IE 6 Makes A Comeback

Chrome last month took over Internet Explorer, but now IE comes back? The article below says, “It may be 2012, but apparently someone hasn’t got the message. Internet Explorer’s share of the desktop browser market grew in January, and most of that growth was due to Internet Explorer 6. Internet Explorer 6 only runs on one supported operating system, Windows XP, and that too gained market share last month.” Thanks to cia_mike for lead.

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/02/2001-all-over-again-internet-explorer-6-share-grows-and-chrome-falls.ars

Online User Testing

If you need to determine if your product is user design friendly, then putting together a usability test is worth the time.  Are you thinking about running some quick down and dirty user testing? If you can not afford to run in-house testing with a reputable local firm, then utilizing online testing resources could work for you.

One service that will conduct and produce quality user testing deliverables all online is Usertesting .com.  Within seven to ten users, you can determine high level user design issues. Why not knock-out a quick session to discover these early usability indicators?

User Testing gets you:

• Video of a visitor speaking their thoughts as they use your site
• Written summary describing the problems they encountered

http://www.usertesting.com/

Note: We recommend a professional an in-house usability firm and only use this for quick high-level indicators.

Are Splash Screens Right For Your Audience?

Almost seven years ago, I had the pleasure of participating in a debate about whether or not splash screens are relevant. My stance was that splash screens are relevant if they are done right. The opposition said that under no circumstance can splash screens serve a purpose; they are completely annoying to users.

Splash screens are functional if:

• Important information is displayed
• Connect with your audience
• Have a skip button
• Give option to never show again
• Loads quickly
• Auto-play disabled
• Close Window link present
• Explaination of the splash screen

Above is an example from the Cuyahoga Public Library system that appeared after I didn’t login into my account in a while. I like how the information is organized especially the instant access to Login. I also am happy that the proper controls are available to skip and never show it to me again.

Do you think splash screens are good or bad? Do you feel splash screens can be executed properly or should they never see the light of day again?

Navigation is Your Website

Steve Krug says “Navigation isn’t just a feature of a website, it is the website, in the same way that the building, the shelves, and the cash registers are Sears. Without it, there’s no there there.” You need to continually survey your users and ask them if they are finding what they are looking for on your website. You should also scan your analytic reports and see what pages are the highest abandonment.

Does your website need a navigational tune-up? In Don’t Fear The Forward, we recommend that you perform a card sorting exercise to ask website users to arrange the current navigation in an order that makes sense to them. After the participants are complete re-arranging your current navigation, then ask them, in their own words, to name each grouping.

Google Apps Error Message

If Lebron James is the King of basketball, then Google is the Dictator of the Internet. However even though they are the supreme beings online, Google still has a sense of humor when it comes to error messages. The message says, “Aw, Snap! Something went wrong when displaying this webpage. To Continue, please press reload or go to another page.”

Creating friendly or helpful error messages instead of shocking message, aka a 404 page, on your website will generate a positive user experience. Google’s 404 page is a good example of an error message.

Have you encountered any unique error messages that were helpful?

Recent College Usability Study

I recently was forwarded an interesting article on college students and usability. Jacob Nielson discovered how college students actually surf websites.

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/students.html