Firstly I must point out that I am in no way advocating horizontal scrolling on web pages.

Assuming that you are using a screen resolution of at least 1024×768 pixels (96% of internet users worldwide in 2009), you will almost never see horizontal scrolling. This is because it has been recognised as highly unusable for some time. I won’t be debating that here.

However, I take issue with the fact that vertical scrolling seems to have been tarred with the same brush.

It’s extremely common for a client to request that users should not have to scroll to see any content on their pages (or a large majority of the content at least). This seems to be based on two assumptions. First is that users don’t see content below the page fold (the point at which the content disappears behind the frame at the bottom of the web browser). Second is that users don’t like scrolling and find it a chore.

Read on…

Information architecture is a key phase in all of our projects at Content Formula. Whether website or intranet, we know that if you get the structure, organisation and classification of content right at the start of the project, the end result will be a seamless, usable site.

It always starts with defining both the business and user requirements. It’s important that you define both, because the way the business wants to organise their content is not necessarily going to be how users will search for it. There are numerous ways to gather this information (that’s a whole other blog post!), including interviews, surveys and focus groups. This stage is also often combined with an audit of any current site or content.

Read on…

A brief history of mobile web browsing

Web browsers first appeared on mobile phones at the start of the millennium. These initial attempts to ‘mobilise’ the web were pretty disappointing. Firstly, the hardware wasn’t powerful enough to handle full web pages, and screens were too small and low resolution. Also, use of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and WML (Wireless Mark-up Language) demanded special tools and limited the possibilities for creating usable interfaces. Furthermore, the web’s best content was rarely adapted for delivery to mobiles.

Read on…

Making sure your designs work no matter which browser is being used is one of the most important things an agency can do. Experience and knowledge go a long way to making this an automatic process, but there is no excuse now for websites that don’t work properly in certain browswers. But what can you do if you don’t want to have dozens of browsers installed, or you have IE8 but want to test in IE6?

The answer is this suite of FREE online tools which make things almost completely hassle free! Enjoy!

http://seleniumhq.org/
http://browsershots.org/
https://browserlab.adobe.com/

A blogger by the name of Derek Powazek recently ranted about how Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is “poisoning the web”, and that it “should not be undertaken by people with brains or souls”, which wasn’t a very nice thing for him to say.

Derek followed up his post with an FAQ, in which he offers an explanation (he’s stopped smoking) and a few clarifications. Both articles are worth reading, because they’re very entertaining and well-written.

Read on…

It’s pretty common for a client to ask about having a Flash intro on their website. My immediate reaction is to suck air through my teeth like a plumber who’s been quizzed about the cost of fixing a boiler – not because I know it will be expensive, but because I know that it is a bad idea.

Read on…

Remember Tom Cruise using his hands to move data around in the futuristic film “Minority Report”? Well it turns out that this image is not that futuristic after all: you can more or less do it on your iPhone right now.

The key phrase you need to know is “augmented reality”, and it is becoming increasingly mainstream these days as more applications are found and the media keep jumping on the “OMG this is so cool” bandwagon. (Which it is, to be fair). But what is it and how does it work? Put simply, augmented reality (or AR) is a digital overlay on the real world. A camera takes a picture, and then the computer overlays King Kong (or whatever) onto your screen. The cool thing is that this can be done in real time while you’re walking down the street.

Read on…

Choosing the right content management system (CMS) can be a real headache. You’ve got to match the project in hand to the features the CMS offers and the technical ability of the users who’re going to be updating the site. All the big CMSs have their plus, as well as their negative points and I’m going to try and summarise them here.

My experience lies with the open source CMSs, so I’m going to compare the big 3 contenders: Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. I also use Sharepoint a lot on intranets, and have seen some positive things from commercial CMSs such as Episerver.

Read on…

Short of using well-established (but widely hated) JavaScripts, completely protecting your content and or designs from plagiarism is impossible.

Browser plugins for developers were originally designed to aid designers and developers with runtime design debugging functionality, even helping iron our creases in varying browser standards. However, they also serve as a means for any tea leaf designer to inspect the minutiae of your design.

Read on…

What is a user persona and why do we use them?

A persona is a detailed profile of a user – whether that person is a user for a website, an intranet, an animation or a widget. It turns them from being just “the user” into “Roger Moore, retired, 65 years old, partially-blind, challenged by new technology”: it puts a face on the target audience of the project you’re working on.

Personas are used across marketing. We use them to help us understand the audience of a project we’re working on. This is important because as digital media gurus with a high degree of familiarity with digital technology, we can become removed from the way the general public actually uses, navigates or searches. Similarly, our clients, who know their own product or service inside-out, can also forget that the general public has a different perspective. So personas are about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes – putting the user’s hat on, and asking the questions that they would ask. Would Roger Moore notice that button, and know to click on it?

Read on…