[Sigia-l] length of nav labels

[Listera]

Jared M. Spool:

> Do you have a good way of distinguishing between the two?

No, I don't. Because, to me, there's one and only one kind of designer: a
person who solves problems. The problem could be strategic, architectural,
interaction pattern based, usability oriented, visual, cosmetic, etc., or,
most likely, combination of all. Segregation of Design into little
disjointed fiefdoms by label-mongers is something I've been fighting against
for over a decade.

> 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. 

A practitioner who doesn't study and understand users is not a Designer.

> (For example, where would you find our on-site advisory courses, where we work
> with a team to help them learn new techniques?

Services.

> Or where would you find a transcript of a recent talk I gave in
> Seattle?)

Publications.

> However, specific to whitespace and information density, our research also
> shows that whitespace (non-information bearing space) is inversely related
> to task success. 

I live to refute such research.

> 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.

Browser window is infinitely extensible in one direction, and people do
scroll if/when they are given an incentive to do so.
  
> Only in that they did much better than their predecessors...

That, of course, means nothing in terms of making general statements.

> 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.

Fair enough. But as I think you can appreciate, without precisely explaining
the context within which the phrase was used ("It tests well") you'd be
contributing to the urban folklore that denser pages always lead to "better"
results. While that may be true for certain *tasks,* it's patently absurd as
a general rule, which gets circulated enough to confuse non-discerning
practitioners.

>> Let me ask you this: is vanilla ice cream better?
> 
> Better than what? ;-)

That's the whole of point of design, isn't it!

Ziya
Nullius in Verba