Comments on: Interview with Web Usability Guru, Jakob Nielsen

By: Smooth Booth

Smooth Booth — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:29:36 +0000

hmm not always agreed with his views but I’m always open to hearing what he has to say.

By: futon

futon — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:12:37 +0000

ok first i wanna say, this is my premier times see Mr Nielsen face
its one of great interview, i have so many lessons from this short interview than from a big text book

By: Wahyu Liz Adaideaja

Wahyu Liz Adaideaja — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:20:22 +0000

as a blogger, we have a community that surrounds and put a much time into their daily activity especially reading and comments. Now, we have twitter and facebook. both make easier for us to spreading our texts.
Also, we got such a lil bussiness with our web or blogs. Since we make it as SEO strategy, it doesn’t matter whether our article read or not, the points of view are contacts and products.
But Nielsen is our Guru, for simple and usable. Simple doesnt mean loss of art, simple means you get it all in a scanning, but impressive.
Good Post.
(from Indonesia)

By: Tony Simpson

Tony Simpson — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:34:02 +0000

I audit many websites whose web designer seems to have focused on creating a good looking website rather than one that is user friendly for visitors or search engines. If a website can not satisfy its primary function which is to be usable and serve a purpose for both the visitors and site owner then I can see little point in a website existing at all.

I agree with many of the points Jakob Neilsen makes in this article, as for whether usability rules should be applied all the time depends to a great degree on the type of website being designed. But even if you don’t apply some of the usabilty rules at least they should be considered during the planning stage and a decision not to abide by them should be for good reasons.

In too many of the website audits I do, it seems as if usability has taken 2nd place to appearance and visual design for no clear or apparent reason.

By: VilkaS

VilkaS — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:59:45 +0000

-”Usability is always relative to two things: who are the users, and what are they trying to accomplish with the UI?
That’s why we can’t just have one recommended design and just replace the logo to create a new site.”-

Is this not the purpose of web standards ?, is this not the lesson that Nielson and his counterparts have been labouring over since the 1970′s in numerous texts and research projects ?
a common navigation design that allowed users to see where they are, see where they were and see where they are going.

This man is trading off a name he made when the internet was a mystery, when gui was green text on a black screen. This man and others like him are charging huge amounts of money to spend the day with a company and impart knowledge that is ten years out of date. It is impossible to challenge the Nielson Norman group even though their founder ignores the information around him because he has not deemed it relevant.

Normal people don’t love sitting at their computers. They’d rather watch football, walk the dog — just about anything else.
Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, September 21, 2009:

IDC has found that Internet is the medium on which US online users spend the most time–32.7 hours per week, almost twice as much as they spend watching television. The data was collected in September and October 2007.

Who then are the normal people that he is talking about?, when users of the internet spend almost as much time online as they do working.
His advice was good in the beginning of web development but he has fallen behind and has nothing new to offer.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:58:33 +0000

Really useful interview, he has definitely seen a lot of changes with usability and really glad the question about breadcrumbs was asked, Thanks!

By: Web Content Writer - Nikki May

Web Content Writer - Nikki May — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:50:37 +0000

I have read a lot of Jakob Nielson’s readings, and I have found them very useful. However, when I first came across his materials in the early stages of my web writing career, I stuggled with understanding some of his concepts.

The core concepts he teaches about web usability are what makes a great website that is valuable to the user and help to take any business’ revenue or general performance to the next level.

A friend of mine told me about this interview, and I enjoyed reading.

Thanks,

Nikki May

By: Delfin

Delfin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:16:06 +0000

Hi jaqes,

I have read the book too. it is very useful. But I am confuse why did you ask that “actually helped me get started in web design”. Don’t you feel while reading the book is it helpful or not.

By: Jaqes

Jaqes — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:31:18 +0000

I agree with alot of what Jacob Neilson has to say regarding usability. I’m a new webdesigner i read his book “Designing Web Usability” is what actually helped me get started in web design.

By: Zeeshan

Zeeshan — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:06:32 +0000

I am a great fan of Jakob Nielsen. VERY good post.