WordPress.org

1. rawwebdesign
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Hey All,

   Having been haunting the wordpress docs for a while, I am wholly amazed by how little I have heard about usability. And, if you want to be truly amazed, try to google around for wordpress themes and usability and see what you come up with.

   With all of the fancy websites out there, a lot of the newer sites are making it harder and harder to use their sites because they assume the user has a LOT more knowledge than they do. I've discovered this to be true while sitting at the library here and watching people struggle with simple things like "Which of these is a link?", "What page am I on?", etc. Anywho- making the website "usable" as the word goes can create a lot more Pageviews and a lot more money in the end. My first website used to get about 1.5 pageviews per visitor. Not great... maybe a little bit below the average. My current website gets about 3.5 pageviews per person... but it definetely gets a group of people that is more interested in the top and is likely to read more about it when they come over. Even considering that, 3.5 pageviews is well above average and I attrribute that to building it with "usability" in mind from the get go.

   For instance, a website that has too much stuff going on and we don't even know WHERE they want us to click is:

   http://gabrielevilla.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/concerto-primo-maggio-2007-ecco-i-primi-nomi/

   And here are a couple of websites that study the way people use the internet and this is what they come up with:

   http://iainstitute.org/
   http://www.useit.com/

   And, don't forget the success of Google and Craigslist, each of whom deliberately have almost no superflous information.

   So anyways, I decided the best thing to do would be to work out the ultimate in usablity. Create a site that anybody and everybody could get around in simply and easily. Use the best "lab" concepts they talk about in the "usability" crew and create a badass blog based on simplicity and getting people to stay on and read around for a while.

   So, I thought you might find it interesting to see what I have come up with so far. Of course, it is disgustingly simple and there aren't a whole ton of posts yet so it's hard to draw patterns, but you can see what little is there so far at FulltimerBlog.com.

   Also of note: Older people will be able to use the site just fine, and the download times for those still living in dial-up days won't be greuling.

   And, also quite cool, you will see there is a big wide-open space in the top-left corner. Since we read left-to-right and top-to-bottom, this is the most valuable part of any layout. With that spot empty, one could theoretically put an ad for an ebook, a link to join a mailing list, etc. Having the ad there would provide tremendous value without ruining the overall effect of the site.

   What do you think of all of this? Do you think that taking a step back toward simplicity is a good thing?

   I would like to mention that all of the changes I am currently making is strongly based on Skimmed Milk. I am just trying to work toward a more standards-compliant version. Also- I've been very impressed with some of the work that Carlos Roll has done with his site using the same theme. Please feel free to give this hell, beat it up and, in the end, lets see if we can't get a truly USABLE design in the public domain!

2. Otto42
   Moderator
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Do you think that taking a step back toward simplicity is a good thing?

   No, I don't. For your specific purpose (a blog about RV'ing and such), then perhaps it fits. I don't know that demographic, it's not my thing. Given that they're more likely to be a) older and b) using dialup, then perhaps it makes sense.

   However, I find the plain text on white look to be, frankly, hideous. I'd close the site without even reading the title in normal circumstances. In fact, I disabled my adblocker and reloaded the page, to make sure that that was how it was supposed to look and that there had not been some kind of incorrect blocking of the images and style and such.

   The Skimmed and Carlos sites are equally terrible. Again, black on white, little use of color, ridiculous fixed width design... It's just ugly, IMO.

   The other sites you linked to don't strike me as particularly bad. Okay, useit.com is horrible with its use of clashing color, but the other two are okay.

   Different strokes for different folks. The site in Italian you gave above is the best looking of the lot, and the most readable, IMO.

   And yes, I also hate the design of this forum, if you must know. It's annoying and why I prefer to read it in the form of RSS feeds instead.

3. t0v3
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Personally I love to look at a well designed website with fancy graphics, maybe even animation. I remember when i first seen 2advanced.com years ago and I was totally wow'ed. That's what inspired me to make websites, and make them look GOOD.

   Aslong as the links aren't in totally obscure places scattered round the page, then im happy.

   Every site i see around here is simple. No imagination what so ever. It's all just plain boring layouts with a slight modification of the style sheet. This is exactly what makes me close the page and think to myself "yawn, just another blog" I want to see people being creative and coming up with something special.

   Sites like ebay or google or wiki i can forgive for having a very simple design. But personal sites there is no excuse, you can be as wild and crazy as you want, but most choose to stick with the same designs that have been around for years, and exist on millions of websites already.

   I do understand what you're saying, but i reckon there's more chance of someone staying at your site if you wow them with a fancy design.

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