Posted: May 31st, 2006 | Author: Mark Anderson | Filed under: Content, Culture | Tags: SEO, Social Media, user generated content | No Comments »
That’s right, 50,000,000! That’s according to the Pew & American Life Project.
The Web is becoming more participatory and users seem to be very willing to contribute. From the article:
“[The Web is] shifting now to user-generated content; it shows people engaging with the Internet in a number of different ways in their lives,” said John Horrigan
Even more salient for the higher ed market:
“Online content comes more often from younger people”
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Posted: May 26th, 2006 | Author: Mark Anderson | Filed under: Culture, Design | Tags: Design, Netflix, simplicity | No Comments »
In Netflix – Keeps It Reel, BusinessWeek online takes a look at the usability of the Netflix site as compared to Blockbuster (the company Netflix socked in the mouth). Both site designs (Netflix, Blockbuster) have similar designs at first glance. But after a longer look, you can begin to see the points that BusinessWeek is making.
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Posted: May 18th, 2006 | Author: Mark Anderson | Filed under: Design, Strategy | Tags: Design, eye scanning, heat maps, Usability | No Comments »
Jakob Nielsen has posted results of a recent study that uses eye-tracking technology to understand how people scan web pages. Some quick take-aways from this study are:
- Users won’t read your text thoroughly
- The first two paragraphs must state the most important information.
- Start subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words
Not is this good advice for readers, it’s also good advice for getting the attention of search engine spiders!