#13357
Designing Web Ads Using Click-Through Data
Search engine ads are one type of Web advertising that can actually work. To create the best ads, do quick experiments and redesign ads based on usability principles for online writing. Doing so helped us increase ad click-through by 55 to 310 percent.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#23985
Don't Get Burned by Bad Mapping
The term mapping describes the relationship between a control, the thing it affects, and the intended result. Poor mapping is evident when a control does not relate visually or symbolically with the object it affects, requiring the user to stop and think, 'what's going to happen when I turn this knob?'
Greenwood, Wayne. Cooper Interaction Design (2002). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#29355
In Search of Salience: A Response-Time and Eye-Movement Analysis of Bookmark Recognition
Describes the effect of bookmark naming on bookmark recognition. The purpose is to provide empirically-determined guidelines for web producers on how to title pages in order to optimise the recognition of bookmarks by users, and increase the rate of revisitation to their websites.
Poole, Alex. Alex Poole (2005). Articles>Information Design>Usability>Web Browsers
#23301
Influence of Training and Exposure on the Usage of Breadcrumb Navigation
Recent studies have shown that while the use of breadcrumb trails to navigate a website can be helpful, few users choose to utilize this method of navigation. This study investigates the effects of 'mere exposure' and training on breadcrumb usage. Findings indicate that brief training on the benefits of breadcrumb usage resulted in more efficient search behavior.
Hull, Spring S. Usability News (2004). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#29357
Issues of Saliency and Recognition in the Search for Web Page Bookmarks
Describes the effect of bookmark naming on bookmark recognition. The purpose was to provide empirically-determined guidelines for web producers on how to title pages in order to optimise the recognition of bookmarks by users, and to increase the rate of revisitation as a result.
Poole, Alex. Alex Poole (2005). Books>Information Design>Usability>Web Browsers
#18661
The artless Websites created during the Web's infancy were of necessity built only with simple HTML tags, and were forced to divide up their functionality and content into a maze (a web?) of separate pages. This made a navigation scheme an unavoidable component of any Website design, and of course, a clear, visually arresting navigation scheme was better than an obscure or hidden one. But many Web designers have incorrectly deduced from this that users want navigation schemes. Actually, they'd be happy if there were no navigation at all.
Cooper, Alan. Cooper Interaction Design (2001). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#19619
Navigation: An Often Neglected Component of Web Authorship
Web authors should follow web design conventions that account for the variety of ways users will try to navigate through their pages. While usability testing is the best way to ensure your site is really operating as you intend it to, this page offers a basic overview of basic navigation principles that most visitors will expect on most pages that they visit.
Jerz, Dennis G. Seton Hill University (2000). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#19339
Web Navigation: Resolving Conflicts between the Desktop and the Web
This paper summarizes a workshop at CHI98 that focused on navigational problems caused by differences in navigational models between the desktop and the Web. The goal of this workshop was to identify usability problems encountered when users move from the 'traditional' desktop to the Web and to identify ways to minimize transfer-learning problems between the two platforms.Workshop papers will soon be available online.
Fellenz, Carola, Jarmo Parkkinen and Hal Shubin. ACM SIGCHI (1998). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#23261
Web Page Design: Implications of Memory, Structure and Scent for Information Retrieval 
The authors describe an experiment to see if large breadth and decreased depth is preferable, both subjectively and via performance data, while attempting to design for optimal scent throughout different structures of a web site. This work is testing the theories of Miller in his classic 'The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two.'
Czerwinski, Mary and Kevin Larson. Microsoft (1998). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#20870
Although users tend to navigate websites by search mechanisms or by links embedded in actual content, website navigation serves useful purposes.
Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#33199
The words 'click here for...' and 'click here to...' serve no purpose within links. Unfortunately, many news sites still use them. According to Google, 'click here' is on about 8,970 pages at sptimes.com alone.
Ashby-Kuhlman, Nathan. ashbykuhlman.net (2002). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#33200
Essential Navigation Checklists for Web Design
These checklists pull together best practice in the disciplines of information design, usability and accessibility, into an easy to apply format. If you are already familiar with those topics, the checklists serve as a handy reminder that is easy to refer to and apply when planning navigation. If unfamiliar it's also a fast-track lesson - providing you with a head-start in getting it right and enables you to make better informed choices / compromises.
Eleniak, Marta. SitePoint (2003). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#33202
How Google Manages its Home Page
An average person can deal with only 7-10 choices on a web page, according to Google research. That's why it's so hard to get a link on the Google home page.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2005). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#33417
Usability and Maintainability: Navigable Information
This post is part of a series on usability and maintainability. At first, meeting the needs of content consumers through usability can seem at odds with meeting needs of technical communicators through maintainability. My purpose in these posts is to discuss how technical communication best practices can satisfy both needs. I’ll use Gurak and Lannon’s usability criteria of users being able to “find what they need, understand the language, follow the instructions, and read the graphics.”
Gryphon Mountain (2008). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#34293
Mega Drop-Down Navigation Menus Work Well
Given that regular drop-down menus are rife with usability problems, it takes a lot for me to recommend a new form of drop-down. But, as our testing videos show, mega drop-downs overcome the downsides of regular drop-downs. Thus, I can recommend one while warning against the other.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2009). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
#34908
大きな二次元のドロップダウンパネルは、ナビゲーションの選択肢をグループ化することでスクロールの必要性を無くし、タイポグラフィやアイコン、ツールチップを使うことで、ユーザの選択できる内容をわかりやすく提示してくれる。
Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2009). (Japanese) Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Usability
