Media: HFI lists Do and Don'ts for Website Design

Source: HFI, 27 December 2002
Submitted by Ann Light

UN is pleased to offer that seasonal essential: an end-of-year list, having found a particularly good one on the Human Factors International website.

With 56 points from Bob Bailey, the chief scientist for HFI, and a further 6 as a commentary from colleague Eric Schaffer, there is plenty to read and consider over the new year. Helpfully, the points have been broken down into themes such as: display issues, interaction issues and site design issues.

To give an example of a couple of the tips, all based - say HFI - on recent research:

'2. Do make Web sites appear more credible by:

* Making it easy to distinguish ads from content,
* Providing quick responses to customer's service questions,
* Listing the organizations physical address,
* Having an organization that is well respected outside of the Internet,
* Updating the site frequently with new content,
* Allowing users to search past content, and
* Providing a professional looking Web site.'

and

'17. Do carefully consider the task being performed before making decisions about the breadth and depth of a Web site, because sites with numerous levels may not degrade performance.

and

'35. Do design Web sites with links that are both embedded and outside the text on the left margin, because redundant links were preferred by users.'

If you have any to add to Bob's list, UN would be happy to start a list of its own. Happy New Year!