1. A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability Steve Krug Highly Recommend Resource!

2.  Nothing important should ever be more than two clicks away  Be consistent  Speak the user’s language  Leave plenty of whitespace  Don’t make me think

3.  Find a site that’s too cluttered

4.  Puzzling over things that don’t matter to us tends to sap our energy and enthusiasm – and time  On the internet, the competition is always just one click away, so if you frustrate users they’ll head somewhere else.

5.  Names of things  Things that aren’t obviously clickable Jobs Employment Opportunities Job-O-Rama Results

6.  Do I have to think about how to search? Keyword Title Author

7.  We’d like to think users will read our site from top to bottom, then make choices.  What really happens?

8.  Usually in a hurry  Don’t really need to read everything  We’re good at it  Far Side: blah blah GINGER blah blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah  Focus on words/phrases that match our goal (plus trigger words – free, sale, etc.)

9.  Users often don’t take the time to make optimal choices  Often choose the first reasonable option – satisfice  Study of fire commanders – didn’t compare options, took first reasonable plan, did mental test for problems, took action  Satisficing definitely applies to choosing web pages (no penalty, easier to click than weigh options)

10.  Users often don’t take the time to figure out how things work (why? May not care)  Find a way to achieve goal (even if know it’s not optimal), continue to do it that way  Examples?  May have completely wrong views about how things really work  Even true of “savvy” users  Ex: type entire URL into Yahoo search box every time

11.  If your audience is going to act like you’re designing billboards, then design billboards.

12.  “How to” suggestions come in later chapters  For now, our goal is to recognize the issue  With a partner  Review 3-4 websites  At least one site should be geared toward purchasing something  For each site, first identify your potential goal (e.g., visit a university site, think of yourself as prospective student, etc.)  What questions arise as you use the site?  Do you notice any techniques that are really effective?  Submit: a list of sites with your critiques on BB. Be prepared to share with class.