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Let's suppose you're planning a library website redesign. Although you feel confident about the visual design and information architecture, setting clear expectations for developers is a bit of a black box. You want to do it right from the get-go and avoid any "I wish we had ..." or "We should have ..." statements 6 months down the road. If only there were a list of library website development best practices against which you could check your or your team's efforts. Read on.
INTERFACE AND UX
Web developers produce better applications and websites if they have an understanding of usability and user experience (UX) design. Either you have already recruited people with this experience or you will need to ensure both professional development time and participation in user studies to get your team on the same page. ? great UX is the sum of many little pieces. Thoughtful design and development go hand in hand.
Take something as simple as the error pages and messages on your site. IIow friendly and helpful are they? What is needed for a 404 error page? Developers read and understand machine error messages easily-it makes perfect sense to them, but that's not the case for most website users. Error messages should be clear and concise messages in plain language that provide a few helpful suggestions of what to do next. ? great error page offers a link to the homepage in a prominent position and needs to match the tone of the overall website.
404 ERROR MESSAGES AND FORMS
Takealookat the 404 pages on page 58 I romSmashingMagazine (http://suspend edanimations.com/404), Amazon (www.amazon.com/zeeppp), and Frye/Wiles (www.fryewiles.com/yukk). Compare them with those on your library or intranet site. Which is better? Which offers a better user experience?
Websites present messages other than 404 error messages to users. Whether it's a null search result or information about a required field on a web form, the same UX development thinking that applies to 404 error pages applies to these.
Web forms in particular are a source of pain for users. Think about some of your most annoying experiences online. We'll bet that web forms are near the top. Do you enter your phone number with or without dashes? Is your birthdate entered dd/mm/yy or...