Re: Design Theory open space

Vars Diane E NUWCDIVNPT <VarsDE(at)Npt.NUWC.Navy.Mil> wrote:
>I am a tech writer with twenty years experience in design (print media).
>When I began designing web pages a couple of years ago, I was a strong
>proponent of white space, readability and not putting too much information
>on one page (or screen view).  I was using the same principles I had
learned
>from designing high quality brochures, magazines and other publications.

I don't quite have 20 years' experience, but I have also made the move from
writing paper documents to writing on-line documents. It quickly becomes
obvious that you can't apply the same rules to both. But neither should you
discard your paper-based rules., You just have to... "moderate" them a
little...

I constantly struggle with the issue of how much information to put on a
single screen. I would never include as much white space as I would on
paper, because screen real-estate is too valuable. But I think that white
space and typeface variation, in moderation, are still valid tools.

> Recent usability studies (by UIE )have made some very
>interesting discoveries about the use of white space on web sites.  For
>example, a usability study of randomly-selected web sites ranked by density
>(least white space vs. most white space on the page) found that users were
>less successful finding information on web sites that had more white space.

It isn't density of text that matters, it's "immediacy" of text. I have
found that users don't like to scroll. If they are hunting for a specific
item, they "scan and click". If use of white space pushes important
information out of the immediately visible window space, many users won't
take the time to scroll and look for it. They will click the first
"interesting" link they see and carry on surfing.

>On sites with more white space, the users were less satisfied with:
ability
>to find things, readability, ease of use and overall appearance of the
site!
>The more white space, the more the users said the site is complicated,
>over-detailed, visually confusing, not clear, and not enticing!

I find this surprising. I would be interested is seeing what the test sites
were like. I can't believe that users like dense, cramped, unbroken text
blocks. Perhaps there were other factors which lead to the "white-spaced"
pages being disliked? Such as the scrolling  I mentioned above, or simply
the fact that the white space was not used well?

>much hassle.  I have found on the Intranet that I work on that people like
>to see as much information as possible up front - on the first page of the
>site - like an index.  If you are seriously looking for information, the
>first place to go to is an index because it is the quickest way to locate
>your topic.  It also gives you a quick overall view of the contents of the
>web site, a mental picture of what the site is about.


This is certainly true, but this is no different to a printed document. The
first thing most readers will do with a new book is look at the table of
contents. I guess that's why it's always at the front? ;-)

(uh-oh... let a smiley creep in there... better finish quick...)


--
David Meadows [ Technical Writer | Information Developer ]
DNRC Minister for Littorasy * david(at)heroes.force9.co.uk
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it!
 Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." --Goethe

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