Achieving Usability in Java

Draw USS Code 39 in Java Achieving Usability

Usability is an important word for Web designers It means just what it says making a site usable Without usability, nothing else you do matters What good is it to have wonderful content if nobody can find it What good is it to have beautiful graphics on a page that is inaccessible except by dumb luck Fortunately, designing a usable Web site isn t difficult, and following a few simple rules can set you on your way As with any set of rules, you may want to break these from time to time, but you do so at your own peril: Keep your navigation system consistent on all the pages in your Web site If you have a link to your home page at the top of half your pages and you put that link at the bottom of the rest, you ll confuse your visitors Put links to your home page and your search function on both the top and bottom of every page Too many Web designers put them on only the top or the bottom, forcing users to scroll to find them Don t make your visitors do extra work

Never use blue, underlined text for anything but a link In fact, try to avoid underlining at all Use bold or italics for emphasis instead; otherwise you ll fool a lot of people into clicking underlined text to no effect Don t use too many links in a navigation bar Half a dozen is about the most you should add Remember that a navigation bar is not a site map, but a guide to the major sections within your site Use words! Using graphical icons may make your pages prettier, but you should design your navigation bar (or whatever alternative you use) to instantly communicate what it means to someone who has never been to your site before In this case, a picture is not worth a thousand words If your site is composed of hierarchical pages (and most of them are), consider using breadcrumb navigation The term comes from the idea of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs as you walk so you can easily retrace your steps When applied to a Web site, the metaphor refers to a listing at the top of the page showing the current page s relationship to the hierarchy; most often, these breadcrumbs are links that you can click to go directly back to any place along the trail

Here are some short rules to condense the information in this chapter down to a few rules that I think are pretty good guidelines, going by my own experience as both designer and visitor Make these rules a part of your very being Do them in calligraphy and hang them on your wall Use a wood-burning kit to engrave them on your desk Tattoo them backward on your forehead so you see them in the mirror every morning Rule #1: The Web is for reaching out to people Rule #2: Keep your Web pages lean and clean Rule #3: Know who your visitors are and what they want Remember that design and content are more a matter of art than science, which means that your own gut feelings count more than anything else If someone tells you that your design decisions are wrong, and that person is someone whose input you respect, you certainly want to give that opinion some consideration But if you re firmly convinced that you re right, never let anyone else s concepts override your own This brings me to The Big Rule: Rule #4: It s your Web site It s your vision Do it your way