The folks at the CoFactors blog recently conducted a blog usability study. Titled “Net Rage: A Study of Blogs and Usability,” it takes a look at the relationship between blog design standards and user adoption. Download the PDF here.
The overall finding was that the design of current blogs does little to serve their constituents and can even inspire what one survey participant called “net rage.”
Many survey participants did not realize they were viewing a blog and expressed suprised when told what they were reading. Some of their reactions are pretty priceless:
- I would have to take your word for it. I am surprised if I am on a blog.
- I would be annoyed if I was reading this and then later realized, oh, this is a freakin’ blog. Wow. Ok.
- I would have to take your word for it. I am surprised if I am on a blog.
Section 4.2 has some great points to keep in mind for anyone tasked with designing a blog. Here are a few highlights:
- Assume nothing: Classic blog indicators, such as authorial photos, short-form writing, or the presence of categories and archives, are not signifiers for mainstream web user
- Tell them why to comment:The core purpose of submitting comments to a blog is not universally understood, and the design of the comment function may have to take this better into account
- Mommy, what’s an RSS?: RSS terminology and mechanisms are powerful – but currently also not easily understood. Without a call to action and perhaps an explicit assurance, most people will ignore even brightly-marked XML buttons.
All in all a great study, and one more interesting than the dime-a-dozen efforts by what Rocky Lewis refers to as SEM companies with deep pockets, studies which utilize “stats that confirm what we all know – people use search engines to buy things.”
Corante has more.
