I have been working my legs too hard over the last couple of weeks with my non-stop cycling. Last weekend certainly was not enough time to let me legs recuperate. I decided to drive to work this morning in hopes that a third day will be enough to get my legs back to normal.<\/p>\n
Anyhow, while walking from my truck to the University of Lethbridge on one of the new paths, I was reflecting on how the path has a lot to do with web design.<\/p>\n
Before the fall of 2002, students travelling to the University of Lethbridge from the corner of University Drive and Columbia Boulevard had two choices to get to the University. They could travel down Valley Drive and then turn at the West Lot, travelling across the West Lot until they got to Anderson Hall or the PE Building. This was the longer option. The second option was to cut across the field, over the berm and across the Far west Lot and West Lot. This was the shorter option\u00e2\u20ac\u201dalbeit muddier in the winter and when it rained.<\/p>\n
In 2002, the University of Lethbridge decided to pave the path students had worn down across the field and over the berm. They also added lighting. This made sense. After all, why not create a paved, lighted path right where people will use it?<\/p>\n
As I reflected on this, it caused me to wonder why so many people do not do this when setting up information architecture on a website. So many websites make it very hard to find things. I do not know what the developers were thinking when they put it together, but I do know what they were not thinking. They were not thinking about the value in holding focus groups and watching how visitors use the website and what paths they try to access information.<\/p>\n
So many developer think, “Oh, this looks cool” or “This looks good to me”, and give no thought that it needs to be cool and work; it needs to look good to you and everyone else.<\/p>\n
If there is one thing website developers need to get into their thick, obtuse, close-minded heads, it is this: websites need to work for your users more than they need to work for you<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have been working my legs too hard over the last couple of weeks with my non-stop cycling. Last weekend certainly was not enough time to let me legs recuperate. I decided to drive to work this morning in hopes that a third day will be enough to get my legs back to normal.<\/p>\n Anyhow, while walking from my truck to the University of Lethbridge on one of the new paths, I was reflecting on how the path has a lot to do with web design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessibility"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4NkW7-d","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":377,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2008\/11\/14\/widening-6-av-s-in-lethbridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":13,"position":0},"title":"Widening 6 Av S in Lethbridge","author":"Kim Siever","date":"14 November 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, I received the most current issue of the London Road Neighbourhood Association newsletter. On the front page was a short article reporting on a recent meeting where members discussed the hypothetical widening of 6 Avenue South. The City is studying the feasibility of building a third bridge between\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"173\/365 - Traffic at dusk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3177\/3028873596_a1fb2f2499_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4193,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/02\/25\/the-extensive-consultations-of-the-scs-a-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":13,"position":1},"title":"The extensive consultations of the SCS: a history","author":"Kim Siever","date":"25 February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I don\u2019t understand how opponents of the supervised consumption site can say there wasn\u2019t enough consultation prior to the it opening.","rel":"","context":"In "SCS"","block_context":{"text":"SCS","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/scs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1043,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2012\/05\/27\/i-love-the-urbanity-of-lethbridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":13,"position":2},"title":"I love the urbanity of Lethbridge","author":"Kim Siever","date":"27 May 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the last few weeks, I\u2019ve had several discussions with others about whether Lethbridge is urban. Actually, discussion might be pushing it since most of the conversation was me pointing out logically (using actual definitions) on how Lethbridge qualifies as urban and most responses opposing my point based on subjective\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":864,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2010\/09\/03\/lethbridge-still-isnt-ready-for-cyclists\/","url_meta":{"origin":13,"position":3},"title":"Lethbridge still isn\u2019t ready for cyclists","author":"Kim Siever","date":"3 September 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"If there is one thing I hate about cycling in Lethbridge, it\u2019s the drivers. Don\u2019t get me wrong. Most of the drivers by far seem very polite and\u00a0accommodating\u00a0to a cyclist like me, who rides on the road with traffic rather than on pathways or sidewalks. They don\u2019t seem to speed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3827,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2019\/09\/27\/to-increase-bus-usage-make-driving-inconvenient\/","url_meta":{"origin":13,"position":4},"title":"To increase bus usage, make driving inconvenient","author":"Kim Siever","date":"27 September 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Every time we have a municipal election, candidates claim they have the solution to improve transit ridership. 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