From Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox: The basic ideas are to: cut features cut content enlarge interface elements Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Jakob Nielsen
First Rule of Usability? Don’t Listen to Users
To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior. The way to get user data boils down to the basic rules of usability: Watch what people actually do. Do not believe what people say they do. Definitely don’t believe what people predict they may do in the future. — Jakob Nielsen Read more →
High Failure Rates on the Web
. . . when public website users perform simple Internet tasks, they’re successful two-thirds of the time on average. In other words, users fail 35% of the time . . . Six sigma tolerates no more than 3.4 defects per million manufacturing opportunities; in contrast, the Web generates 350,000 defects per million interaction opportunities. The difference between the two quality levels is a factor of 100,000. — Jakob Nielsen, “Two Sigma: Usability and Six Sigma Quality Assurance” The only reason the Web works at all is that people are flexible and persistent enough to try again when their first attempt fails. The good news, I suppose, is that the opportunity for improvement is virtually limitless. Thus spoke The Programmer. Read more →