Print this page Function A Bad Idea And Its Solution

< b>Reading in a browser is       when printed on a sheet of paper   different than from             using the whole page-width.        paper                                                                                                Better to have no information   Writing text for online reading       than one that is out of            is different than composing an        context                        article for a printed magazine.                                          One assumption is that visitors       Web-pages are not structured       are "jumpier" than readers.           sequentially - unlike a book. The  Subtitles, shorter sentences and      whole point of a web-site is to    paragraphs are key-elements in        enrich it with links, connecting   formatting online text to best        it to information that the         effect.                               visitor might find useful.                                               Web-sites tend to tear             The visitor's interest needs to       information into chunks or create  be captured before clicking on        many entry-pages, leading further  the next link. This is comparable     into the site. That makes very     to newspapers, where many pieces      much sense in regards to online    of information compete against        reading. Also advertising profits  each other on the same page.          from that, because more pages                                            mean more ads served and better    Online content is printed on a        information, what the user is      crispy, blank page. There simply      interested in.                     is no competition. The same text                                         which was effective on the screen     Word on the net is that 80% of     might look very bland printed.        traffic does not hit the homepage  The short content, tuned to           but directly jumps deep into a     convey a message by starting          site. If the accessed page is      every line with the perfect           only a segment of the relevant     keyword, might look very lost         information, a printout is         useless or at the very least out      Goodbye branding, goodbye       of context. It is not possible to     image                          really understand the quarterly                                          numbers, when the                     Information is conveyed through    company-strategy leading to those     many channels. There is factual    results is not known.                 content -usually text - but at                                           the same time and equally          Having incoherent information         important there is soft-content.   lying on "to be read" stacks can      Screen-design, key-messages or     be very detrimental because the       special-features for example are   context is lost even further by       key elements, which can not be     time passing by.                      accurately displayed in print.                                                                              Loose control over the             These channels merge together to   content                           convey "the image". Most of the                                          time, this is a carefully planned  Content needs to change, because      part of corporate branding and     contrary to a printed page, a         does not come cheap. The simple    web-site is expected to be            "print this page" button reduces   up-to-date. The owner of the site     the elaborate corporate            is generally in control of the        communications to a                content published.                    "default-font" page, where the                                           logo is displayed within a dark,   A printed page represents a           square box, the browser adds a     snapshot in time of the ever          cryptic web-address as a headline  changing content. Not only does       and the styled                     the publisher loose control, but      product-description is reduced to  the information is no longer          a two-liner with no hyphenation.   accurate.                                                                                                      It stops the user from          browsing                          - Store the information for later                                        use                                Designing a page aims at one          - Read the information offline     thing only - keep the visitor                                            engaged and interested. Printing      These are all valid needs.         a page can be a dangerous break       Printing out an individual         in a flow the visitor is now          web-page might however not be the  comfortable with. A popup appears     best solution.                     asking to select a printer. A                                            choice needs to be made, taking       The solution lies somewhere     the mind away from the carefully      else                           planned information-architecture.                                        Usually people wait very              Forwarding the link, maybe with    anxiously and even reach for the      some prepared text, should take    page coming out of the printer        care of the first action. Well     before it is finished. Then they      formatted bookmarks using          look at it and ask themselves         descriptive URLs and               "where was I?" This interruption      intelligently hinting at this      might be enough not to return to      feature on the page itself, will   browsing.                             solve the second requirement.                                            Both leave the information within  Why would I want to print a        the framework and control of the   page?                             site.                                                                                                       What are the main reasons that a      If information needs to be         visitor wants to use a                printed it needs to be prepared    "print-this-page" function.           and put into context. An example:                                        a good print-version of a product  - Forward the information to          page should contain a              someone                               description, detailed              information, some essentials          best choice available for now.     about the company and maybe a         From the perspective of online     reference where to purchase the       usability, PDF is not              product offline.                      unchallenged. But in this case we                                        are talking about physical,        A print-version requires a format     printed usability. And if it is    that is intended for printing and     the wish of the user to print, it  not one intended to be used           is the command to the site. But    within a browser. In order to         let's get the best out of it - it  correctly use elements from the       is the visitors return ticket.     corporate identity or appealingly                                     display text, PDF might be the         About the Author: Raoul Dobal focuses on usablilty and is partner of ADWIRED, a Swiss company specialised in webbased communication. Visit http://www.adwired.ch for information about services or http://www.iquse.ch to read further articles on usability. Read more articles by: Raoul Dobal Article Source: www.iSnare.com