[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
CLUNKY INTERNET SITES GET SOCIAL-SCIENCE TREATMENT
CLUNKY INTERNET SITES GET SOCIAL-SCIENCE TREATMENT
Web site designers are trying to make their sites more
user-friendly by hiring employees with degrees in social sciences
and humanities. Most Web sites are difficult for average people
to use, experts say. Many Web designers do not understand user
behavior, including why users often leave sites soon after going
to them. One technique Modem Media uses is role playing, in which
employees pretend to be users that fit a certain profile in an
attempt to understand a user's experience of a Web site. Modem
Media intends to hire psychologists and anthropologists to expand
its efforts to understand user behavior. Meanwhile, Sapient last
month announced plans to buy E-Lab because of E-Lab's knowledge of
"patterns of behavior that reveal and drive the nature of
experience." However, Web site usability expert Jakob Nielsen
says social scientists are not the answer, and that companies
should focus instead on conducting usability tests with actual
customers. (Investor's Business Daily 10/15/99)
==========================================================================
Paul Jones
"We must protect our precious bodily fluids!" General Jack D Ripper
http://MetaLab.unc.edu/pjones/ at the Site Formerly Known As SunSITE.unc.edu
pjones@MetaLab.unc.edu voice: (919) 962-7600 fax: (919) 962-8071
===========================================================================