Theo Mandel's Usability Blog» Search Engine Optimization

Mandel presentes “Golden Rules of Usable Web Design” at Direct Marketing Association Conference

Theo Mandel, Ph.D. — Sun, 23 May 2010 20:58:02 +0000

Theo Mandel, Ph.D. presented a session at Rocky Mountain Direct Marketing Association’s (RMDMA) Direct Marketing Day conference in Denver on May 19, 2010. The session was titled, “The Golden Rules of Usable Web Design.”

Each year, the Rocky Mountain Direct Marketing Association hosts DM DAY, the region’s most comprehensive, best-attended direct-marketing event. The 2010 event was no exception, presenting a full day of authoritative speakers, timely seminars and substantive workshops that addressed the wide range of skills and expertise direct marketers need to stay competitive. Visit the Conference Website.

Mandel created a webpage for session attendees, providing links and materials, including the presentation, the “Golden Rules” chapter of his book, and charts and checklists for reviewing your websites. Visit the Golden Rules of Usable Web Design webpage.

Google Releases News-Reading Service

Theo Mandel, Ph.D. — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:37:08 +0000

Google, long seen as an enemy by many in the news industry, is making a bold attempt to be seen as a friend with a new service it hopes will make it easier for readers to read newspaper and magazine articles.

On September 14, 2009, the company introduced an experimental news hub called Fast Flip that allows users to view news articles from dozens of major publishers and flip through them as quickly as they would the pages of a magazine. Google will place ads around the news articles and share resulting revenue with publishers.

Read New York Times article
Google fast flip Website

101 Five-Minute Fixes to Incrementally Improve Your Web Site

Theo Mandel, Ph.D. — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:56:52 +0000

More advice about improving the design and usability of your website. Major categories include:

Copywriting
Usability
Search Engine Optimization
Accessibility
Design
Legal

View the article

Web Search Design: Interview with Larry Cornett, Yahoo Director of User Experience Design

Theo Mandel, Ph.D. — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:12:06 +0000

Larry Cornett, the relatively new Director of User Experience Design at Yahoo and Kathryn Kelly, Director of PR for Yahoo! Search, speak with Gord Hotchkiss of Search Engine Land.

Read the interview here.

Gord asked Larry and Catherine about the Yahoo search experience and how their own internal usability testing has led to the design and the experience we see today. Further he asked them about their plans for the future and what their strategy is for differentiating themselves from the competition, namely Microsoft and Google.

Eye-Tracking Report: Google, MSN and Yahoo! Compared

Hotchkiss conducted eye-movement research on the major search engines. He concludes:

“In the study we found Yahoo emphasized the top sponsored results more than either Microsoft or Google. They showed top sponsored results for more searches and devoted more real estate to them. This had the effect of giving Yahoo! the highest percentage of click throughs on top sponsored, but on first visits only. On subsequent visits the click through rate on these top sponsored ads dropped to a rate lower than what was found on Google or Microsoft.”

Read a sample of the report they sell at Enquiro.