Jakob
Nielsen's Alertbox for May 1996:
Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design
1. Using Frames
Splitting a page into frames is very confusing for users
since frames break the
fundamental user model of the web page. All of a sudden, you cannot bookmark
the current page and return to it (the bookmark points to another version of the
frameset), URLs stop working, and printouts become difficult. Even worse, the
predictability of user actions goes out the door: who knows what information
will appear where when you click on a link?
2. Gratuitous Use of Bleeding-Edge Technology
Don't try to attract users
to your site by bragging about use of the latest web technology. You may attract
a few nerds, but mainstream users will care more about useful content and your
ability to offer good customer service. Using the latest and greatest before it
is even out of beta is a sure way to discourage users: if their system crashes
while visiting your site, you can bet that many of them will not be back. Unless
you are in the business of selling Internet products or services, it is better
to wait until some experience has been gained with respect to the appropriate
ways of using new techniques. When desktop publishing was young, people put
twenty fonts in their documents: let's avoid similar design bloat on the Web.
As an example: Use VRML if you actually have information that maps naturally
onto a three-dimensional space (e.g., architectural design, shoot-them-up games,
surgery planning). Don't use VRML if your data is N-dimensional since it is
usually better to produce 2-dimensional overviews that fit with the actual
display and input hardware available to the user.
3. Scrolling Text, Marquees, and Constantly Running Animations
Never
include page elements that move incessantly. Moving images have an overpowering
effect on the human peripheral vision. A web page should not emulate Times
Square in New York City in its constant attack on the human senses: give your
user some peace and quiet to actually read the text!
Of course, <BLINK> is simply evil. Enough said.
4. Complex URLs
Even though machine-level addressing like the URL should
never have been exposed in the user interface, it is there and we have found
that users actually try to decode the URLs of pages to infer the structure of
web sites. Users do this because of the horrifying lack of support for
navigation and sense of location in current web browsers. Thus, a URL should
contain human-readable directory and file names that reflect the nature of the
information space.
Also, users sometimes need to type in a URL, so try to minimize the risk of
typos by using short names with all lower-case characters and no special
characters (many people don't know how to type a ~).
5. Orphan Pages
Make sure that all pages include a clear indication of
what web site they belong to since users may access pages directly without
coming in through your home page. For the same reason, every page should have a
link up to your home page as well as some indication of where they fit within
the structure of your information space.
6. Long Scrolling Pages
Only 10% of users scroll beyond the information
that is visible on the screen when a page comes up. All critical content and
navigation options should be on the top part of the page.
7. Lack of Navigation Support
Don't assume that users know as much about
your site as you do. They always have difficulty finding information, so they
need support in the form of a strong sense of structure and place. Start your
design with a good understanding of the structure of the information space and
communicate this structure explicitly to the user. Provide a site map and let
users know where they are and where they can go. Also, you will need a good search feature since even
the best navigation support will never be enough.
8. Non-Standard Link Colors
Links to pages that have not been seen by
the user are blue; links to previously seen pages are purple or red. Don't mess
with these colors since the ability to understand what links have been followed
is one of the few navigational aides that is standard in most web browsers.
Consistency is key to teaching users what the link colors mean.
9. Outdated Information
Budget to hire a web gardener as part of your
team. You need somebody to root out the weeds and replant the flowers as the
website changes but most people would rather spend their time creating new
content than on maintenance. In practice, maintenance is a cheap way of
enhancing the content on your website since many old pages keep their relevance
and should be linked into the new pages. Of course, some pages are better off
being removed completely from the server after their expiration date.
10. Overly Long Download Times
I am placing this issue last because most
people already know about it; not because it is the least important. Traditional
human factors guidelines indicate 10 seconds as the maximum response time before
users lose interest. On the web, users have been trained to endure so much
suffering that it may be acceptable to increase this limit to 15 seconds for a
few pages.
Even websites with high-end users need to consider download times: we have
found that many of our customers access Sun's website from home computers in the
evening because they are too busy to surf the web during working hours.
Bandwidth is getting worse, not better, as the
Internet adds users faster than the infrastructure can keep up.
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