It’s often said that good design is unobtrusive. Rather than drawing attention to itself, it should serve the copy, making it easy to read and navigate.
Posted by Martin Wake to design, usability, Web writing
It’s 7.30am on day two of Nielsen’s Usability Week in Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas and let’s just say I’m pleased they’re pumping pure oxygen into the casinos…
Posted by Catherine Toole to events, usability, Usability Week 2009, Web writing, writing for email
Nerves kick in as I weave my way past rows of fat people munching on fried chicken and simultaneously shoving coins into slot machines. I’m looking for Caesar’s Palace Conference Center but all I can see is a giant bust of Nero and rows of busy blackjack tables. It’s 8am.
Posted by Catherine Toole to events, usability, Usability Week 2009, Web writing, writing for email
A short list of words and phrases that should never darken your online doors again…
1. Welcome
On a homepage, a Welcome message contains no information and is a massive waste of very valuable screen space. The way to welcome your visitors online is to provide information that shows them exactly what you’re about and how you [...]
Posted by Dan Fielder to style, usability, Web writing, Writing for search
More than half of all website usability problems are to do with text and can be resolved by copy fixes, says usability guru Jakob Nielsen.
Speaking with me at an event last week, Nielsen confirmed what we have long suspected: that because the web is essentially a word-driven medium, getting the words right is the key [...]
Posted by Catherine Toole to jakob nielsen, online copywriting, usability
It’s worth being careful when you link to other sites, but don’t let over-cautious legal jargon get in the way of usability.
Posted by Jackie Kingsley to links, usability, Web writing
I notice that the customer service desk in every Sainsbury superstore now sits under a banner that says not “Customer service” but “Here to help”. It’s a reminder that real-world retailing often has some useful lessons for online best practice (they’ve been using eyetracking for years, too).
That Sainsbury’s sign is a great example of how [...]
Posted by Dan Fielder to style, Tone of voice, usability, Web writing
Digital copy is underappreciated, underrated and – astonishingly – still the poor cousin of the web relaunch process.
Posted by Catherine Toole to design, style, usability, Web writing
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