Articles

Jakob Nielsen

Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., is a retired principal and co-founder (with Dr. Donald A. Norman) of the Nielsen Norman Group. Jakob established the "discount usability engineering" movement for fast and cheap improvements of user interfaces and invented the heuristic evaluation method.

Articles and Videos

  • When Bad Design Elements Become the Standard

    Anything done by more than 90% of big sites becomes a de-facto design standard that must be followed unless an alternative design achieves 100% increased usability.

  • Beyond.com: Usability Review

    Beyond sells software online - some downloadable and some on hard media. Good search, good disclosure of S&H, less useful shopping guides.

  • Graceful Degradation of Scalable Internet Services

    Specialized Internet applications will return to provide richer UIs than are possible in browsers, but browsers will remain and new, smaller devices will arise, so content and features must work across three levels of sophistication. WAP will fail.

  • Prioritize: Good Content Bubbles to the Top

    If everything is emphasized, then nothing stands out. Prioritized design helps users focus on the most promising choices first.

  • 10 Good Deeds in Web Design

    Ten design elements that would increase the usability of virtually all websites if only they were employed more widely.

  • User-Supportive Internet Architecture

    The basic ideology of the Internet is bit transport; we need a utility-focused human-centered ideology for its fundamental architecture and protocols.

  • Reputation Managers are Happening

    Epinions and Google join eBay in maintaining independent ratings of the quality of products, websites, and auction sellers, leading to better customer service and helping users make informed buying decisions.

  • Do Interface Standards Stifle Design Creativity?

    Standards ensure a consistent vocabulary, but don't limit designers' freedom (and responsibility) in deeper design issues. Also: Guidelines for writing design standards.

  • Video and Streaming Media

    Most streaming video is useless; instead use higher-quality downloadable clips and short segments that can be chosen from a menu. All multimedia needs plain-page previews.

  • Metcalfe's Law in Reverse

    Partitioning the Web into N unlinked or otherwise isolated parts will reduce its overall value by a factor of N. A proprietary AOL instant messaging system will be worth only 4% of the full potential, and 1/3 will be completely lost.