Monday, October 18, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

THE ONLINE GUY: Net guru clocks speed, relates tale of the type

At the tender age of 35, the Internet is maturing nicely, but there is still plenty of room for improvement, one of the gurus of Web design said.

Jakob Nielsen, considered by many to be the authority on Web usability, said that despite the many giant strides made in the past four years, many sites still aren't doing things quite right. The "tyranny of the text" is one problem that plagues many sites, he said during a break at a Web design conference put on by the Nielsen Norman Group (www.nngroup.com) in Las Vegas.

Web sites that lock down the size of the type on pages pose a big problem for many Web surfers, Nielsen, 47, said. Too many sites still don't follow guidelines that suggest font sizes should be adjustable by the viewer.

"People believe in their own vision," Nielsen said. "Too many sites don't understand the breadth of their audience. And too many sites don't do user testing. Many Web users are still using slow computers, and upgrading equipment is a known hassle."

Nielsen said that broadband connectivity has always been overhyped. "There are still people using rotary dial phones. A lot of people don't go out and get new things," he said. "There's a lot of anxiety. People worry about what might break."

Although there are more people in the U.S. using broadband at home than dial-up, Nielsen believes some people will be using the slower connections for 10 more years.

"People overestimate how fast things will change. Human behavior and society are slow-moving creatures," he said. "We're big, humongous animals that turn slowly, but like when a whale makes a turn, you get a big wave."

Broadband users have become accustomed to the "always on" element of the Internet and do what Nielsen calls "information snacking," relying on the Web for information they used to get elsewhere.

Which sites does Nielsen think are doing the best job of serving users? His browser home page is set to Google.com, but he also cited Amazon.com and eBay.com as examples of getting the job done right. "They made their sites very easy, but they can always do better," he said.

Nielsen said he was recently testing a new search engine from Amazon -- A9.com. It combines Google results with images on a single results page, but it was slower than Google, so he switched back to starting at Google because it's "snappier and faster," he said. "Speed is part of the user experience. That second makes Google feel more responsive.

"Many of the mistakes of the '90s have been fixed in the last four years. It's improved a lot. The reason you know this is because they are easy to use. High usability results in a snowball effect." I'll have part two of my interview with Nielsen next week.

Share your Internet story with me at: agibes@reviewjournal.com and be sure to visit The Online Guy Web site (www.reviewjournal.com/columnists/onlineguy)