, as opposed to a competitor's site. This is a key aspect of overall Web site success.
Mayhew, Deborah J. Journal of Usability Studies (2008). Articles>Web Design>User Experience>Usability
#32379
Getting a Form's Structure Right: Designing Usable Online Email Applications
There are a million websites out there. There are a million email service providers out there. How do you ensure that you gain the right audience to join your service? What are those factors that will help users move ahead and become your loyal customer? Part of the answer has to do with the first step: Registration!
Kirmani, Afshan. Boxes and Arrows (2008). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#32439
Specify a Maximum Width for Em-Based Layouts
One technique that can easily make reading a site a lot more uncomfortable is using an elastic, or em-based, layout such as the one I use here (and talk about a bit more in detail in Fixed or fluid width? Elastic!) without specifying a maximum width in another unit.
Johansson, Roger. 456 Berea Street (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>CSS
#32457
Ten Usability Nightmares You Should Be Aware Of
If your visitors don't understand how they can get from point A to point B they won’t use your site.
Smashing (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32458
Why Award-Winning Websites are So Awful
Practical and functional websites rarely win prizes for design but they do win sales and make profits.
McGovern, Gerry. Gerry McGovern (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Blogs
#32485
Introduction to Screen Readers
Begins by showing us the core functionality of screen readers and how they interact with the desktop. In the second part it demonstrates how a blind user may use them to explore and understand web sites, how sites are “linearized”, and how using semantic markup to build sites supports accessible navigation and usability.
Tsaran, Victor. Yahoo (2007). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Universal Usability
#32486
Introduction to Screen Magnifiers
Karo Caran and Victor Tsaran show how the screen magnifier ZoomText is used to make the computer desktop and web sites readable to people with reduced vision.
Caran, Karo and Victor Tsaran. Yahoo (2007). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Universal Usability
#32587
Extending Card-Sorting Techniques to Inform the Design of Web Site Hierarchies
Card sorting offers a systematic and statistically significant process for answering questions about hierarchy design. However, those of us who have run card sorts know there is an art to conducting successful card sort studies, and there are many variables that can affect the usefulness of results. In this column, I’ll discuss the challenges and limitations of card sorting and review alternative and complementary techniques that designers can leverage when developing an information hierarchy for a large-scale Web site.
Hawley, Michael. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Card Sorting
#32601
Building Usable Websites, Part 1
Usability is all about how people interact with software driven systems and how to make those systems better suited to their all-too-human users. When you hear people describe a piece of software as “user-friendly” or “intuitive”, what they are really saying is that the software exhibits good usability.
Shreves, Ric. Water and Stone (2004). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32603
Building Usable Websites, Part 2
Over the last few years, usability practice has begun to take on a new maturity. Systems have become more formalized, practices more standardized, and in the process certain principles have risen to prominence. To get you thinking about what it means to create usable applications, here’s a list of six basic principles which should be applied when you are building software-based systems.
Shreves, Ric. Water and Stone (2004). Articles>Usability>Web Design
#32604
Building Usable Websites, Part 3
Website and software application usability is a classic intangible, hard to measure and even harder to sell to clients or management. Ironic, as I think it safe to say that at this stage in the game there are few sites that would not benefit from a usability survey and a bit of tweaking. Nevertheless, some companies have taken the cue and great usability case studies are beginning to emerge.
Shreves, Ric. Water and Stone (2008). Articles>Usability>Web Design>Case Studies
#32635
Understanding Disabilities when Designing a Website
This article will explain some simple techniques which, if incorporated into the design of a website, will enhance its accessibility and usability for people who have a vision, hearing, physical, cognitive, or learning disability.
Tomlinson, Leona. Digital Web Magazine (2008). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#32752
Findability/SEO Cheat Sheet: Quick Guide to Web Standards SEO
A findability strategy cheat sheet that will guide you through all of the stuff you should be doing when creating new websites or even redesign existing ones.
Walter, Aarron. AarronWalter.com (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Search Engine Optimization
#32803
Eye Movement Patterns on Single and Dual-Column Web Pages
This study examines eye movement patterns of users browsing or searching a 1-column and 2-column news article on a web page. The results show a higher number of fixations for information in the second column of an article than for the same information in the lower portion of a single column. In addition, the typical "F" pattern appeared in the left column of the 2-column layout, but not in the right column. Users also fixated more on other page elements, such as ads, when they were browsing than when they were searching.
Shrestha, Sav and Justin W. Owens. Usability News (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Eye Tracking
#32806
How Do Users Browse a Portal Website? An Examination of User Eye Movements
This study examined the eye movement patterns of users browsing a web-based portal interface. Results demonstrate consistent scan patterns in both 2 and 3-column portal layouts. In the 2-column portal, users viewed the page through the top, left channel and proceeded to scan the rest of the portal page in a reverse 'S' pattern by row. In the 3-column portal layout, users typically started scanning in the top, center channel, and then proceeded to scan in a reverse 'S' pattern through the rest of channels by row. Implications of these results to portal design are discussed.
Owens, Justin W. and Sav Shrestha. Usability News (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Eye Tracking
#32807
Usability Evaluation of a University Portal Website
This article provides a summary of a usability evaluation of a university portal website. University faculty, staff, and student users were asked to complete representative search tasks and provide feedback on the portal usability. Several user interface design issues were found to impact user performance in terms of task success and perceived task difficulty, in addition to overall satisfaction. From these results, recommendations are made for university portal design related to the default 'home' page, channel customization and configuration, and placement of user-specific functions.
Chaparro, Barbara S. Usability News (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design
#32829
Thirty Usability Issues To Be Aware Of
In this article we present 30 important usability issues, terms, rules and principles which are usually forgotten, ignored or misunderstood. What is the difference between readability and legibility? What exactly does 80/20 or Pareto principle mean? What is meant with minesweeping and satisficing? And what is Progressive Enhancement and Graceful Degradation? OK, it’s time to dive in.
Smashing (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32861
Secret Benefits of Accessibility Part 1: Increased Usability
Web accessibility has so many benefits that I really do wonder why such a large number of Websites have such diabolically bad accessibility. One of the main benefits is increased usability, which, according to usability guru, Jakob Nielsen, can increase the sales/conversion rate of a Website by 100%, and traffic by 150%.
Moss, Trenton. SitePoint (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#32865
Seven Screen Reader Usability Tips
Simply ensuring that your Website is accessible to screen reader users is, unfortunately, not enough to guarantee that these users can find what they're looking for in a reasonably quick and efficient manner. Even if your site is accessible to screen reader users, its usability could be so poor that they needn't have bothered stooping by in the first place.
Moss, Trenton. SitePoint (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#32866
I have a few late model screen readers and I also have simple audio recording tools. I'll use them to get you closer to what these screen readers actually say. I'll start a collection of recordings so you can hear for yourself what these tools say.
Easton, Bob. Access Matters (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#32869
Weaving Usability and Cultures: Tools of Inspiration
Accessibility tools are not the most glamorous of playthings. More often than not, you make do with a toolbar across your browser; a set of guidelines, or, at best, heuristics; and, if you are lucky, a screen-reader. To the uninitiated, they appear highly technical and unwelcoming. Someone said to me recently it took working alongside a person with very little sight for a couple of hours to transform the meaning of the great wad of guidance she’d been handed about making websites accessible. Suddenly it seemed like an important venture, rather than a test of patience.
Light, Ann. uiGarden (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32870
用于提高亲和性（accessibility）的工具并不是好玩儿的玩具。常见的亲和工具（或叫辅助工具），一般来说，是你在设计时的一条足以横跨你的浏览器的工具栏，或是一整套设计指南，或是读屏软件。这些东西对于没有从事过亲和性工作的设计人员来说，显得非常的专业却不受欢迎。最近有个人告诉我，她和一个严重弱视者一起花了几个小时的时间，将她所拿到手的一大堆有关如何提高网站亲和性水平的指导原则转化成实际的设计。突然一下子我感觉亲和性的设计不只是一个对耐心的考验，而更像是一个重要的冒险。
Light, Ann. uiGarden (2005). (Chinese) Articles>Web Design>Usability
#32897
When Legibility, Readability and Usability Intersect, Then We Reach Our Target Audience
If we want to reach our target audiences when presenting text-based information, we as content specialists (designers, programmers, writers, and project managers) need to constantly consider usability. We must move crucial concepts of legibility, readability, and usability to the forefront of our design practices else we will unquestionably lose our audience.
Webb, Suzanne. Content Matters (2006). Articles>Web Design>Typography>Usability
#32898
To Speed or Impede: Considering Page Response Time In Relation To Web Design
What is the single-most important element to consider when developing a web page design strategy? Issues of navigational ease are generally an area of concern to both users and designers alike. Most users will not spend much time navigating a page that is not well organized. Color and animation are also issues of some significance. "Flashy" web pages with easily readable fonts and wonderfully coordinated colors can make browsing enjoyable. One aspect of design that isn't always so explicitly apparent to both the user and designers alike is the page response time-- just how long it takes for the web page to be "rendered" or displayed in the browser. Response time is quite possibly one of the most important issues to consider when designing a web site.
Smith, J.C. Content Matters (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability
