A really simple metric for measuring User Interfaces
– posted May 25th, 2007 by Des Traynor Comments (19) for A really simple metric for measuring User Interfaces
Here is a simple pre-launch check you should do on all your web applications. It only takes about 5 seconds and one screeshot
Q: “What percentage of your interface contains stuff that your customers want to see?”
- 10%
- 25%
- 100%
If you answer a, or b then you might do well, but you'll probably get blown out of the water once someone decides to enter the market with option c.
Eoghan Mc Cabe recently posted his thoughts on how Google is becoming the web. I agree with Eoghan, however I'd still take Googles web over any of their competitors. Let's assume for a second that someone does trip over a power cord in Mountain View, and as a result we're all desperate for another web service provider. Who else is providing Mail, Calendar, etc? How many other service providers actually provide you with the stuff YOU want to see…
The two most obvious candidates are Yahoo! Mail and HotMail. Lets have a look at the user experience provided by Yahoo! and Microsoft respectively.
Do you Yahoo!
Now lets gray out everything that someone wanting to read their email actually cares about.
Wow, Yahoo! seem to really value your eyeballs and mouseclicks, but thats about it. Can the Microsoft Hotmail Live Experience do any better?
There is a lot going on there, how much of that is actual content?
For shame! Both of them are quite weak. If I have 2 new emails, Show me, don't just tell me. As if I am logging in just to check the number of unread emails.
In comparison here is a GMail screenshot of the homepage, with the content that isn't relevant to me grayed out. (The blacked out bits are peoples email addresses which I don't want to publicise)
It makes me wonder if Yahoo or Microsoft were ever to design a web stats application, would they have the insight to hire someone of the calibre of Jeff Veen, and would they realise the UI benefits of prioritising your customers goals over your business goals. Or would they just have created this…
Lars conclusion …
“Put the user experience (and not advertising revenue) at the forefront of your UI efforts and the people will flock to you.”
19 comments so far
1. Brian Donohue on May 29th, 2007 - 6:38PM
Interesting post! In fairness, Gmail does sometimes post sponsored links just above the inbox (where RSS feed excerpts usually go). What's clever about that is by making that area sometimes relevant and sometimes ad-based, it means I actually look at it. If it was always sponsored links, I'd just ignore it. Also, the very top line of the interface is effectively Google promotional bits. Despite their low visual weight (relative to Yahoo promos), I actually notice those pieces. I wonder how many people actually noticed the New Bigger Downloads link at the top that they ran for a short while.
2. Des Traynor on May 29th, 2007 - 6:51PM
D'oh, I hadn't even seen them. I guess that re-inforces the point though. Even when they advertise it doesn't get in the way, it actually feels like part of the application.
I did notice the "New Bigger Downloads" but never clicked it. I thought it was pretty self explanatory :) I'd still say that information like that is something that the user might want to see. Moreso than a Smirnoff promotion anyways.
3. lb on May 30th, 2007 - 11:14AM
Excellent analysis Des.
So much annoyance at live mail at (all) yahoo sites.
Yet they continue to rank well. I guess most people aren't willing to move away.
4. Eoghan McCabe on May 30th, 2007 - 6:09PM
Haha. Love the Yahoo! Analytics mockup.
But let me play devil's advocate for a second: regardless of which mail app has the most usable, responsible, respectful interface, I bet Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail make a lot more revenue per customer than GMail (yes, by showing it's users stuff they don't really want to see). I wonder can web usability and web advertising ever be friends? As far as I'm concerned, a usable interface has nothing more than I need. When do I ever need ads?
5. Lar on May 31st, 2007 - 9:47AM
@Eoghan: when do we need ads? I think we need them all the time. How else would make an informed choice on what products we should buy ;)
6. Des Traynor on May 31st, 2007 - 10:13AM
It's an interesting point Eoghan. I agree that it's probably that MSN and Yahoo! are making far more money of their applications than GMail, but it's a slippery slope.
Their users have already started jumping ship which means their revenue will soon follow, which means the only way to keep the revenue is to
1. Use More Adverts
or
2. Offer users an incentive to stay with or move to Yahoo!/MSN.
Unfortunately the main incentive to change email providers seems to be the user experience, so it will be difficult to achieve #2.
And #1 isn't a great option as adding more adverts will just speed the customer exodus.
7. Kevin Cannon on May 31st, 2007 - 5:19PM
I don't think it's a great metric, because it's overly simplistic, and ignores the design of the UI.
A good designer could have 25% of useless crap but put it in the proper context of the page or application so that while it takes up a large area, does not infringe on the interface.
A bad designer could have 10% of the useless crap and have in badly laid out.
So, by all means use it as a metric, but realise that it's a poor one. It might be useful for presentations, but that's about all.
8. Kevin Cannon on May 31st, 2007 - 5:24PM
An Eoghan, you're point regarding usability vs advertising is an interesting point.
You could look at them as rivals, but as people creating webpages it's probably less of an issue. We're creating sites and applications that the client wants, and we address their goals.
If it's an email application, then their goal might be to build a user-base and make a little bit of money. In that situation less ads would be important, whereas later on more ads might be necessary.
Similarly, if a company found it was losing market share, reducing ads might be the order of the day.
Essentially, advertising, usability, colours are all tools to meet a clients brief. The important thing is to find out what that is.
9. Des Traynor on May 31st, 2007 - 5:35PM
Okay, obviously it wasn't meant to be taken *that* seriously. It's more of an observation than it is a scientific metric from which all can be judged.
Of course a great a great designer could work with a constraint such as "40% of the home page is reserved for external advertising", and still develop a usable application where as a terrible designer under no such constraint would do far worse. There is nothing shocking about that, great people can do great work, and terrible people can only do terrible work.
It is a general rule that successful interfaces prioritise relevant content. People aren't flocking to Google because of the lack of advertisements, most of the is covered in advertisements, GMail even bases them on the email you're reading. People are using GMail because the visual priority is given almost entirely to the information that people want, in this case their inbox.
10. Blake Householder on June 17th, 2007 - 7:03PM
I found the exact same problem with computerworld.com's news reporting (it sucks) http://www.blake8086.com/blog/?p=19
11. Krishna Kumar on September 6th, 2007 - 4:39PM
Seems like you are comparing apples to oranges. You should actually be using the Inbox screen of Yahoo! and Hotmail screen, not their start screen. Yahoo! now allows you to hide the right ad section too.
12. Des Traynor on September 6th, 2007 - 5:58PM
The point Krishna is that Yahoo! and Hotmail use a start screen!
Who the hell wants a start screen?
As I said in the article, I'm not logging to check the count of unread messages. I'm logging in to READ the unread messages. I don't care about the weather, who is challenging on survivor, nor do I want to join Yahoo! singles. It's all bullshit content.
It's great that Yahoo! allows the customers to hide the right hand side, but realistically the default screen shouldn't show irrelevant content.
13. Colin Bay on September 13th, 2007 - 3:59PM
Dead on. As a regular user of both Gmail and Y!Mail, I've been endlessly annoyed by Y!'s refusal to just show me my inbox. Duh!
To be fair, in the Gmail shot you should have grayed out the whole line with the Forbes.com link, which is not important to someone wanting to read their mail.
14. Stacia on September 13th, 2007 - 4:30PM
I agree with Kevin Cannon--it all depends on the design. Google and Yahoo will die if they get rid of ads. It's their bread and butter. So, obviously, options b and c are not really options for them. However, Google does a good job with using only text ads and placing them in non-obtrusive places. Yahoo is bad at this.
I also want to point out that Des isn't counting the folders as content users care about. That seems wrong to me. If they need something in another folder, or they are actually organized humans, these are very necessary tools.
15. matt on September 13th, 2007 - 5:30PM
>@Eoghan: when do we need ads?
>I think we need them all the time. How else would make an informed choice on what products we should buy ;)
Do you really believe that reading/watching ads allow one to make an "informed" choice???
16. Lar on September 13th, 2007 - 5:45PM
@matt No I don't, hence the wink and smirk at Eoghan.
We don't need them but we're still hugely influenced by them.
Why do we buy branded washing powder instead of the supermarket's own brand?
Perception of quality and brand affinity informed by advertising.
17. AL on September 16th, 2007 - 6:07PM
I hate Yahoo and Live Mail for all the ads they shove in my face. That's why I'm never going to take them seriously for my email needs. God bless Google for having enough intelligence and consideration to show relevant ads in the least obtrusive way possible.
18. Brian on September 22nd, 2007 - 8:20AM
Hotmail now (finally) allows going directly into your inbox. It's buried in: Options >> More Options >> Today page settings.
Then check the Skip the Today page and take me straight to my inbox.
19. Jumpinj on October 28th, 2007 - 5:57PM
Hello to everyone,
From my own experience - G-mail nails the concept of adverts v usability design, whereas Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail while they make more money they do not focus enough on the issue of customer loyalty.
Leading from that I have concluded that:
A. Clients who want a lot of advertising included in their websites, should be persuaded against.
B. SOME adverts can be placed cleverly - i refer to the example given relating to Google switching sections between user related content and adverts.
C. It should be up to customer to pit the advertising companies against one another to get the most out available advertising slots.
I do however wonder that if by persuading customers to work in this sort of manner should i be bold enough to push for the advertising of my web design services on the websites i develop, and do designers agree with self publicity or not?
Jumpin' J