Re: I totally disagree with Jakob Nielsen

Jakob's conclusions are based on statistical and anecdotal (observational)
evidence of how people use existing websites.  For most people, or
conversely, most websites, his conclusions are correct.  No one in the the
preceding comments has offered evidence to the contrary, only opinions.

The more profound problem with Jakob's pronouncements, other than his
apparent pomposity (and really, he's not a pompous person), is that he makes
no allowance for innovation.  Obviously, if someone is presented with a
template that is familiar, he or she will use it with familiarity.  If it's
novel, however, there is a learning gradient and that will be reflected in
the research findings as perhaps a "less efficient" solution.

What neither Jakob nor his critics have come up with is a persuasive theory
of how to migrate users from an accustomed model to a new and better -- at
least as the web designer/developer sees it -- model.  It's one of those
things that a true science of web design/user experience would deal with.
In the absence of that science, we're left with trial and error innovation,
statistics and opinion, none of which is a firm foundation for reliable
knowledge.

Bob Jacobson
__________________________________________________________

Robert Jacobson, Ph.D. €  Bluefire Consulting € Technology, Trends +
Meanings 
 Co-Author, ³Total Experience² blog:   http://totalexperience.corante.com/
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On 5/17/07 5:17 AM, "Hitesh Mehta" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I was completely shocked to read such an article at the BBC site, Mr.
> JaKob Neilsen, known as the usability guru has something to say on
> web2.0 'distracting design'.
> 
> Check: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6653119.stm
> 
> READ FULL REVIEW: http://hiteshmehta.in/?p=8
> 
> Post your comments on my blog.
> 
> hitesh mehta | communication designer
> www.hiteshmehta.in
> 
> 
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