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In response to the question "What principles (theories) of web design have
you found to be the most helpful?"", Kent Christensen replied <<Nearly
everything here: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/>>
I'd second the recommendation of "_nearly_ everything". Jakob Nielsen is a
very bright guy, and has done much to advance the profession of usability,
but he seems to have acquired an ego to match--much of it justified, I
admit--and his research methods occasionally appear suspect to someone who
doesn't share his high self-opinion. Moreover, his own site and some of the
sites I've seen him consult on redesigning are a textbook case of not
following your own advice. So while I'm always happy to recommend Nielsen to
anyone who asks, I also advocate a strong reality check of anything he says.
And please note: I'm not singling him out here. I say the same of _any_
expert, self-appointed or otherwise, and especially including myself. (One
of the great things about participating so often in techwr-l is that I don't
have much chance of losing my humility. Just mention the time I
inadvertently sent a 4-Meg PageMaker file to the entire list if I ever get
cocky... <blush>)
Moral: It's very easy to fall into the trap of blindly accepting someone
else's logic without determining its relevance in your own situation. That
way lies error.
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
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