S8080 Blog

Download the Christmas Cheat Sheet by the incredibly talented Cookie.

Guys and girls versions available.

Inspired.

This Christmas I managed to get everything online or from my local shops in Mumbles, it wasn’t until Wednesday 17th that I decided to get my wine online – Chris said Waitrose were cool so I gave gave them a whirl.

I must admit was impressed – the process just seemed effortless, I didn’t have to think and before I knew it it was all done – which made me think… why was it good?

What I liked:

• It didn’t make me set up a password and an account so it was fast
• It told me why they wanted my email
• It told me how many steps there where and showed my progress
• It told me what the required information was in the standard way
• The next button was obvious (big and colourful) the back button was there but understated
• I didn’t really have to read the forms just a quick scan
• I did the whole order in a few minutes on my laptop in front of the TV one evening

What I didn’t like:

• Having to give my date of birth to prove I was over 18

and yes my wine arrived the next day – hopefully I’ve picked some nice bottles!

When running IA sessions we spend a lot of time talking and analysing the client’s existing web site, exploring the existing information, analysing user goals and then we work out how the information should be cut down, regrouped, made more scanable and easier to read.

During the sessions I often get asked the question “How much do users read online”, I typically answer “not much – the majority of users read as little as possible to achieve their goals & answer their questions … users scan pages rather than reading them from start to finish…”

Jakob Nielson (May 2008) has recently undertaken more testing on how much users read online and found “On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.”

See: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html

So how much of this blog did you read? If you read & remember the bit in bold I’m a happy man and this was worth well writing on a Sunday morning

…the computer, by Ladybird, published in 1971

Revised in 1979…

Via ffffound.com

YouTube has added the option to watch videos in HD.

Any uploaded movies that are wider than 720px will give you the option to watch in High Definition.

Take a look at this…

…and then watch it again making sure you click on the ‘watch in HD’ link.

Be warned, you need a pretty fast connection. If it’s too slow, YouTube won’t even show you the ‘watch in HD’ link.

Bring it on.

We strolled up Carnaby Street last week. Great decorations…

Some of our best illustration work this year…

For Simply Music.

All of us at S8080 wish all of you a very merry Christmas.

A special festive wallpaper for you…

Click here for a large 1280 x 1024 version and then right click on the image and select ‘set as desktop background’. Mac user? You know what to do.

Copyright S8080 2008.

As a dead keen cyclist, this made my morning.

Doesn’t seem to ride too well though.

Via w3sh.com

If you are remotely interested in photography, you have probably visited The Boston Globe’s The Big Picture.

Today, they publish the second of three groups of amazing photographs that capture 2008 through the eyes of photographers… the images are wonderful, stimulating, surprising and disturbing. The more upsetting shots come with a ‘cover’, warning you before you view.

Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

What a world we live in.