Re: You've been framed :-)

["Matthew Norman" <mafiu@xxxxxxx>]

Everyone has their favorite but I like "Jakob Nielsen - Designing Web
Usability" ISBN 156205810X

Matthew

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nikola Kasic" <nikola@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 10:12 AM
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] You've been framed :-)


> Mark, do you have any book on HCI that you would recommend?
> Especially for web design purpose.
> Nik
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Hetherington [mailto:mark.egroups@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 09 April 2003 23:02
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] You've been framed :-)
>
> mark_harrison_uk2 wrote:
> > It has become a seminal text among the designers of BIG websites.
> > Some particularly alarming things for all of us to bear in mind,
> > including the fact that NONE of the world's top 10 websites uses
> > frames any more, since they have all discovered that, in
practice,
> > they don't give good usability.
>
> The "Frames vs. No Frames" argument has been ongoing for
years and there
> is likely a "seminal text" refuting the very reasons stated
for not
> using frames. This text would likely quote the world's top 10 top
> websites as well. Statistics are as volatile as reasons for bombing
the
> hell out Iraq... they change by the hour and the person you ask.
>
> The main concern with website design is the target audience and this
is
> the only point the many writers of books about web design ever
actually
> have in common but they largely tend to put this aside for certain
> elements if the author is biased a certain way. The site should always
> be designed around the target audience and if they are likely to like
> frames, then no book in the world should stop you using them.
>
> > Observed evidence in the field is that 90% of clicks made from a
page
> > will come from stuff visible on the first screenful. Hence, the
> > overall recommendation is to layer your site... On entry level
pages,
> > it is vital that all the possible choices are provided on a
single
> > screenful. Once someone has drilled down to a particularly
detailed
> > page, then scrolling is acceptable, since by then, the user is
likely
> > to be engrossed in READING the page, rather than simply scanning
it
> > to find which link is appropriate.
>
> One simple rule of web design which seems to have been lost in the
move
> to "flashy" sites and the increase in "experts"
writing books, is that
> actual content should be accessible within 3 clicks. This fits in well
> with your quotation(?)/comment on drill down since that is the long
> established point at which a viewer will give up turn to another site.
> So for say a shopping site, this means specific product information
> within 3 clicks of the home page (e.g. select category -> product
page->
> specific product). Further links from that are of course acceptable,
but
> aim for something meaty within 3 clicks.
>
> > Rendering of pictures fast is harder, but the trick here is to
> > include explicit picture geometry directives in the HTML, so that
> > rather than putting in a little box for a picture placeholder,
then
> > redrawing the whole page once the picture is loaded, the client
can
> > draw a box of the correct size for the placeholder, and fill in
the
> > picture only.
>
> This is basic stuff. All image tags should be complete rather than
> partial but this applies to HTML as a whole as much as to images
> specifically. Where possible, tables should also be completely defined
> with size values since the few bytes extra it takes will usually
result
> in a final layout rendered prior to page download completion.
>
> Text is obviously faster to load than graphics but not always
> appropriate.
>
> > Now - what is my reference "great" website????
> >
> > It's Google....
> >
> > ... everything you want to do, 100% of the time, on the first
screen
> > of the homepage.
>
> Actually, no. There are google features which are only available
through
> drill down. The feature set of google is in essence limited to a pure
> database search with 5 main categories so despite the huge size of the
> database, it is trivial to provide a simple front end website for it.
> Google does not make a good template for all web sites.
>
> For newcomers to the net, Google actually loses out to Yahoo, MSN and
a
> number of portals since there is nothing to click on to get to
something
> immediately. While a more experienced net user might find google's
plain
> interface friendly, a newcomer has no way to just click around and
must
> type something.
>
> Whenever I introduce someone to the net and start them at Google, they
> lose interest there and then. Start them at say Yahoo, or a portal
site,
> and they are happy to click about and later actually start typing
> something in a search box.
>
> Although personally I like the no frills google interface for web
> searches, I miss the missing features from it's predecessor on which
it
> is based - Deja. Google have recently begun resurrecting the full Deja
> feature set back but are IMO not quite there yet.
>
> > ... Once you've done a search, and are therefore interested in
the
> > contents OF THAT PAGE rather than using that page solely to
navigate
> > to the next, then scrolling is fine.
>
> Scrolling on target pages is a quite a widespread web design comment.
> Where long pages lose out to frame based navigation is the need to
> scroll to quickly navigate since a non-framed site will usually
provide
> navigation at the top or bottom or both. A well designed framed site
> offers main navigation features at all points while reading any given
> page. Of course you can fix this with the likes of DHTML, but then you
> also restrict your audience.
>
> There are many arguments over how long a page ought to be before being
> split into a sequential series of pages. This then brings in other
> navigational issues so I doubt anyone has been prepared to actually
give
> figures for it.
>
> > ... No frames, but explicit "where you are in the site"
text on every
> > page, means that you can't get lost by being incorrectly divered
to
> > an inneer frame
>
> But you will have to scroll to find it. "Where you are" text
is a
> relatively recent invention but is often helpful on any large site
> whether framed or not. Google is not a large site when you consider
what
> it actually offers and this is how it gets away with very simple
> "tricks".
>
> > ... Clear branding, so you never lose site of the fact that
you're on
> > Google, but that takes up precious little space (38 by 51
pixels),
> > and is explicitly sized in the HTML so that the page loads around
it,
> > rather than having to refresh once the image is downloaded.
>
> As are images on all well designed sites.
>
> Google gets it pure speed from a lack of graphics. Since they have
found
> alternative revenue streams to traditional banner advertising, they
can
> present a purely text based page with merely their logo as graphical
> content. Not all sites can dismiss graphics completely from their
design
> whether or not they rely on sponsor banners.
>
> Unfortunately, the expectation of the newcomer to the web is something
> flashy and often graphical, so removing all the graphics for speed
will
> not make you website a winner if your main viewers expect graphics to
be
> there.
>
> To be honest, if someone tells you the frames are the devils work,
> ignore them. If someone tells you they are the best thing since sliced
> bread, ignore them. A site should be designed around the end user.
> Sometimes frames are the best option, sometimes not.
>
> The art of web design is creating a site that works well and is easy
to
> use for any visitor. There are basic rules to help you achieve it, but
> "Frames vs. No Frames" is merely "Linux vs.
Windows" in another guise
> and has comparable numbers of fanatics in either camp.
>
> If you are serious about wanting to create the perfect web experience,
> first study HCI (Human Computer Interfacing). There are a number of
> simple rules that have often been ignored in web design features.
> Examples are why animation will distract the viewer from the content
of
> a page due to primal instincts within us and why pictures and text are
> better positioned to one side or another.
>
> Only then should you read web design articles. If you do want to buy a
> book for web design, buy a couple of conflicting ones. The important
> points are where they agree. The arguments are where you look to your
> target audience to decide. If you read up on HCI first, you can merely
> ignore anything they claim which contradicts that since HCI has been
> around much longer than the web.
>
> HCI can be quite an interesting subject if you get the right texts
since
> a lot of the discussion is about the human brain and it's reactions to
> certain things. For our particular group's interests, there are a lot
of
> things which can be applied to HA implementation.
>
> Mark.
>
>
>
>
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