An Event Apart Conference Notes - Part 3

(THIRD INSTALLMENT) - I have to say that one of the main reasons that I went to this conference was to hear Jared Spool (User Interface Engineering - http://www.uie.com) speak. And he did not disappoint me. The title of his presentation was: "Why Good Content Must Suck!" and he focused on "the scent of information," which was a great metaphor for his presentation.

In a nutshell:

• Good information should PULL you into a website and keep the user engaged
• He thinks CNN.com is a great example of this and also a proponent of using "trigger" words that help the user find information

Things that PREVENT good scent:

1. Search engines - we scan for trigger words and when we don't find them we try different variations of triggers, but we are better off designing good browse-able interfaces rather than leaving everything up to SEARCH
2. An effective browse-able navigation is 52% more effective than a direct SEARCH
3. Navigation panels are often "scentless" as not enough thought is given to the labeling process
4. Great examples from HP site (trying to find a device driver) and Dr. Koop site (RE: Gastroparesis); Fidelity site (Research, retirement, planning) --- students ask me to show this in class.
5. Short links: don't emit scent --- longer explanatory links do --- starting to see a change in the web regarding this; he has research data that support a 7-12 word length descriptive being the optimum for most users --- if you have a single word link then it has to be EXCLUSIVE
6. Short pages reduce scent

Some great points:

1. Budget for writing and content --- from his website (Author: Gerry McGovern): "Most senior managers simply don't see the value of quality content. Sure, they don't want their organizations to publish poor quality content. However, they are wary about really investing in content."
2. The three click rule really doesn't exist --- or, a user will keep clicking as long as you give them reason to --- the HP find the device driver example.
   
3. Users won't scroll down a page --- not true --- if you give them good reason to they will
4. He had a great suggestion to replace your main home page for a day with your Site Map and then analyze where your users are going
5. Scent depends greatly on content
6. Your content must SUCK! (Pull the user in)

I could have listen to him talk all day!

( more to come. . . )