Website design involves the structure of the website including the information architecture, layout, content, and the conceptual design with branding.
132
votes
11answers
18k views
Is there a point to paginating articles online?
Is it better to paginate a long article or show the entire article on one page?
The following is a side-by-side of the same article. On the left is page one with navigation and on the right is the ...
108
votes
13answers
3k views
Language of language names in the language selector?
Imagine a site that's available in multiple languages. The language is detected automatically by looking at the IP or the browser header. But that's not bulletproof, so a few users might end up on a ...
72
votes
18answers
6k views
Are age verification banners effective?
I'm curious as to whether or not these Age Verification banners that appear on some sites are really "effective". That is to say, do these really help to deter/prevent users that are underage from ...
59
votes
31answers
4k views
Common web app usability gotchas? [closed]
What are some common mistakes regarding usability for web applications?
52
votes
16answers
4k views
Do you need a search button with a search box?
On websites with a search box, should you add a button they can click on, or will users understand a search box like on this site?
The target group is not very technical, such as women aged 40-60.
50
votes
10answers
4k views
How do rounded corners affect usability?
How do rounded corners on buttons and containers affect usability? Do they make buttons look more clickable? When used on other non-button elements, do they make the site look more friendly? I'm ...
42
votes
10answers
3k views
Home button vs Logo link?
Is a "home" button on the navigation required if there is a link to the homepage using the company's logo?
Increasingly I have noticed more and more websites using the logo as a link to return to ...
40
votes
9answers
4k views
Should a button become lighter or darker on hover?
We're having a discussion in the office about whether a button should become lighter or darker when a user hovers over it.
Here are some examples from the field:
Apple "Buy Now" button (Second is ...
38
votes
7answers
2k views
Would intentionally slowing down UI help to increase sales on shopping sites?
I've noticed that iTunes store is always slow, at first I thought it's just because iTunes is a bloatware (which it is, on both Mac and Windows.) However I started to wonder whether this is ...
37
votes
2answers
6k views
Ideal column width for paragraphs online
There is nothing worse than coming across a website with paragraphs that span the width of your screen resolution. They are usually so hard to read, I don't even bother.
A lot of web designers use ...
34
votes
5answers
2k views
why are circular buttons in software/websites so rarely used?
Why are circular buttons in software/websites so rarely used? Is it purely convention or are there usability reasons behind this?
34
votes
4answers
3k views
When to use icons vs. icons with text vs. just text links?
Are there any rules on when to use icons vs. icons with text vs. just text links in a web application?
For example:
[disk icon]
vs.
[disk icon] save
vs.
save
Extra question: Is [disk icon] save ...
32
votes
5answers
1k views
If nobody reads Privacy Policies or Terms and Conditions, why not change them?
Once I read that if you were to read all the Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and similar documents that you ideally need to read before using software or online services in a given year, you'd ...
31
votes
2answers
2k views
What rules does Google use to make a button gray, blue, or red on their sites?
This has been an elusive topic, and I haven't yet been able to form my own conclusion about what Google's reasoning is to make a given button blue, red, or gray, given their latest design ethos. Take ...
30
votes
12answers
3k views
Why is resizing the browser window bad practice?
I asked how I can resize the browser window with JavaScript. Everybody told me not to do it. Why is this a bad practice?
I think sometimes it can be good. For example, I want to show users a tweeting ...
30
votes
9answers
1k views
Have I missed anything from my list of web form best practices?
So I have been putting together a list of best practices to apply to forms recently and there is a lot of conflicting research out there. I have been combing everything from blogs through to HCI ...
30
votes
9answers
2k views
Can ugly be good UX?
It's heresy I know, but look at DrudgeReport.com. It's raw, hand written HTML, it's plain, boring typography, it's something any UX or Graphic designer would scoff at if you handed it across their ...
29
votes
8answers
2k views
How do I explain correct usage of the MS Comic Sans font to a client?
I have a client who wants to use comic sans ms for lots of things on a website I'm doing for him. How can I explain that comic sans ms is so bad? He's fairly easily persuaded, I think I just need the ...
29
votes
11answers
2k views
For websites, is it better to have a variable width layout or a fixed width layout?
Due to different screen resolutions, the user experience browsing a website might be different. Is it better to layout the website with a fixed width? (and if so should there be different static ...
29
votes
6answers
2k views
Which do users like more as of now, 'Flat Design' or 'Skeuomorphic'?
I have read multiple articles on-line that say that the era of Skeuomorphic design on the web is over, and that a new era of so-called 'flat design' is now the new thing for developers, but do users ...
28
votes
45answers
1k views
What tools (ideally affordable ones) would folks recommend for creating a website wireframe? [closed]
What tools (ideally affordable ones) would folks recommend for creating a
website wireframe? What tools have you used, and did you find them better than pen and paper?
28
votes
10answers
1k views
Should you place the “add a comment” form above or below the list of comments?
There seems to be very little consistency across most sites when it comes to placing the comment form.
Which do you think is the most usable, above the comments list or below?
Above the list:
...
27
votes
11answers
4k views
Most User-Friendly Form Fields for Entering Date/Time?
What are the different ways to have fields in an application for date, time, or both? What are the pros and cons for each?
The most common seem to be a combination of 2–3 drop-downs, or some form ...
26
votes
12answers
701 views
Blocking IE6: Deny outright or warn of issues?
We're looking at (finally) retiring IE6 support.
I've always been a big fan of graceful degradation but we're really pushing ahead and trying to embrace features that we're simply not going to want ...
26
votes
3answers
4k views
Do users understand the browser back button?
You hear a lot about not breaking the back button on websites, but can you assume that most users know and use the back button?
Is it redundant to add a JavaScript or HTML back button/link on a page?
...
26
votes
8answers
936 views
Is it a good idea to have a large footer containing many links?
In recent years, it's become quite a common design pattern to have a large footer on every page, containing a 'mini sitemap'.
For example:
This has supposed SEO benefits, but would also seem to ...
26
votes
6answers
2k views
Should Mobile-optimized sites allow Zooming?
Zooming is common on mobile because sites aren't designed for it; you need to zoom, generally, you don't want to zoom around. Mobile sites are supposed to not need any form of zooming, and often ...
25
votes
10answers
1k views
When you hate your design and you're almost finished with it, what do you do?
I started out with a web design template that I loved. I spent a few days finding, cropping, and touching up the perfect images. I tweaked the CSS to better fit my page's style. In short-- I was in ...
25
votes
4answers
2k views
When should I use a lightbox versus new page?
While designing for web, when should I use a light-box and when should I direct the user to a new page? For example, if the user clicks the "contact" link, should I open a small form in a light-box or ...
23
votes
7answers
1k views
Help menu - “?” or “Help”?
It is a very simple question, but it has been bothering me for quite some time: when creating an application, should the help menu (in the menu bar) be called "?" or "Help"?
I can see a few ...
23
votes
9answers
2k views
Your download will start in X seconds
Is there any reason why many websites - including very mainstream ones such as microsoft.com and sourceforge.net - show a page with "Your download will start in 10 seconds; if you don't want to wait ...
22
votes
6answers
1k views
red checkmark vs. a red “X”
I am currently designing a panel in my business application that shows a table of data to a user. The data in the table is the company's percentage (this is equated by many different values), whether ...
22
votes
4answers
810 views
Multiplication sign, using '*' or 'x'
In Mathematics, the operator provide on keyboard is quite clear for addition, subtraction and divide as the follow + - /
The multiplication * might be familiar as the multiplication for programmer ...
22
votes
12answers
2k views
Content first or Design first?
When designing a layout, should we consider content first or design first? I make websites and 99% of the time my client wants the design before they start thinking about the content. In these cases, ...
22
votes
6answers
739 views
Are increase and decrease arrows redundant on scrollbars?
Surely these days users are either using touch devices to scroll with gestures or are dragging the thumb of the scrollbar or clicking inside the track. Would it be a bad idea to remove the arrow ...
22
votes
8answers
2k views
Is there an optimal font size?
For most website projects I've been involved with, the font size for the bulk text is usually 12px - 13px, but I'm wondering if this is a good size. I remember reading an article saying that font ...
21
votes
4answers
1k views
How to tell visitors to activate JavaScript?
How should one tell website visitors that a website makes heavy use of JavaScript?
21
votes
8answers
3k views
Should hyperlinks be blue?
I've built a site where all hyperlinks have the default colors: blue for links, purple for visited links. They turn red on hover.
I believe that always using blue for hyperlinks is a good thing, so ...
21
votes
4answers
702 views
Display comments order - best practice
I wonder what is the best comments order on the website. I assume there are two major methods to display comments:
from newest to oldest,
from oldest to newest.
Facebook uses method one and ...
21
votes
1answer
391 views
Are activity alerts effective? example: 5 people are viewing this hotel right now
For example, Expedia (and other hotel sites) have alerts that come and go that say things such as, "17 people have booked this hotel this week." Is there any documentation out there concerning this ...
20
votes
12answers
2k views
Should date validation allow “091011”?
Should I allow users to input the MMDDYY or MMDDYYYY format for a date?
That is, should any date validation logic not trigger a validation error if the user just wants to put in the numbers without ...
20
votes
9answers
4k views
What techniques can I use to wireframe sites with responsive/fluid layouts?
How do you make wireframes for responsive or fluid layouts? Typical wireframing techniques are static and aren't well suited to showing how designs scale. What techniques exist to capture the dynamic ...
20
votes
3answers
2k views
Is there a problem with using black text on white backgrounds?
Why do a lot of websites use a text color other than #000000black when the background is white?
For instance, this text will be displayed using a dark grey:
.post-text {
color: #333;
}
Have ...
20
votes
6answers
396 views
Calendar recurrences on the last day of the month
I noticed a difference in how Google Calendar and Outlook handle recurring appointments, specifically ones that are on the end of the month. If you try to schedule an appointment on the 31st of every ...
20
votes
6answers
2k views
Why does the golden ratio work? Or does it?
This is just one example of an article promoting use of the golden ratio in design. Over the past few years I've seen quite a few similar articles, but none of them really seem to go into depth beyond ...
19
votes
7answers
2k views
Pop-under: Really that bad?
We're currently discussing to add pop-unders to one of our platforms to get users to use one of our notification features. As you can probably imagine, as a UX person I'm really against the use of ...
19
votes
6answers
776 views
Buttons instead of radio buttons or a dropdown
In a recent project of ours I am tasked with creating an interface that solves the same problem as radio buttons or a dropdown menu would, but using buttons instead.
It approximately looks like this:
...
19
votes
5answers
2k views
Best practices for online help
we're currently developing a fairly complex web portal. To improve the user experience, we want to provide a context-sensitive online help system that can aid the user in understanding certain aspects ...
19
votes
5answers
434 views
What makes people vote?
What drives people to upvote or downvote content? I'm looking for the je-ne-sais-quoi quality on successful voting systems and I just can't put my finger on. Let's look at three examples:
...
19
votes
3answers
1k views
Why Do Long, Ugly Sales Pages Convert?
It seems impossible to avoid the litany of "snake oil" sales pages consisting of long, boring videos and endless (and I mean endless) text. These look like UX nightmares, and yet they're becoming ...
