Joshua wrote: >All due respect to Mr. Neilsen, but he's a boring old codger.
Yes, he is an extremist. However you will be more successful at his extreme than at the other end. Take his side and then deviate from it a bit and you'll be doing very well. >usability, but a lot of his ideas are contrary to what has >worked in print marketing for decades. <soapbox> Don't take this personally, but I see this as the classic mistake made by design-oriented developers, especially those with a print media background. If I was allowed to point to only one common error thats been around since Day 1 this would be it. I did print advertising production for years, and one of the first, hardest lessons I learned was that web and print are two entirely different animals, although many - mostly marketing types and graphic artists - don't see it that way. The two compare to one another very poorly on a number of fronts, not the least of which is the necessary abandonment of the microscopic level of control we have over the output seen by the customer/victim when using print media. Plus, navigation is a non-issue on an advertisement, brochure or book: turn the page. Then there's the issue of attention span... an entirely different one on print media, where you're strictly looking at grabbing an eyeball and holding onto it for a few seconds. We all know the issues to consider are far more complex on the web. In print usability is a very limited concept relegated to being able to read the thing. Thats not the case here. Consider for two seconds how successful a web site is if its pretty and engaging, but no one can navigate thru it for God-Knows-How-Many reasons that we could all easily recite. No matter what, aesthetics comes in well behind usability on a piece of software, which is what web apps really are. </soapbox> ------------------------------------------- Matt Robertson, [EMAIL PROTECTED] MSB Designs, Inc. http://mysecretbase.com ------------------------------------------- ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: "Stacy Young" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 15:04:26 -0500 >Checkout Alan Cooper...his books rule all and is much more practical for >design purposes in my humble opinion... > >-Stace > >-----Original Message----- >From: Joshua Miller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 12:19 PM >To: CF-Talk >Subject: RE: New Macromedia.com launched! > >All due respect to Mr. Neilsen, but he's a boring old codger. While >usability is important it's NOT the be-all end-all of web design and >development. I'm not sure how he became the de-facto lord of web >usability, but a lot of his ideas are contrary to what has worked in >print marketing for decades. The web is not JUST about information - >people are inherently aesthetic, it's our universal language and visual >language is stronger than any other. People pay more attention to visual >design than they realize - it affects you on the subconscious level and >honestly, your brain pays more attention to the visual than the content >in the long run. When you dream you dream in pictures, icons and >symbols, not pages and pages of black and white text with blue links. > >If Jacob Neilsen's logic was applied to design outside the web all those >universally-understood handicapped signs would be replaced with 4 foot >wide black and white banners that read HANDICAPPED. > >Joshua Miller >Head Programmer / IT Manager >Garrison Enterprises Inc. >www.garrisonenterprises.net >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >(704) 569-9044 ext. 254 > >************************************************************************ >************* >Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, >except where the sender states them to be the views of >Garrison Enterprises Inc. > >This e-mail is intended only for the individual or entity to which it is >addressed and contains information that is private and confidential. If >you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any >dissemination, distribution or copying is strictly prohibited. If you >have received this e-mail in error please delete it immediately and >advise us by return e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >************************************************************************ >************* > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Turetsky, Seth [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 11:57 AM >To: CF-Talk >Subject: RE: New Macromedia.com launched! > > >Let's get Jakob Nielsen to end this > >-----Original Message----- >From: Jason Miller [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 2:52 PM >To: CF-Talk >Subject: Re: New Macromedia.com launched! > > >Yea but the issue with the mm home page is that it takes initially a >while to load, then every click I make has this sluggishness to it, and >most of the buttons create a page request which seems contradict >macromedia flashes power of reducing http requests. > >On a few flash lists I am active on general consensus is negative... I >definately share that..Although design is very nice and clean - it seems >like last years trend. Perks and snappy elements such as the previous >shortcuts worked MUCH faster, drop down lists on old site had some flare >and animation to them - even things like on focus color change in the >text box is removed. > >And those shortcuts - they are amazingly slow for me. I have on one of >my sites drop downs pulling from a mere access database with coldfusion >as server side that work substantially faster. > >Can't help but not be to thrilled. Yesterday - I also went in because I >needed to research some technotes.. I gave up. I closed the site and >visited some other resources. While I am sure that macr designers and >flash developers worked hard and it is an all around nice app - I can't >help but be sad about the change. I would have sent clients to >macromedia home page on old site for them to see a glimpse of flash in >user on hybrid pages.. Now I wouldn't send a client to review that home >page. just my 02. I don't know what the focus was and this is beta - but >I for one hope the second release is much faster and "wow". The site and >it's features are just all around sluggish for me.. first request, and >all requests after that. > >As for the interface remember what you last clicked - I don't mean to >sound like an ass- but not ingenious. Useful occasionally but many of us >flash people have been doing that for the last year through session vars >and cookies. > >As a base architecture and layout - I think it shows potential if the >speed can be seriously increased. > >but then again - it's just my 02 cents and who am I but a mere simple >multiple visit daily user.. jay miller > >Christian Cantrell wrote: > > >On Wednesday, March 5, 2003, at 10:59 AM, Benoit Hediard wrote: > > > > > >They keep changing the groupings of things as well ... quite a > >pain this morning to find the Exchanges... had to use the site map.... > > > >Not very hard... > >Select "Product > ColdFusion MX" on the home page, and then you'll get > >a > >direct access to the exchange. > >(and it will remember this setting) > > > > > >This is actually a very important point. When you load a page > >containing one more more RIAs, it is very likely going to take longer > >than just loading a straightforward HTML page, however interacting with > >RIAs, in the long run, should save you several clicks. And the fact > >that it remembers your selection is pretty ingenious, so basically, I > >now have a slightly customized version of the Macromedia home page that > >contains links directly to not just the product I am usually interested > >in, but different pages within that product section (including the > >exchange). > > > >Christian > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Your ad could be here. 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