http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/

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A little while back, Google discretely introduced a “Show Options” tab that lets you filter your results by media, time or in other interesting ways. Filters are not new, but combined with Google’s awesome search, have become quite useful to me.

Filtering by Visited Pages. Google is being used more and more as a navigational device towards content you already know. Google is good, but if you’re deep in research sometimes it’s hard to find that site again, and this is a brilliant tool for this purpose. 

This behaviour is not uncommon, and an interesting trend I don’t feel is getting enough attention. Search has become less and less about discovery, and more about meeting basic usability requirements about finding existing content... Something search marketers are adjusting for. How often do you already know exactly what content you are looking for before you search? What chance do the other sites have of capturing your click for that impression? if you’re a search marketer, how do you adjust your optimisation metrics to cater for navigational search and usability from something traditionally focused on acquisition?

Here is my search for Domain names. I searched for this last week and couldn’t remember the name of the site which I decided was the way to go. 

Another feature in the options is the wonder wheel – we haven’t seen a lot of people using this from our analytics data, and I am thinking it probably would be more useful for internal search where you have a more defined content set. There are some implications for search, and with adoption will come more users entering your site via more specific keywords and the reduction in broad search terms.

We’ll be interested to see adoption rates of these filters  and any considerations for search marketing – we’re monitoring our logs and see about 5% of visits contain at least 1 filter, and will be looking to use this data in the future to enrich insights around keywords and what users are looking for when they use them.

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Another awesome article form Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, especially the stats on how many decisions we make online vs. when watching TV which has serious implications for online advertising and website usability.

Today, of course, we're in the opposite scenario: everything we write competes with trillions of Web pages, all a few clicks away. As a result, most people actually read very few words on the Web.

The velocity of media consumption has increased dramatically. Readers no longer linger over lovingly described passages detailing a lord's style of dress. They click here, they click there, they click everywhere. But they don't stay.

People's consumption of print media is different than their use of websites, leading to the many differences in designing for print versus the Web.

Compared to TV, the Web also has a much finer granularity of user control:

When watching TV, you make one decision every 30–120 minutes: pick a show or movie to watch, and then it's lean-back time. Ah, easy.

When surfing the Web, you make a decision every 10–120 seconds: leave or stay on this page; leave or stay on this site. Where to click now? Where to click next? A bit stressful.

Adding up all these differences explains the fast pace of Web use: the velocity is much higher than we see for TV use.

Read the original Alertbox article here
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/media-velocity.html

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Great research from Jakob Nielsen on how business users interact with social networks, I especially like the part on 'overly frequent postings' which really annoy me (and I hope we're not in the same category).

Summary: Users like the simplicity of messages that pass into oblivion over time, but were frequently frustrated by unscannable writing, overly frequent postings, and their inability to locate companies on social networks.

Some key insights form the article

• Users prefer casual style for business messages on social networks
• RSS feeds are seen as more trustworthy
• RSS feeds are checked at work, social networks from home
• Only 6% of users accessed corporate social networks from mobiles
• People like a single stream of news that pushes old stuff down
• Users are unlikely to search for old messages or scroll down
• Posting frequency and expectations are tied to the service
• If you post too rarely, your material will drift out of users' time-streams
• If you post too much, you'll crowd out other messages
• Three great motivators are fear, greed (deals), exclusivity (latest news)
• Sites that are not updated regularly give a bad impression
• Users don't actively seek out companies in social networks
• There's usually another trigger such as recommendations (re-tweets!)
• Overall message usefulness still scores low but trustworthiness high
• Useful messages have substance, are timely, provided expected info
• Trustworthiness is influenced by clear user names and logos
• The shorter the message, the more important the writing

Read the original article here
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/streams-feeds.html

Or buy the research report here (and email me a copy please)
http://www.nngroup.com/reports/streams/

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And while we're at it here's also a list of what not to do if you're selling stuff online.

1. A lack of detailed product information
2. Hiding contact Information
3. A long or confusing checkout process
4. Requiring an account to order
5. An inadequate site search engine
6. Poor customer service options
7. Tiny product images
8. Only one product image
9. A poor shopping cart design
10. Lack of payment options
11. Not including related products
12. Confusing navigation
13. Not including shipping rates
14. Not including store policies
15. Not putting focus on the products

Read the full article with visual examples here
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/10/08/15-common-mistakes-in-e-commerce-design-and-how-to-avoid-them/

Other great ecommerce usability resources
Ecommerce Website Design’s 6 Common Mistakes
5 Ecommerce Design Mistakes
3 Common Mistakes of the Ecommerce Company
5 Big eCommerce Design Mistakes
Top 10 E-Commerce Mistakes to Avoid
How to Avoid 7 Fatal Ecommerce Mistakes
5 Common Ecommerce Mistakes

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Before designing and launching your own test program it's worthwhile reviewing the usability wisdom out there so you don't waste time re-inventing the wheel.

1. Form Labels Work Best Above The Field
2. Users Focus On Faces
3. Quality Of Design Is An Indicator Of Credibility
4. Most Users Do Not Scroll
5. Blue Is The Best Color For Links
6. The Ideal Search Box Is 27-Characters Wide
7. White Space Improves Comprehension
8. Effective User Testing Doesn’t Have To Be Extensive
9. Informative Product Pages Help You Stand Out
10. Most Users Are Blind To Advertising

Read the original article here
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/24/10-useful-usability-findings-and-guidelines/

Other great usability resources
15 Valuable Usability PDFs You’ve Never Heard Of
15 Important Research Findings You Should Know
10 Additional Research Findings You Should Know
Introduction To Good Usability
11 Striking Findings From an Eye-Tracking Study
25 Incredibly Useful Usability Cheat Sheets And Checklists
10 Usability Findings To Increase Sales And Customer Loyalty
Web form design guidelines: an eye-tracking study

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