SUMMARY: "Good" Web Pages question

[mmarkley -at- MICRON -dot- COM]

Greetings,

As promised, here's a summary of the comments from the "'Good' 
Web Page" question that I posed several days ago. It's pretty
long, so if you're *not* interested, you'd better press [delete] 
now.

Thank you to those who responded, I received valuable information 
from everyone. I have attached the individual comments below 
(I inadvertently erased a few comments, so I am unable to share 
them all with you--my apologies). 

If you're interested in learning more about this topic, be sure to
check out the suggested books, articles and Web sites at the bottom 
of the post.

I've decided not to write a personal summary of these comments 
because I really don't want to impose yet another opinion on you 
when it comes to Web page design (I will let you browse through the 
comments and form your own opinion); however, I found the Lone Star 
STC's criteria for their WWW page competition to be an excellent, 
comprehensive resource if you're interested in evaluating Web page 
effectiveness. You can find their judging criteria at: 

http://stc.org/region5/lsc/www/ipic/webeval.htm


Enjoy! And thanks again.

Mike Markley
mmarkley -at- micron -dot- com
Micron Technology, Inc.
208-368-1389



ATTACHED:
  -Original Post
  -Responses from 17 people
  -Suggested books, articles, and Web sites
  -List of contributors


My original post on "Good" Web Pages:

What is "good" when it comes to Web pages/documentation?

In other words, if you were to list some specific criteria 
for judging the quality of Web pages/documentation, what 
would some of those criteria be? Or what peeves you when 
you use the Web?

Just to get you started, here are a few criteria of my 
own: Good Web pages (1) are easy to navigate, (2) contain 
timely and useful information, (3) contain mechanisms to 
measure their effectiveness (i.e., tracking features). 
What have I missed?

Reply #1: 

"Good" Web pages all contain some common attributes (These 
are just the points that come to my mind as I sit here?I am 
sure others will add more!)

-They load quickly
-They do not require any horizontal scrolling (even for 
 640x480 displays)
-They have limited vertical scrolling
-Are written and formatted for quick scanning and location 
 of [information]
-Are written concisely so online reading is minimized
-Have current, accurate content
-Are interesting and hold your interest
-Meet the visitor's needs (not the corporation's)
-Are free from typos, spelling and grammatical errors, etc.
-Have a focus and are aimed at a clear target audience

Reply #2: 

Speed of loading.  I access the net via a 14.4 modem.  I 
despise sites that take forever to load.  I'm much less apt 
to revisit, or I'll turn the graphics off completely which 
sometimes screws up navigating.

Reply #3: 

Probably divide into two levels - pages with a good group of 
links about a particular subject and then pages with useful 
information displayed in a manner that makes it easy to read 
the information on screen and are also quick to load.

Reply #4:

-Good typographical control (yes, it *IS* possible, even 
 with HTML 2)
 
-Web pages that *are* Web pages, and not just ported-over 
 written [documents].

 Regarding the last item above, here's a different idea that 
 I'm getting ready to try on a new Web site. Instead of 
 conventional footnotes and endnotes (or in addition to same), 
 how about using popup screens tied either to clickable tags 
 or scripted mouseover commands. That would allow the online 
 viewer to preserve the flow of the document to the greatest
 degree possible while still seeing whatever references he 
 deems necessary. Goes along with Sally's point about 
 reducing scrolling as much as possible.


In response to: "Or what peeves you when you use the Web?"

-Links that tell me to go "Back" to something that I never 
 came from.
-Scrolling marquees in the status line
-Five shades of purple on the same page
-85kb inline photos that I don't even want to see (ever 
 heard of thumbnails?)
-The inclusion of every Java applet created in the last 
 three months on *one* page
-Pages which include every Java applet created in the last 
 three months hosted on a server with a 64kb connection to 
 the Internet
-Graphics created by the same people who brought us "mole 
 art" in the 60s

Reply #5:

No or few flashing "things."

Reply #6:

-Keep frames to an absolute minimum, if you use them at all.  
 The only legitimate use for frames that I see would be a 
 table of contents along the left side of the screen 
 containing links/anchors to the important parts of your 
 document.  Too many people get carried away with frames.

-Keep the page clean - this goes for technical sites as well 
 as others. Remember, the object is to get people to read 
 what you've written. Don't make it hard on them by 
 cluttering up your page.  Give it a neat, crisp layout; 
 always use a background color (white is usually best); lay 
 off the snazzy Java applets.

?I think you'll find that any effective website has to 
conform to certain principles of graphic design.


Reply #7:

For the Web, I would put general appearance high on the list. 
This includes colors, font size, and background graphics. 
Some pages are really gaudy. Some have backgrounds that make 
your eyes hurt when you try to read the text.

The size and number of graphics are important for download 
time. I don't like pages that take forever to download and 
then not have the information I need.

It's often a good idea to segment the content in small pieces 
that download quickly, and so the user can go straight to the 
part needed without wading through a lot of other stuff. But 
be careful about having too many [introductory] pages that 
don't provide any benefit (either in content or navigation).

Reply #8:

Compatibility suited to the target audience.  If you want 
your pages to show off your talents to those not-so-easily 
impressed who have the latest bleeding-edge systems and 
high-speed connections, go nuts on the graphics and 
quasi-proprietary, quasi-HTML tags.

However, if the pages are actually intended for people in 
the real world (i.e., reference source, company information, 
technical support, those with 14.4k connections, etc.) then 
try to stick to HTML 3, or better yet, HTML 2.0 spec... or 
at the very least, include such pages as options.  Keep 
graphics to a relative minimum, and keep them small (8-bit 
rather than 24-bit color, for example).  In short, show a 
little more consideration for the average user than for your 
own ego :-)

Reply #9:

CONTENT.  I am sick of pages that offer nothing.  And if
the content is a collection of links, label it that way.

Correct grammar and spelling.  Doesn't have to be perfect,
but there are some web sites for hobbyist organizations that
are so badly written as to be near unusable.

If you are going to change defaults for fonts, font sizes,
or link colors, make sure you check it on many different 
platforms. One site whose content I like insists on 
presenting in a font that is near unreadable -- I use lynx 
when I want to read their pages!

Which brings up a last point -- graphics.  First, please, 
no animated gifs.  I've only seen one site do it well 
(Copyright Clearance Center).  Second, make them small and 
meaningful -- if a page takes forever to load, I'll just 
turn the images off. Third, please provide alternate tags 
(ALT IMAGE = "") for those of us who do surf with the 
graphics off.


: Or what peeves you when you use the Web?

People who didn't check their pages.  One site for 
information on X omitted a table tag, so some of the cells 
are squeezed into weird shapes.  Others seem to think we 
all have Java -- sorry, but my employer has mandated we 
can't use Java or JavaScript because it is too easy to
steal information with those.

Another peeve is frequently updated pages that don't have 
a "What's New" indicator.  (Ironically, one of our usability 
people is the worst offender for this.)  I'll carefully 
re-read those pages in a cloud of perplexity, because my 
browser tells me something has changed but for the life of 
me I can't figure out what!  I suspect sometimes it is just 
that typos were corrected, but still...

In response to:
>Just to get you started, here are a few criteria of my
>own: Good Web pages (1) are easy to navigate, (2) contain
>timely and useful information, (3) contain mechanisms to
>measure their effectiveness (i.e., tracking features).
>What have I missed?

I agree with (1) and (2) (In fact, so much so that it didn't 
even occur to me to list them.)  If you want to see a very 
good example of those in action, check out the American 
Society of Indexers [http://www.well.com/user/asi/index.html] 
site. I keep it bookmarked for when people ask me for good 
examples. :-)

Point 3 I would quibble with.  I maintain a personal site that
is primarily intended for entertainment, and I really don't 
care how often it is accessed.  I can tell it is because I 
occasionally get notes asking to link to it.  Also, for our 
internal information sites, I suspect the tracking information 
isn't that important: those sites are intended mainly as a 
means of keeping the people on a project informed.  Now if the
site were intended for advertising or seeing what kinds of 
information most interested people, that would be something 
different.

Reply #10:

I'd like to add that effective graphical (Visual) design is 
a must for a "good web page." I work in an engineering 
environment where I often hear the engineers sneer at attempt 
to make a page look "pretty." "Content is king," they say!

I have to agree that content is king.  There is no substitute 
for good content.  A "pretty" page full of fluff will not 
attract more than a passing glance.

But in agreeing with my engineering counterparts, I must add 
that the effective use of type, color, buttons, graphics, etc. 
can not only add visual appeal but also contribute 
significantly to the "legibility" of the page.  This is 
perhaps part of what you meant by "easy to navigate." Though, 
I believe it reaches much further.

An example would be the numerous sites hosted by C/NET. The 
C/NET sites (see, www.cnet.com, www.news.com) are densely 
packed with information, easy to navigate, easy to read, easy
to scan, etc. To support this, simply notice the number of 
sites that have copied C/NET's approach.

I would temper this with the realization that graphics can 
slow loading. Obviously you have to be aware of your target 
audience. On a high speed intranet, there is little reason 
to worry. But, even for pages meant for 14.4 or 28.8 access, 
visual components need to be considered.

Reply #11:

In response to
>An example would be the numerous sites hosted by C/NET. The 
>C/NET sites (see, www.cnet.com, www.news.com) are densely 
>packed with information, easy to navigate, easy to read, 
>easy to scan, etc.

I avoid C/NET sites like the plague because they take too 
long to download. I don't know why--maybe it's all the 
densely-packed graphics? I also don't like the teeny tiny 
type they use on the left side. I've forgotten if they used 
graphical buttons or linked text on the left, but whichever, 
the type was uncomfortable to read so I never read it, and 
as a consequence I don't know what all their pages had to 
offer.

However, Microsoft's sites are user-hostile. Some of the 
text is literally too small to read at all, let alone read 
comfortably. I went there just the other day to see if there 
was an Internet Assistant for Word that would work on 
WindowsNT (there wasn't, not surprisingly) but in trying to 
find out if there was--I discovered I couldn't. I couldn't 
read the text so I just clicked on "download" and hoped for 
the best. Then I noticed that there was actually fine print 
on some of the pages which I would imagine contained 
copyright stuff--at least I hope. I hope it wasn't a warning 
not to install IA for Word on my platform. Maybe it was a 
notice about a WindowsNT version? Heck--I'll never know 
either way.

My eyesight isn't below normal. I can read and do detailed 
work like anyone else. I don't have any troubles reading 
other pages?just Microsoft's in particular. And, I used 
Microsoft's own web browser on Microsoft's own operating 
system to view Microsoft's own web page and I don't have my 
monitor set to an unusually high resolution--shouldn't 
everything have been kosher?

In response to
>To support this, simply notice the number of sites that 
>have copied C/NET's approach.

The idea of having a wide rule running down the left margin 
of a page is a common (I might argue _tired_) design element 
that predates the web itself, let alone C/NET's web pages. 
It's most often found in letterheads and the like. It's not 
innovative by any means so I wouldn't suggest people are 
copying C/NET but copying their own company's letterhead, 
someone else's letterhead or promotional material, or just 
using the design they might've seen any number of other 
places before.

Reply #12:

You listed three of the criteria that I would agree with, 
however I would add two more to the list:

1)They should be clean in appearance.  Nothing I hate more 
  than a cluttered web page in which I have to search to find 
  the right link, or stop to make sense of the confused 
  jumble of images and text.

2)The page should provide answers.  For example, lately I've 
  been surfing, trying to find some link testing software for 
  web pages.  I've hit a number of sites that talk about their 
  product, but don't tell me which platforms their product is 
  available for.  Necessary information that should be 
  prominently displayed, I think, but nonetheless missing.

Other than that, artistic flair is always nice, but not 
always possible.

Reply #13:

Have the name and contact address/phone/email readily 
available up front so as to distinguish between the bogus 
companies and the real ones.

It's important in the long run believe me.

Reply #14:

I'd include something about not using garish colors and awful 
graphics. What I always say is that web pages are simply 
writing, editing and designing in an online format instead of 
on paper.

So, rules of readability, layout, typography, design, etc., 
still apply.

A big pet peeve of mine is misspelled words in web pages.

Reply #15:

Good Web pages:

  1) Provide useful information quickly
  2) Provide links to other useful information.

Good Web pages also turn control over to the user and/or
allow the user to interact with the program.  However,
this isn't always possible or appropriate for every page.

Reply #16:

Having read the other posts responding to this message, I 
have a different view than those expressed thus far:

A web page should meet its purpose.  Private web pages (like 
individual home pages) don't matter - do what you like, as 
it is a representation of your personality.  Commercial web 
pages should be created with a purpose and with a goal in mind 
(like helping sell a product).  The page's success should be 
measured by how well it meets its goal.  If it was created to 
help sell a product, does it help sell the product?

Issues like page width, graphics, HTML compatibility, and all 
the rest should take second place to ensuring that a page 
suits its purpose and meets its goal.  Web designers also 
need to concern themselves with real-world measures of 
effectiveness.  Page hits and click-throughs matter very 
little, really; concerning ourselves with achieving positive 
goals yields far better results.

I am, however, inclined to think that web pages should be 
designed to reach the widest possible audience.  Another 
person said he no longer designs pages for 14" monitors 
using 640x480 displays.  Given that at least some portion 
of the population is near-sighted and that a large portion 
of the population sees the web via a 14" monitor, that 
policy seems like a mistake to me.  Perhaps that person can 
count on a better-equipped audience, but those of us who 
design publicly accessible web sites would do well to provide 
a site that all users can appreciate.  A little extra effort 
in the design can create a site that appeals no matter the 
audience's particular viewing situation.

Reply #17:

Every document must have a purpose. And, a web site is a 
collection of documents, or a document set. I look for the 
business case behind the web page. If your company has no 
strategic purpose for their web pages, then it doesn't 
matter what you do. All will be lost.

The next time I do a web page, it will require a visitor 
registration, and it will tie into an integrated marketing communications (IMC) 
database. I know that webheads hate 
registrations, but it is the only way for the business to 
capture suspects. And, mailto just doesn't cut it. An IMC 
database lets us track contacts. Those contacts are defined 
in the document set.

Beyond the business case you need consistent navigation, 
content architecture, and identity.

Since HTML is an SGML DTD, it really makes little sense to 
look for book level typography. Instead, I look for good 
access tools. I don't want to see text as graphics, or even 
Acrobat.

Suggested books, articles, and Web sites:


INCREASING HITS AND SELLING MORE ON YOUR WEB SITE
  by Greg Helmstetter 
  Published by John Wiley & Sons
  Publication date: December 1,1996
  ISBN: 0471169447


CUSTOMER SERVICE ON THE INTERNET: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, 
  INCREASING LOYALTY, STAYING COMPETITIVE 
  by Jim Sterne
  Published by John Wiley & Sons
  Publication date: September 1,1996
  ISBN: 0471155063


DYNAMICS IN DOCUMENT DESIGN: CREATING TEXTS FOR READERS
  by Karen A. Schriver
  Copyright: 1997
  Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
  ISBN: 0471306363


DESIGNING AND WRITING ONLINE DOCUMENTATION: HYPERMEDIA FOR SELF-      
  SUPPORTING PRODUCTS, Second Edition
  by William Horton
  Published by John Wiley & Sons
  Publication date: October 1,1994
  ISBN: 0471306355
  On-line review of the First Edition available at:
  http://www.nmt.edu/~swhitlat/review-horton.html


ILLUSTRATING COMPUTER DOCUMENTATION: THE ART OR PRESENTING
  INFORMTATION GRAPHICALLY ON PAPER AND ONLINE
  by William Horton
  Published by John Wiley & Sons
  Publication date: September 1,1991
  ISBN: 0471538450

THE WEB PAGE DESIGN COOKBOOK: ALL THE INGREDIENTS YOU NEED 
  TO CREATE 5-STAR WEB PAGES 
  by William K. Horton (Editor), Lee Taylor, 
     Arthur Ignacio, Nancy L. Hoft
  Published by John Wiley & Sons
  Publication date: November 1,1995
  ISBN: 0471130397


"Designing On-line Documentation" (an article) by William 
  Horton, in his column, "The Wired Word" in _Technical_
  Communication_ (Second Quarter, 1992) 260.


--Web Pages That Suck: Learn good design by looking at 
  bad design: http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/ 
  This page does an analysis of why these pages are bad 
  and how not to replicate these errors. 

--American Society of Indexers homepage:
  http://www.well.com/user/asi/index.html

--The Lone Star Chapter of the STC?s evaluation sheet for 
  its second annual World Wide Web Page Competition:
  http://stc.org/region5/lsc/www/ipic/webeval.htm

-Yale Medical School has a style manual, by Patrick J. Lynch:
 http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/StyleManual_Top.HTML

-Jakob Nielsen?s opinions on usability, interface design, and 
 Web design can be found on his Web site: http://www.useit.com 

-The new STC Information Design PIC?s web site:
 http://stc.org/pics/idsig/

Contributors:

Sally Yeo, sallyyeo -at- execpc -dot- com [1]
Win Day, winday -at- idirect -dot- com [2]
Lucille Lattanzi [r]
Wendy Uren [3]
Shmuel Ben-Artzi, sba -at- netmedia -dot- net -dot- il [4]
Dianne, ddriskel -at- cs -dot- utexas -dot- edu [5]
Spencer Fleury, efleury -at- capecod -dot- net [6]
Earl Morton, WorkgWords -at- aol -dot- com [7]
Your friend and mine, Matt (last name and address unknown)[8]
Chris Thiessen, christopher -dot- e -dot- thiessen -at- cdev -dot- com [r]
Sam Alper, salper -at- col -dot- hp -dot- com [9]
Melanie Futrell, Melanie_Futrell -at- CLR -dot- com [r]
Dick Miller [r]
Tom Obenchain [10]
Anonymous from beautiful Wisconsin: moonlion -at- full-moon -dot- com [11]
Yvonne DeGraw, yvonne -at- silcom -dot- com [r]
Wayne Douglass, wayned -at- verity -dot- com [r]
Steve Shewchuk, sshewchu -at- uwi -dot- com [12]
D.R. [13]
Stephanie Holland, slholland -at- micron -dot- com [14]
Beth Mazur, mazur -at- maya -dot- com [r]
David (The Man) Blyth [15]
Jay, jay -at- express-sys -dot- com [16]
David, locke -at- phoenix -dot- net [17]
Karen A. Schriver [r]
book details from http://www.amazon.com/


NOTE: Bracketed items indicate the response number. The "r" 
      indicates a book, article, or Web site contribution.

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