To scroll or not to scroll?
By Addison Hall / Posted Tuesday, March 23, 2010
People generally have strong opinions about scrolling on websites. Not so long ago it was nearly a sin to design an interface that required scrolling (how long is long in web years?). Today, however, I don’t think twice about placing content “below the fold.” I certainly encourage positioning the most crucial information in the upper portion of the design, but scrolling is easy—it’s “browsable.”
Mighty web usability expert Jacob Nielson has just released an article that suggests while scrolling is acceptable, it doesn't excuse website owners from prioritizing content. He has even included some interesting eye-tracking studies. Cool.
Read Scrolling and Attention.
User testing ain’t rocket surgery
By Addison Hall / Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010
I just finished listening to a great interview with usability expert Steve Krug over at Boagworld. Mr. Krug wrote one of my favorite books on website usability, Don’t Make Me Think, and is latest, Rocket Surgery Made Easy, appears to be a nice follow-up. His main point is that productive user-testing doesn’t have to be anything complicated—it can be a simple 15-minute observation with two or three people.
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