02/04/2007 
8 Comment(s)Usability by Example
I was recently inspired by a feature on Andy Rutledge's website. For those of you who don't know of him Andy is, amongst other things, and expert on interface usability.
The look and feel of his site is very basic and works on the premise of less is more. One feature I wanted to highlight to you, and the purpose of this post is his follow-on navigation located at the foot of each article; quite simply because it is a fantastic example of good usabilty.
As you reach the end of his site's body content you come to a clear set of options headed "what now?": a simple question with a set of multiple choice hyperlink answers: back to top, back to main page, and more articles. Could this possibly be any easier to use? The answer is no. And what a great way to lead people further into your site?
We all know how stupid the web-browsing population can be. I'm sure all of us have designed components of a website which, at one point or another, have come into dispute thanks to moronic user. Andy's hand-holding approach is an example we can all learn from.
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On 2nd of February 2007 P.J. Onori said:
I definitely enjoy many elements of Andy's new design - quite good work.
On 3rd of February 2007 Elessar said:
I like the colors, but personally i prefer light colors on dark backgrounds.
My blogs current look contradicts what i like (and want) but as mentioned before, i am without my computer. But to the point, Andy did a great job on making sure visitors are able to use his site. Props :)
On 3rd of February 2007 James said:
Hi Steve, just thought I'd let you know that your recent article in this month's .net was great, once again!
On 3rd of February 2007 Steve Tucker said:
@Elessar: A good colour scheme can make the world of difference to the usability of a website. BTW I'm still waiting for a redesign of SynGamer that's gonna stick around for more than a week ;)
@James: Cheers mate
On 3rd of February 2007 Elessar said:
Dell says my computer should be back sometime this week...once i get that, i can load up Photoshop and finally get to work.
On 4th of February 2007 Lorissa said:
A really great example of "guiding a user". Nicely done. I've always liked Andy's work. I do wish there was just a little more contrast on the headers - but that's be being terribly nit-picky.