Features for the Next Generation of Web Browsers

The future is not what it used to be, especially regarding WWW browsers. They used to come in two flavors: text and Mosaic, but now there is a profusion of choices. Netscape has shown that it is possible to dominate the Internet almost overnight, going from less than one percent to about 70% market share during the last two months of 1994. Such rapid changes may be a unique characteristic of the Internet since most other markets award more permanence and slower erosion of market share to their leaders. On the Internet, news and customer testimonials spread immediately world-wide and 'shelf space' is limited only by the vendor's server capacity and connection bandwidth (indeed, Netscape would probably have spread faster if only people could get through to their FTP site!).

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1995). Articles>Software>Hypertext>Web Browsers

Field Studies Done Right: Fast and Observational

Field studies should emphasize the observation of real user behavior. Simple field studies are fast and easy to conduct, and do not require a posse of anthropologists: All members of a design team should go on customer visits.

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

Finally: Progress in Internet Client Design

There has been no progress in client software for the last seven years: Mosaic defined the Web feature set in 1993, and since then there has only been more fancy page layouts, no better user interfaces. This sorry picture is finally changing. Several recent software products have introduced specialized applications with better user interfaces for special-purpose use. And there is even a new browser out with improved user control.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Articles>Usability>Software>Web Browsers

First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Users

To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior.

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

Flash and Web-Based Applications

In usability tests of 46 Flash applications, we identified several basic issues related to Web-based functionality's ephemeral nature. Some findings restate old truths about GUIs; others reflect the Net's new status as nexus of the user experience.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash: 99% Bad

Although multimedia has its role on the Web, current Flash technology tends to discourage usability for three reasons: it makes bad design more likely, it breaks with the Web's fundamental interaction style, and it consumes resources that would be better spent enhancing a site's core value.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2000). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

Formal Usability Reports vs. Quick Findings

Formal reports are the most common way of documenting usability studies, but informal reports are faster to produce and are often a better choice.

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

Forms vs. Applications

Once an online form goes beyond two screenfulls, it's often a sign that the underlying functionality is better supported by an application, which offers a more interactive user experience.

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

Four Bad Designs

Bad content, bad links, bad navigation, bad category pages... which is worst for business? In these examples, bad content takes the prize for costing the company the most money.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2008). Design>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design

The Future of Hypertext

In the short term of three to five years, I don't really expect significant changes in the way hypertext is done compared to the currently known systems. Of course new stuff will be invented all the time, but just getting the things we already have in the laboratory out into the world will be more than enough. I expect to see three major changes: the consolidation of the mass market for hypertext; commercial information services on the Internet; the integration of hypertext and other computer facilities.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1995). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext

Gateway Pages Prevent PDF Shock

Spare your users the misery of being dumped into PDF files without warning. Create special gateway pages that summarize the contents of big documents and guide users gently into the PDF morass.

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

Generic Commands

Applications can give users access to a richer feature set by using the same few commands to achieve many related functions.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Usability>User Interface

Goal Composition: Extending Task Analysis to Predict Things People May Want to Do

One of the basic questions during the development of a computer system and its user interface is what the users will want to do with the system. Unfortunately, a task analysis of users' current activities is not sufficient to predict what they will do in the future. It is well known that people's use of computers change over time and that new and unexpected uses are found for most new systems.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1994). Articles>Web Design>Usability

Growing a Business Website: Fix the Basics First

Clear content, simple navigation, and answers to customer questions have the biggest impact on business value. Advanced technology matters much less.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Usability

Guerrilla HCI: Using Discount Usability Engineering to Penetrate the Intimidation Barrier

When asking how many usability specialists it takes to change a light bulb, the answer might well be four: Two to conduct a field study and task analysis to determine whether people really need light, one to observe the user who actually screws in the light bulb, and one to control the video camera filming the event. It is certainly true that one should study user needs before implementing supposed solutions to those problems. Even so, the perception that anybody touching usability will come down with a bad case of budget overruns is keeping many software projects from achieving the level of usability their users deserve.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1994). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Methods>Usability

Guidelines for Multimedia on the Web

Multimedia is gaining popularity on the Web with several technologies to support use of animation, video, and audio to supplement the traditional media of text and images. These new media provide more design options but also require design discipline. Unconstrained use of multimedia results in user interfaces that confuse users and make it harder for them to understand the information. Not every webpage needs to bombard the user with the equivalent of Times Square in impressions and movement.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1995). Design>Multimedia>Web Design

Guidelines for Visualizing Links

Textual links should be colored and underlined to achieve the best perceived affordance of clickability, though there are a few exceptions to these guidelines.

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

Guidelines for Visualizing Links

Textual links should be colored and underlined to achieve the best perceived affordance of clickability, though there are a few exceptions to these guidelines.

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

Helping Users Find Physical Locations

When we asked users to find a nearby store, office, dealership, or other outlet based on information provided at a parent company's website, users succeeded only 63% of the time. On average, the 10 sites we studied complied with less than half of our 21 usability guidelines for locator design.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability

High-Cost Usability Sometimes Makes Sense

Computing the net present value (NPV) lets you estimate the most profitable level of usability investment. For big projects, expensive usability can pay off.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Usability>Project Management>Planning

Homepage Real Estate Allocation

On average, sample sites evenly distributed valuable screen space between content, navigation, fluff, blank areas, and system overhead. Areas of user interest should occupy more than the current 39%.

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

How Big is the Difference Between Websites?

The average difference in measured usability between competing websites is 68%. This is smaller than expected, but makes sense given the dynamics of design within individual industries.

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

How Little Do Users Read?

On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Centered Design

How Much Bandwidth is Enough? A Tbps!

In the long term we will need about a million times more bandwidth than a T1, as shown by the following list of requirements for the perfect user interface.

Alertbox (1995). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface

How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation

Heuristic evaluation is a usability engineering method for finding the usability problems in a user interface design so that they can be attended to as part of an iterative design process. Heuristic evaluation involves having a small set of evaluators examine the interface and judge its compliance with recognized usability principles (the 'heuristics').

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1994). Articles>Usability>Methods>Heuristic Evaluation