1. Norman Chapter 6 Krug Chapter 7 B: Home Pages
Jeff Offutt
SWE 205
Software Usability and Design

2. Home Page Requirements
Site identity and mission
What is this site and what is it for ?
Site hierarchy
What can I find and what can I do ?
Search
Teases : Hints of what is inside
Timely content : Some content changes frequently
Deals
Shortcuts : To the most commonly used web pages
Registration
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

3. Additional Abstract Objectives
Show what users are looking for
Show things users want but are NOT looking for
Show users where to start
Establish credibility and trust
Satisfy unrealistic goals
Everybody wants something on the home page
Everybody has an opinion
Must appeal to ALL users
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

4. Remember the Big Picture
With all this, it is easy to forget the big picture
WHAT IS THIS SITE?
What is this ?
What do they have here ?
What can I do here ?
Why should I be here—and not somewhere else ?
5. What do I do first?
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

5. How Does This Do? What can I DO here? What IS this? Where do I start?
Why should I BE here?
What do they HAVE here?
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

6. Getting the Message Across
Taglines
A cute phrase that describes the entire site
Should be right next to the Site ID
Welcome blurb
Terse description, no scrolling
Guidelines
Use as much space as necessary
But not too much !
Do not use a mission statement
Essential to user test
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

7. Taglines Taglines are difficult-to-design marketing tools
Website designers and HTML authors should not think they are good at creating taglines
Marketing firms earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for creating taglines
GMU : Where Innovation is Tradition
VA Tech : Invent the Future
Leave it to experts
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

8. Problems with Pulldowns
Users have to go find them
They’re hard to scan—a big blob of a list
Programmers tend to put LONG lists into pulldowns
They tend to disappear quickly
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

9. Home Page Summary
Designing home pages involves very different challenges and is mostly about marketing
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt

10. In-class Discussion
With your near neighbors, find: One page with a clear tag-line One page whose tag-line is missing or unclear
24-Feb-19
© Jeff Offutt