[thesite] [bug] t.e.o. - Other Articles Written by this Author

[Madhu Menon]

 > Really, the only argument for putting the picture on the article page
 > itself is to take out the necessary click of the link of the author's
 > username on the article page to get to the user page. I think we might be

Ah, but that's where you must stop looking at it strictly from a functional 
point of view, Matt. That's the mistake Nielsen makes.

I'm a user experience consultant, and I make a living telling people to get 
rid of the extraneous and irrelevant stuff from sites. At the same time, I 
am also aware of the principles of good design.

Design is more than figuring out which font to use and what colour to have 
on the background. Good design conveys a certain image, a mood, a feeling. 
It reinforces the words on the page. If not, we'd juse have Yahoo grey 
backgrounds and black text, wouldn't we? All the elements on a page 
contribute to that image.

In this case, a picture adds a human warmth to the page. It breaks down an 
invisible barrier that existed between people. When I'm reading an article 
on ASP, I'm no longer just looking at a lifeless code fragment. I'm looking 
at a code fragment written by Matt Warden, whom I remember as having helped 
out with my ASP problem the other day on the list. Suddenly, I feel a 
greater sense of comaraderie with Matt Warden. He's no longer just a name 
on a mailing list. I have a face I can match with that voice. Ever had a 
pan pal whom you met face to face only a long while after you started 
writing to him or her? It suddenly adds character to the words he or she 
writes.

Since this is "right side of the brain" stuff (and programmers tend to be 
"left side of the brain" people - I know; I've been  there and done that), 
it's difficult to convey in words. It's something you feel. Why did we 
start thechat? To encourage more social interaction between list members. 
This is simply another step in that direction. I bet good money that you 
will see more article comments if you start putting up pictures of authors.

HTH,

Madhu

<<<   *   >>>
Madhu Menon
User Experience Consultant
e-mail: webguru at vsnl.net

Weblog: http://madman.weblogs.com