usability Archives - What Does This Mean to Me, Laura?

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.

eb site design menu navigation elements.

usability

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…

a magic unicorn made of foil on a purple background with a place under the text

usability

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…

usability

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 at some big city’s website. Heck, go look at most websites I’ve done. And, while you’re looking, pretend that you’re…

usability

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 bigger issues to contend with. (But, feel free to use this post to guide the creation of a search function.…

What can you learn from looking at other websites?

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 you to get out of the habit at looking at other library sites for inspiration. No, really, I mean it.…

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″]

usability

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 tune-up for your library’s website, you might try starting with these: Cut the text on the homepage. Nobody’s reading it. …

Carousels: time to go

Carousels have almost become ubiquitous. I am frequently asked about them when I start designing a site for a library. I often. now, make it clear that these don’t represent a good design choice. Yes, they’re convenient. They seemingly solve…

usability

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 many libraries ignoring. Too many libraries believe that their stuff is “cool” because they say so, and ignore one of…

Why your website's UI shouldn't be a special snowflake

usability

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 getting really thirsty. Hot day in August and, of course, soft drinks at the amusement park have an approximate 1000%…

usability

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 genuinely interested.) I’ve got questions. Most libraries have some form of web analytics, to measure at least the basics: page…

Why your library's website layout matters

usability

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 hidden, people leave your site, frustrated. Recently, with the advent of mobile devices of all kinds, layout has also taken…

usability

“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 else’s blog post and simply plunk it here. Since I can’t really do that, I do want to share a…

usability

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 book, while the rest of the world enjoys…well, everything else. Suffice it to say, spending a gorgeous day inside working…

Is your library's website guilty of these?

usability

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 it here. What other issues do you see that consistently plague library websites?

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 welcome. It’s so nice and friendly to put a big “Welcome to our library website!” heading at the top of…

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.) How about uncomfortable? A teeny bit? If you’re a regular user of CSS, you probably think I’m a bit nuts. …

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!) Web Master 1.1 (I had enough fun with the first one, I decided to upgrade!) The Programmer approached the Web…

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 has a talent for taking a humorous approach to making his thoughts known. Although Eric is not a web developer…

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 508, which is essentially the ADA for web sites. Section 508 says that any organization receiving federal funds (hmm…bailout companies,…

usability

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. Which usually means that the page you were has moved or no longer exists. Perhaps you came to it through…

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 for multiple accounts; multiple user names, multiple passwords, multiple things to forget. Who hasn’t used those handy “Forgot your password?”…

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, and my followers (as friends on Twitter are called) did not disappoint. I got responses not only from both library…