The Hidden Truth About Web Content

Many Web developers have failed to realize that Web content goes far beyond the text of the site. Most people throw around the word 'content' as if Web sites that have many pages and many words are great. Take a moment and reflect on this key question: Is text the same thing as content?  The answer is simple: No, text is not synonymous or identical to content. You shouldn't think that content is all about words, sentences, paragraphs, and pages. Here is the reality: Web content is about user interactivity.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Design>Web Design>Writing

How to Localise Your Website: A UK Perspective on Usability

It's often said that a common language divides America and England. If an American says "I'm mad about my flat", there is something wrong with his car. If an Englishman says it, he likes his apartment. If the Americans and the English can't communicate without ambiguity, what happens when non-English speakers use your site?

Travis, David. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Localization

Hyperlinks in Email

Email usability can be dramatically increased or decreased by how URLs are designed and placed in messages. An example of one problem is described in detail in this article. Also, a couple of simple tips are provided to help you improve the URLs in your email messages.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2002). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email

Information Architecture for the Rest of Us

The purpose of this article is to explain information architecture in a very simple and clear manner. If you have been confused about information architecture and what it is all about, this is exactly the article you should read. An analogy is used to get at the core concepts and several useful examples are provided.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2002). Articles>Information Design>User Interface

Investigations in Systems Design: Structure, Context, Failure and Usability

The purpose of this paper is to briefly review and discuss three books related to systems design. The first book is Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering (Petroski, 1994), the second book is The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition: Essays on Software Engineering (Brooks, 1995), and the third book is Notes on the Synthesis of Form (Alexander, 1964). In this paper, an emphasis is placed on describing the core ideas of the books. Brief discussions of structure, context, failure, and usability engineering are included to highlight several themes found throughout the trio of books.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Resources>Bibliographies>Usability

Italy and the Internet

Italy is the fourth largest economy in Europe and the seventh largest in the world. Its status as one of the world's largest economic powers is relatively recent, however. The vast majority of Italy's economic development has occurred since the end of the Second World War. In the 55+ years since the end of WWII, Italy has moved from a primarily agrarian society to a modern post-industrial economy. This extremely rapid economic development has been unique amongst Western nations, and has had a decidedly strong impact on Italian culture and society.

Williams, Brendan J. WebWord (2001). Articles>Web Design>Regional>Italy

The Job Hunt: Rich Uncle vs. Monster.com

I'm now going to tell you the #1, surefire way to land a job with a great salary and benefits whenever you're ready to start working.

Berkowitz, David. WebWord (2000). Careers>Interviewing

Less Than Metcalfe's Law

Metcalfe's Law basically tells us that as you connect n number of machines you get n squared in potential value. So, with 2 machines you get a value of 4. When you connect 10 machines, you get a value of 100. When you connect 200 machines, you get a value of 40,000. People like to apply this idea to the internet. In particular, people claim that the strength of the internet is a direct result of so many machines being connected. I think that this is bullshit.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Articles>Collaboration>Online

Managing User Expectations

The more time you spend at a site, the easier it is to use. Your investment in that site pays higher and higher dividends. Here's another metaphor. Your site and your users form a relationship.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Design>Web Design>Usability

My Eight Favorite Usability Books

Below is a list of my favorite usability, human factors, and web design books. If I did not own these books, I would buy them. I find myself going back to these books again and again. A couple of them have been replaced because I've worn them out. These are the books that I recommend to other people all of the time. Simply put, if I did not have them available to reference and read, I would feel like my library was not complete.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2003). Resources>Bibliographies>Usability

The Next Development Platform

Technology is not stable. It changes over time; it is a moving target. In contrast, humans are quite stable. Each human might not be stable, but as a whole, humans are very constant. Stability and predictability are good things. Therefore, development and design should be based on humans. Specifically, development should be based on a human platform not a technological platform. 

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Articles>Technology

NNGroup and Me: A Tale of Two Tickets

A review of the Nielsen-Norman Group's 2002 Intranet Usability tutorial.

McEvoy, Chris. WebWord (2003). Articles>Usability

The Open Company Manifesto

Users can improve information flow. They can create robust markets, and they can help fix the problems that a company faces. This can happen at an astonishing speed. If the gateway is open, and the company allows users access, those users will quickly tell the company what they are doing wrong. When users are invited to wallow in the information flow, they will crack the company into shape.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Articles>Management>Collaboration

Password Usability

Poor password usability can ruin your web registration process. While passwords are a painful fact of life, there are ways to minimize the problems that users face. This article contains suggestions on how to best collect passwords during the registration process, and it will help you determine if you should allow users to save their passwords.

Ledwell, Joshua. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability>Security

Perceived Information Architecture: User Feedback

The purpose of this article is to explain how the Perceived Information Architecture test was used by BBC New Media. The testing procedure is outlined, along with a list of pros and cons of the method. Several actual user diagrams are provided.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2002). Design>Information Design>Case Studies

The Permanent Sponsorship of Web Content

I asked folks if they wanted to permanently sponsor some of my web content on WebWord.com. The idea is rather simple. You give me money, and I give you ad space on some of my web pages forever. No one else will ever advertise on these pages at WebWord.com. Your ad is forever bound to that page. You get long lasting, and repeated value for your sponsorship dollars. I thought I had a good idea. But, I didn't get any responses.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Design>Web Design>Marketing

Portable Devices Can Cause Usability Problems

Take a moment and think about the various portable Internet devices available. You see everything from wireless hand held devices, to web-enabled pagers, to cellular phones with email access. The list goes on and on. Every day you can scan the technology headlines and read about several new Internet technologies being announced. Think about the nature of these portable Internet devices: they probably are not very usable.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Articles>Usability>Online>PDA

Preference Does Not Equal Performance

People will swear up and down that they love a particular product. They will tell you that the colors are right, the size is perfect, and the information is exactly what they needed. However, until you watch and test users you will not see how well the product works. You will not find out if they really would continue using the product, in the right amount, at the right time, under the conditions you expected. People have a funny way of deciding when, where and how they will using something.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2000). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design

A Proposal for Evaluating Usability Testing Methods: The Practical Review System (PRS)

The purpose of this article is to explain the Practical Review System (PRS). The PRS is an outline of 28 characteristics that can be used to understand any usability method, thereby allowing any individual to decide between methods. This solves many of the problems associated with understanding and explaining usability methods.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2003). Articles>Usability>Methods

Removing the Ws from URLs

In September 1999, John Rhodes published Are You Creating a Path of Resistance? on WebWord. In the article, John discussed the problem with the Ws - the www prefix before domain names. John rightly recommended that all web sites should be set up to work the same with or without the Ws. In this article, however, I will go one step further and recommend that sites should be set up to work with or without the Ws, but also have the Ws automatically removed from the URL using a server-side technique I will henceforth refer to as 'removing the Ws'. I will detail why I feel this is a more appropriate solution and explain how this can be done.

Lash, Jeff. WebWord (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability

Representations and Perceived Information Architecture (PIA)

This article discusses two key ideas. First, it briefly outlines four ways to represent the same information. Second, it provides a high-level overview of Perceived Information Architecture.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Articles>Intellectual Property>User Centered Design

Say Goodbye to "Webmaster", Say Hello to "Internet Strategist"

It is time to drop your title as Webmaster, and pick up something a bit more jazzy. How would you like to be an Internet Strategist or an Electronic Commerce Manager? The time is now to cast your new role. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the once ubiquitous 'Webmaster' position is a memory. There is a need for teams of people with broad skills, diverse knowledge, and an eye for the Internet future.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Design>Web Design>Workflow

Services First, Technology Second, People Third

Microsoft doesn't care much about shared source or Smart Tags and we are wasting our time following their marketing trail. We need to focus on Microsoft's true goal, which is to completely dominate the internet services market. We should pay attention to how they are building a services infrastructure, not a technology infrastructure. We should figure out how they are going to use tools like Passport and Microsoft Messenger to control our personal information and various internet transactions.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Articles>Internet>Software

A Short Commentary on Usability in Northern Europe: Still a Long Way to Go

'Usability', 'user-friendliness', 'user experience' and the like are becoming common buzzwords these days. However, seen from Copenhagen, Denmark, there is still a long way to go. Many businesses and consultants here are beginning to use the terms to promote themselves and their products. The problem is just that: it is used for marketing and image purposes rather than the core of the development process.

Bruhns, Jakob. WebWord (2001). Articles>Usability>Regional>Scandinavia

A Sitemap on Every Page

About how to use a sitemap on all of one's web pages. Includes some statistics, that you will see below, that encourage rethinking navigation on small web sites. A sitemap on every page is an interesting idea. I've only seen this done in a few cases, and usually it is not done well. However, Peter obviously spent some time working on his and he solicited feedback form users.

Van Dijck, Peter. WebWord (2000). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Sitemaps