[Sigia-l] length of nav labels

[Jared M. Spool]

At 08:43 PM 8/9/2005, Listera wrote:

>Jared M. Spool:
>
> > Yah, I do. 7-12 words is what users need to ensure *their* trigger words
> > (not the *designer's* trigger words) are visible.
>
>Interesting. So somehow the designer is incapable of understanding what
>users would need or unwilling to find out? Is there more literature on how
>the designer is pitted against the user? :-)

Sorry. Here I'm using my standard usage of "designer" which, which is 
anyone who is part of the team that influences the outcome of the design. 
Very broad usage, but we need a term to encompass all these participants 
and I haven't found a better one yet. Of course, there's a more narrow 
definition of designer, which only describes those members of the team that 
are trained/skilled and practicing in formal design. Do you have a good way 
of distinguishing between the two? I always opt for the broader definition, 
but when talking to the latter, I've noticed it confuses folks.

With that in mind, we often see the designers (broad definition) using a 
vocabulary that's different from the users, therefore not using their 
trigger words. That's what I meant by my statement. It's not that designers 
are incapable, it's just hard to start from their language if you're not 
concentrating on doing that from the get-go. (And many of our clients aren't.)

> > Instead, notice how we've managed to get several lines of text for each
> > navigation element. With clever design, you can do all sorts of things.
>
>If and when context makes it necessary, not because you can. For instance,
>these don't need further explanation and the additional copy hardly adds
>more contextual insight:
>
>About Us
>Services
>Events
>Publications
>Participate in a Test

Well, as I said, we aren't that happy with the associated text we're using. 
We just haven't had a chance to do anything about it -- it's a shoemaker's 
children problem. I'm the last person to suggest that our copy is helping 
in these situations.

That being said, we are aware that "Services", "Events", and "Publications" 
mean virtually nothing to our users. (For example, where would you find our 
on-site advisory courses, where we work with a team to help them learn new 
techniques? Or where would you find a transcript of a recent talk I gave in 
Seattle?) In a future design (which is on the drawing boards), we plan to 
replace these words with much, much better scent.

I only mentioned them to show that the common complaint that associated 
text can't be present in a nav panel is not necessarily valid. There are 
lots of ways to get the necessary words where they need to be.

>Among the things to consider, for example, is the amount of white space and
>the info density, which, depending on context, could easily trump additional
>verbiage on a given page.

Absolutely.

However, specific to whitespace and information density, our research also 
shows that whitespace (non-information bearing space) is inversely related 
to task success. In other words, denser pages tend to do better. It's an 
artifcat of the limited space in a browser window and the demands of 
information research.

> > Here, we have 5 links (13 words). They all work together.
>
>Yes, but out-of-context. If you had more 'related' words, they might work
>even better together. Then comes the kitchen sink or <http://www.bls.gov/>.
>
> > http://www.staples.com
>
>You're offering these as good interface design?

Only in that they did much better than their predecessors in terms of 
measurable business objectives (revenue, task success, brand engagement, 
satisfaction).

I can't judge whether something is a good design or not, per se. I can only 
judge whether something measures well. That's what I do for a living: 
measure things.

Clients establish their goals and I come up with ways to measure whether 
they are achieving them. I'm not a designer (narrow definition) nor claim 
to be. I'll let you decide whether these are great designs or not.

> > http://www.mcmaster-carr.com (My all-time favorite. This site tests
> > tremendously well with its users and most designers HATE it. I mean,
> > visceral, OH-MY-GOD "How could anyone use it" hate it. Yet the users just
> > love it, usability tests rock, and site revenues are great.)
>
>Let me ask you this: is vanilla ice cream better?

Better than what? ;-)

Jared

Jared M. Spool
User Interface Engineering
http://www.uie.com    jspool at uie.com

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