Jawed’s Blog

I was reading an article called User Interfaces Should Teach, Not Hide, the writer Terry Hancock was discussing the desktop application user interfaces. A web user interface section was missing from it.

I would like to add few things about the web application user interface. The web, we all know, is far bigger than we can imagine. On the web you are not thinking of a group of people from same background, locality or bhavior. It’s an open arena where every one is invited. So what are the key user interface features most website lacking in? What should be done to improve websites in such a way that they should start teaching the surfer where to go next? Lets discuss few of them here:

Common against the Specific:

You should keep in mind the common terminologies and symbols that are used on the web rather than using custom made terminologies and symbols. Many times the visitors to the site will not understand the language, they will then follow the symbols or icons used on the site.

Primary goal should be kept in mind:

Many sites don’t consider the primary goal of the site while designing the UI. For example if you are developing an e-commerce website your primary goal should be to capture the order as early as possible. This allows the customer to browse products easily and place orders in least possible steps.

Available space should be used efficiently:

On the web real space is very limited. One should use this space efficiently to provide all the necessary information on the screen without scrolling. Many sites provide unimportant information on real space and often lose the interest of any potential users. If the user is attracted by the information provided on the website then, in most cases, he will definitely scroll down to see your adds and other information.

Help tips should be available:

Help tips are very important. These tips should be concise, to the point, and guide the user to what he has to do on the screen or page he is viewing. Many people often confused about what to do next, help tips might be a good option for guiding them.

Look and Feel should be pleasant:

Layout elements such as colors, images and fonts should be pleasant and should reflect the theme of the site. The Look and Feel should depict the targeted audiance’s peference and choice. A kindergarten site should colorful, funky and attractive to children while a business site should not be like that.

Navigational flow should be simpler:

Application navigation should be simpler. I have seen many sites where the navigation is so confusing that the user doesn’t know where he is heading. Navigation should be simple and self guided.

Not all the points are implementable for every site. There could be many others but I thought that these are the basic points that should be consider while designing web UI.

P.S.
I would like to thank Mr. Greg Johnson, for correcting some mistakes and helping me improve the article.

People who love to see cricket won’t love to see Darrell Hair umpiring, the man famous for his incorrect decisions and controversies against the south asian teams specially against the Pakistan team.

He has been in the spot light since England last toured Pakistan, and again here when Pakistan visiting England, he made blunders in the 3rd test match, which cost Pakistan the match and in the final and 4th test match he again accused Pakistan of being cheating in the field without any proof.

He is another austrailian with big filthy mouth and biased behavior. His country man Dean Jones, the former Australia Test batsman turned TV commentator, has been sacked by his employers, Ten Sports, after being heard calling South African player Hashim Amla a ‘terrorist’ on live television during the fourth day’s play between Sri Lanka and South Africa at Colombo. [more...]

It wasn’t the first time, Autrailians have been indulge in so many similar controversies, you may find those easily as their numbers are high :). One thing I should suggest them quit arrogance, quit biasness and just concentrate on the beautiful game of cricket.

Finally after three years of long restrain from studies, I am going to start my MS in Computer Science from National University, Karachi.

Many people shared their experience that it is not easy to pursue MS with fulltime job. I believe it was and will never be easy to pursue MS, but determination to do it will make you successful.

I am still confused to select major for my MS, I am more intrested in Cryptography or AI but it is very hard to select the final one. In Karachi or I should say in Pakistan, both fields have little opportunities to be practiced.

Lets see where fate drives me from here. Wish me good luck.