[Web4lib] controlling bad design

[Steven E. Patamia, Ph.D.]

Everyone,
This is really a good topic.  Please accept one more point strongly urged,
though also already mentioned.  I do so from the perspective of having been
a software developer in the past and from many years of using
and criticizing web pages and applications (not to mention administrative
procedures and restaurants!).
         Thoroughly Test
I cannot state too strongly how underutilized this simple idea is and how
apparent and damaging the result is.  Test using a variety of people, but
focus on the grumpy picky hard-to-please kind of people.  It might be that
you cannot please everyone, but if you please a lot of those you will do
very well with everyone else.  Do not argue with the result -- it is not
about what you like -- it is about what works.  Test using as many
personalities as you can arrange to test.  Be prepared to be surprised.  Not
everyone's expectations will coincide with your goals, but even that tells
you something.

Good clean design and intuitive obviousness will almost always win --
provided you supply real functionality in the bargain.  Just don't go into
this thinking that you already know what those things are.  You will find
out that even the critics don't really know -- so don't bother asking them
-- test instead.

P.S. In the sites that were offered as examples I, as a picky grumpy user,
have one general criticism:  Too much on one page!  Hierarchy is the
salvation of all organized knowledge.  If the first page or frame is clear
enough about where to go for more detail (you can even use snippets or
highlights as appropriate) and PROVIDED that going the next level down is as
fast and uncluttered as you can make it -- people will not mind drilling a
bit deeper.  Just make sure you build in continuity so people don't get
mentally confused about where they are or how far down in the hierarchy, or
how in god's name they got there.  The brain works in chunks -- and there is
a limit (roughly 5).  If you put more than 5 chunks on page you are in some
degree of trouble.   If you hierarchy is more than 3 deep you are in trouble
-- stay as close to 2 as you can.

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 11:25 AM, Sharon Foster <fostersm1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Since there are so many ways to go wrong, it's easier to nail down
> what is allowed. If your web editing tools don't allow you to make
> these restrictions happen, then do it with an old-fashioned written
> style sheet, like you did previously. E.g., The course syllabus shall
> be in 12-pt Ariel, black... Do not use animated GIFs... Dialog box
> questions shall be phrased as yes/no questions, and buttons shall be
> named "Yes," "No," and "Cancel." Etc. I wouldn't offer any
> explanations for the rules, but that's just me. ;-) I had many of
> these discussions when I was a software engineer writing in C, and
> they can easily turn into religious wars if you let them. There is
> more than one "right" way to format code/web pages, but the important
> thing as far as your readers/users are concerned is consistency. I'd
> even be prepared to concede a few points if it results in people
> following the style sheet consistently.
>
> Sharon M. Foster, JD, MLS
> Librarians bring order out of chaos.
> http://www.vsa-software.com/mlsportfolio/
>
>
>
-- 
Steven E. Patamia, Ph.D., J.D.
Personal Cell: (352) 219-6592