Abstract

This paper critically examines the widely accepted principles of usability in web design. In particular, it investigates the work of Jakob Nielsen, whose name has become synonymous with 'user-friendliness' as a result of popular applications of his 'ten usability heuristics' and argument that Flash is '99% bad'. It interrogates the assumptions embedded in his research, especially the notion that web consumption is predominantly a utilitarian activity. In an infant discipline such as web design, what are the implications for students and practitioners' creative output when such ideas become its theoretical canon? What are the foreseeable consequences when knowledge in the field is disseminated by industry practitioners, such as Nielsen and other usability experts, to fellow multimedia designers? The paper explores the possible outcomes of the dot.com industry preaching its own practice, particularly when this in turn is fed back into the education of prospective web professionals. What can be borrowed from other design disciplines that can contribute to a rethinking of online interactions as more than task-driven? For example, in terms of industrial design, a web site can be considered a product; while architecturally, it can be perceived as a virtual space. It has only been recently that the concept of ‘experience design’ has emerged in web design, which suggests an approach which both contests and extends 'rules' of usability. This seems indicative of broader disciplinary differences between the abovementioned fields and the design of information systems, from which the area of usability has developed. The paper attempts to chart the historical trajectory of ontologies of web design and reconcile these with approaches from other design disciplines as a way of establishing alternatives to the taken-for-granted mantra that 'usability is king'.

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Nov 17th, 12:00 AM

Designing On-Line Experiences: Beyond the Tyranny of Usability.

This paper critically examines the widely accepted principles of usability in web design. In particular, it investigates the work of Jakob Nielsen, whose name has become synonymous with 'user-friendliness' as a result of popular applications of his 'ten usability heuristics' and argument that Flash is '99% bad'. It interrogates the assumptions embedded in his research, especially the notion that web consumption is predominantly a utilitarian activity. In an infant discipline such as web design, what are the implications for students and practitioners' creative output when such ideas become its theoretical canon? What are the foreseeable consequences when knowledge in the field is disseminated by industry practitioners, such as Nielsen and other usability experts, to fellow multimedia designers? The paper explores the possible outcomes of the dot.com industry preaching its own practice, particularly when this in turn is fed back into the education of prospective web professionals. What can be borrowed from other design disciplines that can contribute to a rethinking of online interactions as more than task-driven? For example, in terms of industrial design, a web site can be considered a product; while architecturally, it can be perceived as a virtual space. It has only been recently that the concept of ‘experience design’ has emerged in web design, which suggests an approach which both contests and extends 'rules' of usability. This seems indicative of broader disciplinary differences between the abovementioned fields and the design of information systems, from which the area of usability has developed. The paper attempts to chart the historical trajectory of ontologies of web design and reconcile these with approaches from other design disciplines as a way of establishing alternatives to the taken-for-granted mantra that 'usability is king'.

 

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