Amber Mac

Checking out wBloggar to update more than one blog at a time - I'll feature this as an upcoming free file!!! Kind of neat :) - and a good time-saver!

Shot my first day as co-host on Call for Help today - thanks to an AMAZING crew, things went very well. Love the new set - and Leo and Andy are the best! And thanks as well to Monica for showing me the ropes.

Stay tuned for lots of great tech segments on the show - some Halloween fun in the weeks to come ;).

If anyone has any neat free files or super sites (health/fitness, time-savers, and seasonal sites are my favourite - and I have a soft spot for user-friendly sites) let me know.

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeremy from Lockergnome (www.lockergnome.com) wrote to me a week or so ago and asked if I'd take a peek at Lockergnome.com. Since I haven't had a lot of time to do reviews on Call for Help, I think I'll start to do some on my blog.

So, let's take Lockergnome through a quick Web usability audit!

Content - Fantastic, and lots of it! One thing that I think is missing is more about the people behind Lockergnome. If you're going to go to the trouble of creating an extensive site, remember that the "About Us" page is always one of the most frequented - visitors need to know they can trust the information they read. Maybe you could put a link to "More About Lockergnome/Further Help" in the global nav since there is lots of great info in this section.

Navigation - needs some improvement; here are a few ideas to get started:

1. Increase size of global navigation at top of page, so it's obvious this is where visitors should go if they get lost (standardize and highlight the nav bar).

2. Add global navigation to bottom of page, so visitors can use it as a reference point when they scroll some of the longer pages.

3. In other words, the site could use a solid and consistent navigation bar - one that doesn't change and that is ALWAYS available...no matter where visitors are on the site.

4. Move Home nav link to top left, which is standard.

Links - don't need a lot of improvement; there are usable and clear links throughout all content areas. Good work!

Design - when folks refer to me as a designer, what they should say is that I'm an information designer vs. a graphic designer. In other words, I'm big on usable navigation and content - and I tend to think these things are more important than lots of fancy images and colours. On the Lockergnome design front, from an information design standpoint I think they need to re-jig their navigation. Also, from a pure design/brand style standpoint, I think it would be helpful to have a Lockergnome logo and tagline in the top-left corner - something that is consistent throughout the site and always links back to the homepage.

That's it for now! If anyone else wants a site reviewed, post a comment on my blog and I'll try to do a quick audit ;).

Adios!

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not about content, usability, tech trends, but quite amusing nonetheless!

Starbucks' Glen...Glen, Glen, Glen (.mov)

Great for a good laugh! Enjoy ;).

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spending too much time building a beautiful website and not enough time on good content (content that fits your site's purpose) often leads to poor usability. Your pages may look good, but visitors can't easily find the information they need and want.

I've talked a little bit about usability on Call for Help (CFH), but I have yet to address online content. The truth about good online content is...keep it short and simple (KISS). I'm going to post online content tips here now and again, and I will eventually do a longer segment on CFH.

TODAY'S ONLINE CONTENT TIP #1

Don't copy and past long print copy online - cut it down and give it logical headings. Stats show that people scan online (they don't read line-by-line); they're looking for highlighted and bulleted information.

My expertise is Web content and usability, not graphical design but information design, so feel free to send me any questions and I'll do my best to answer them!

Adios ;).

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've had some interest from CFH viewers about Web usability, which (along with Web content) is my area of expertise! I'm doing three Workshop segments re: usability over the next three weeks, so check out the CFH Web site for the upcoming dates.

I'd strongly recommend, if you're interested in learning more about usability and accessibility, you read Jakob Neilsen's (Usability Guru) Web site Use It; it has loads of helpful (and free) content. His book is also amazing/perfect for anyone wanting to create a Web site - Designing Web Usability.

Please let me know if there are other Web-related topics you would like to see covered and/or if there are any interesting Web sites/free files that are worth talking about on the show.

Thanks! ;)

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Call for Help now has show notes on its site. Check out the notes from the first Web Workshop:

Blogging for Beginners

We shot the next month of show tapings Friday. Later this month tune in to the show for Usability Basics (including navigation tips) and five free and easy ways to promote your site (yes, free!).

For anyone who has questions about SP2 (like what the heck is it?) through my agency, iPRIMATE, we worked on a comprehensive (and easy-to-use) SP2 online toolkit:

SP2 Toolkit/How-tos

Ahh...Labour Day...enjoy ;).

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

To everyone who watched the first Web Workshop segment on CFH last week, thanks! I've tried to answer all the emails I received asking for website help. If you have more questions, just let me know.

Next Tuesday I'm doing a segment (6pm EST) on designing/coding your own site using Mozilla's free tool - Composer .

My favourite non-tech site this week - Scrabble - check words as you play ;). Question is, is this cheating???

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers and nobody thinks of complaining." -Jeff Raskin

Wanna complain? Call for Help is now live (started August 16th) in Canada with hosts Leo, Andy, and Monica. I'll be "guesting" on the show with a how-to Web Workshop, so I'll keep you posted here for the times and dates.

Check out the site for more info: http://www.callforhelptv.com (This week - August 18th - I'll walk folks through a how-to-blog demo.)

I'll try to update my blog a few times a week - quick Web content/usability tips (since that's my "thing"), amusing news and quotes, and tech site of the week.

Adios!

-Amber

March 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)