#19347
The Case Against Micropayments
Micropayments are back, at least in theory, thanks to P2P. Micropayments are an idea with a long history and a disputed definition - as the W3C micropayment working group puts it, '... there is no clear definition of a 'Web micropayment' that encompasses all systems,' but in its broadest definition, the word micropayment refers to 'low-value electronic financial transactions.'
Shirky, Clay. OpenP2P (2000). Design>Web Design>E Commerce>Micropayments
#20289
The Case for Web Architecture: A Communication Process Approach to Retail Web Site Development 
How is commercial Web site development informed by management decisions, marketing needs, business requirements, and consumer behavior and psychology (in short, the complex rhetorical situation surrounding commercial Web site development)? And how can the development process inform the formulation of a more effective Web commerce solution? I argue that the sense of community on the Web is the building block of retail Web commerce. I use a case study to show that using a communication process model can be an effective method of assessing market needs, business requirements, management decisions, and technology in the development of a retail Web solution.
Chu, Steve W. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Rhetoric
#13222
In our attention to style and technology, we often overlook a vital element in the web design mix: narrative voice.
Cloninger, Curt. List Apart, A (2001). Design>Web Design>Rhetoric
#22461
Case Study - Building a Usable Site
A website can be both attractive and easy to use. Usability and good looks aren't mutually exclusive and one doesn't necessarily have to negate the other.
SitePoint (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability>Case Studies
#19761
A Case Study of Context-Sensitive Web Application Help Using the WebHelp API
Discussion of the particular case of an interactive web design to create online user assistance for three distinct audiences: creative artists; Homebuilder sales staff; individual homeowners.
Daigle, John. HyperTexas (2003). Design>Web Design>Help
#28441
Artorg.co.uk is an online community for artists and designers. At first view, this is a really nice-looking site. It has an appealing, soft colour scheme offset with well-chosen graphics, and the content appears solid and orderly.
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Redesign>Case Studies
#28440
Case Study: Business Improvement Network Redesign 
The Business Improvement Network is a highly successful free club for quality improvement professionals who meet together to share their knowledge and experience. A busy website serves the network's needs well, attracts new members every week, and gives members access to lots of free information.
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Redesign>Case Studies
#28016
IBM was contracted to provide a new Air Defence Command and Control (ADCC) system for the Royal Air Force. The IBM Human Factors (HF) team was responsible for the design of the operations room, workstations and the graphical user interfaces. Because the project was safety-related, IBM had to produce a safety case. One aspect of the safety case was a demonstration of the operational effectiveness of the new system. This paper is an in-depth case study of the user testing that was carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system. Due to time constraints the HF team had to observe five participants working simultaneously. Further, to provide a realistic operational environment, up to twenty-eight operators were required for each test. The total effort for this activity was four person-years. The paper will detail the considerations, challenges and lessons learned in the creation and execution of these multi-user user tests.
Hey, Elliott. Journal of Usability Studies (2006). Articles>Usability>Web Design
#28442
Case Study: Foruse.com Redesign
www.foruse.com is the web site of Constantine and Lockwood. Have a look at their home page to learn more about them. This case study incorporates a brief critical review of the home page, plus a redesign.
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2005). Design>Web Design>Redesign>Case Studies
#26259
Welcome to the murky world of search engine optimization (SEO). Before you throw your hands up in frustration, I have good news for you: You can learn how to reverse-engineer your archrivals' tactics and join them at the top of the search results heap.
Spencer, Stephan. GotoMedia (2005). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization
#22872
Caught in the Web: An Intranet Adventure
As the World Wide Web rapidly evolves, as philosophies for designing online documents change, and as technologies grow ever more sophisticated the technical communicator is presented with many challenges. What are the most eflective methods for structuring, authoring and maintaining online documents? What are the best tools and formats to use for the construction of a documentation Web site? What kinds of technical decisions must the designer or writer make? HTML or PDF? GIF or JPEG? Can several text and graphics formats be combined into one seamless site? What about hypertext links - how many is too many? What is the best approach to building a prototype? Presenting it to users? Selling it to management? Many lessons can be learned before embarking on the journey. , .
Cluff, Susan C. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Web Design>Intranets
#25222
The Cautious Writer, 2005: Protect Your Income
I'm no expert on the economy, but I don’t see a lot of signs of growth and smiling faces in 2005. As writers, we are in the fortunate position of being able to protect ourselves against fluctuations in the economy, to some degree. To protect your own income over the next year, here are some suggestions.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Articles>Web Design>Writing
#14184
Celebrating Holidays and Special Occasions on Websites
Even small holiday decorations can increase joy of use and make websites feel more current and more connected to users' lives and physical environment. The key is to commemorate without detracting from your users' main reasons for visiting the site.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#20920
The technical communication field lacks a place for on-line research in the historical, theoretical, and philosophical perspectives. For this reason, the idea of a Technical Communication Research Center was proposed as a way to help move the emphasis off of pedagogical and towards a more evenly balanced web site for technical communication research. Other sites are currently available for on-line research in technical communication, but not everything fits into the academic genre. We have found a market for a comprehensive research site in technical communication. The end product of TCRC will be devoted to both academics and professionals interested in both old and new research in their area of interest. Besides merely a research tool, the TCRC will also be a network for those working in the field. Through databases, email and periodical updates, the ultimate result of the end product is to connect technical communicators all over the world.
Arko, Kirsti, Leroy Steinbacher, John Velat and Dennis Walikainen. Michigan Tech University. Articles>Information Design>Web Design
#14879
Is it better to have more items on a page and requiring fewer pages to be accessed (wide breadth), or to have fewer items per page and require more pages to be accessed (more depth)? Based primarily on studies reported three years ago by Larson and Czerwinski (1998) and Zaphiris and Mtei (1998), designers have been encouraged to construct broad, shallow sites.
Bailey, Robert. Human Factors International (2001). Design>Information Design>Web Design
#21345
Challenging the Status Quo: Audi Redesigned
In September 2000, Razorfish, Germany was tasked to redesign the main websites for Audi. In the process they explored workgroup software, utilized technology to support the brand ideals and challenged the status quo of current web navigation thinking by proposing a right handed navigation system.
Kalbach, James. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Design>Web Design>Case Studies
#22784
Change the Color of Visited Links
People get lost and move in circles when websites use the same link color for visited and new destinations. To reduce navigational confusion, select different colors for the two types of links.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>Color
#23513
Change the Constraint, Change the Guidelines
From a usability perspective are we letting inertia stop us from going and searching for the real new issues which constrain web sites from achieving their goal, or are we moving on, forgetting the last war, and actively out looking for that new constraint and seeking to write the new rules for a world where broadband is ubiquitous?
Anderson, David J. UIdesign (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability
#28951
Change vs. Stability in Web Usability Guidelines
A remarkable 80% of findings from the Web usability studies in the 1990s continue to hold today.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Standards
#21536
Character Entities in HTML and XHTML
This area includes a variety of references and tools such as: reference charts; important articles; and helpful tools.
#25064
Characteristics of Web Site Content
Web site content must be recrudescent, repositorial, refluent, and rectilinear. What? Here's an innovative treatment of the essential attributes of online text. Find out why great web site content generally has these 14 characteristics that start with a "R".
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2005). Articles>Web Design>Content Management>Usability
#22171
Characterizing Audience for Informational Web Site Design 
Presents a sample of audience analysis results and discusses how they were used to make design decisions. Reflects on the strategy, the insights gained from the data, and the impact of the results on the subject Web site.
Turns, Jennifer and Tracey S. Wagner. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Web Design>Audience Analysis
#10407
This article is intended to make Web designers more aware of the qualities of heuristics by presenting a framework for analyzing the characteristics of heuristics. The framework is meant to support Web designers in choosing among alternative heuristics. We hope that better knowledge of the backgrounds, potentials, and limitations of heuristics will contribute to the professional expertise in the field. Our second goal is to make those who develop and present heuristics more aware of the information their users need. Thus, we try to increase the usability of heuristics.
de Jong, Menno D.T. and Thea van der Geest. Technical Communication Online (2000). Design>Web Design>Assessment>Usability
#30654
This blog is about Technical Communication--mostly. I may stray from time to time into family oriented posts. Located in sunny San Diego, loving the Southern California weather.
Jeter, Charles. Charles Jeter. Resources>TC>Web Design>Blogs
#30721
Charlie Kreitzberg on Web 2.0 and You
This is the recording of the presentation from the Catalyze Community monthly webcast featuring Charlie Kreitzberg on December 13, 2007. Charlie spoke on "Web 2 and You - How Web 2.0 Will Catapult Business Analysts and Usability Professionals into Center Stage" which examined his models for understanding Web 2.0 and explored the vast opportunities for professionals who define and design new software and websites.
Catalyze (2007). Design>Collaboration>User Experience>Web Design
