As noted at hypertext , hypertext is defined as a user interface paradigm for displaying documents which, according to an early definition (Nelson 1970), “branch or perform on request.”
While this may not appear to be immediately clear to the layperson, hypertext can be most readily identified in the computer applications we use each and every day. Namely, the internet pages which are accessible through the world wide web.
The use of hypertext in these pages has given rise to a field of thought which has laid down various principles as to what generally constitutes both good and bad hypertext design. These principles will be considered in detail below.
Moreover these principles will be considered in the context of the Australian legal system.
The discussion below will focus more on what constitutes bad hypertext design. By default, good hypertext design will be seen as the avoidance of the mistakes that constitute bad hypertext design.
Danish born Jakob Nielsen is considered by many to be the pioneer of web and hypertext design. He is a writer, speaker, and consultant on software and web-design usability. He earned a Ph.D. in user interface design and computer science from the Technical University of Denmark. Nielsen worked at Bellcore, IBM, and as a senior researcher at computer company Sun Microsystems.
In 1991, when the Web was new, Nielsen correctly predicted that hypertext was the future of user interface design and wrote a comprehensive book about it: “Hypertext and Hypermedia”, published in 1990. “Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond,” an updated version of the textbook, was published in 1995 to take into account the success of the Web.
After his regular articles on his Web site about usability research attracted media attention, he subsequently co-founded usability consulting company Nielsen Norman Group with fellow usability expert Donald Norman.
He is noted for harsh criticisms of popular websites, contending that many concentrate too heavily on design features he views as gimmicky — like animation, Flash and graphics — at the expense of usability, particularly for disabled visitors.
Nielsen’s work will form the basis for this page.
Nielsen’s famous 1996 article "Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design", has endured as the defining work of good and bad hypertext design. The original article has been revised numerous times. The core elements of this article will be discussed below:
1. Breaking or Slowing Down the Back Button
2. Opening New Browser Windows
3. Non-Standard Use of GUI Widgets
4. Lack of Biographies
5. Lack of Archives
6. Moving Pages to New URLs
7. Headlines That Make No Sense Out of Context
8. Jumping at the Latest Internet Buzzword
9. Slow Server Response Times
10. Anything That Looks Like Advertising
These ten mistakes still have relevance today.
The latest version of Neilsen’s article "The Top Ten Design Mistakes of 2005" lists the following as the most relevant problems with todays hypertext design:
1. Legibility Problems
2. Non-Standard Links
3. Flash
4. Content That’s Not Written for the Web
5. Bad Search
6. Browser Incompatibility
7. Cumbersome Forms
8. No Contact Information or Other Company Info
9. Frozen Layouts with Fixed Page Widths
10. Inadequate Photo Enlargement