Don’t let the harsh title turn you off — Gerry McGovern is absolutely right when he points out that the Internet needs simpler design: "[T]here is a much greater need for simple web design today than there was in 1996. Back then we had pioneers and early adopters who tended to hunger for the new…
"Write simply. Keep headings, summaries, sentences, paragraphs and documents short. Get to the point. Then stop." Gerry McGovern —The Need for Simple English on the Web Similar:Couples in successful relationships always use these 6 phrases: ‘You’ll grow stronger both…A former student working in SEO shared this. I miss Google classic.‘People are rooting for the whale’:…
When congressional Web sites are good, they’re really good. But most aren’t, says a nonprofit group that rated more than 600 of them. —Congressional Web Sites: Not So GoodCNN) Similar:Students are trusting software like this to do their work.A former student working in SEO shared this. I miss Google classic.Googling Is for Old People. That’s…
"Don’t let anyone tell you that as a programmer you don’t have to make moral or ethical decisions. Every time you decide that making users feel stupid is better than fixing your code, you’re making an ethical decision." —Programmers Make Ethical DecisionsJoel on Software) Similar:Students are trusting software like this to do their work.A former…
"The practice of using the secret Word format for interchange impedes the growth of our community and the spread of freedom. While we notice the occasional annoyance of receiving a Word document, this steady and persistent harm to our community usually doesn’t come to our attention." Richard Stallman —We Can Put an End to Word…
"With the rise of search tools that unerringly bring you to the page you want, the need for a highly specific domain name — one that a casual Web user would be able to guess — has practically disappeared." Dan Gillmor —"’Google Effect’ Reduces Need for Many Domains"b> (SiliconValley.com) Similar:Students are trusting software like this…
“We are confident that you will have many years of trouble-free enjoyment if you carefully read these instructions and follow them.” (Note: Anybody who bothers to read instructions at all is probably already grouchy and impatient.) —IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ CAREFULLY! Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.Students are trusting software like this to do…
“Much web design has suffered from an over reliance on graphic design principles. Too many graphic designers have tried to force the Web to be what it is not…” —Information Architecture vs. Graphic Design (New Thinking) Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.Students are trusting software like this to do their work.A former student…
An informal 1998 survey by John Rhodes yielded the following advice: create your content first, then design your website; keep your design simple; use proper grammar. —How to Gain the Trust of Your UsersWebWord) Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.Couples in successful relationships always use these 6 phrases: ‘You’ll grow stronger both…Students are…
Uh… no. That already is college.com. —“This will be college.com. Contact us.” Similar:Students are trusting software like this to do their work.A former student working in SEO shared this. I miss Google classic.Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.What have my students learned about creative nonfiction writing? During class they are col…There’s…
A lake. A salt mine. An oil drilling rig. A lack of communication. You figure it out. —Peaceful Lake Peigneur Turned into Maelstrom Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.Students are trusting software like this to do their work.A former student working in SEO shared this. I miss Google classic.Googling Is for Old People.…
“So who is this mysterious kingmaker who changed the world from her shadowy government bureaucracy? Has she seen any good movies lately? Is her marriage happy? America wants to know. America needs to know!” —Official Terry LePore Ballot Designer Fan Page Similar:The Ascent #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 9) Odo and Quark bicker their…
“Under every scenario used in the study, the winning margin remains less than 500 votes out of almost 6 million cast.” —Florida Recounts Would Have Favored Bush (Washington Post) Similar:A former student working in SEO shared this. I miss Google classic.Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.‘It’s mindblowing’: US meteorologists face death…
Hmm. Jakob Nielsen writes a column with a headline that implies you are being inhumane if you don’t make your web pages accessible to the disabled. Jakob Nielsen‘s company is selling a 148-page report on making web pages accessible to the disabled. Coincidence? (Nielsen is smart. He’s doing good deeds. He’s giving away lots of…
“Who says we aren’t a nation of readers? Shucks. Before you can use a new electric skillet, you’re supposed to read its 12-page manual.” Marti Attoun —My On-and-off Struggle with Instruction Manuals (CS Monitor) Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.Students are trusting software like this to do their work.A former student working in…
“New research reveals that 40 percent of Web surfers will visit a news or information site more often if its pages load faster.” Excuse me, but… duh! I guess you should ignore the August 2000 press release in which Jupiter advocated these “expensive enhancements.” —Fast And Efficient Web Sites Will Drive Greater Customer Retention Than…
“Traditionally, each company has had to design and implement all of the services it wanted to offer its website users. This approach leads to incredible waste, unprofitable websites, and lowered usability…” [Jakob Nielsen is talking about e-commerce, not personal home pages.] —The End of Homemade Websites (UseIT.com) Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.Students…
Metadata “collects critical information such as heading, summary, author name, date of publication, classification, keywords, etc…. Without metadata a document is left floating in a cyberspace filled with 550 billion other documents. The chances of it being found by the right person at the right time are greatly diminished.” Gerry McGovern —Why Metadata is Important…
There’s way too much information online. What really matters to readers is quality, not quantity. Gerry McGovern —The Need for Editors on the Web Similar:Students are trusting software like this to do their work.A former student working in SEO shared this. I miss Google classic.‘People are rooting for the whale’: the strange American tradition of…
“Every time he excuses his own refusal to observe the rules he dictates to everyone else on the grounds that he ‘knows his audience’, take one drink…. Every time he quotes statistics from an unrelated study to prove a point about Web usability, take one drink.” Jakob Nielsen Drinking Game Not that I’m condoning the…