> Web Content

Bridging Online and Offline Content
Learn more about the new technologies that are bridging the gap between online and offline content.

Facebook, MySpace, and Website Usability
Facebook - Is this the new My Space, an analysis of the differences between the two sites and the usability of each

Get the Most from RSS Readers
RSS Readers- Learn ways to most efficiently use your RSS reader to benefit your website. When used correctly RSS Readers will draw more traffic to your site and keep users informed about new content on your website. To best use readers you might consider splitting up content and including teasers in your RSS feed.

Amazon.com Tab Navigation
Amazon.com Navigation- Amazon.com began using horizontal tab navigation to organize their content. As their content increased, they they were forced to find a solution to minimize their tabs while still allowing for navigation through the whole site. Horizontal tab navigation and left vertical navigation each have advantages and disadvantages.

RSS Readers
RSS Readers-

Ways to Create Lists of Related Articles, Products, and Content
Related articles and content- lists of related articles or content are a great way to show users where to go next. Suggesting related content to users through lists of articles, products, or other media is a powerful and simple method to keep users engaged. It can also help users find the information they are looking for and accomplish their goals. There are several ways to create lists of related content and the appropriate method depends on both context and resources.

Is Wikipedia Editing Usable?
Wikipedia Editing- Examines the success rate of Wikipedia and how many users, in reality, edit and add articles to the online encyclopedia. The low contribution rate on Wikipedia is due partly to the poor usability of the editing tool. Usability could be increased by changing certain parts of Wikipedia.

Contextual Navigation
Contextual Navigation

Why Show Prices on a Product Page?
Show prices to create a usable product page. Making prices very available on product pages will give users the information they want and need to include your website in product comparisons. Including prices will also make your websites stronger with product search engines like froogle.

Description of RSS and Usability
RSS and Usability- RSS or Really Simple Syndication is defined as a number of syndication formats used to publish newsfeed or other updated digital content. RSS subscriptions can lead to increased page views and encourages return users. Considering RSS feeds is important to website usability and should be considered early in development.

Website Usability and AJAX
AJAX- Websites that have AJAX have unique usability considerations and needs. It allows the user to interact with an application's front-end while its backed is retrieving data based on the user input. Planning for its usability may require many wireframes in the interaction design process to represent the various scenarios and ensure improved usability.

Website Personalization
Website Personalization- Tips on how to tailor and personalize your website's pages or page content to your website's target audiences. Frequently used on E-commece or customer service sites, personalization can be a great tool to make your website fit your users' goals.

Usable Links and Tooltips
Links and Tooltips- Helpful hints one how to make your website's links and tooltips, also known as help bubbles, more helpful and usable. Tips on how to make clear, effective links for users.

Is MySpace Usable?
MySpace usability- Evaluation of the usability of MySpace and what features make MySpace less usable that other social networking sites like friendster. Also describes why some of MySpace's usability flaws are what make it a more popular site.

Should I Use Scoped Search on My Website?
Scoped Search- With certain websites and when used correctly, a scoped search can increase usability. Following some general hints and suggestions can help you discover and decide whether or not to include a scoped search on your website. These guidelines can also help you evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of scoped searches vs. regular searches.

Scoped Search
Scoped Search- Definition of Scoped search field as a search that allows users to select a certain scope (or area) in which to search.

Advantages of Publishing on Paper Rather than on The Web
Paper vs. the web- There are times when it is better or increases usability to choose to use paper for communication in order to create more clarity for the reader. This article evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of paper over websites as well as occasions paper is preferred.

Site Search Dos and Don'ts
Website Search fields- Adding search fields to your website can help increase website usability. But search fields are not necessary for all websites. It is important to note when it is appropriate to include a search field on your website and how best to include it to optimize your website's usability.

Usability and Firefox Extensions
Firefox Extensions- The new Firefox extensions give us some insight into the future of web browsers and are, therefore, helpful to study when trying to predict how usability needs will change. This article takes a closer look at Cooliris, Dictionary Tooltip, and GreaseMonkey. Considering changes in Internet browsers is a great way to ensure your usability continues to increase.

Stakeholder Interviews
Stakholder Interviews- Stakeholder interviews are an important stage in the creating a website that is usable. The purpose of the interviews is to discover and refine the business objectives of the website, take inventory of the business' assets, and determine the scope and functional requirements web presence. Including stakeholder interview in website development will created a website with increased usability.

Writing for Websites- Content That Works
Writing content for websites- How to write good content for websites that appeals to both people and search engines. Well written content will improve a website's usability and will attract more customers to your website.

Good and Bad Examples of Error Handling
Error Handling- Good and Bad examples of error handling. Includeds examples from real websites, including, yahoo.com, google.com, youtube.com, and ebay.com. Includes an explaination on what makes each error handing example effective or ineffective.

Good and Bad Examples of Error Handling
Error Handling- Good and Bad examples of error handling. Includeds examples from real websites, including, yahoo.com, google.com, youtube.com, and ebay.com. Includes an explaination on what makes each error handing example effective or ineffective.

Using Folksonomies to Improve Website Usability
Folksonomy and website usability- How to use a folksonomy to allow your website content to grow without decreasing your website's usability. Describes the advantages and disadvatages of using folksonomies.

Writing Clear Links
Hyperlinks should be clearly written and should tell the user exactly what they’ll lead to if clicked. Editing any unclear hyperlink text in your website is perhaps the quickest and least expensive usability improvement you can make.

Best Steps to Improving Navigation
Improve Navigation- Restructure your Navigation to improve and refine your websites and website usability.

Clean up Your Navigation
If the amount of content on your website has been growing, there’s a good chance it’s time to clean up your navigation. Even the most well planned navigation structures will start to break over time.

404 "Page Not Found" Error Messages: Good & Bad Examples
Whether by human, server, or webmaster error, any website is subject to the dreaded 404 “Page Not Found” error. Because of this, we can’t escape the need to have clear and valuable error messages. If nothing else, you’ll want to display an error page template, maybe something like Yahoo’s, containing some links and tips on what users should try next.

Long & Accurate vs Short & Simple
There are some cases where the concept of simplicity can be misinterpreted to mean “keep the copy short and catchy.” This can actually lead to a less powerful website, effectively making it less usable.

Do Users Hate to Scroll?
It's almost always possible to take a long, scrolling web page and chop it into a series of smaller pages. This approach will certainly prevent users from missing out on something that falls below the bottom of the screen. But should you do it? Will limiting the length of your web pages really make your website more usable?

Usable Sign-Up and Registration Forms
Making forms usable is a must if your website involves transactions. This could involve site registration forms, newsletter subscriptions, email account creation, and ecommerce purchases. All of these are transactions that require the user to share their personal data in return for some benefit.

Email Usability & Spam
If you own a website and email your users or send out newsletters, remember that recipients waste much of their time filtering out "spam." The result is that receiving additional email messages, may be less a cause for celebration than it might have been in the pre spam era. Working with email in a usable way is largely about meeting expectations. Every internet user has developed their own definition of email usability. So it’s best to keep things simple and avoid surprises.

Online Ads: Best Practices and Things to Avoid
Online ads get a bad rap from popups, popunders, vague offers and more. These best practices will help make your ads more usable and more friendly to users.

Setting Online Ad Standards for Your Site
Once you start placing online ads on your web site, you should start setting standards for what they can and cannot do. You can simultaneously push best practices that will reflect well on you and your advertisers, and also avoid the problems associated with overly intrusive, distracting, or misleading ads.

Best Practices for Expanding Ads
Some ads are now designed to expand into the page when a user rolls over them. Here are some tips on keeping expanding ads usable.

Best Practices for Page Takeover & Roadblock Ads
Many sites are now implementing ads that appear as intermediate pages that appear before a user can view content. Here are some quick tips for making sure that page takeovers and roadblocks are more usable.

Writing for the Web
Jakob Nielsen has collected a thorough list of links for writing for web sites. They include writing for specific types of content (newsletters, press releases, etc) and audiences (teenagers, low literacy users, etc).