cre8d design

This morning, I wanted to unsubscribe from a monthly email newsletter that no longer interests me. At the bottom of their graphics-heavy newsletter was the following (actual size):

I’ve included in there some Gmail links just to show you how unreadable that tiny grey aliased text is. (I’ve blurred out the website’s name in the middle.) Since it was an image, I couldn’t resize it to make it easier to read. There was also no quick link to unsubscribe (which is the ideal way) nor a link to the part of the site I needed to go to.

The instructions didn’t work either. Seems they have changed their website’s CMS and there was no option to turn off the newletters. All I could do was “un-activate” (since when did that become a word?).

Oh, and one final frustrating point? The layout was completely unreadable in Firefox and I had to completely update my profile before being allowed to cancel anything:

I know they don’t want to lose customers but if your exit experience is a bad one, that’s the last experience you’re going to remember and tell other people about.

I’m experiencing this now in an offline context as well. I’ve been trying to cancel an account for over three weeks with a company. I’ve made over a dozen phone calls, spent far too long on hold and got nowhere so far.

Back to websites, it’s a good idea to test any unsubscribing feature on your websites and check that the instructions are updated if the site is too!

Jakob Nielsen released some blog usability tips in October 2005 and said that the biggest usability problem of blogs is that it’s hard for new readers to understand your site and trust you. To get around this he suggests:

• About me page with a photo of yourself to help your credibility and create a connection
• Descriptive post titles – even more important for RSS readers
• Linking the right words so people know where they’re going
• Highlight earlier popular posts and link back to them in later posts (few people will have read all your blog posts)
• Categorise posts
• Stick to a regular publishing schedule
• Keep blog posts to a narrow topic field – or establish multiple blogs if needed
• Use your own domain name – it looks more professional

Catalyst Design Group published a report in July 2005 on blog usability for the mainstream internet audience. Suggestions after usability testing with people who were unfamiliar with blogs included:

• Make it clear (on archive pages as well as main pages) that the site is a blog
• Make it clear about exactly what happens when you submit a comment – whether all comments are moderated or will appear immediately etc.
• Explain what RSS/XML is – be aware of any language used on your site which may sound technical or foreign to non-bloggers (e.g. permalink, trackbacks)

Fireant Gazette has some further suggestions:

• Make the font size large enough to be read comfortably
• Don’t make the post width too wide – it’ll be harder to read
• Dark text on white background is generally the most preferrable combination

Pretty basic advice, but when you’ve been blogging for three and a bit years, it’s easy to forget how much you’ve learnt about the blogging world and what it’s like for a non-blogger discovering your blog for the first time. It’s a good reminder to check the language you’re using (not necessarily in your posts, but around them).
One of the main things that bother me about many blogs are their sidebars – they can be incredibly cluttered and confusing. Consider moving some of the things on your sidebars (like blogrolls, favourite books/music) to separate pages (links, about me).