Archive for the ‘usability’ Category

As the deadline looms for the EU Cookie Directive on 26 May we have finally been issued with a code of conduct which aims to clarify what’s expected of website owners and lays down the penalties for those who breach it. Unsurprisingly it hasn’t come from the Information Commissioner’s Office but from the International Chamber [...]

It’s been a while since I had a proper geek out and recent changes around microdata gives me a great opportunity to look at some of the more technical aspects to improving your SEO; Rich Snippets. Using additional HTML tags to highlight key pieces of content in SERPs isn’t a new thing, there have been [...]

From March 1st Google will be releasing a new privacy policy which replaces its more than 60 strong current policies relating to each of its products and services. The new policy aims to provide a single reference point for users and gives Google greater powers to share data more easily across its application. While users [...]

TweetA couple of weeks ago I gave a presentation at Conversion Thursday Manchester, an inspiring bi-monthly event that centres around online conversion and web optimisation. I discussed the importance of conversion in affiliate marketing, as it is o…

Ciaran talks to Glow labs’ Mayar Upadhyaya and Alistair Alexander from Mencap, about their innovative work customizing the Facebook Interface their users to encourage them to participate online.  Mayar and Alistair  talk us through some of the Facebook interface issues that hit hard for users with reading and language disabilities. We also discover a surprising [...]

I want to share an interesting fact with you. Compression of data is no new thing.  In the 19th Century sending a message was an expensive business, so they developed data compression as a tax dodge. ( no really… read on)  Our forefathers had some early networks. Sneaker nets that crossed the UK via stage [...]

Google is planning and currently beta testing some design/ layout changes, both on the Home page and the Search Results page to include a new left-hand navigation pane. Google is known for making such changes very rarely and when it does, for researchi…

Stop asking customers to register before they even know they want to do business with you. It’s a sure way to kill commitment.

Stop asking customers to register before they even know they want to do business with you. It’s a sure way to kill commitment.

Looking at the accepted conventions of web design usability and pondering the question as to whether the home page can break the rules.