[CLUE-Talk] Books on software usability

[Matt Gushee]

On Sun, Apr 21, 2002 at 08:06:03PM -0600, Chris K. Chew wrote:

> You are right, sites like Nielsen's definitely have their place, especially
> for people like us looking for information not as consumers of products.
> But at the same time, there is also a place in the web for multimedia and
> artistic expression.  These can be used to attract certain people to a
> website and improve their experience while there.  Of course, these visitors
> will mainly be targeted consumers.
> 
> Granted, I would prefer a business system where advertisement is about facts
> and no flash, but my business has to compete in a quite different world.  It
> sounds like Sean has to also, and Nielsen's websites probably won't be very
> effective for us.

Hmm ... as someone said, there should be a happy medium. It's not a case
of either the spartan Nielsen approach or the full-on, Flash[tm]-on-every-
page--it's a continuum. But the point remains that most people like web
sites that load fast, are easy to navigate, and provide the service *they
want* with a minimum of fuss. You imply that your target market may become
attracted to your company because of your cool design*. I hope for your
sake you're right.

* And it is cool -- if you're talking about www.fenetix.com. Though if
  it were me, I wouldn't greet visitors with a virtually blank splash
  page. And you might want to do a little more cross-browser testing. 
-- 
Matt Gushee
Englewood, Colorado, USA
mgushee at havenrock.com
http://www.havenrock.com/