Blogging Don'ts: Tips for Increasing Blog Usability

As this team of bloggers gets off the ground, we are naturally looking for ideas and suggestions to learn from and share. Dr. Jakob Nielsen is a self described user advocate and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group which he co-founded with Dr. Donald A. Norman (former VP of research at Apple Computer). He has developed many articles and books with tips and how-tos. His Alertbox article on October 17, 2005 provided the Top Ten Design Mistakes of Weblog Usability. Here’s the list that he expands on in his article.

1. No Author Biographies
2. No Author Photo
3. Nondescript Posting Titles
4. Links Don't Say Where They Go
5. Classic Hits are Buried
6. The Calendar is the Only Navigation
7. Irregular Publishing Frequency
8. Mixing Topics
9. Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss
10. Having a Domain Name Owned by a Weblog Service

He says, “When you want to reach new readers who aren’t your mother, however, usability becomes important.”