My Visitors
I have taken no active step to promote this site. But I have got unexpected visitors from Google. I must have disappointed them.
Most of them searched for “paper tiger chess“. I searched the Google but did not find my site. My visitors must be very patient. Minority matters.
A few visitors searched for “web usability and hyperlinks“. My post on hyperlinks came up on the first page of Google search result. I was really stunned. Web usabilities experts wrote too little on this.
Transcending CSS The Fine Art of Web Design
Many articles say we should design web pages from the content out, but do not tell you how. Andy Clarke show you how by using an example. The method is not as mystical as I thought. Once the designer gets the content, he should start by marking up from the basic elements such as <p> and <h1>. Only after that should he move on to higher level. The page layout CSS should be left to the last. Clarke thinks the method would use less <div> and result in a lean html file.
Most bloggers start with some content in mind. The method should be useful.
Deep Blue
As this site is named Chess 360, I hereby write something about Deep Blue:
Today I changed to Deep Blue theme. According to Jakob Neilsen’s Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005, the number one mistake is poor legibility. That includes small font size and poor contrast between text and background. So I made some changes:
- Used larger font size
- Changed default font colour (grey) to black
- Deleted “posted by…”
- Set image property to float:left
If you like the theme, get it from DailyBlogTips.com.
Prioritizing Web Usability
The book is not about making beautiful websites. It is about making easy-to-use websites. The authors are experts on running user tests. Their tests show people visit websites for specific goals. Website visitors are very impatient. If a visitor could not find what he wants in a minute or two, he would leave. Designers should therefore make the websites easy to use before anything else.
This book is full of practical advices. Most books stop at listing some web safe fonts; this book recommends Verdana because it is easier to read even in small font size. Most books stops at saying eligibility is important; this book recommends using a font size of point nine or above.
It is a little pity blogs are not touched on, probably because bloggers are unlikely to hire usability experts. Bloggers may read Jakob Nielsen’s on-line article as a supplement: “Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes” (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.ht).
Let’s end by a list of the most hated web design elements, excerpted from Chapter 3:
- Links that do not change colour when visited (except command-oriented functionally)
- Breaking the button button
- Opening new browser windows (except pdf and similar)
- Pop-up windows
- Design elements that look like advertisements
- Violating web-wide conventions
- Vaporous content and empty hype
- Dense Content and unscannable text
Bobby Fischer Did Not Plan That Much
Success stories, when cited, are often twisted. Here is an example.
In 1971, a reporter Brad Darrach interviewed Bobby Fischer, the challenger to the then world chess champion Boris Spassky. Darrach wondered how Fischer would train for the match,
When I [Brad Darrach] told him [Bobby Fischer] I had heard that Spassky gives up all private life for at least six months before a championship match, lifts weights, does road work and sees a psychoanalyst every day, Fischer smiled mysteriously and said: “No kidding.” When I asked how he intended to train, he shrugged and said: “I don’t know. Go along as usual, I guess. Study. Play some tennis, maybe. Walk. I like to walk, you know.”
In 1973, Fischer beat Spassky convincingly and became the new world chess champion.
In 2003, a book Jump Rope Training tells the same story the other way round,
Fischer had studied Spassky on tape and realized that his prospective opponent made mistakes in competition only after becoming physically drained by the stress of the event. Fischer concluded that his superior physical condition would give him an edge by allowing him to remain sharp and focused during the duration of the contest while his opponent’s physical and mental energy waned. The strategy was successful and Fischer became the first American to win the world chess championship.
- from Jump Rope Training as quoted by Blogger Good Chess Club