Evaluating Websites
A general discussion that includes linked resources (High Speed Internet access guide)
A
research librarian's view (UCLA)
A scholar's view
(Cornell U)
Subject-oriented self-training for scholarly
use of the Internet (Humbul)
In evaluating websites:
- Consider both content and design. Content includes both range
and authority of information. Design includes both beauty and
usability.
The best known authority on web site usability is Jakob
Nielsen: http://www.useit.com. His ideas, however, often contradict the
practices that win design excellence
awards. Why?
- Digest a good book on web design, such as Steve Krug, Don't
Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (Que: Indianapolis,
IN, 2000)
- Consider also the continuum from decoration to illustration
to visual
and the importance of visualization (including animation and interactivity)
- Consider signal/noise ratio
- Consider qualifying your users
Make your online evaluations clear, detailed, and useful to an explicit audience.
Judge your own evaluation page by its content and design.
Copyright © 2001-2009 Eric S. Rabkin