Honk If You Loved Your Web Site Experience
When I decided to teach myself HTML in 1995, I did what many others did back then. We studied source code by copying and dismantling what someone else did. In those days, there was only one background color – gray. Creativity felt limited, but that didn’t last long. Today, there’s no end to what web designers can do. If you can imagine it, someone is inventing a way to do it. The pace is fast. We call it things like Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. What excites me is that the...
Read MoreEthical Search Engine Marketing and Web Site Usability
It’s been reported that Jakob Nielson spoke about SEO and Usability in his keynote speech at the User Experience 2007 conference in Barcelona. Known to have a strong interest in search engine development, he sometimes gets on the nerves of search engine marketers. According to Jakob Nielson sees parallels between ethical SEO and usability, With Web 2.0 still a buzz word and Web 3.0 or even 4.0 on the horizon, Nielson predicts a ‘back to basics approach’ as website owners...
Read MoreToast Your User
November 8 is World Usability Day. From the official web site, “World Usability Day was founded to ensure that the services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use.” So here’s a toast to all the people who know what they want and ask for it and especially, all of you who read the minds of those who don’t share what they want or need. And you build it for us anyway.
Read MoreCustomer Experience, Loyalty and Search Engine Marketing Without Understanding Either of These
Gordon Hotchkiss wrote a blog post called, Why Do We Keep Buying from Bad Businesses, in which he describes a situation many of us may be familiar with. Do you shop at stores where the prices are too high or the environment is uncomfortable? Why? He describes his wife’s loyalty to a local family-run business, despite poor customer service and questionable product quality. Walmart is another example of what may be an unpleasant customer experience, but the prices are good, so this is...
Read MoreIs It Worth Creating User Personas?
There’s a good discussion taking place on user personas that isn’t overly technical for those not familiar with them. Cre8asiteforums’s Usability forum is tackling not only what user personas are, but how they might be implemented during the course of web design. In addition, how do you present the value of user persona development to your company? Several resources and techniques are presented by members. Though not advanced information by any means, the discussions is a...
Read More10/26 Recap: My Week in Usability and SEO
I was encouraged by my first submissions to Catalyze.org, the new social networking site for business analysts and user centered design folks. As an early fan of the site (still in BETA), I’ve been getting to know it (very informative), how it works (some usability hoops), and finally, I got up the nerve to start contributing (I was shy). First, I sent them my podcast interview on usability. Then, once I figured out their procedure, I submitted two of my usability articles. I chose two...
Read MoreKim Krause Berg Podcast Interview on Web Site Usability
On October 12, Eric Enge, of Stone Temple Consulting, interviewed me about web site usability. His interview series typically features search engine marketing people and topics, but his personal interest in user centered web design inspired him to branch out into related fields. Listen here: Kim Krause Berg Podcast I’m in good company. Eric has interviewed Danny Sullivan, Avinash Kaushik, John Marshall, Jim Sterne, Jakob Nielsen and many others. Eric writes about the interview at Kim...
Read MoreThis Week’s Highlights for Usability and SEO
It’s been an interesting time for both the usability and search engine marketing industries. The following is a tour of some of my favorite finds and discussions, as well as proof I didn’t sleep all week. Introspection: Don’t Ignore Accessibility explores the implications of not applying usability and accessibility practices. The kicker is that the article comes from the highly esteemed SEO resource, Search Engine Watch. Professionalism In Our Industries – Recent public...
Read MoreSocial Network, Catalyze, Launched for Usability Professionals
A new networking community called Catalyze.org has made its debut. In Beta, its niche is the usability industry, specifically business analysts and user experience professionals. Anyone involved in web site design will find something of interest there. The homepage features immediate links to blog and forum posts. The last column is set aside for files. Additional sections target education, events, a jobs board and articles. It is joint venture provided by the International Institute of...
Read MoreWhat’s So Scary About Web Site Usability Reviews?
My initiation into usability was cruel. Looking back, however, I think the experience taught me how sensitive web site owners are. Some may want to let the air out of your car tires in exchange for your honesty. Janna I changed her name for this story, but trust me. She hates me. She was the Project Manager for a company I worked for. In my first year there as a User Interface Engineer I was assigned to a web site redesign project. Janna came to me with a site design that was determined by...
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