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Wed, 25 Aug 1999 12:35:04 -0700
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At 08:45 AM 8/25/99 , Peter Merholz wrote:
>I take issue with Don's desire to replace metaphors with explicit
>description. He suggests instead of "shopping cart" to use "list of items
>purchased." Such precise descriptions are fine only if you want your site to
>have no personality whatsoever. In some instances (say, an online
>registration for university classes), no personality is fine.

i also take issue with don's desire, replacing a small shopping cart icon with the words "list of items purchased" is completely unrealistic on the web. it may be a precise description, but it's not succinct and it won't fit in any menu. it may work extremely well as alt tag text for that shopping cart icon, but it's long enough that it's pushing into the "skip over this long text" zone. which puts it back in the "poor usability" category.

good metaphors can be extremely useful in replacing large amounts of descriptive text that a web user doesn't want to, and won't, read. but, the metaphor has to be good, or so well known that it doesn't matter anymore.

>Metaphors aren't bad. But bad metaphors are bad. The problem is when people
>don't distinguish between good and bad metaphors. "Wheelbarrow," for the
>gardening audience, is a good metaphor. It also shows that the store "gets
>it," and that you can trust them 'cause they speak the lingo.

and a store that "gets it" is establishing that emotional hook that attracts the user. the user feels understood.


brig



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