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A List Apart Publishes Web Survey Findings

A List Apart has published findings from their April 2007 Web design survey. It’s a rather comprehensive study (over 30,000 respondents–I was one of them) and the first of its kind. One of the things that impresses me most, however, isn’t that it’s so comprehensive, but that the folks at A List Apart were honest enough to admit that in hindsight some of the questions were a bit ambiguous and left holes in the data. So often, this is only something you’ll find after the analysis has been done. It’s great to see researchers being honest.

One of my biggest complaints with surveys in the past is that they are designed poorly. Poorly designed surveys lead to misleading data–bad data in, bad data out. In the report, the researchers actually highlight questions that left holes in the data or the felt left some of the findings a bit ambiguous, or possibly questionable. As a researcher, this increased my confidence in the data.

Congrats to the folks over at A List Apart for running the survey and being honest and ethical enough to show where the data had holes and how they can improve it in the future. I’ll definitely participate in their next study, which they promise will be refined based on their findings this time around.

Read the article, or just grab the survey results. It’s a good read and packed with plenty of good information. Thanks again for pulling this together.

The 5 Types of Prototypes

Prototypes can serve a number of purposes. Here’s the five primary roles a prototype can take on. Keep in mind that a prototype can take one more than one of these roles at a time.

1. As a common communication platform–using them to get everyone on the same page, avoiding misinterpretation of ideas, using them as a method to show and tell.
2. Work through a design–for designers and developers, prototypes act as a way to work through your design solution, giving you the ability to evaluate a few different options, tweak them, and come up with the best one.
3. Sell your idea internally–using them to sell your design solution to internal stake holders like senior management, other designers, or the engineering team.
4. Gauge technical feasibility–designers want to do X, but can engineering do it? Do we have the resources? Is it worth the effort?
5. As a marketing tool–while similar to number 3, this is for an external audience.