

Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines - cwan
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/24/10-useful-usability-findings-and-guidelines/

======
patio11
Has anyone tested any of these? I'll show you mine if you show me yours -- A/B
tests, that is.

Off the top of my head: blue links _beat the stuffing_ out of "designer
friendly" links back on my old site. I'd be astonished if I still had the
numbers anywhere, since I don't remember blogging about it and it was over two
years ago.

I don't have an A/B test to show you this, but trust two years of look at
CrazyEgg: it is absolutely, positively, undeniably true that user engagement
is centered above the fold. If your call to action isn't already above the
fold, put it there, watch as you get extra free conversions. (Incidentally, I
put a couple of them through the copy on my home page, on the theory "Why make
people scroll back up if they've read to the bottom?" Every time I add a
button, the total conversion rate increases.)

~~~
tokenadult
_Off the top of my head: blue links beat the stuffing out of "designer
friendly" links back on my old site._

That's an interesting statement. That's what I would expect, on the basis of
consistency with the behavior of other sites. What is the experience of other
HN readers? Have you ever done a test of link colors?

------
jessep
Good article. Many points come from usability guru Jakob Nielson:
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox>

Edit: Reading through Nielson's site again after a long time, I recommend it
highly. I think the article about paper prototyping is particularly useful:
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030414.html>

------
joez
Great post. I never thought about the direction of people's faces but I wonder
if this had anything to do with the fact that it was a (cute) baby. What
happens if your website does not deal in babies? But I bet the same thing
applies if you have a mascot. Have their face point in the direction of where
you want attention. And even if you don't have a mascot, just insert random
cute puppy or kitten and have it face your text/product.

