Let’s be real. Most library homepages look like someone tried to squeeze the entire building onto one screen. There’s the…
Category: usability
You are not a patron. So act like it.
As a staff person, your view (mental model) of the library’s website is incredibly different from that of a patron. It’s so very different, that you can’t even pretend to be a patron user. It’s vital that this is acknowledged.
The “3-click rule” has been hogwash since it’s inception
I could go on for a while about how the “rules” of web design have changed in twenty years, but one “rule” that has somehow persisted, despite real data now being available, is that of “Users won’t go more than three clicks past your homepage to get to anything.”
Why do web myths live on in libraries?
Why do these myths continue to be perpetuated in libraries? Perhaps because so many of us grew up alongside the web. We were initiated in the very early days, when it was truly a Wild West-type environment. Not everyone realizes that those days are truly long-gone and there’s actually real sheriffs in town.
What if your library’s website solved problems?
Go look at your library’s website. Now, go look at the website of the library nearest yours. Now go look…
Make your website’s search less painful for your users
If your library’s website doesn’t have a search field at all, this post isn’t for you. Your site has way…
3 things you can learn from other websites
Let’s start with defining “other” here: I mean sites that aren’t library websites. If you do nothing else, I want…
How well do you know your web usability myths?
Learn about more common UX myth at http://uxmyths.com/. [qzzr quiz=”26203″ width=”100%” height=”auto” redirect=”true” offset=”0″]
5 quick fixes for your library’s website
I’ve talked about all of these before, either in various presentations or blog posts. If you’re looking for a quick…
Carousels: time to go
Carousels have almost become ubiquitous. I am frequently asked about them when I start designing a site for a library. …
Losing your virginity–thinking more about the payoff
Social media and promoting your library’s “stuff” is something I’ve written about before. It’s still a message that I find…
Why your website’s UI should not be a special snowflake
So, let me tell you about what happened to me earlier this week. Our family went to Cedar Point. I’m…
Thinking about web analytics
(Today’s post is almost more of a question than anything else, so please post your thoughts in the comments. I’m…
Why your website layout matters
From a usability perspective, layout has always been important. If the tasks people come to do the most often are…
“There are no facts inside the building.”
This is one of the rare occasions where I would like to simply take all of the text from someone…
Is this the right word?
Yesterday was a Sunday, which usually means that I can be found sitting at my computer, working on my second…
Why library websites don’t win awards
I wasn’t able to share this at my Computers in Libraries presentation (not enough time!), so I wanted to post…
Stop putting out the “welcome mat”
The temptation is overwhelming. After all, libraries are friendly places, right? We wouldn’t want our patrons to think they weren’t…
CSS Part I: Why you need them
scary words–> CASCADING STYLE SHEETS! <–scary words Are you scared? Cowering in a corner? (Okay, I suspected you weren’t.) …
Polar bears, Che Guevara and porn
(Eric Jordan did an update to his first “Webmaster” vignette, and I’m posting it here for collective enjoyment. Thanks, Eric!)…
Who is living in your house?
I count among my good Internet friends a certain Eric Jordan, who can not only outpun anyone I know, but…
Why web standards matter and why your library (really) has to care
It’s pretty easy to explain to people why their web sites need certain kinds of standards; take, for example, Section…
404: Houston, we have a problem
It happens all the time. You’re looking for a web page. You suddenly encounter a “404: File Not Found” error. …
Signing in with ONE account
One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about using various web services and social networking sites is the need…
The sins of library web sites
Ah, Twitter is a wonderful thing. I asked members of the Twitterverse to catalog the problems of library web sites,…