Compliment
Fantastic work. Really first rate. You represent your profession and yourselves very well. I enjoy reading the articles and reviews. I envy anyone that has the time to contribute such great insight to the public domain. Thank you.
Suggestion
Since we are all “usability people” (as one of my clients once said) I thought you wouldn’t mind if I shared a quick suggestion. When I click into the “Your Account” section I find it difficult to get back to the main site. There are no navigational elements to send me back (logo, text links, etc). A user is forced to alter the URL or use the Back button to return. In the spirit of not forcing people to think you might consider adding a logo that hyperlinks back to the main site (which also reinforces confidence that users are sharing their information with Boxes and Arrows) or a clearly visible link at the top or bottom of the page to do the same.
Question
As I read through the articles and click on links to other sites why do you choose not to have them open in a new tab/window? I’ve seen this before on Wordpress and some other well known sites but dont understand the reasoning behind it and frankly you guys are the guru’s so I have to imagine there is a good reason (maybe even tested) for it.
To me, I find it frustrating to suddenly realize I’m now three sites away from where I started when all I was trying to do was get some sidebar information related to a link I saw in an article (Plus Im ultra-ADD so it could be hours before I realize.. “oh jeez, I never finished reading that article” because its out of sight and mind).
Of course, my expertise is primarily in optimizing conversion rates for ecommerce and lead generation so admittedly I am very bias against giving people ways to inadvertently eject from the site. Your insight on this is appreciated.
Thanks.
Thanks in advance for clarifying that.
Tanya Comeault
0 Reputation points
Posted 2008/07/03 @ 06:47AM with
I have to agree with you, James, on all three counts…I wonder why no one has responded yet?
Julius Huijnk
1 Reputation points
Posted 2008/07/08 @ 05:17AM with
I also agree with your remarks..
Christina Wodtke
540 Reputation points
Posted 2008/07/11 @ 08:55AM with
Well, we may be gurus, but we are also working on a shoestring at all times, so don’t assume what we do is always the best practice. In this case, one is and one isn’t.
The one that isn’t: Your Account is provided by PublicSquare, and there are some design flaws you could drive a truck through. I have to mea culpa on that one, since I did the bulk of the design on PublicSquare, along with Lance Arthur and Lars Pind. We badly need to clean that area up, but since the company never made enough dosh to pay for full time anyone, it may be a long time.
Second: opening new windows. While you may prefer it, I’ve seen tons and tons of usability tests that show that when you open in a new window, folks often don’t notice that it opens in a new window, and all they know is their backbutton is broken. That said, every user I have ever had in the lab understands the back button. Opening in a new window is dangerous, keeping in a the same one is safe. As expert users, we often forget the rest of the world isn’t as browser-savvy as we are.
T S S Ganesan
0 Reputation points
Posted 2008/07/13 @ 23:30PM with
Nice point James…
We have the “Boxes and Arrows” link under pubilication to take us to the Main window. But it may not strike the user at the first go.
I also agree with christina that opening in a new window is not an ideal option.
I feel lost if a logo or top band should have been available in “Your Account” page. This also helps in maintaining consistency.
Thanks
T S S Ganesan
0 Reputation points
Posted 2008/07/13 @ 23:33PM with
Small correction to the last sentence…
The top band with Logo could have been maintained in “Your Account” page. This could have helped in maintaining consistency.
Thanks.
Shriram Venkatraman
1 Reputation points
Posted 2008/08/08 @ 12:20PM with
I completely agree with you. We should also consider that we may have diversified (pre-tested?) reservations about applications and websites based on our previous records or researches.
According to me, anything in your transaction site that opens up in a new window (post login) will lose your customers’ faith in your application, as it opens in another window and they may not be sure about the consequences.
By the way, having just your Logo for link ‘back to home’ is something debatable separately… as it is not easily recognizable for a novice user as a link to home.