Week 10 : Weblog Usability

Nowadays, millions of weblogs are created in all around the world. Weblog, actually is a kind of website. They should also apply the concept of web usability, as normal as common website. However, weblog can be classified as a special genre of website. So they have unique characteristics and thus distinct usability problems.

To reach new readers and respect your existing readers’ time constraints, test your weblog against the following usability problems.

1. No Author biographies – Write more about yourself
The basic rationale for “about us" translates directly into the need for an “about me" page on a weblog: users want to know who they’re dealing with. Anonymous writings have less credence than something that’s signed. And, unless a person’s extraordinarily famous, it’s not enough to simply say that Joe Blogger writes the content.

2. No Author Photo
Two advantages of putting your photo on weblog:
– It offers a more personable impression of the author and enhance credibility.
– People are dedicated to remembering and recognizing faces, but not words. If you want someone recognizes you, faces work better than names.

3. Nondescript Posting Titles
Try to make your headlines scannable. Avoid cute or humorous headlines that make no sense out of context. Users often see only the headline and use it to determine whether to click into the full posting.
Bad Examples:
– What Is It That You Want?

– Hey, kids! Comics!
– Victims Abandoned

Good Examples:
– Should Designers or Developers do Usability?
– Banner Blindness

4. Links Don’t Say Where They Go
There are many bloggers would try to link websites likes this: “some people think" or “there’s more here and here." Please tell people where they’re going and what they’ll find at the other end of the link. Link Titles are also the best practices. To see a link title in action, mouse over the “link titles" link.

5. Classic Hits Are Buried
Remember to link to your past pieces in newer postings. Don’t assume that readers have been with you from the beginning; give them background and context in case they want to read more about your ideas.

6. The Calendar Is The Only One Navigation
A timeline is rarely the best information architecture, yet it’s the default way to navigate weblogs. Most weblog software provides a way to categorize postings so users can easily get a list of all postings on a certain topic. Do use categorization, but avoid the common mistake of tagging a posting with almost all of your categories. Be selective. Decide on a few places where a posting most belongs.

7. Irregular Publishing Frequency
For most weblogs, daily updates are probably best, but weekly or even monthly updates might work as well, depending on your topic. In either case, pick a publication schedule and stick to it. If you usually post daily but sometimes months without new content, you’ll lose many of your loyal and thus most valuable readers.

8. Mixing Topics
If you publish on many different topics, you’re less likely to attract a loyal audience of high-value users. Busy people might visit a blog to read an entry about a topic that interests them. They’re unlikely to return, however, if their target topic appears only sporadically among a massive range of postings on other topics. The only people who read everything are those with too much time on their hands (a low-value demographic). The more focused your content, the more focused your readers.

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html

Some good websites for blog:
The Blogging Process
10 Tips on Writing the Living Web
Tools on WordPress

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