This document is divided into the following categories:
See also the
Web Usability OverSite
Review of Some Web Usability Research Findings
The following is an attempt to gather findings of Web usability tests. The following is just the start. If you know of findings not listed here, please send them (with references to papers) to John Cady.Caveat: Many of the statements below are third-party summaries of the findings, and so it is important to check the references to inspect the methodology, specifics, and circumstances of the findings.
General
"Users consistently praised screens that provided overviews of large information spaces." (1)
"The larger the screen size, the faster a typical web page is browsed." (2)
Search Engines
"Users perform better and have higher subjective satisfaction when they can view
and control the search." (3)
References
1. Nielsen, Jakob (1995). Sun studies of WWW design. (Summary statement made by author.)
2. DiPierro, Chris, and Nachman, George, and Raderman, Brian (1997). Screen Size and Web Browsing, at http://otal.umd.edu/SHORE/. (Summary statement made by authors.)
3. Koenemann, Juergen, and Belkin, Nicholas (1996). A case for interaction: A study of interactive information retrieval behavior and effectiveness. Proc. CHI 96 Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM Press, New York, NY, pp. 205-212. (Summary statement was made by Ben Shneiderman in Designing Information-Abundant Websites: Issues and Recommendations.)