Tag Archives: navigation

What difference does colour make?

Posted on 16 September, 2009 by David Hamill

Many organisations limit the success of their websites, purely because their branding guidelines do not provide enough colours for designers to utilise. In this post I’ll show you how a limited colour palette can affect the success of a website. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 30 Comments

Providing contact details

Posted on 15 June, 2009 by David Hamill

So you’ve got a lovely website where your customers can get all sorts of useful information. But sometimes they just want to call you or email you with a question. The approach you take to being contacted can have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Good pathway pages

Posted on 7 April, 2009 by David Hamill

Your website is just a series of inter-linked pages, but some of those pages are very different from others. In this post, I’m going to talk about pathway (or gateway) pages. I want to help you to identify pathway pages … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 24 Comments

Good call-to-action buttons

Posted on 6 April, 2009 by David Hamill

I recently wrote an article for UXBooth about call-to-action buttons. In the article, I discuss the following factors: Prioritisation Language Positioning Colour Size Restraint You’ll need to read the article on the UXBooth website if you want to get access … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Learn to like the Back button

Posted on 26 January, 2009 by David Hamill

We use the Back button all the time, often without noticing. As soon as we realise we’ve taken a wrong turn, we reach for the Back button. However the Back button has long been regarded by web designers as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 5 Comments

Don’t say ‘click here’ on link text

Posted on 19 January, 2009 by David Hamill

You should never need to write ‘click here’ on your links. This post explains the reasons why. Your links should be obvious In a previous post I advised you to let your hyperlinks shine. This is because your links should … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 32 Comments

Easy as 1,2,3?

Posted on 12 January, 2009 by David Hamill

Using 1,2,3 links is often a result of lazy web design. In many cases, it’s the web equivalent of asking your users to rake through bargain bins. They don’t know what’s in each bin, they have to rummage through them … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 27 Comments

Using a:focus in CSS – quick tip

Posted on 22 December, 2008 by David Hamill

In web design, we often automatically think of blind users when we talk about web accessibility. But a lot of disabled users are not blind. Some people will use a keyboard to navigate your site despite being able to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Problems with expanding navigation

Posted on 15 December, 2008 by David Hamill

I think that the commonly used expanding left hand menu is innapropriate for most of the sites it’s used on. In this article I explain why and propose an alternative. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 6 Comments

Let your hyperlinks shine

Posted on 1 December, 2008 by David Hamill

Hyperlinks are what holds the web together. Without links, the web would not be a web. An important part of good web site design is the visual treatment of your hyperlinks. You’ll be doing your users a favour by making … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 9 Comments

What’s in a name?

Posted on 3 November, 2008 by David Hamill

I noticed an advert the other day for Channel 4 Watch online internet catch-up service. It reminded me of a common problem on the web – branding things with names that nobody understands. Channel 4 have done the right thing. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Trigger words versus Customer Carewords

Posted on 25 October, 2008 by David Hamill

I was discussing Gerry McGovern with a friend recently. We both like the way he writes about good web content. However my friend felt that he couldn’t really see a difference between Customer Carewords and Jared Spool’s trigger words. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Being careful with fly-out menus

Posted on 23 October, 2008 by David Hamill

There was a time when I thought fly-out menus were the work of the devil. But I’m a little older now and hopefully a bit wiser too. I’ve seen that they can have some benefits. For example they can certainly … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Sub-headers are navigation

Posted on 22 October, 2008 by David Hamill

Using good sub-headers will help your users find the information they are looking for. It’s like navigation but without the clicking and the cool roll-over effects. Sub-headers help users decide whether to stay Your web pages will not be read … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Trigger images in catch-up TV

Posted on 21 October, 2008 by David Hamill

Many UK TV broadcasters now have catch up TV on their websites. I’ve worked on a few of these projects myself. Images tend to feature heavily in the design of such sites and are usually pretty useful. When you’re looking … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment