Usability

From: Mingle² - Online Dating

This rating was based on my having used the word "gay" three times, "kill" twice, and "pain" once. "Shit," which appears at least twice, doesn't count. Neither do the words "love" and "revolution." Funny rating system. I wonder if it works on polysyllabics--say, if I used "decimate" instead.

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Earlier, I stumbled upon yet another usability list. Usability is one of the things that fascinates me the most about websites, as something peculiar if not intrinsic to the medium. (It's not paper anymore, Toto.) I already posted about usability guru Jakob Nielsen's Top Ten Web Design Mistakes in another blague and so I won't repeat myself (which I do all the time, nevertheless). Anyway, Item #1 of 43 Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid is:

The user must know what the site is about in seconds: attention is one the most valuable currencies on the Internet. If a visitor can not figure what your site is about in a couple of seconds, he will probably just go somewhere else. Your site must communicate why I should spend my time there, and FAST!

Now that's a tall order for most sites like this one (i.e., non-commercial, personal) and so I won't assume that I am the target audience for all 43 recommendations. But it does bother me a little because even though I do try to avoid the lj tone and grilled cheese sandwiches, I can't for the life of me tell exactly what this site is "about" or give a reason why anybody should read it. Usability is something I can achieve, easy, but USEFULNESS is something else entirely.

Being inconsequentially conscientious sucks. Maybe I should stick to cat posts?