Here’s a crafty idea: paper prototypes for web sites. I stumbled on a few links at UIE.com about paper prototyping that span 10 years. It seems to have some staying power.
I’ve done some of this on an informal basis, but these guys are really into it. Has anyone out there gone through these sorts of exercises? What are your thoughts?
Building an e-commerce site? Want to figure out what features to focus on? Jakob Nielsen has a quick Top 10 list for “high profit redesign priorities,” backed up by a rather shocking amount of research on the subject. Granted, you’ll have to pay for the in depth reports, but the summary is free.
- E-Mail Newsletters
- Informative Product Pages
- High Quality Photography
- Product Differentiation and Comparison
- Support for Reordering
- Simplified Text
- Catering to Seniors
- Gift Giving Support
- User Testing
Read s’more …
The Nielsen Norman Group just released their 373 page report on the 10 best intranets.
This is a particularly interesting subject, especially for web oriented startups. Why? Big businesses are always looking for better ways to connect their employees with the right resources, and are starting to spend a considerable amount of money on web based tools to make that happen. It’s no small task, but if you have a great idea and you’re willing to take on “enterprise” level support and sales processes, there’s a substantial opportunity out there.
Anyhow, Jakob Nielsen has posted a convenient overview of the report on useit.com, but for those of you who want the really quick stuff:
- American Electric Power (AEP), United States
- Comcast, United States
- DaimlerChrysler AG, Germany
- The Dow Chemical Company, United States
- Infosys Technologies Limited, India
- JPMorgan Chase & Co., United States
- Microsoft Corporation, United States
- National Geographic Society, United States
- The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), United Kingdom
- Volvo Group, Sweden
Kudos.
Found in the OmniPlan manual:
Heh.
