Comments on: “King of usability” questions effect of Web 2.0 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/ Online and destination marketing for travel and tourism Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:12:27 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Marco Dal Pozzo http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/comment-page-1/#comment-890 Marco Dal Pozzo Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:45:21 +0000 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/#comment-890 Thank you Dominic for your reply! I've just posted on my blog about this interesting topic. Ciao Thank you Dominic for your reply!
I’ve just posted on my blog about this interesting topic.
Ciao

]]> By: Dominic Sawyer http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/comment-page-1/#comment-887 Dominic Sawyer Mon, 04 Jun 2007 08:44:31 +0000 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/#comment-887 Hi Marco, Thanks for the comment. Good use of web 2.0 technology can certainly help and selective use of AJAX can enhance usability. See this example for filtering through a large number of products down to few without the page reloading - http://www.amazon.com/gp/gsl/search/finder?productGroupID=loose_diamonds You could imagine a lot of form submitting without something like this! Another one is auto suggestions - see Kayak.com as an example. As users begin to enter an airport AJAX is used to suggest possible names below the text field. Yes, I agree, although a large number of users do not give their views or upload their own content, the user generated content is great for consumers on the whole, giving them more information and consumer feedback on which to help make their decisions. Hi Marco,

Thanks for the comment. Good use of web 2.0 technology can certainly help and selective use of AJAX can enhance usability. See this example for filtering through a large number of products down to few without the page reloading – http://www.amazon.com/gp/gsl/search/finder?productGroupID=loose_diamonds
You could imagine a lot of form submitting without something like this! Another one is auto suggestions – see Kayak.com as an example. As users begin to enter an airport AJAX is used to suggest possible names below the text field.

Yes, I agree, although a large number of users do not give their views or upload their own content, the user generated content is great for consumers on the whole, giving them more information and consumer feedback on which to help make their decisions.

]]> By: Marco Dal Pozzo http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/comment-page-1/#comment-876 Marco Dal Pozzo Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:25:11 +0000 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/#comment-876 Dominic, I don't know if Web 2.0 Web Sites are usable or not but I'm sure that the content generated by users of Web 2.0 Web Sites allow the Sites themselves to be more and more usefull. First of all for that 90% of users that (Nielsen says) don't give their contribution! Do you agree ? Dominic,
I don’t know if Web 2.0 Web Sites are usable or not but I’m sure that the content generated by users of Web 2.0 Web Sites allow the Sites themselves to be more and more usefull.
First of all for that 90% of users that (Nielsen says) don’t give their contribution!
Do you agree ?

]]> By: Sumitra Menon http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/comment-page-1/#comment-761 Sumitra Menon Wed, 16 May 2007 11:18:21 +0000 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/#comment-761 Well Web 3.0 is around the corner. Check out this interesting definition by Sramana Mitra, silicon valley entrepreneur and strategist.<a href="http://sramanamitra.com/blog/572" rel="nofollow"> Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)</a>. Well Web 3.0 is around the corner. Check out this interesting definition by Sramana Mitra, silicon valley entrepreneur and strategist. Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS).

]]> By: Dominic Sawyer http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/comment-page-1/#comment-757 Dominic Sawyer Wed, 16 May 2007 08:41:48 +0000 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/#comment-757 Peter, thanks for dropping by and agree, certainly reminiscent of the trigger happy flash days... Good points Joe - along with usability improvements, AJAX can increase the interactivity and speed of a site, all of which can give a site an edge over a competitor and increase the conversion rate. Agree that certain AJAX interfaces may not follow particular usability principles (cross-browser compatibility, problems for visually impaired users and lack of expected page refreshes) but still increase the total conversions, providing tangible benefits to a larger percentage of site visitors. My thought is how AJAX has been integrated on the new boo.com and and in particular, the accommodation search element. I think many users will not find this particularly intuitive and in some part because of basic usability being overlooked. I'm sure improvements in this and contingency design will increase customer loyalty and improve the rate of conversions. I came across this quote from Ray Nolan, the CEO of boo.com, "If it works, who knows how many zeros you can add to our valuation. And even if it doesn't work, we enjoyed making it." A refresing take and with the amount of effort gone into the site and much of it treading on new ground I hope it works out! Peter, thanks for dropping by and agree, certainly reminiscent of the trigger happy flash days…

Good points Joe – along with usability improvements, AJAX can increase the interactivity and speed of a site, all of which can give a site an edge over a competitor and increase the conversion rate.

Agree that certain AJAX interfaces may not follow particular usability principles (cross-browser compatibility, problems for visually impaired users and lack of expected page refreshes) but still increase the total conversions, providing tangible benefits to a larger percentage of site visitors.

My thought is how AJAX has been integrated on the new boo.com and and in particular, the accommodation search element. I think many users will not find this particularly intuitive and in some part because of basic usability being overlooked. I’m sure improvements in this and contingency design will increase customer loyalty and improve the rate of conversions.

I came across this quote from Ray Nolan, the CEO of boo.com, “If it works, who knows how many zeros you can add to our valuation. And even if it doesn’t work, we enjoyed making it.” A refresing take and with the amount of effort gone into the site and much of it treading on new ground I hope it works out!

]]> By: Joe http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/comment-page-1/#comment-742 Joe Mon, 14 May 2007 23:57:07 +0000 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/#comment-742 Granted usability is important. Having said that, the key measurement of success is conversion in whatever form a site owner defines it. There is always a risk that new software is overused gratuitously to enhance the geek factor as in the early days of flash. There are so many sites with different objectives out there that it's not easy to define common usability criteria any longer. Also, there are certain search maximizations that actually reduce usability but might increase the commercial return. Tough decisions to make for a site owner / developer / designer and my guess is there's not one rule that applies across the board. It AJAX improves the conversion then it's advisable to use it. Granted usability is important. Having said that, the key measurement of success is conversion in whatever form a site owner defines it. There is always a risk that new software is overused gratuitously to enhance the geek factor as in the early days of flash.

There are so many sites with different objectives out there that it’s not easy to define common usability criteria any longer. Also, there are certain search maximizations that actually reduce usability but might increase the commercial return.

Tough decisions to make for a site owner / developer / designer and my guess is there’s not one rule that applies across the board.

It AJAX improves the conversion then it’s advisable to use it.

]]> By: Peter http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/comment-page-1/#comment-734 Peter Mon, 14 May 2007 12:50:08 +0000 http://dottourism.com/blog/2007/05/14/king-of-usability-questions-effect-of-web-20/#comment-734 Very true. I am reminded a lot about the beginnings of flash based sites where functionality definitely came second when I look at some of the "cool" Ajax sites around. Granted, it makes a lot of things possible but it is crucial to get the basics right. Very true. I am reminded a lot about the beginnings of flash based sites where functionality definitely came second when I look at some of the “cool” Ajax sites around. Granted, it makes a lot of things possible but it is crucial to get the basics right.

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