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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: November 24, 2002 WebWord Comment -- Another advertisement has been produced by Jakob Nielsen. At least three things really bother me about his latest advertorial. First, he placed a link to the full (paid) report near the top of the article. Normally he places these advertising links near the bottom of the articles. These links are hard to ignore. Oh well, that kind of marketing is his choice. The second thing that bothers me is that he says that web-based applications are ephemeral. While this sounds really jazzy and new, it is boring and tired. Almost all web pages are ephemeral to users. In fact, in the End of Web Design Jakob wrote about Jakob's Law of the Internet User Experience: Users spend most of their time on other sites. So, it is not news at all that Flash-based web sites are ephemeral because almost all web pages are ephemeral! Nothing new here folks, just move along. The third thing that bothers me is that Jakob makes a big point out of the fact that users had to be directed into the Flash area 36% of the time. Uh, Jakob, what does this have to do with Flash? I could say the same think about DHTML applications. Telling me that users could not find what they were looking for 36% of time is a waste of my time and tells me nothing about the usability of Flash applications. It is a navigation issue that is outside the issue of Flash application usability. I have more to say, but I'm tired of writing about Jakob Nielsen today. The last time I was upset, I wrote an article. Do I need to write another one?
Reader Comments...
Ok, Jakob sometimes seems to recycle "old concepts". But isn't it because they NEED to be recycled ? He has been speaking of usability for 6 years or more, It took 4 years to most so called "web agencies" to discover the buzzword "usability", and my daily practice of relationship with "designers" shows that if they know the buzzword, they don't always understand what it means. Nielsen writes the same things than 4 years ago because web designers repeat consistently the same mistakes. So the same recommandations and guidelines need to be repeated "ad nauseam". "36% of people nned to be directed to flash apps - what does this have to do with flash "? This is obvious by reading Nielsen article: designers believe that they're cute if they design "navigation to flash app" differently than navigation to a normal page. Ok it's stupid, but it's a mistake they actually do. So explain me why JN shouldn't have told it in his column. The same mistakes just produce the same answers. Don't forget that Nielsen doesn't speak only to web usability specialists who read him (and you too, John ;-) for years. He has to communicate to newcommers to web design, or web project management, and so on, who may be the actual buyers of his reports... He assumes that many of his today's readers didn't read all the "alertboxes" he wrote before. So it may generate "boring" repetitions. Posted by: Vincent Bénard on November 25, 2002 12:55 AM
Web users have developed a strong tendency to ignore anything that looks like an ad. Good advice, but it it difficult to ignore these infomercials as I seem to be spending more and more time trying to explain to people that taking a few items from some guidelines and sticking them in a specification is no subtitute for design. Posted by: Mac on November 25, 2002 04:49 AM
Web users have developed a strong tendency to ignore anything that looks like an ad. Good advice, but it it difficult to ignore these infomercials as I seem to be spending more and more time trying to explain to people that taking a few items from some guidelines and sticking them in a specification is no subtitute for design. Posted by: Mac on November 25, 2002 05:10 AM
"the Net's new status as nexus of the user experience." If the Internet is the new nexus of the user experience, what was the old nexus? Is he saying people spend most of their time in Internet-based applications, as opposed to intranet and solo applications? Where's his data for that claim? Posted by: Kent Sievers on November 25, 2002 11:23 AM
It’s hard to say if Jakob’s provoctive approach will have long-term value for the community. If he continues to alienate pockets, then they’ll stop pointing to him as a resource. It’s hard to be an evangalist when the core believers are being turned away. So, I see some real challenges for Jakob in the future. He’s a very talented man and has been really good at getting attention. He’s built a top-notch organization, but it’s hard to see under his ‘Guru’ status. Hopefully he won’t have trouble keeping his people while he takes all the credit for their work. And if he shares the credit, he loses his Guru-ness. It’s a Catch-22 situation. by Jared Spool from Jakob’s Ladder in New Media Creative, March 2001 This is an extract from a longer article that I came across. Posted by: Mac on November 25, 2002 01:17 PM
Which is better, a banner ad leading to a commercial offer or a text link that looks like it takes you to more info on a topic but actually takes you to a commercial offer (like Jakobs)?
I think most of the consternation here is that we have all seen the useit.com site move from a true platform for sharing ideas about usability to something more akin to an eCommerce site. I don't know if people are envious or feeing like they are being betrayed, but I guess at the end of the day JN like everyone else has to run his business and if his reports are high level flights of fancy everyone can either join the band wagon or chose to ignore what he has to say.
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