[Web4lib] user-centered web site design tips

[Thomale, J]

Hi Katie,

After glancing through your brief tips/resources document, I have a few
general suggestions.

Lists of web design do's/do-not's are pretty common, and very often they
come across as just some person's opinion that he/she is passing off as
fact (or imperative). While your document does provide more than just a
list of commands and it does cite its sources, I think it's very
important to make it as clear as possible that something besides opinion
is actually backing up each assertion and that each one has some valid
reason(s) behind it.

>From my own experience, I've found the document entitled _Research Based
Web Design and Usability Guidelines_ put out by the US Department of
Health and Human Services to be very helpful. It is an uber-list of
guidelines for creating usable websites that ranks each guideline
according to its relative importance as well as the strength of research
that supports it. It also cites sources for each guideline. FWIW, they
just put out a revised edition in August that contains 209 guidelines,
total. It's very, very thorough. You can find it here:

http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html

Another thing to remember is that web design is as much an art as it is
a science. Bearing in mind a website's mission and context is vital for
evaluating the success and user-centeredness of its design--there will
almost always be some context in which breaking a common web design
tip/rule/guideline might be beneficial to users. Not all users are the
same; thus different types of users have different needs. What is
appropriate for a website that is built to market a children's breakfast
cereal will not necessarily be appropriate for a law library's website,
and vice versa. By the same token, what is appropriate for a law library
on the east coast may or may not be appropriate for a law library on the
west coast (for instance).

Just a few thoughts for you--I hope they're helpful. Good luck with your
article!

Jason Thomale
Metadata Librarian
Texas Tech University Libraries


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Jones, Katie
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 8:16 PM
To: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] user-centered web site design tips

Web Designers--
 
I'm de-lurking for some much needed advice.
 
Last spring I pulled together some tips and resources for user-centered
web site design for a special interest section of the American
Association for Law Libraries. I am now writing an article based on
those tips for the AALL Spectrum. If any of you have a bit of extra time
and would be willing to look at the tips, I would love comments.
 
Have you implemented web design based on any of these tips? If so,
please let me know what was helpful and whether or not I may use your
comments in my article. Thanks in advance for any help!

http://www.aallnet.org/sis/sccll/toolbox/website_resources.pdf

Katie Jones
Electronic Services Librarian
Wyoming State Law Library
2301 Capitol Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82002
307-777-6487 / Fax: 307-777-7240
kjones at courts.state.wy.us <mailto:kjones at courts.state.wy.us> 
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