Archive for May, 2010

I am currently working on a great project for Arts NSW which really excites me. You see, I love artists and creative organisations and the thought of making it easier for them to find information about grants and funding really pushes my buttons!

They are an interesting target audience in that while some would be very tech savvy, others would be borderline luddites. (I say this with love – from my experience, most creative brains don’t usually work in the same way that business brains do – which is a good thing incidentally!)

So, what do you do when you’ve got the same target audience divided into sub groups?

TIP: Keep it super simple and provide extra/more complex info for those who will want it.

I’m a bit of a simplicity freak in any case and I’ve always loved the title of Steve Krugs usability book: Don’t make me think! Interestingly he talks about how most users opt for satisficing (a cross between satisfying and sufficing) meaning we will always choose the first reasonable option which may not necessarily be the best.

Reasonable is an interesting word. In this context, it suggests that it’s something most people would be able to relate to – importantly, within a web environment. What might be reasonable in print  (where they can flick through pages to check) may not always translate. So it needs to be pretty clear on the surface what you’re exactly talking about.

So if you’re working on a website, please don’t make me think when I come to your homepage or navigation. Unless it’s in a reasonable way.

PS: For a fun look at some left brain versus right brain navigation, check out the Sydney Film Festival’s website this year. It caters to both groups in both a traditional and cheeky way. Very reasonable to me!