Jakob Nielsen, author of the blog Alertbox.
Jakob Nielsen, co-founder of the Nielsen Norman group, after being an engineer at Sun Microsystems. He holds a Ph.D. in human-computer interaction, something I have never heard of before. He writes a blogon web usability, which is what I will be highlighting today.
While reading the post How Users Read on the Web, I was astounded at the fact that 79% of users don’t read webpages- they just scan. My first thought was: I’m currently on a webpage, AND I’M READING EVERYTHING! So, I looked back and thought about whether this is true for all webpages, and I figured it was most likely not. For some reason, I chose to actually read this webpage, instead of scan. Why? Maybe because it was for a graded assignment, maybe it was the fact that it was a short read.
The post E-Mail Newsletters: Increasing Usabilty very much intrigued me, because as part of my job this summer, I had to “revamp” the Ruff Rider Newsletters, as they had previously only been in plain text e-mail format. (Here is an example of the new e-mail newsletter I helped create!)
E-mail newsletters have become an important part of increasing website views, as they draw in more people, and have the ability to reach a large number of individuals with the click of a button. This post highlights the importance of having a recognizable sender and a clear, concise, yet
intriguing subject line. Social networking has also come to compete with informing individuals, but newsletters remain on top- as they provide more information. Mobile availability is also important with the increasing use of smart phones for email and other content. Having the e-mail be viewable on mobile devices, and the webpage compatible for mobile use is extremely important in this day and age.
A good example of a good newsletter is the one I mentioned above (not to brag…). This newsletter meets all the above standards, but its design features are most notable for drawing the reader’s attention. The use of color, images, and different heading and sub-headings help the reader follow the page, and selectively choose what to read.
A poor example of a newsletter is the old Ruff Rider e-mail newsletter.
This plain-text format is not aesthetically pleasing like the previously mentioned newsletter. Simply looking at it is not interesting, and is probably not read by any. Actually, it may not be opened at all, as the sender of the e-mail is from a personal account, not the group that it is supposed to be from, unlike the new and improved e-mail format.
Although newsletters may be overlooked in today’s society as e-mails are increasing and inboxes are more cluttered than ever, these are still an important tool for notifying interested individuals on changes, offers, etc. that a company deems important for public knowledge. Therefore, it is important to understand how to utilize newsletters and to efficiently share information to increase viewership.
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