Gemma celebrates web 2.Ooooh

• Tagging
• Standards-based approaches
• The web 2.0 look
• Re-written URLs
• AJAX

Below is my response to the client. Now, given that I’m an account manager rather than a developer, my ‘web 2.0 for dummies ‘ grasp of all of the above might not be the best  so I welcome any corrections/suggestions (albeit a bit late from the client’s perspective):

The main trends and changes seen over the web this past year have been centered on the idea of “Web 2.0” with the technologies developed under that umbrella all solely aimed at improving user experience.

Below are a few of the most pertinent themes raised:

1. Tagging

Web 2.0, has focused very much on user-generated content, and tagging has been a direct result. Tags are categories applied to content added by the user, and as such are used to catalog the information. Many 2.0 sites now have their information architecture built by the user this way, for example search for ‘beach’ at Flickr.com (a picture site) and find holiday snapshots ‘tagged’ i.e. labeled as such by the photographer. Typing ‘beach’ at online bookmark storage site del.ici.ous returns a list of beach related sites (such as directions to long beach, California) again labeled with that word by users.

Relating specifically to ecommerce, Amazon is looking to implement tagging to further consolidate its position as the place to find customer reviews of products.

 

2. Standard-based approaches

For many of our recent usability tests for ecommerce/online booking sites, we’ve been increasingly asked about how the site’s usability and accessibility rate against web standards.

Whilst there aren’t any specific legal requirements in place for usability, many clients are asking to be tested against W3C guidelines. As such there seems to be a definite move away from using hackneyed code ‘fixes’ to ensure a site loads fast, works in different browsers etc, in favour of clean code that validates, in order to claim w3c compliancy.

This is particularly important when our clients are putting together their sites’ accessibility statements. We do however, stress that often a site that is highly accessible can infact render itself more unusable, but we certainly recommend a fair balance!

 

3. The web 2.0 look

Following on from the creation of web 2.0 technologies (such as AJAX), a specific web 2.0 ‘look’ has become popular. The rules of this seem to be rounded shapes, shades, sans serif text, footers, buttons, oversized fonts and descriptive html (to ensure web standards compliance). The ‘old’ style of visible tables, over use of flash & java applets are going the way of the ark. Examples of the 2.0 look (which many sites are slowly starting to incorporate) include:

http://www.flickr.com/
http://www.technorati.com/
http://www.digg.com/
http://www.yousendit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.read.io/

 

4. Re-written URLs

Due to web 2.0’s concentration on improving user experience, rewritten URL’s are a must. Currently the web is full of cumbersome, non-intuitive URLs which aren’t particularly search engine friendly (let alone human-friendly), for example:

http://www.myshop.co.uk/index.hmtl?this=1&that=3&yadayadayadayada_meaningless_stuff_here

As websites grow in both size and complexity the ability to navigate via user-friendly urls is becoming increasingly crucial. Well thought out URLS are often much shorter so are easier to remember and type and because they’re intuitive the link can be included in other mediums (such as in print). Also, if the user encounters a broken link, they have a much better chance of following the format to find a working page.

So, for the above, the rewritten URL could be:

http://www.myshop.co.uk/bathroom/towels

 

5. AJAX

AJAX (aka Asynchronous Javascript & XML), as mentioned above, is the technology behind many web 2.0 applications. It allows web pages to feel more responsive by allowing the user to make a change on a web page without the rest of the page having to reload. This is intended to increase the page’s interactivity, speed and usability.

This has particular implications for registration forms & checkouts. Rather than wait for the user to fill out all of the form and hit submit, instead the page can validate each field, such as the email address, as soon as the user tabs off to fill in the next.

Where shopping baskets are concerned, drag-n-drop functionality is also now available – a demo of which can be seen at http://demo.script.aculo.us/shop.

Yet another example of the benefit of AJAX from an ecommerce perspective is the potential for a prompted search box that instantly lists all the matching brands and product categories as soon as the customer begins to enter text in the search box – similar to  ‘Google Suggests’.

 

In other News

Given that it’s almost midnight today’s ‘other news’ link might seem like an exercise in futility, but it’s worth a shot: How to become an early riser.

Go to bed only when sleepy, eh? Hmm.