Dear Gunnar,

Feel impelled to add my grumpy commentary -- I go for the grumpy guy. The Nielsen Norman web site is well organized, clear, useful, and informative. It is not a general web site, but an expert-user web site for people who seek information on structuring information well.

As you know, getting web sites right is tough. We've been sending our people to the Nielsen Norman seminars to good effect -- but I'll be the first to admit that getting a faculty-level web site nested within a corporate design program is difficult, and much of the challenge involves working with folks across the entire university: we can't simply make the changes we determine we ought to make, but we must educate, persuade, inform, and get others on board. Here comes the pitch: we have found the Nielsen Norman reports valuable in this process, extremely valuable. As other faculties and people at the university central send people to Nielsen Norman, we are able gradually to drive improvements forward. In corporate web sites, this is crucial: only as we can realize upgrades to the university web design and the university design program are we able to upgrade out own web site. Nielsen Norman are our great allies in this.

Truth in advertising: Don does NOT advise us. But Nielsen Norman the company teaches our people, and part of the lesson involves clarity, legibility, and usefulness.

Listening to the gossip, lots of designers grumble about Jakob Nielsen. I sing his praises. Never met the guy, so I can't tell you whether he is a grumpy old curmudgeon like Don or a lovable and modest fellow such as myself, but I can tell you that the NN reports are worth the price we pay for them. Even when you can't implement all recommendations, implementing those that fit your organization lead to real improvements.

Since design is about preferred future states for clients and end-users, I'd argue that the Nielsen Norman web site does its job. It's a professional site that helps NN clients and customers do a better job for their stakeholders.

My two cents.

Thanks to Don for his deeper comments, and thanks to Michael Gibson and Stefanie di Russo for their thoughts.

Ken


Gunnar Swanson wrote:

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I wonder even more how a man associated with  or more loosely with  is seriously advising -anyone- about web design is odd.

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Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | University Distinguished Professor | Dean, Faculty of Design | Swinburne University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia | [log in to unmask] | Ph: +61 3 9214 6078 | Faculty www.swinburne.edu.au/design