Día: 23 julio, 2010

Website Navigation Design: How To Provide Clear Instructions And Directions To Your Readers

How can you help your readers find what they are looking for on your website? How can you facilitate their need to know what to click next or where to look when in search for something? Navigation instructions, or as someone calls them, interface design instructions for the user, are text-based and visual elements that can help your web visitors understand more easily what they need to click or where they can look to find what they are looking for. As such, these navigation signposts and visual directions can make a hell of a difference in converting temporary visitors into long term clients and fans. In this report you will learn what are the key basic elements you need to pay attention to, to design effective user-facing navigation instructions.

website-navigation-design-user-interface-instructions-id523321-size485.jpg
Photo credit: António Nunes

People have things they want to accomplish, whether it’s making a purchase, finding a recipe, or learning how to do something new.

Inherent in many web page designs, therefore, is information to help a user perform an action.

…In addition to these types of visual cues, we often write instructions to assist users in knowing what to do next.

These instructions guide the eyes and minds of the individual to look at the appropriate place and to take the appropriate action.

In this report, Connie Malamed identifies and explains which are the most critical aspects to pay attention to when working to add or refine user navigation messages and instructions to help your online readers find what they are looking for or take a specific action.

Specifically, some of the key aspects highlighted in this report, showcase the importance of several unique factors in designing effective user navigation instructions:

* Maximizing audience targeting
* Countering information abundance
* Writing style
* Improving accessibility
* Testing relevance

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How can you help your readers find what they are looking for on your website? How can you facilitate their need to know what to click next or where to look when in search for something? Navigation instructions, or as someone calls them, interface design instructions for the user, are text-based and visual elements that can help your web visitors understand more easily what they need to click or where they can look to find what they are looking for. As such, these navigation signposts and visual directions can make a hell of a difference in converting temporary visitors into long term clients and fans. In this report you will learn what are the key basic elements you need to pay attention to, to design effective user-facing navigation instructions.

website-navigation-design-user-interface-instructions-id523321-size485.jpg
Photo credit: António Nunes

People have things they want to accomplish, whether it’s making a purchase, finding a recipe, or learning how to do something new. Inherent in many web page designs, therefore, is information to help a user perform an action.

…In addition to these types of visual cues, we often write instructions to assist users in knowing what to do next.

These instructions guide the eyes and minds of the individual to look at the appropriate place and to take the appropriate action.

In this report, Connie Malamed identifies and explains which are the most critical aspects to pay attention to when working to add or refine user navigation messages and instructions to help your online readers find what they are looking for or take a specific action.

Specifically, some of the key aspects highlighted in this report, showcase the importance of several unique factors in designing effective user navigation instructions:

Blogging gets new life

Social media like Twitter and Facebook aren’t killing blogging. Social media make blogging stronger.

Cory Doctorow writes that blogging isn’t dying, “it’s just that other social media have taken over many of its functions.”

When blogging was the easiest, most prominent way to produce short, informal, thinking-aloud pieces for the net, we all blogged. Now that we have Twitter, social media platforms and all the other tools that continue to emerge, many of us are finding that the material we used to save for our blogs has a better home somewhere else. And some of us are discovering that we weren’t bloggers after all – but blogging was good enough until something more suited to us came along.

That’s true for me. I’ve always found blogging to be cumbersome, requiring commitment to blog every day, and fiddling around with blogging software and blog design. As a result, I only keep it up if someone pays me to. Otherwise, my personal blog moves in fits and starts. And blogging in fits and starts is a recipe for failure; you need to keep a regular posting schedule to keep people coming back.


Social media like Twitter and Facebook aren’t killing blogging. Social media make blogging stronger.

Cory Doctorow writes that blogging isn’t dying, “it’s just that other social media have taken over many of its functions.”

When blogging was the easiest, most prominent way to produce short, informal, thinking-aloud pieces for the net, we all blogged. Now that we have Twitter, social media platforms and all the other tools that continue to emerge, many of us are finding that the material we used to save for our blogs has a better home somewhere else. And some of us are discovering that we weren’t bloggers after all – but blogging was good enough until something more suited to us came along.

That’s true for me. I’ve always found blogging to be cumbersome, requiring commitment to blog every day, and fiddling around with blogging software and blog design. As a result, I only keep it up if someone pays me to. Otherwise, my personal blog moves in fits and starts. And blogging in fits and starts is a recipe for failure; you need to keep a regular posting schedule to keep people coming back. Leer más “Blogging gets new life”

WPP scoops global Bombay Sapphire account

Bombay Sapphire has recently placed greater emphasis on its digital marketing activity and, last month, rolled out a social media campaign that asked consumers to create an image of themselves as a mosaic, compiled from pictures that reflected their lifestyle.

The campaign, which was created by the US agency Shift Global, could be accessed through Bombay Sapphire’s website, as well as via its Facebook fan page.

Earlier this year, Bacardi appointed Silvia Lagnado as chief marketing officer of Bacardi Limited and the president of Bacardi Global Brands. Lagnado starts at the company in September.


GLOBAL – Bombay Sapphire, the Bacardi-owned premium gin brand, has appointed a group of WPP agencies to handle its global communications account.

WPP scoops global Bombay Sapphire account

The network won the business after a pitch against a selection of undisclosed Bacardi roster networks. It will handle all of the brand’s integrated advertising on a global level, including TV, digital and experiential work.

The move marks the first time that Bombay Sapphire has worked with agencies on a retained global basis.

The brand has previously used an in-house marketing team to create the majority of its campaigns – however, it has also worked with some US and UK-based agencies on projects. Leer más “WPP scoops global Bombay Sapphire account”

Yep, Microsoft still makes more than Apple (and Dog Daze)

By Richi Jennings

Despite dire predictions, Microsoft’s Q4 results show that its revenues and profit are bigger than Apple’s. The two companies’ stock prices don’t seem to reflect that, but whoever said the market was that simple? The Windows, Office, and server businesses each had a barnstorming final quarter, which may ease the pressure on Steve Ballmer. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers show us the money.

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention Obama’s dog flies solo?..
(MSFT) (AAPL)


Windows 7 Ultimate: Signature Edition
Image by The Master Shake Signal via Flickr

By Richi Jennings

Despite dire predictions, Microsoft’s Q4 results show that its revenues and profit are bigger than Apple’s. The two companies’ stock prices don’t seem to reflect that, but whoever said the market was that simple? The Windows, Office, and server businesses each had a barnstorming final quarter, which may ease the pressure on Steve Ballmer. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers show us the money.

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention Obama’s dog flies solo?..
(MSFT) (AAPL)
Leer más “Yep, Microsoft still makes more than Apple (and Dog Daze)”

Drawing the Line: 6 Things You Shouldn’t Tolerate in Projects

I was pretty proud when I netted my first clients as a freelancer. Wow! Someone is actually willing to give me their money and have me design their site? I was ecstatic that someone had picked me out of all the talented designers out there.

But my joy didn’t last very long.

The projects were underfunded and the clients always asked for more, so I ended up designing and coding entire sites for about half the cost of what I currently make.

The logos were a mess, but I couldn’t change them because my clients liked them or already built an (unremarkable) brand around them.

And the products themselves were fairly boring and not innovative in any way. But it paid the bills (barely) at the time, and I didn’t have much experience in these things.

Don’t get me wrong, being flexible, open-minded, and being a “team player” is great.

But in retrospect, I wish I had taken a stand at some of the things I decided to tolerate. Here are 6 things I pledge not to accept anymore.


by Sacha Greif

Drawing the Line: 6 Things You Shouldn't Tolerate in Projects

I was pretty proud when I netted my first clients as a freelancer. Wow! Someone is actually willing to give me their money and have me design their site? I was ecstatic that someone had picked me out of all the talented designers out there.

But my joy didn’t last very long.

The projects were underfunded and the clients always asked for more, so I ended up designing and coding entire sites for about half the cost of what I currently make.

The logos were a mess, but I couldn’t change them because my clients liked them or already built an (unremarkable) brand around them.

And the products themselves were fairly boring and not innovative in any way. But it paid the bills (barely) at the time, and I didn’t have much experience in these things.

Don’t get me wrong, being flexible, open-minded, and being a “team player” is great.

But in retrospect, I wish I had taken a stand at some of the things I decided to tolerate. Here are 6 things I pledge not to accept anymore. Leer más “Drawing the Line: 6 Things You Shouldn’t Tolerate in Projects”

20 Most Useful WordPress Tutorials Hacks and Tips for Bloggers

WordPress is most popular among in bloggers. It is growing and seemingly endless end. You will agree with me, it has very few limitations and rapidly pushing itself to being, to remove those limitations, WP community joint works together and try to customize WordPress. These are useful WordPress Tutorials hacks and techniques for everyone. Its consits of for Basic , Thumbnail guides, Tools, Ajax, WordPress 3.0 features, Customized etc I am sure, these tutorials certainly useful for bloggers.


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20 Most Useful WordPress Tutorials Hacks and Tips for Bloggers

WordPress is most popular among in bloggers. It is growing and seemingly endless end. You will agree with me, it has very few limitations and rapidly pushing itself to being, to remove those limitations, WP community joint works together and try to customize WordPress. These are useful WordPress Tutorials hacks and techniques for everyone. Its consits of for Basic , Thumbnail guides, Tools, Ajax, WordPress 3.0 features, Customized etc I am sure, these tutorials certainly useful for bloggers. Leer más “20 Most Useful WordPress Tutorials Hacks and Tips for Bloggers”

PwC iPlace – Six Factors Behind Our Success

It is becoming increasingly important to accelerate innovation by discovering, developing, and implementing ideas that increase the speed of delivering new products and services. Here at PwC, and as in other organizations, people are bubbling over with ideas and creative ways to deliver more value to clients. There is a great opportunity with the use of social media to tap into the collective knowledge of people. We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and created a way for our people to share, collaborate, and expand on ideas. As Thomas Edison once said – “There’s a way to do it better—find it.” And find it we did.

Just one year ago, we launched our firm’s first online idea management platform, PwC iPlace, and provided a way for our people to share ideas and find inspiration in an open and interactive online forum. As they say, “if you build it they will come”, and boy…did the ideas come. In just one year – the response has been tremendous as we’ve generated over 2,000 ideas, 10,000 comments, and 40,000 votes.

So why did we have such great success in the first year? Here are six key factors we think are why…


Michele McConomy  |  US Innovation Office Manager, PwC

It is becoming increasingly important to accelerate innovation by discovering, developing, and implementing ideas that increase the speed of delivering new products and services.  Here at PwC, and as in other organizations, people are bubbling over with ideas and creative ways to deliver more value to clients.  There is a great opportunity with the use of social media to tap into the collective knowledge of people.   We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and created a way for our people to share, collaborate, and expand on ideas.  As Thomas Edison once said – “There’s a way to do it better—find it.”  And find it we did.

Just one year ago, we launched our firm’s first online idea management platform, PwC iPlace, and provided a way for our people to share ideas and find inspiration in an open and interactive online forum.  As they say, “if you build it they will come”, and boy…did the ideas come.  In just one year – the response has been tremendous as we’ve generated over 2,000 ideas, 10,000 comments, and 40,000 votes.

So why did we have such great success in the first year?  Here are six key factors we think are why… Leer más “PwC iPlace – Six Factors Behind Our Success”