Comments on: Readable URLs Don’t Matter. http://www.fullstopinteractive.com/blog/2009/12/readable-urls-dont-matter/ A weblog from Full Stop Interactive Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:16:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Nate http://www.fullstopinteractive.com/blog/2009/12/readable-urls-dont-matter/#comment-10 Nate Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:27:01 +0000 http://www.fullstopinteractive.com/blog/?p=270#comment-10 @Devan, Perhaps. Or maybe URL-shorteners are training people in the other direction. I click this thing, and it takes me somewhere completely unrelated. (At least, that's what I notice if I'm paying careful attention to the URL bar, which I'm not ready to grant.) Google has probably done as much research on this as anyone. I'm sure you remember the video they did interviewing people with the question, "What is a browser?" Their conclusion? Merge the search and URL bar since people couldn't correctly differentiate them anyway. (Standard caveats regarding Google's search bias apply.) The bottom line, from my perspective as a developer and user experience advocate is: URL readability is low-priority. Sure, make it pretty if you have the time, otherwise focus on elements that give you more UX bang for your development buck. @Devan,

Perhaps. Or maybe URL-shorteners are training people in the other direction. I click this thing, and it takes me somewhere completely unrelated. (At least, that’s what I notice if I’m paying careful attention to the URL bar, which I’m not ready to grant.)

Google has probably done as much research on this as anyone. I’m sure you remember the video they did interviewing people with the question, “What is a browser?” Their conclusion? Merge the search and URL bar since people couldn’t correctly differentiate them anyway. (Standard caveats regarding Google’s search bias apply.)

The bottom line, from my perspective as a developer and user experience advocate is: URL readability is low-priority. Sure, make it pretty if you have the time, otherwise focus on elements that give you more UX bang for your development buck.

]]> By: Devan http://www.fullstopinteractive.com/blog/2009/12/readable-urls-dont-matter/#comment-9 Devan Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:22:35 +0000 http://www.fullstopinteractive.com/blog/?p=270#comment-9 At one point, he might have been right, but people who know what’s up with URLs have long been training others, through the kind of informal technical support so many of us give, to pay attention to them. I get a call from one of my parents from time to time saying, “This address looks funny. Should I trust this site?” (And a slightly longer version: http://www.devangoldstein.com/376/urls-users/ ) At one point, he might have been right, but people who know what’s up with URLs have long been training others, through the kind of informal technical support so many of us give, to pay attention to them. I get a call from one of my parents from time to time saying, “This address looks funny. Should I trust this site?”

(And a slightly longer version: http://www.devangoldstein.com/376/urls-users/ )

]]> By: URLs & Users » Devan Being Manny http://www.fullstopinteractive.com/blog/2009/12/readable-urls-dont-matter/#comment-8 URLs & Users » Devan Being Manny Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:22:31 +0000 http://www.fullstopinteractive.com/blog/?p=270#comment-8 [...] Sklar’s claim that “people don’t care about URLs” (via Full Stop Interactive) seems like a wild overstatement, even taking “people” to mean “average” [...] [...] Sklar’s claim that “people don’t care about URLs” (via Full Stop Interactive) seems like a wild overstatement, even taking “people” to mean “average” [...]

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