For a moment today, I caught a glimpse into the true power of blogs and why these magical creatures we’ve woven into the Web will always reach a place within us that money-driven blogs can never hope to find.

It went like this.

I was scoping my Bloglines feeds and Search Brains, one of my haunts, displayed a simple title called “Love Your Children”. It had no keyword for search or engines or SEO, and yet I connected to the post title instantly because I am a mother.

The link took me to a blog called Ongoing. I’ve seen it before in my travels. The blog author led off Love Your Child with “Because, like Elena, they might be gone tomorrow.”

Who is Elena?

I don’t know, but I’m a mother. I know what it feels like to lay awake at night, wide eyed, with anxiety about my kids. Like Arielle, who is learning how to drive. Her best friend drove the family car into their house, nearly totaling the car and causing major damage to the house. I’m scared to let my kid out of our driveway.

Who is Elena?

One click from one blog link to another and I came to read the story of a a six year old girl who died with no warning. Her heartbroken father writes about his daughter in Dear Elena. Her mother’s name is also Kim. I don’t know them.

But, I know them.

I read about the loss of their daughter. I couldn’t breathe. I’ve never lost a child, but it’s my worst… I mean, my honest to God most terribly worst fear. I don’t even know how anyone could get me to face another day if I were lose one of my own.

I read about Elena and cried.

There’s a child who died and I grieved because her story was told in a simple blog entry. It was linked to by a blog written by a man who was touched by the story written by a father. How human of this.

How incredibly amazing that we’ve invented another way to reach out and tell each other that we can offer love or support and we never have to admit to anyone who we are or who we touch with our words.

No ads. No pitch. Just writing from the heart to express feelings for the sole emotional release of it.

I bet more people will remember the Elena post more than any corporate business ad generating blog ever could hope to achieve.

I hate to think I have a brain-lock on web site usability, but when someone requests help for a student dissertation on “anti-usability” in a Usability Forum, and finds support for the very idea, I’m standing at full attention.

The thread is called Anti - Usability Literature for a dissertation, and the student seeking help is from the UK (not that location matters on this question, or does it?) She asks:

“I am in my last year of my degree course studying Business Information Systems. I am writing a dissertation on the importance of website usability and proving that a website can be usable as well as “pretty”. However, I am having trouble finding some literature regarding those who are opposed to the use of usability (apart from usabilitymustdie.com). Does any body have any ideas?”

One of my favorite resident “Devil’s Advocate” members chirped right up, followed by another member who has some interesting comments on why accessbility testing is a pain in the neck. For starters, he wonders, who in the heck has a screen reader at ready to test their sites?

I don’t think you need a screenreader to prove your site is accessible. There are too many simulators and guidelines available to cover the basics. For a site that must meet standards for specific legal requirements (such as Section 508), you can bet it would be worth hiring formal testing. But, for most of us, there are resources and places like the Web Site Accessibility Blog and Web Credible to help us learn enough to create courteous web sites for all types visitors.

Don’t Mention the Word “Timeline”

For software usability, this is where I can really relate to the anti-usability grump party. Try telling management that a deadline won’t be met because QA testing, which often includes some kind of usability testing or user testing, isn’t finished yet. Oh, how they hate that.

And, then there’s the expense of usability testing. To which I say, “Sheesh, have you even LOOKED at these usability evaluation prices?”

Depending on the size of your company, web site and goals for the site, an investment in usability is so worth it - even if the investment you make is simply time to learn. Jared Spool and his team at UIE often write about large site redesigns and the lessons learned. Jakob Nielsen compiles guidelines based on all types of research.

The point is, there are already some key industry experts doing the work and other companies are paying THEM for it. All you need to do is read their case studies, articles and blogs and apply what fits in with your own requirements.

I’m not saying “don’t test”. If you don’t know what to look for, there are usability checklists and usability checklists for conversions and free guidelines and checklists available in any search engine.

Do you think usability isn’t necessary for web sites or is a hassle akin to say, picking onions out of your salad?

Your opinions and help are welcome in Anti - Usability Literature for a dissertation

About to Hit The Road Again

If I disappear from the blog again, and you miss me, I’ll be at the Search Engine Strategies Seminar in New York City. I’m heading up on Sunday and plan on leaving late Tuesday night. My goal, as usual, is to spy on all the famous SEO folks and write up some news and review pieces. Why would a usability consultant want to do this? Well, I started out in the SEO biz, so I understand their language. But more importantly, the search engine marketing industry is getting pretty chummy with the user centered design industry, and vice versa.

When a company works with an SEO/M or web designer that offers usability and accessibility services, there’s an even stronger chance for a holistic approach to design - and the increase in revenue that follows never hurts either.

The beauty of Usability Professor Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox posts is that everytime he releases one, I know the forums boards will light up, RSS bells will clang and the tempo for the day is like walking into a noisy Las Vegas casino.

Everybody wants to know, “Is he right about this one?” How many of you run to your web sites and blogs to see if you screwed up again because Dr. JN says so?

Today we have a debate on in-line links. In his typical, glorious, “let’s push their buttons” style, our hero starts off with an article title to get the crowds running. This one is, Avoid Within-Page Links. I knew this was going to be a fun one.

Dr. JN doesn’t make up this stuff. I bet he does receive letters, like the two he points to in this article. When he writes things, he often states it in a way that makes you want to stop eating ice cream for a month, to punish yourself. I remember once at Cre8asiteforums we argued for DAYS when he suggested there never should be a link “Home” on the homepage. His articles are true food for any web site geek worth their twinkies and Starbucks.

Thou Shalt Not Use In-Line Links

This time, he starts out with a commandment about links that go somewhere on the same page because it will “Violate (the) Users’ Mental Model”. He’s good. For folks like me who believe that people aren’t stupid, this is a hysterical statement.

But he’s right. Darn it, he’s right. Even if everything he wrote has his typical “sermon on Dr’ J’s mountain” angle, he’s doing what he should be doing.

He, like me, does usability testing. He gets to do the eye tracking studies and his folks get out rulers to measure and grade every tiny thing humans do with computers. I don’t do the ruler thing. But, he sees what I see.

Web Site Visitors Can Learn

People are routine oriented. The radio buttons are to the right of the steering wheel. Yes, the driver’s seat is on the right side of the car on the other side of the ocean than from where I live, but if I had to drive in England, I’d get used to it. This is how web sites work too. If somebody designs something new, or puts an element in a spot where you are not used to seeing it, you may react.

Mr. Nielsen points out all the reasons why in-links are confusing. They are all good reasons. And, they do happen to people.

For example, I tested a site that contained in-line links, but I had no idea they were going to perform that way because these links were located on the left side of the page, where global or hub navigation is most commonly placed. This area is where we expect to find links to other sections of a web site rather than links to other sections of a page.

It caught me by surprise, but within seconds I saw a clue further down on the page, which was a “Top of Page” link. Still, end users don’t like the unexpected. They hate feeling dumb. User instructions, in a small font size, nearby as an aid or warning, would have been helpful, such as “This navigation will take you to sections within this page.” Then, I would have known what the links were for, and how to use them.

Jakob Nielsen writes, “To avoid confusing users, you must communicate exceptions to their expectations in advance.”

Exactly.

He writes:

“Similarly, if you absolutely must use within-page links, say so. For example, add a short statement that says something like: “Clicking a link will scroll the page to the relevant section.”

Exactly.

He writes about in-line and anchor links in detail but there was little I could get excited about, other than the fact that I agreed with him for once. He’s suggesting we think before we code and consider acts of courtesy and instruction. That, to me, is good usability practice.

John Scott Spoke With Dr. JN

I admired John’s Interview with Jakob Nielson, and not just because he had the nerve to ask what Jakob thought of John’s V7N website.

And yet, even though the interview reads well, John asked interesting questions (”Is search engine optimization compatible with best practice usability?” and “You recently wrote an article entitled, “Search Engines as Leeches on the Web”. One SEO forum administrator, Brett Tabke, challenged you to block search engine spiders from your website. How do you respond to this?”), I had the weirdest impression that Jakob was half asleep with his answers. Like,

“Most Flash continues to be bad. Sad, particularly since we did conduct a major research study to develop the usability guidelines for good Flash.”

I remember that. But, where’s the “call to action” prompt, Jakob? I want to know what your studies concluded and what the guidelines are, if any were developed. Where is the link to find that stuff?

Check out John Scott’s Internet Marketing blog. It’s not new, but he’s bringing it back to life. This is a man known for having strong opinions and can even rabble rouse the Wall Street Journal

John and Jakob have something in common. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em, or thank them for the entertainment.

Discussion here: Should we avoid within-page links? >>>