Buzzwords or Usability?
I just read a totally awesome post by Kathy Sierra that I found via Brian’s Delicious. Basically, Kathy asserts that all the (sometimes poorly defined) web2.0 buzzwords that are floating around don’t mean jack if you aren’t using them to create a more kick-ass experience for users. I couldn’t agree more. Web developers have to be careful of a return to the early era of flash, where usability and accessibility were thrown out the window in favor of “OH WOW! PRETTY FADES!” This isn’t just about making web pages look juicy. There’s not a problem with that, as long as you’re also making the user’s experience with your site better.
That doesn’t mean throwing the user-driven baby out with the Web 2.x bathwater–there’s some really useful stuff in there (people genuinely LOVE FlickR and del.icio.us, for example). But these Web 2.x buzzwords are more technology and business-model focused than user focused, and that’s a recipe for building things that meet the checklist but fail the users.
Kathy also brings up my main hope for why this whole “movement” won’t turn into just another bubble or usability nightmare:
Some of the coolest people have no frickin’ clue what these buzzwords mean, and don’t care. They aren’t building to flip, they’re building to engage and inspire.
Thank goodness for that.
One interesting side note: I’m presenting on a study by CoFactors on blogs and usability tomorrow in my Human Factors Interface Design class. Blogs and personal publishing are a huge part of the “new web”, but it turns out that average internet users can’t even navigate blogs, much less figure out RSS and trackbacks. This needs to change. I’m not sure how yet, but hopefully this undercurrent of user-focus will begin to affect blogging as well.
Comments (4 So Far)
1
Shelley says:
I can “navigate” blogs and I’m an old lady! he-he. AND I have a blog, so there. Sean, you should check out some of the Top Ten Lists for blog users. I could forward the links but it would take some time to find again, so I can’t right now. But anyway, apparently from what I’ve read hobbies/interests are one of the most common reasons to blog (and share blogs through joining blog rings) AND knitting and cooking blogs are right up there in the top ten of numbers of hobby/interests blogs. I feel so “with it”. But seriously, it is a good way to share information and find out what other people are learning/doing and learn from them. Knowledge in hobby/interest increases greatly by reading other blogs based on common interests. It’s like reading a book on the (hobby/interest) subject but in real time and with real people. I think blog reading is like another form of “reality tv” except you can choose your subject matter.
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Sean says:
My mom understands the power of the personal publishing phenomenon! You ARE with it mom. The fact that you know this stuff is just one sign that you are far ahead of the “average” internet user in terms of hipness. Now I just need to get you set up with an RSS reader and you will be set!
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Mason Browne says:
Wow… my mom hates computers. Kudos.
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Permagnus.com | Wisdom of the Crowds says:
[…] It’s not about people telling other people what to submit and what to put on the front page, the old ways that was still used by Slashdot, but to put power on the people’s hand. That’s what web 2.0 is all about. Not the glitzy java script worm (a.k.a. AJAX), but the slick functionality that eases people’s life and build its feature around and towards the people. […]
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