To be or not to be a user-friendly website…

To be or not to be use-friendly a user friendly website…That is the question?

There is a saying on the web that everything we need is just a click away, but is it really?  I have found myself surfing through endless amounts of information on the Internet when writing a papers for some of my classes.   Some sites are user-friendly and others make you you do way to much work only to find out that they were useless to begin with. 

In the book “Don’t make me think”, the author points out some great points when it comes to sifting through the Web to find the user-friendly sites.  For a site to be user-friendly the designer must not make the user think at all.  The user should be able to scan the site over in a couple of glances and know exactly what they should do next.  After reading a couple of chapters from this book it just dawned on me how much unnecessary time is spent trying to find information on sites on the Web.  Krug says it perfectly, “The point is, when using the Web every question mark adds to our cognitive workload, distracting out attention from the task at hand.  The distractions may be slight but they add up, and sometimes it doesn’t take much to throw us off” (Krug, 2000).  I think Barnesandnoble.com is a pretty user-friendly site when it comes to looking for books.  I know that I can search for what I am looking for my title or author and with in two clicks I have a whole list of options.

Krug challenges people to think about effective ways to design Web pages so that they are easy to access and not distracting.  Some things that he encourages readers to do is to realize a few facts of life when it comes to the Web are:

1.  Most people don’t read the entire Web page, they scan them for the inforamtion they are looking for.  The important stuff should stand out and be easy to access.  The reason for this is because more often than not people on the Web are looking to get information quickly.  Most people don’t sit down and read a newspaper from cover to cover, they skim the paper and read what interests them or they read enough to get a basic understanding of the story.

 2.  “We don’t make optimal choices.  We satisfice” (Krug, 24).  It is assumed that as a Web surfer we will make the right choices when viewing a website but in all honesty we don’t always make the best choices.  “…we choose the first reasonable option, a strategy known as satisficing.  As soon as we find a link that seems like it might lead to what we’re looking for, there’s a very good chance that we’ll click it” (Krug, 24).  I am guilty of satisficing.  I would rather take a wild guess about whether this is what I am looking for but I have to admit that after a while of wrong guesses I find myself wanting to give up.

3.  “We don’t figure out how things work.  We muddle through” (Krug, 26).  I personally would rather try to figure something out before ever attempting to read the directions especially when it comes to technology.  This can be good and bad but I am sure the bad outweighs the good unless of course your a genius.

With all this being said, Krug provides some great tips to weed out the non user-friendly sites.  The sites that master the concepts above will have a promising future because they are easy to use and as they receive more hits they will be on the top of the search list when you google a certain topic.

Digital Memories

Wouldn’t it be cool capture all your most treasured memories digitally?  On the other hand, isn’t being able to capture everything digitally a bit scary to you?  What if you have a digital overload?  If we are honest as a society many of us have enough clutter in our lives to last a lifetime. What about privacy issues and who should have access to this information?  Is this a technology you would consider using?

Online Learning

As social technologies continue to improve they are also changing the way we are educated.  Online Learning is becoming the new trend in education especially at the college level.  More and more universities and colleges are offering online courses with the assistance of blackboard and angel learning.  “In Indiana alone, there were 104,000 student enrollments in distance-learning classes during the 2003-04 academic year, according to the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunications System” (http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/15766486.htm).

“Online learning is a new social process that is beginning to act as a complete subsitute for both distance learning and traditional face-to-face class” (Hiltz and Turoff, 60).  It gives those that live on one side of the country to pursue classes that might not be offered at their universities.  For example at Quinnipiac University they offer a good variety of online courses which I have found to be great for a number of reasons.

1.  There is no set time as to when you get the work done as long as its done on the date and time your professor wants the assignment.  So if you prefer to work on the course early in the morning you can but if the weekends work better for you then you can do that to.

2.  As long as I have Internet access I can do my work from anywhere.  Let’s say I live in Conneticut and I am going away for the weekend to the Cape but I have an assignment due, as long as I have access to the Web its not a problem.

3.  Some professors post everything for the course so if you want to get ahead of the game you can.

Although their are a lot of positives, many think that online learning is not a good substitue for in class learning.  The reason I think this is, is because their is no face-to-face interaction with your professors or your classmates.  It’s not like you can stick around after class and ask questions.  I think the good out ways the bad and if blackboard or angel learning find a way to incoporate video then online learning will really take off.  Online learning is a great way for people already in the real world to take a classes around their work schedules and families.  Social technologies have become a key part of education and as these technologies improve more and more people I think will choose to take advantage of online learning. 

Works Cited:

Hiltz, S.R. & Turoff, M. (2005). Education goes digital: the evolution of online learning and the revolution in higher education. Communications of the ACM, 48(10), 59-64.

http://www.blackboard.com/us/index.aspx

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/15766486.htm

http://angellearning.com/

The Blogosphere

Blogging has was changed how we view the world today with about “20 million bloggers worldwide.  It is one of the most embraced forms of technology in history.  “According to the Pew, one-fourth of all Web users in the United States read blogs, and that number is increasing at a rate of 60 percent annually” (Naked Conversations, 24).  The blogosphere  has opened up doors for journalist and everyday people voice how they feel about what is going on in society.  “…between yesterday and today another blog will start at a rate of nearly one per second, according to the New York Times, Pew Research, and other sources” (Naked Conversations, 2).

Blogging is not just revolutionizing the media it is also impacting the business culture.  What makes blogs so great is the fact that you can talk about everything from politics to sports.  Bloggers can be very aggressive or passive.  How much you reveal in your blog is completely up to you.  Many bloggers “bop from one topic to another and back again,” and they interrupt one another (Naked Conversations, 3).  They have also have opened a new way to communicate besides using the telephone or instant messenger.  The differences between blogging and the others types of communications is the fact that blogs are publishable, findable, social , viral, syndicatable and linkable. 

One topic that has become very popular in the blogosphere different aspects of business.  These blogs are allowing companies to talk with their customers about their products.  There feedback on the blogs is much faster on the Web compared to holding for customer service.  Also customers can let companies know what works and what does not work. 

Blogs are the future of communication.  Blogs influence how we think about the world both for the good and the bad a great example of how effective blogs were  when the tsunami hit Indonesia.  Blogs are another great way to document history of this great nation and the world.

In Ben Tracy’s article “Good Question: How influential Are Blogs?”, he makes some great points about the revolution of blogs. 

http://wcco.com/seenon/local_story_283174622.html

“Online Gaming” has a promising future don’t yah think…

Its interesting to look at life from a variety of perspectives.  For example, Andrew Hinton makes an interesting point in his article “We Live Here:  Games, Third Places and the Information Architecture of the Future”, he suggests that we live in three places, the first place being our homes, the second place being work and the third place being online.  Many people have another home online through chat-rooms, instant messenger, blogging, online gaming, online dating and fanstay sports league.  “Our daily contact with simultaneously shared digital environments is only increasing and deepening with time” (Harding, 2006).  The web is no longer for looking up information or checking your email, research has found that online gaming is becoming very popular.  “Among adults, 75% of heads of households play some kind of computer game or video game and sales of these games reached $7 billion in 2005″ (Harding, 2006).

Online gaming and video games has become a significant part of our culture whether we think its a good thing or a bad thing.  The future looks very bright for the industry especially because more and more people are spending more time on the web and as long as there is Play Station 1,2,3 and Xbox the industry will survive.  Online gaming has become popular not just because of the actions games like “Half Life”, Unreal 2003, and Metal of Honor but also for the Massively Multiplayer Online Gams (MMOGs) such as Second Life.

Second Life is an interesting world online where the possibilities are endless.  Each time I log on and play I discover something new.  What I find so appealing about the game is the fact that you are in control of creating this second life for yourself.  The members of this game “are responsible for creating almost everything….and through activities in the game they can earn currency for clothing, gadgets, and points used for building items themselves” (Hinton, 2006).  Online Gaming is here to stay.  It has a promising future.   Some say that “computer games are merely a fad, a temporary infatuation that will quickly pass when their novelty value is exhausted” (www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Chapter7.html).  I think it provides people with the opportunity of escape from the real world but still have real world experiences.  A great example of this the online game called Stagecoach island where “vistitors can learn about mutal funds and mortgages from live personnel…”  (Hinton,2006).  Online gaming could be a great teaching tool in the future and as technology gets better so will the online gaming world.

www.secondlife.com

The world of virtual reality has come a long way.  Growing up I was a big fan of Sim City where you could build you own three-dimensional world and control what happened in the world. Exploring the virtual reality of Second Life brought me back to my childhood memories.  The graphics are just as good as playing play station if not better in some cases because you can communicate with others.  Exploring Second Life is literally like “having a second life or a clone”.  My virtually creation who I named Sania Courier shares my birthday which is kind of weird but a requirement to sign up.  Second Life is a world where there is no violence and hostility among one another.  This is the type of world most of us wished we lived in today, where you did not walk around fearing whether where you are at this moment in time is the next place a terrorist plans to attack.

Some interesting things I discovered in the Second Life is your in complete control of where you go, who you speak with and whether you want to purchase money to buy things.  Having the ability to interact with your computer and communicate with people all over the world is so cool.  Second Life is like being apart of a live instant messenger. This virtual reality game gives a new meaning to video games.  The one disadvantage of Second Life that I think exists is the fact that it is not that user friendly.  I felt like you would need a mini bible to understand everything that you can do on Second Life.  With this being said, I would consider giving it a second chance because with any new technology patience is the key and having an open mind is a must.

Online Dating/Relationships

“Online relationships are filling empty spots in people’s lives now that they no longer wander to the local pub or cafe to take up with their neighbors” (Wellman, 2005).  Its all about the social networks, this is where people are meeting in their spare time.   More than three million people use the Web not just for looking up information and shopping but to online date.

http://www.glasbergen.com/images/g214.gif

I met the guy I am currenting dating by online dating.  There are millions of singles out there to choose from and if no relationship develops then their is a good chance you will gain a good friend.  People are finding that it is much easier to meet people online than in the bars or clubs.  In the my master’s project some said they liked online “dating because their is variety”, “you can reject someone and not feel bad about it,” and “its free so why not” (Steele, 2006).  There are more than 1,455 online dating sites to choose from.  Your chances of meeting someone great are endless, it just depends how much time your willing to invest and how much money your willing to spend or not spend.  If your single and want to try something new then give it a shot, it can’t hurt and besides you can control how fast or slow th e relationships goes.  Success in online dating depends on your honesty, don’t try to be someone your not and definitely don’t post a fake picture of yourself.  “Yahoo Personnel’s has found that people who post photos to accompany their text profiles  receive eight times as many responses compared to people who do not post anything” (Steele, 2006).  You can’t knock it if you haven’t tried it….