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Taboo: Hidden PDFs in Links
March 11th, 2005
It troubles me from two perspectives when I see errors in websites that are due to bad usability practices and not necessarily from technical glitches. First, they are bothersome to me as a user. Second, they damage the overall reputation of the Web industry of which I am a part.
For instance, this week the Big Ten Tournament is taking place in Chicago. My team, Indiana, plays in this tournament. Much of our future depends on the outcome of these games. So, I did a Google search for “Big Ten Tournament” and landed on the official Web site. I then saw a link for “bracket” (that is all the link says in the label) and clicked on it. Suddenly, my browser is launching Adobe Acrobat and I realized that this link was in fact to a PDF download. In my mind, I expected to see an HTML page with a table or two, not a printer-formatted, downloaded file. To top it off, the page it took me to was actually an HTML file with an embedded link to the PDF. This is a major no-no. My browser did not like the action, so it failed and gave me the icon you see here. What a mess. I mean, I just wanted to learn that Indiana plays tomorrow against Minnesota.
This goes to show that even if the way a Web page is created works correctly, it may not truly “work.” If I could just get two seconds with the content managers of this site, I would say, “Please change the link label to read: Bracket – PDF (1 page, 90 KB).” Just this small change would have made it so much more usable. You can never be to clear.
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Are you trusted at work?
March 9th, 2005
Notre Dame Business, Magazine of the Mendoza College recently published an article in the Winter 2005 issue about the importance of trust in a company or organization. I typically read this magazine from cover to cover, but this particular article really had an impact on me. Professionally, trust is the most important characteristic of a healthy work life. That is, I value trust and the “social capital” of my department and co-workers above all else.
This article focuses on three key words and their definitions:
I believe trust is critical to the success and long-term health of a unit, department, division, or organization. It will help get you through periods of stress while providing you with a level of comfort that you are not alone. Personally, I can honestly say that I trust my co-workers. I believe that we each share ability, benevolence, and integrity. This is particularly true when we need each other to perform under pressure.
I clipped part of the article that defines “ability, benevolence, and integrity.” I have it taped to my monitor to remind me each day how imporant these qualities are for the team. Read the article at http://www.nd.edu/~ndbizmag/winter2005/news13.shtml.
