The debate this week at Web Review is whether graphic design matters
in terms of usability on the Web.

I start off by presenting some of Jared Spool's results from his user
testing of 9 Web sites. One of his findings is that the graphics did
not appear to help users find what they were looking for.

Jennifer Fleming offers a counterpoint with examples where graphics
can provide a visual hierarchy to improve usability.

So, what's really happening? Is the current state of graphic design on
the Web just so bad that the benefits are hard to see? Are bandwidth
limitations making it impossible to use graphics well? Was Jared's study
flawed? Does anyone really have a clue what is going on?

Join the debate. Web Review is at <http://www.webreview.com/> and the
feature introduction is at

<http://www.webreview.com/97/07/25/feature/index.html>.


Keith

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Keith Instone           [log in to unmask]
Usable Web            (419) 823-3319 or -1036
PO Box 7411           Bowling Green, OH 43403
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