Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Ilan Volow <listboy AT clarux.com>]

On Jun 30, 2004, at 10:21 AM, Wolfe, Joanna wrote:

> Hi All -
> We are in the midst of redesign our website.
>
> I am looking for opinions regarding a feature that we are considering
> implementing as part of our new homepage design.
>
> The feature is a scrolling ticker similar to the one on the Durham
> County Government website (left hand column - under This Week) as seen
> at:
> http://www.co.durham.nc.us/
>
> What do you think about this feature?
>
> Does it make you stop and spend more time on the site?
>
> Does it make you draw your eye or cause a distraction?
>
> Does it engage you and then make you want to look at more of the
> static links on the page?
>
> Any comments would be helpful.

Two issues:

1. What if the user sees a really interesting link and it scrolls away 
and out of reach before they can click on it? For a user who for some 
reason (or disability) takes a long time to select a target on the 
screen with the mouse pointer, this design could be a real PITA.

2. Ads often look/act different from the rest of a site's content, and 
this can be incorporated into the way that users quickly scan a webpage 
for important content  (i.e. they bypass anything that looks "spam"). 
When you consider that a lot of stuff that moves on its own on a web 
page are animated gifs with ads, making links move on their own might 
be a great way to get users to ignore them.

--
Ilan Volow
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!