Blogs very confusing - survey says
Catalyst Group Design's recent study on the usability of blogs revealed that:
Blogs are confusing, even to experienced Internet users.
I get this because I used to do a lot of User Interface design and testing. I don't think many bloggers get this at all. We tend to think various blog elements are obvious and intuitive, but we're collectively VERY wrong.
The Catalyst Group took a group of moderately experienced Internet users and showed them a representative blog (all blogs pretty much look the same, regardless of what tool is used to create/maintain them). These users spent 10+ hours on the Internet weekly in addition to reading email. They either didn't knowingly read blogs or did so infrequently.
The Catalyst Group's testing methodology is well done and appropriate.
Findings:
By the way, this is a blog!
Blogs are confusing, even to experienced Internet users.
I get this because I used to do a lot of User Interface design and testing. I don't think many bloggers get this at all. We tend to think various blog elements are obvious and intuitive, but we're collectively VERY wrong.
The Catalyst Group took a group of moderately experienced Internet users and showed them a representative blog (all blogs pretty much look the same, regardless of what tool is used to create/maintain them). These users spent 10+ hours on the Internet weekly in addition to reading email. They either didn't knowingly read blogs or did so infrequently.
The Catalyst Group's testing methodology is well done and appropriate.
Findings:
- Users can't tell a blog from an ordinary website
- Comments were understandable yet confusing
- RSS is far from mainstream
- Blogs confuse ordinary people, even the Internet experienced
- Quite frankly, Blog User Interfaces Suck
By the way, this is a blog!
posted by Ted Demopoulos at 7:36 AM
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