What Users Want

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When building a web site, how do you know what content your users need? How do you decide when you’ve provided enough content? While we know a lot about designing the structure of a web site, planning and developing the content is still very much of a craft in web site design.

In our first released recording, this presentation highlights the latest research of User Interface Engineering’s research to help web site
designers understand what content users might be seeking.

In 2002, UIE started looking for patterns in the questions users posed on online message forums. Three years later, Jared shares the results they’ve found having analyzed thousands of postings.

In this presentation, you’ll learn about:

• 2 important points on the knowledge spectrum: current knowledge and target knowledge
• The difference between tool knowledge and domain knowledge
• How UIE’s research isolated 14 distinct types of content
• The six key types of information that live in the Needs/Solution Spectrum, including the Needs Identification and Solution Refinement types
• The importance of Empathic Content, including Inukshuk content

You’ll see dozens of examples from web sites, including H&R Block, REI, Peapod, Netflix, ZipCar, Pomona College, Procrit, and the Humane Society of America.

Have you listened to the program? What did you think? Post a comment here with your thoughts and questions.

Program Underwriter: User Interface Conference

This program is underwritten by the User Interface Conference. The UI Conference is where design professionals meet world-renowned experts to talk about the latest thinking user interfaces, design, and usability. The recently held UI10 conference was a huge success. The UI11 conference, which will be held in Boston on October 9-12, 2006, will announce its program in just a few months. Stay tuned at the conference web site: http://www.uiconf.com