How to use a scrubbar?

I’ve been a lurker for years; most of us are. Jakob Nielsen describes the Participation Inequality in his most recent Alertbox using the 90-9-1 rule:

• 90% of users are lurkers
• 9% contribute from time-to-time
• 1% account for most contributions

The numbers are even worse for blogs and wikis A wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. such as Wikipedia: 95-5-0.1 and 99-0.8-0.2 respectively.

Frankly, I knew that the number of contributors is low, but this study was a bit of an eye opener. For those of us who feel they are on the cutting edge because we are active lurkers – addicted to Web feeds, podcasts, and blogs, it may be interesting to note that much of what we read, and take for widespread fact, comes from only 1% of the community.

I started this blog because I noticed a gap in my own lurking experience. I wanted to capture the things that I struggle with in an open forum where I could share my thoughts and experiences with others. I’m certain that many blogers share this motivation.

Why don’t more people contribute?

• The work and dedication required to maintain a blog
• Technical barriers to entry
• Most of us do not particularly like to write
• Many of us are not confident that we have something worthwhile to contribute
• Fearful of ridicule - see I’m immature and grating as an example

Along with the openness of the Web community comes the fear of being tied to the wippin’ post. In general, people are simply more comfortable lurking than contributing. Those of us who are willing to move past the barriers and hang our opinions and expertise out for the world to see may just total 1%. I hope not.

I was happily browsing A List Apart this evening when I ran across a link to Browse Happy. I was instantly inspired!

• The design is super clean and pleasing to the eye
• I instantly knew what the site was about
• It is simple and focused

Not to jump on a soapbox, but the reason why many sites are difficult to use (this observation includes Web application too) is because they try to incorporate too much. I’m a firm believer in simplicity. In the words of the 37signals:

“Everyone loves simple tools that help get the job done and then get out of your way”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Browse Happy provides information about the headaches browsers (ahem, IE) cause simply because they do not comply with standards – like security. They offer testimonials and instructions for downloading and installing all of the compliant browsers: Firefox , Mozilla, Opera, and Safari. And, their site is power by Wordpress! What could be better?

So, I succeeded in creating my personalized theme using the Wordpress framework. I really cannot say enough about this experience. The documentation and community support is rather astonishing.

I strongly recommend this experience for anyone who wants to learn more about standards based design (XHTML and CSS), PHP, MySQL, and Web development in general. The Wordpress team sets you up for success. Partially, because the framework provides some of the more complicated tools, so you don’t have to code them yourself. This helps you avoid getting “stuck” on something and giving up on the whole project. It’s modularized too, so you have the freedom to choose which parts you want to use and where you want to use them. There really is no limit to what you can do – totally fun.

I’m disappointed with the design I created. Not so much the layout, but the color contrast. I did most of the design on my laptop, which has fantastic resolution. My colors looked great. But, when I went live I discovered that my site is a bit washed out. This is actually a bad habit of mine. I’m trying to get “bolder” with my color schemes, but it’s hard. Anyway, I’m going to re-design the color scheme of this site over the next few days. Check back to see what I’ve come up with.

User Experience Lesson #1

Always check your site in multiple resolutions and monitors before you say “Ahhh, I like that”.

Higher Contrast Sneak Peek

Okay, so I know that it is good practice to spend time thinking about the purpose of your blog before you create and post it for the world to see. And, I did that – sort of. You see, I didn’t want to constrain myself by strictly defining my user experience. So now, I’m struggling with purpose and direction. I suppose there are some benefits to following the “rules”…

Anyway, as a result I have attempted to write my mission statement. Again, I’m a bit ambiguous but I think it defines my intentions.

This site is as much about my user experience as it is about the experiences of others. It is a repository of what inspires and challenges me as a Web user and developer. My mission is to tackle the challenging aspects of the Web and clarify them for myself and others who face similar challenges.

There, that should do it