WebWord.com Newsletter Issue #49

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ISSUE #49
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                WebWord.com Newsletter
           "Technology. Humans. Experience"
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                 Newsletter Editor
                   John S. Rhodes 
                     John@webword.com
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August 20, 2000                     Newsletter #49
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Table of Contents

1. The WebWord Redesign Drama
2. Inside Logicept
3. Money Makes the Web Go Round
4. Web Site Accessibility -- Part One
5. A Note About Diablo II
6. Website Enhancements (Event)

        
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ITEM #1

The WebWord Redesign Drama

Well, it has been about 6 weeks since the last WebWord
Newsletter. You might think that we have been taking 
it easy this summer in light of this, but in fact, we
have been extremely busy! We finished our work with 
Women.com and 24k.com for example. I can't divulge any 
numbers, but the results are in for Women.com; the 
web usability research we did for them had a huge 
impact. We'll know more about 24k.com in a couple of 
months. 

For the last two months we've been working to get 
WebWord.com running on Slash, the code that powers the
popular geek site Slashdot. Things were going well at 
first but then the problems started mounting. To make
a long and painful story short, we are still using the
Slash code to power WebWord but we are desperately 
trying to return our site to the way it was. The 
amazing thing is that WebWord readers don't really 
care about the functionality we gained with the Slash
code (i.e., personalization, nightly emails, polls,
and a discussion area for each message). Part of the 
reason people don't care is because some of the 
functionality doesn't work and creating an account 
only works part of the time. Still, the feedback we
received indicated that people really only want to use 
WebWord for its news and fresh content. They don't want
anything fancy. They don't need anything fancy. We also
had a lot of complaints about the colors for the site 
(too much black and white). That's life.

Now you might say that this was a miserable experience.
However, this was really great for us. We love to learn
about our readers and users. We love to fail. It is a
great way to learn. The cost is high when failure 
occurs, but the payback is higher. We will also be more
careful in the future and we will be sure to do a better
job testing before we launch anything. Several lessons
were learned here.

Note: If you visit WebWord.com in the next few days,
you will still see the redesigned site. We're still
working to get the site back to "normal" for you. 
Thanks for being patient with us!



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ITEM #2

A new WebWord.com interview is now online:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/rubenstein.html

"Inside Logicept"

I spoke with Mr. Jaron Rubenstein at the end of July
about Logicept, his technology development company. 
They focus on building database driven web sites, 
mobile solutions, and a whole lot more. In his interview
I ask him several questions about usability and web
applications. We also hit on some mobile technology
and content management questions. It's good stuff.

You can read the interview here:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/rubenstein.html



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ITEM #3

A new WebWord.com article is now online:
--> http://webword.com/moving/berk003.html

"Money Makes the Web Go Round"

This is the third article for WebWord by David Berkowitz.
In this article he talks about Jeff Bezos, Janet Reno, 
and Bill Gates. Along with a few other folks. His focus
is on affiliate programs for the most part, along with
some Berkowitz charm and wit. 

You can read the interview here:
--> http://webword.com/moving/berk003.html


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ITEM #4

A new WebWord.com article is now online:
--> http://webword.com/moving/tang001.html

"Web Site Accessibility -- Part One"

In this article, Beth Tang tells us why we need to care
about accessibility. Good content, good design, and 
good code is not enough. You really need to care about
users and their abilities. Overall this is a pretty 
good introduction to the topic of accessibility. 

You can read the interview here:
--> http://webword.com/moving/tang001.html


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ITEM #5

A Note About Diablo II

Last week I decided to buy Diablo II. I played and 
played and played every night. I was up way too late
and it really burned me out. But it was addictive and
very, very fun. I've not played any games in a long
time. In fact, I probably don't play enough. My fun
time is often used up reading about usability and web
design. 

In any event, I was going to tell you that the game was
really great. After all, there are 5 types of characters
to choose from, you can play with others over the web
for free, the controls are great, the graphics rock, 
and it is generally a wonderful gaming experience. But,
one thing really ticked me off today. Big time! I went
into a "portal" area and was whisked off to another
"realm" which did not allow me to return. I lost all
of my best, hard won equipment. I could not return.
My motivation to play is very low now. I worked for 
hours, literally, to earn this equipment and I lost it
because the game violated my expectations. There was no
warning that I would not be able to return to the area
where my best equipment was located. Bah! How frustrating.



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ITEM #7
    
What Can You Find at WebWord.com?

Job Bank
<http://webword.com/services/job_bank.html>

Articles (Moving WebWord)
<http://webword.com/moving/>

Discussion Board
<http://www.vicinities.com/webword/>

Expert Interviews 
<http://webword.com/interviews/> 

Recommended Books
<http://webword.com/books/booksindex.html>

Newsletter Archive
<http://webword.com/archive>

Weblog Archive
<http://www.webword.com/weblog>

Usability Reports 
<http://webword.com/reports>

Recommended Web Sites
<http://webword.com/hotsites.html>

Free Stuff
<http://webword.com/freestuff.html>


---- End of WebWord.com Usability Newsletter #49 ------


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