online northwest keynote...

Jared Spool is giving his keynote address, "why good content must suck" [users towards it]. He described his involvement in the earliest web site usability efforts. Spool describes the role of "trigger words," which make the user feel like she's getting closer (such as "drivers," "printers" on an HP printer support site). In this context, user searches are an indicator of bad web design, in that searches are.the user's attempt to create trigger words or their own links. He also reviewed several navigation panels (one example being Amazon) which led users to search the site; again, this is an indicator of poor web design. Spool showed some data indicating that the optimal number of words for a hyperlink is 7 to 12 words. This is driven by the higher probability of including a trigger word in a longer link description. More to come....