....Navigate articles.... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 1 IA and the Underground .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 2 A few thoughts .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 3 Type01's definition .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 4 Sapient's definition .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 5 Copywriting online .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 6 A global medium? .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 7 Building trust .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 8 Introducing Sam Ruben ++ Setting the Scene ++ Fonts ++ Colour ++ Images ++ Linking ++ Tables ++ Frames ++ Going Live ++ Search Engines ++ HTML Editors .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 9 dHTML navigation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 10 Between Clicks; Expanding IA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 11 Right click, view source. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 12 Refresh .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 13 Creative expression on the web .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 14 Learning to surf .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 15 The illusion of consistency .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 16 The hard sell .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 17 The promised land .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 18 An intro to user journeys .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 19 IA Summit 06 [5 meg ppt] .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 20 Designing for developing contexts .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Article 21 Communal computing & shared spaces of use .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Home home     contact       Client: "Why did you display the navigation like that?" IA: "So it's consistent across the site" Client: "Why is this page different to that page? Make it the same. It needs to be consistent." IA: "Oh, I suppose you're right. Consistency, yeah." I've been hearing it too often lately. At first it makes sense and I go along with it. Now that I stop and think about it, that's not necessarily so... I've come to think about consistency largely because so many of the sites built on the premise of 'all encompassing consistency' are as boring as watching paint dry. I think we build to the rule of consistency because we feel like a user will move through a site more smoothly and because they won't need to relearn navigation systems. That's a giving view. The less giving view is that we're lazy; that we think one system should do; that the content, functionality and need state that we appeal to across sections and spaces in a site is sufficiently similar to justify the same logic, style and presentation of interaction. The last point is a good one I think because when building large-scale websites it's exhausting to work fresh at every moment, as we get deeper in. But that's precisely the time when we aught to be fresh and even more sensitive. We simplify the user experience, as we get deeper in. The truth is, the deeper you get the more sensitive you should become. What happens at the end of the day: all sections look the same (perhaps we colour code!), the nav works the same across the whole thing, and we squeeze content into a system that seldom takes in the full scope of detail from the start. We generalise and simplify the different experiences; the subtle differences within target market and differences in need states across the site. And most importantly: the experience is boring. We argue that the content and functionality is relevant to the user and that's what makes the experience rewarding. I'm not buying that...our job is take that content and functionality and bring it to life AT ALL TIMES and in different ways cater to the details of need state and target market all the way through the site. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Send a comment                          Read comments                          It's like this...we're working to an illusion that consistency builds a good user experience. This is just not necessarily true. Next: The Illusion of consistency II (Tech)     home     contact