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	Phil's Blogservations Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Posted by philgomes 1:24 PM Jakob Nielsen On Weblog Usability Mistakes Jakob Nielsen On Weblog Usability Mistakes Jakob Nielsen offers a list of ten blog usability mistakes. I've decided to use this as a gut-check on my own blog, since I really haven't paid too much attention to its design and usability. Now that the word "blog" shows up in my job description, I should probably be spending more time on this site. 1. No Author Biographies Yup. Got one. 2. No Author Photo Yup. Got one of those, too. Most people like it. Except my parents and other relatives. 3. Nondescript Posting Titles Well... I guess they're pretty descriptive. 4. Links Don't Say Where They Go I'm particularly conscious of this one — I hate the "here syndrome" — but sometimes the opportunity for subtlety is too good to pass up (e.g., "Some people think that we carry the souls of ancient aliens within us..."). 5. Classic Hits are Buried This is a really good idea. I'll plan to put a new section in the sidebar. 6. The Calendar is the Only Navigation Actually, a calendar-like navigation would be helpful here. The construction of my archive stinks, but I haven't had the presence of mind to fix it. 7. Irregular Publishing Frequency I suppose the "random thoughts" thing I've been doing is kind of a response to that. I actually received a compliment the other day from someone who was "impressed" with my recent output. I tend to think that my posting frequency is about commensurate with people's attention spans. 8. Mixing Topics Perhaps categories could help. And I haven't really gotten into the tagging thing, though I probably should. To tell you the truth, though, there is only one reason why this blog exists: Between my work life and my personal life (and the degree to which each enriches the other), I think that being me is just kind of fun and I try my best to make sure my blog reflects that. Some agree. Some disagree. I count both parties as frequent visitors. 9. Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss If said potential future boss disagrees with my response to point #8, I'm not sure I want to work for him/her. 10. Having a Domain Name Owned by a Weblog Service Philgomes.com has been around since about 1999 or 2000. I can't really argue with Mr. Nielsen that having the hosting service as your domain name will be the next "@aol.com" email address. Hat tip: CNET's Mike Yamamoto. HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes[[dot}]com SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.