...by the inmates...for the inmates...
Tuesday, March 02, 2004Site Analytics: 'Why' Is as Vital as 'What'
When I wrote in this space about using behavioral data to calculate exit ratios and pinpoint site problems, I got a bushel of e-mail from attitudinal data devotees asking: What about surveys? Customer feedback? Questionnaires? Don't they count?
Well, I was getting to that. [ClickZ]
No Silver Bullet
I'm working on my weekly InfoWorld column (this one will run in print and online on March 8) and I'm referencing an essay from Frederick Brooks (of "Mythical Man-Month" fame) entitled "No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering."
You just have to read this. I've read it many times before and referenced it in a column on web services two years ago, but the essay continues to amaze me. Although it was written eighteen years ago, the content still rings true. Just a sample:
The essence of a software entity is a construct of interlocking concepts: data sets, relationships among data items, algorithms, and invocations of functions. This essence is abstract in that such a conceptual construct is the same under many different representations. It is nonetheless highly precise and richly detailed.I believe the hard part of building software to be the specification, design, and testing of this conceptual construct, not the labor of representing it and testing the fidelity of the representation. We still make syntax errors, to be sure; but they are fuzz compared with the conceptual errors in most systems.
If this is true, building software will always be hard. There is inherently no silver bullet.
Amen. Be sure to read the rest.
[Chad Dickerson]
Abandon your love of navigation widgets and get back to basics
Michael Angeles has written a blog entry on the role of navigation widgets. To quote: Mark Hurst has an interesting discussion on the Page Paradigm. Mark's discussion affirms the anxiety I've been feeling lately about navigation elements. I'm tracking data... [Column Two]
Influence of training and exposure on the usage of breadcrumb navigation
Spring S. Hull reports on the results of recent research into the influence of training on the usage of breadcrumbs navigation. To quote: Summary: Recent studies have shown that while the use of breadcrumb trails to navigate a website can... [Column Two]
Reality Is Merely An Illusion...
Albert Einstein. "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." [Quotes of the Day]