Pull-Down Menus: Out of Sight, Out of Mind  

This article focuses on a particularly wily cryptodesign foe: pull-down menus. Recall our definition of the developer’s eternal foe: cryptodesign. These are decisions that worked for certain situations, but are often misapplied in different, inappropriate situations. Pulldowns are the “guerilla” combatants of GUI design – so named because at one glance they look like good-guy civilians, but in another moment, they’ve wreaked havoc on ease-of-use. Let’s explore how to neutralize these design sapper bombers.

Schaffer, Eric M. Human Factors International (1995). Design>Web Design>User Interface

Lo Que Dice la Red

Elaborar información procedente de la red y presentarla en forma gráfica es lo que se propone 'dicelared', una interesante iniciativa en español.

Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Design>Web Design>User Interface

Reality Check

Many would-be e-businesses, seduced by the lure of the emerging 'virtual-world' on the web, have ignored 40 years of accumulated wisdom in how to design usable information systems, and have seemingly forgotten that a satisfying 'user experience' is key to the successful implementation of any information system.

Macefield, Ritchie. UIdesign (2004). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Usability

Reconciling Information-Seeking Behavior with Search User Interfaces for the Web  

Current search interfaces reflect the inner workings of search technology rather than what we know about how people look for information.

Rose, Daniel E. Earthlink (2002). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Search

The Sanctity of Elements, or Why You Shouldn't Be Double-Clicking in a TEXTAREA

All-too-frequently an external client or an internal manager or co-worker demands interface changes. They usurp the design process -- taking the decision-making away from the experts -- and deign the interface by dictum rather than traditional development processes, to the detriment of the product.

Hourihan, Meg. O'Reilly and Associates (2002). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Usability

Selection-Dependent Inputs

Successful Web applications tend to grow--both in terms of capability and complexity. And this increasing complexity is often passed on to and absorbed by a Web application's forms. In addition to needing more input fields, labels, and Help text, forms with a growing number of options may also require selection-dependent inputs.

Wroblewski, Luke. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Forms

Software Features and Changes Needed for Better Viewing

With Netscape, when you first load this page, none of the following links are marked as 'already seen'. IE is very bad on this point: when you load this page, all the links below (internal page A NAME links) are marked as 'already seen'. That is, Netscape tracks internal page jumps; IE doesn't recognize them; in its history tracking, it lumps together all the links for a page as being identical with the overall page as a destination. This is a great example of a basic feature that is very much needed.

Hoffman, Michael. Hypertext Navigation. Design>Web Design>User Interface>Web Browsers

Some Tips On Navigation

Creating navigation systems, and the information structures that underlie them, is obviously a central aspect of the development of any product or web interface. Although some users may prefer not to use navigation systems, or even ignore them entirely, for many they will be an invaluable means of discovering content or functionality. Getting these structures right is an important element in designing a successful interface. Unfortunately, getting them right isn't particularly easy. In some instances it can be, but usually there is no simple way to short-circuit the process of categorisation and presentation that constitutes a navigational system. However, in this short article we do attempt to provide some brief pointers. Although we focus on web navigation, many of these suggestions are equally relevant in software interface design and indeed other technologies.

Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Design>Web Design>User Interface

Spatial Interactive Visualization on Small Screen  

The amount of data stored in personal digital devices increases rapidly as their memory capacities increase. These devices are usually equipped with relatively small displays, which makes presenting the information a challenge. We set out to explore the spatial design space for small screen user interfaces by incorporating additional dimensions into the visual representation, and investigate techniques that may be used to display more information at once. We focus on interactive visualization, with a document manager as a target application. We present the design factors and a simulated application running on a desktop computer. We also report a formative usability study with promising results.

Hakala, Tero, Juha Lehikoinen and Antti Aaltonen. Proceedings of the Conference on Human Computer Interaction (2005). Design>User Interface>Wireless Web

Speech-Enable Web Applications Using RDC with Voice Toolkit

Speech applications have come to be in demand with many applications, which can sound daunting to developers who have never before made provisions for speech. Don't put it off, though, believing that it means a massive rewriting of your current offerings. It is now possible to enhance current Web applications, or develop new ones, with the Voice Toolkit and Reusable Dialog Components. Learn to construct successful voice apps, and without a big learning curve.

Dhanakshirur, Girish. IBM (2005). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Audio

Structuring Content for Web Interface Usability

It's a well known fact that many users - both novice and expert - have difficulty finding information on websites even when they know it's there somewhere. What is less clearly understood is why - beyond the obvious fact that there is always a challenge involved in enabling access to a huge variety of information from a single entry point. When addressing this challenge, the initial focus often tends to be on the 'navigational' structures, and how the site is mapped and organised. But in reality, users tend to rely less on these navigational aids than some web designers might imagine. Most users are more concerned with achieving their goal than understanding the logical structure of the application they are using, and tend to gravitate towards the content they are looking for by following 'scent', which can best be thought of as a clear signpost to content 'below' through links and content 'above'.

Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2000). Design>Web Design>User Interface

Take Advantage of Technology

Use technology to simplify existing processes, and take advantage of what users already understand.

Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>User Interface

Text on Websites

Website text should be clear, links should stand out, and all text should scale according to user preferences.

Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Design>Web Design>User Interface>User Centered Design

TreeDec: an Annotation Tool to Support Website Navigation  

Websites are often organized into logical hierarchies, or tree structures, in order to help users navigate. Ideally, users could view the entire tree, or jump to nearby pages. TreeDec (= Tree Decorator) is a system to support website authors and maintainers by providing automatic annotation of webpages under the control of a central file that represents the tree structure.

Cugini, John. NIST (2000). Design>User Interface>Information Design>Web Design

A Usability Evaluation of Web Map Zoom and Pan Functions  

Due to limitations on screen size and resolution, the usability of web maps relies heavily on their interface design. The main goal of this research is to find better interface designs for web maps and to facilitate their usage by the public. The research consists of two stages of investigation: (a) a survey on the operation interfaces of popular web maps; and (b) a usability evaluation of simulated interfaces by measuring task performance and conducting subjective evaluations.

You, Manlai, Chun-wen Chen, Hantsai Liu and Hsuan Lin. International Journal of Design (2007). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Usability

Usability First

This website provides information and resources for key issues related to usability in website and software design. We believe that helping people do their work in an effective and enjoyable way should be the top priority in design because if a product is not usable, people will not use it.

Diamond Bullet Design (1996). Resources>User Interface>Usability>Web Design

User Interface That Kills: Swords, Craft, and User Interfaces

The greatest challenge in web or software design is creating a work of deep craft. That is, the presence of the designers and programmers coming through to make the user feel as though you were really trying to make them happy. For many products, I can point to specific parts that in isolation made me feel that way, but it's rarely carried through consistently. Web sites always have rough edges: search results pages that are ugly and hard to read, error pages that are incomprehensible, JavaScript pop-up menus that appear and disappear awkwardly, with visible repainting and redrawing, home pages to well-known Web sites that are garish, cluttered, and cold.

Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (2000). Design>User Interface>Web Design

Using Machine Learning to Populate Dynamic Interfaces  

How can we bring machine learning techniques to bear on the problem of enabling dynamic search interfaces for complex document collections?

Efron, Miles. IAsummit (2004). Design>Web Design>User Interface

Web 2.0 Can Be Dangerous

AJAX, rich Internet UIs, mashups, communities, and user-generated content often add more complexity than they're worth. They also divert design resources and prove (once again) that what's hyped is rarely what's most profitable.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Ajax

Web Interface Design: Learning from our Past

The advent of World Wide Web authoring has led to a plethora of graphics rich web pages. But where's the beef? In addition to placing marketing information on a company's home page the strength of the web lies in its flexibility to link to corporate databases and processes running on a variety of machines, both web and non-web servers. Tasks such as, creating transaction systems for commerce, creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for legacy systems, and doing queries against corporate databases require the web designer to take into account more than HTML code and imagemaps. The heritage of interactive design for network-based solutions has helped interface designers understand how to apply their craft to create effective World Wide Web solutions.

Miller, Richard H. Rutgers University. Design>Web Design>User Interface

What's Wrong with (Almost) All Web Sites

The vast majority of web sites commit usability and design violations that make it hard for users to find relevant content and functions. These problems are not difficult to diagnose or remedy. How many of these "user crimes" is your web site guilty of committing?

Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Interaction Design

Where Am I?

It seems strange to be talking about something as basic as 'navigation' 11 years into the web era. And yet, if you’re a web designer, chances are you’ve made some mistakes in this fundamental area. I know I have. So let’s go back to basics.

Powazek, Derek. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>User Interface

Why Amazon Succeeds -- And Why It Won't Help You

Amazon is one of the best on-site search capabilities we've ever seen. But surprisingly, the reason why it works so well is likely to be the same reason why Search won't work well on your site.

User Interface Engineering (2002). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Search

Why Are Good User Interfaces So Hard to Make? Three Insights into Good Design

Last year at Internet World a woman asked me why software and Web sites were so hard to use. Let's call her Pandora. I told Pandora that either we aren't smart enough yet, or the industry has not matured to the point at which well-designed products are required for companies to be profitable. She didn't buy it. She swore that sometimes we just did it on purpose. She laughed when she said it, but I think she meant it. It's my job to make simple-to-use products, and I took what she said to heart. I said that we really are trying, and that we're getting better at it all the time. She walked away unimpressed. I went back to the hotel bar that night and thought about why things are the way they are with the Internet and computers.

Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (1999). Design>User Interface>User Centered Design>Web Design

Windowing the World of Online Information  

Designing online information requires an understanding of user interface design, screen design and hypertext technologies. Multi-window environments have quickly become the standard within user interfaces and so this paper explores the application of multi-window systems to online information by reviewing the research and some of the current applications of multi-window online information.

Berry, Robert R. and Michelle Corbin Nichols. STC Proceedings (1995). Design>Web Design>User Interface