Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide
A fascinating, highly surprising study of the way people actually look for information at a Website.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide
Part II: Site Scrapbook
Chapter List
- Chapter 9: Edmund's
- Chapter 10: Hewlett Packard
- Chapter 11: WebSaver
- Chapter 12: Travelocity
- Chapter 13: Inc.
- Chapter 14: Cnet
- Chapter 15: Fidelity
- Chapter 16: Disney
This section gives you a guided tour of the sites we studied, beginning with the site that scored best (Edmund's) and continuing down the rankings.
There's one exception: The Olympic site, which finished second in our study, was taken down before we got any pictures. Although we tried contacting the creator of the web site, we couldn't gain access to it.
The Edmund's site (www.edmunds.com) is a resource for consumers who want to research and purchase cars and trucks. This is a "shovelware" site: It contains all the content from Edmund's printed publications and then some.
The success of the Edmund's site surprised us. The site is mostly text, with no graphic design. Users rated this site highly for its authoritativeness and quality of information, and they successfully used it to find information.
We believe the success of this site has to do with its long, descriptive links, which help users predict where they will go and what information they will find there. Edmund's also does a good job of providing cross-links to related content. The site does lack a search facility. This caused one user to give up.
| Question Type | Example Question |
|---|---|
| Simple Fact | Can you get a new Honda Accord for under $15,000? |
| Comparison of Facts | Which truck has the... |
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