At 2:57 PM -0600 6/28/06, Dan Lester wrote:
>What should it default to? Keyword anywhere, same as Google and other
>tools the students are used to using. All of the other options are
>still there for librarians, advanced users, etc. One day a few of us
>may win this battle.
The only way to win this (or any other interface) battle is user
testing. Evidence trumps argument. You've got to get people on board
with a user testing regimen. User testing does not need to be
overwhelming, or rigorous in a scholarly sense. A handful of
task-based user tests can tell you a whole lot. Of course, you've
got to get everyone else on board with that plan, so you can do the
user tests and then they'll show what you say. (Unless they don't
because you are strangely wrong; or unless they show you something
else equally useful instead, which is still good).
Or, maybe you don't need to get people on board with the validity of
user testing (and non-overwhelming user-testing) in advance. Maybe
you just get the naysayers to actually observe a task-based user test
or two. Maybe after seeing one or two users get miserably misled by
that left-anchor search, they'll have a head smacking moment and
realize that left anchor shouldn't be the default.
Worth a try.
--Jonathan
Received on Thu Jun 29 2006 - 22:09:30 EDT