ScienceDirect results

I learned some useful design tips from a few different documents that my ScienceDirect search returned.

From Lin et al.:
-"As a general rule, the ratio of graphics to text between 3:1 and 1:1 will give the users the best feelings of ease-to-use and clear-to-follow." (Lin et al 217)
-"Users usually look at graphics of a web page before reading its text." (Lin et al 218)

Roth et al:
-Place the different components of your page (search box, navigation bar, log in box) in the same places they are typically placed on other sites that provide the same service--for example, if you are building a library website, link to the catalog in the same place that other library websites link to their catalogs. Users approach sites with a preexisting mental model of how a website is laid out and will navigate your site most easily and with the least frustration if it conforms to their expectations. (Roth et al 229)
-The above is more important for smaller components of the site and for those that are not typically represented by a common graphic or symbol. (Roth et al 233)

Searching ScienceDirect was also valuable because I learned about a new feature that I will now seek out on future searches: The combined abstract field, title field, and keyword field "field" search. I also learned that I need to work on my Boolean syntax--as an advanced MLS student I should have been able to work with the Expert Search interface.

Works Cited

 Lin, Yang-Chen, Chung-Hsing Yeh, and Chun-Chun Wei.  “How will the use of graphics affectvisual aesthetics? A user-centered approach for web page design.” International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 71:3. (2013): 217-227. ScienceDirect. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

 

Roth, Sandra P., Alexandre N. Tuch, Elisa D. Meckler, Javier A. Bargas-Avila, and Klaus Opwis. “Location matters, especially for non-salient features–An eye-tracking study on the effects of web object placement on different types of websites.” International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 71:3. (2013): 228-235. ScienceDirect. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

ScienceDirect search

The database I chose to search this week is ScienceDirect, distributed by Elsevier. Following Dr. McElrath's suggestions for searching this database, I started with a browse search by choosing from the list of subjects, which looks like this:

 The most promising category for web design is "psychology" (I checked "decision sciences" as well because I was not familiar with the term, but that category did not turn out to be relevant).

Within Psychology, I used the Advanced Search screen to limit my search to items published in the last ten years (as older studies on web design are not likely to be useful since the look of the web has changed so rapidly). I used the basic keyword "web" and then took a look at what field options ScienceDirect offers. I was happy to discover that one of the field options is abstract OR title OR keywords, all in a single search. I have never seen this option before but it seems like a great idea--it covers cases where you want your search term to be featured more prominently than just anywhere in the text, but don't want to be overly restrictive.


This abbreviated screenshot shows the results, which have two problems: Too many results are returned, and the search allowed for the term "web-based," which seems to be introducing a lot of irrelevant results:


The search will be continued in a follow-up post, as Blogger can typically only handle a few large images per post.