Archive for April, 2008

Recently dilbert.com has updated their site introducing a new design, structure and functionality.  The site makes use of some very innovative user generated content, such as mash ups an area where users can suggest new punchlines and vote for the best ones.

User generated content can have several advantages, it involves users in the site, means content is frequently changing and can encourage users to promote the site to others.  However, it also has a down side in that it can provide the opportunity for those dissatisfied with your brand, site or actions to speak out.

Chevy discovered the negatives of user generated content when they tried to get people to create their own adverts for the Tahoe using video clips and music they had created. People used the clips to bash Chevy and the fuel economy of there vehicles. Although not as extreme, users could be seen using the mash up functionality to criticize the site this week.

A user has used the cartoon above to post the message “Who cares about mash ups? All we want is a simple fast web site to read Dilbert! This new site sucks. Bring back the old web site!!”.

It isn’t uncommon for site redesigns to have some negative responses even if improvements are for the better. Regular users get use to where content is and the design and are put off by change. This is one of the reasons why it is important to manage change, informing users what’s happening, introducing ways to feedback and when possible making incremental changes.

This comment also highlights an important point, just because there is extra web 2.0 features does not mean users are willing to put up with poor performance on key functionality. Why it was decided to display the cartoons on the home page within a flash area is incomprehencible when an image would do much the same job more efficiently. The use of the ‘beta’ will also do little to appease users when they had a perfectly good site before.

While look for more information on Crazy Egg, a great sevice that produces images showing user activity on a web page, I came across an article on Ask the CSS Guy on creating integrated forms.  It explains how to creates a table displaying features associated with different pricing options that when one is selected  a sign up form is displayed.  The page works with javascript turned off as it takes the user to a separate page when this is the case.  However, there may still be some accessibility issues as not all speach browser users disable javascript and they may not be aware of the appearance of the form. The example would also be improved if it did not show the option button once it is selected. Still a very interesting technique and great tutorial.

Creating a table with dynamically highlighted columns like Crazy Egg’s pricing table