Hypermedia and the Web

Bush’s Hypertext Vision Vannevar Bush, 1945 “As We May Think” Vision of post-war activities, Memex “…when one of these items is in view, the other can be instantly recalled merely by tapping a button”

Nelson’s Hypertext Coined “hypertext” in discussing his universal library and docuverse Had vision of a Xanadu system with hypergrams (branching pictures), hypermaps (with transparent overlays), and branching movies Many concepts adopted in WWW

Early Commercial Systems Knowledge Systems’ KMS –One or two frames of text/graphics –Links (tree/annotation) to additional information Xerox PARC’s NoteCards –Cue card metaphor –Resizable but non-scrollable Apple’s HyperCard –Deck of cards metaphor –Links to other cards/programs

Hyperties Uses electronic encyclopedia metaphor Indices and table of contents list contents of information space History lists show recently visited pages No syntactic entry means no error messages (and less flexibility?) Used in help systems, books

Shneiderman’s Golden Rules of Hypertext Choose projects where: 1.There is a large body of information in numerous fragments 2.The fragments relate to each other 3.The user needs only a small fraction of the fragments at a time

Hypertext Guidelines Know the users and their tasks Ensure that meaningful structure comes first Apply diverse skills Repect information chunking Show interrelationships Ensure simplicity in traversal Design each screen carefully such that they can be grasped easily Require low cognitive load

Hypermedia and the World Wide Web

Jacob Nielsen Designed Sun Microsystem’s Web site in early 1990s Chronicled nine versions of the site Employed usability testing approach Author of numerous books and articles on Web design Writes bi-weekly article at

How To Write On The Web (March 15, 1997) Relates to how users read on the Web (they don’t) Be succinct: write, cut in half, cut in half again Write for skimmers: use multiple levels of headlines, be meaningful, highlight Use inverted pyramids (start w/conclusion, add support, end w/background)

Web vs GUI Design (May 1, 1997) Give up full control (users, hardware, software have control) Plan for device diversity (in GUIs every pixel is controlled, on Web sw/devices differ) User controls Web navigation Web is part of a whole with other options

Top Ten Mistakes (May 1996) Frames Gratuitous use of bleeding edge technology Scrolling text and constant animations Complex URLs Orphan pages Long scrolling pages Lack of navigation support Non-standard link colors Outdated information Overly long (>10 sec) download times

Why Frames Suck (December 1996, revisited) Broken back button Printing problems Authoring problems (hard to learn) Search problems User preferences Nielsen acknowledges that frames are no longer a “disaster”, but are still “clumsy”

Browser Version Persistence April 18, 1999 Users are reluctant to update browsers Thick line shows actual data, thin shows projection Web pages most be designed to work with older browsers or risk losing users

The Case for Micropayments January 25, 1998 Nielsen predicts that most non-sales sites will move to micropayments within 2 years Time costs money, replace ad download with direct payment Most pages will cost less than a penny (cost invisible), others 1-10 cents (shown with an icon), others more (must click OK) Equates Web use with long distance calls and electricity

End of Web Design July 23, 2000 Four trends require toned down appearance –Users spend most of their time at other sites –Mobile devices drive standardized navigation –Use of multiple devices require semantic, not representation, emphasis –Syndicated content What remains in Web design? –Task-based development (what do users want) –Content design (visit site for content, not looks) –Information architecture beyond standard links

Eyetracking Study of Web Users May 14, 2000 Poynter Institute study: –Text (78%) attracts attention before graphics –Headlines should be simple and direct –Shallow reading is common (users select short articles, only read 75% of it) –Users alternate between two open browsers (design for easy reorientation) Implications for non- newspaper sites –Must establish trust –Users spend less time at non-news sites –Users will read fewer words on non-news sites

WAP Doesn’t Work December 10, 2000 Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) defines a way to access the Internet with phones 70% of users said they would not be using WAP in a year Even simple tasks required too much time WAP guidelines –Do not use traditional Web design principles –Develop a distinct voice with minimal word count –Do not use unique (and unclear) labels/menus –Match information architecture with tasks (provide TV listings by time, not network)

Are Users Stupid? Feb 4, 2001 Opponents of usability claim that it focuses on stupid users who cannot overcome complexity Do not exclude potential buyers from your site for elitist reasons Even if users can overcome complexity, that does not mean that they will