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I really like to read about investing. For an amateur, I have a fair amount of knowledge and I tend to at least match the market. I know all about diversification, portfolio rebalancing, 401(k)’s, index funds, P/E ratios, and so forth. Some friends ask for advice, although not as much as they should. Wink, wink.

I recently finished reading John Mauldin’s most recent newsletter. Here’s the core point that I took away: The stock market is overvalued. The short term outlook is not favorable.

The reason I’m pointing to Mauldin’s newsletter is that I like how he presents complex information. There are many caveats and disclaimers but overall he engages the reader. His points are interesting and relatively clear, at least for folks like me who have some rudimentary financial background.

Now, with that said, I’m a bit disappointed that Mauldin isn’t a bit more explicit. I have two suggestions to improve the usability of his newsletter this week. First, he should be more explicit about his claims. For those readers without time or knowledge, he should provide clear answers to his core questions. Second, he should provide a summary of the article at the beginning of the newsletter. So in short, he should be upfront and explicit.

Of course, this usability advice might work against his goals. Maybe he really wishes to pull (or push) users through his newsletter. He wants to tell a story perhaps. Similarly, he might want readers to see the advertisements along the way. Advertising and profits might trump usability. Wouldn’t be the first time.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 8th, 2006 at 11:19 am and is filed under Usability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.