BEW EHT  A
?ETL KOA KCIOL CNAHC
BOL UOY W H EG
SIHT SI
Colin Calnan / @colincalnan / colin.calnan@gmail.com
"?ESU OT YSAE SI
ETIS BEW YM ERUS
EKAM OT TNAW
I FI OD DLUOHS
I GNIHT TNATROPMI
TSOM EHT S'TAHW"
.YAWA SKCILC 2 NAHT EROM
REVE EB DLUOHS GNIHTON
Steve Krug condensed the answer into one short sentence

!KNIHT
EM EKAM T'NOD
SMETI YADYREVE OT DEILPPA
SGNIHT YRACS OT DEILPPA
?KNIHT SU SEKAM TAHW
All kinds of things make you think unnecessarily.
Clever names
Marketing names
Company-specific names
SEMAN ELPMIS
Due to company policy you may be locked into Hydro-ite's
but this requires thinking. It's always best to go for the more
obvious.
SNOTTUB & SKNIL ELPMIS
KNIHT
OT DEEN EHT GNICUDER
1. Obvious

2. Self evident
3. Self explanatory
?SUOIVBO WOH
SUOIVBO
TNEDIVE FLES

Self evident enough that if you're next door neighbour
looked at your home page they would say...

."_ _ _ A S'TI ,HO"
YROTANALPXE FLES

Navigation and menu links are clear, requiring no
explanation or additional thought.
Page titles are concise and clearly identify the page's topic.
Links are obviously decorated and there is no need to
instruct visitors to 'click here'.
Calls-to-action and buttons are easily distinguished.
TSET PORD DLOFDNILB EHT

If you were dropped into a website and a blindfold taken off,
could you quickly answer these questions:
What site is this? (Site ID)
What page am I on? (Page name)
What are the major sections of this site? (Sections)
What are my options at this level? (Local navigation)
Where am I in the scheme of things? ("You are here"
indicators)
FLESRUOY TSET EHT YRT
1. Choose a page anywhere in a site at random, and print a
screenshot of it.
2. Hold it at arm's length or squint so you can't really study it
closely.
3. As quickly as possible, try to find and circle each of the
following items. (You won’t find all of the items on every
page.)
FLESRUOY TSET EHT YRT

:EGAP SIHT NO SAERA GNIWOLLOF EHT DNIF
1. Site ID
2. Page name
3. Sections & Subsections
4. Local Navigation
5. "Where am I" indicators
ELPMAXE
NOITAGIVAN
ELBASU GNITAERC

About 60% of the time, people cannot find the
information they're seeking on a website.

Approximately 50% of potential sales are lost because
users can't find information they're looking for.
Source:

usability.gov
ECALP
DRADNATS A NI NOITAGIVAN TUP
UNEM NIAM NI SMETI 7 NAHT EROM ON
EVITPIRCSED & CIFICEPS EB
Don’t label your pages
What We Do / Products / Services / Who We Are
Do use specific & descriptive labels
What is BCHydro / Powersmart Explained / Using HydroWeb
TNATROPMI SI REDRO
Items that appear at the
beginning & end
of a list are most effective
SKNIL ECIN GNITAERC
Credit: smashingmagazine.com

SCINAHCEM ESUOM
NO SUCOF HCUM OOT STUP "KCILC"
Credit: smashingmagazine.com

GNIKCILC
ERA SRESU TAHW SLAECNOC "EREH"
Credit: smashingmagazine.com

EROM NEVE
ESUFNOC SKNIL "EREH" ELPITLUM
SKNIL GNISARHP
SNUON OT KNIL
Credit: smashingmagazine.com
SKNIL GNISARHP
KNIL A NO DNE
Credit: smashingmagazine.com
TUOYAL & SELTIT EGAP
SNGIS TEERTS NILBUD
On side of builings, out of view, unreadable from a distance
SNGIS TEERTS REVUOCNAV
Above intersection, highly visible, easily read from a distance
TLUSER EHT

When driving in Vancouver, you can devote less energy and
attention to dealing with where you are and more to traffic
and pedestrians.
.BEW EHT FO
SNGIS TEERTS EHT ERA SEMAN EGAP

When things are going well we may not notice page names
at all. But as soon as we sense that we may not be headed in
the right direction, we need to be able to spot the page
name effortlessly so we can get our bearings.
EMAN A SDEEN EGAP YREVE
DEKCILC
UOY TAHW HCTAM DLUOHS EMAN EHT
Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition by Steve Krug
"GNIK SI TNETNOC"

Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made
on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.

)6991/3/1( SETAG LLIB
TNETNOC ESICNOC ESU
?YHW

We search for keywords, read in a non-linear fashion. We
skip around instead of reading it from top to bottom.
A 58% increase in usability can be achieved
simply by cutting roughly half the words on
the webpages being studied.
Source: Jakob Nielsen Usability Report
.OD NAC UOY TAHW
Get to the point as quickly as possible.
Cut out unnecessary information.
Omit needless words
Use easy-to-understand, shorter, common words and
phrases.
Avoid long paragraphs and sentences.
TNETNOC RUOY TSET
MOC.ELBA­DAER

The Readability Test Tool allows you to plug in a URL or text,
then gives you scores based on popular readability formulas
such as the Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease.
TNETNOC
PU KAERB OT SGNIDAEH ESU
Internet readers inspect webpages in blocks
and sections, or what is called "block
reading."
- Web content management expert

Gerry McGovern
NRETTAP DEPAHS­F
Credit: http://mashable.com/
SKCOLB OTNI KAERB
Credit: http://mashable.com
Credit: mashable.com

DIMARYP DETREVNI EHT ESU
DIMARYP DETREVNI EHT ESU
Credit: ontentmarketinginstitute.com
GNITTAMROF
TXET & STSIL DETELLUB ESU

Users fixate longer on bulleted lists and text formatting
(such as bolding and italics)
NOITAGIVAN ESICNOC ,EVITPIRCSED ­ .SORB HTIMS

SELPMAXE
NOITAGIVAN DEREDRO ,EVITPIRCSED ­ RAEWMIWS REFEIK

SELPMAXE
DNE EHT

by Colin Calnan @colincalnan / colin.calnan@gmail.com /
ca.linkedin.com/in/colincalnan

Is This Clickable? - Change how you look at the web