As you may know, I've written Google Guide, an interactive tutorial on
searching with Google, which you can find on the web at
www.googleguide.com.  Please review Google Guide, and let me know ways
in which I can improve its content, including but not limited to
search tips, clearer explanations, inaccuracies, typos, omissions,
better or additional exercises, and solutions to the exercises.

Hi nancyb, 

The content of your site is very well done, but I do have a couple
suggestions about the design side of it, particularly the first two
pages.

The front page of the site could stand to be much more concise.  It
works out to something like 3 or 4 screens of text on my monitor
(1152x864), and it is unlikely most people will read through more than
the first screen or so.

The same thing goes for the table of contents page, simplifying the
listing to include only the larger headings would make for a much more
friendly, simpler is almost always better in web design.

Other than that, it looks like a good guide to google, and I hope that
people will make use of it!

jjb

Thanks for your feedback.  I'll make the first page a bit more concise
and I'll consider making two versions of the table of contents, one
with just the major headings and one with more detail.

Please let me know if you have any other suggestions for how I can
improve Google Guide.

Nancy

Correction, Page 1: 

..."Google Guide is helpful to you, please tell other Google users
about it, and if you have a website, please add a link to _a_ Google
Guide's home page..."   REMOVE the "a"

Please don't be shocked or offended, this really is an excellent
guide.  my suggestions are radical.  Keep an open mind.

I agree with jjb, there is far to much on the first page.  My
suggestions would be the following:

1) Remove alili the testamonials and put them behind a "testamonials"
text link at the top with the other links.

Actually I would move the top line of links to the bottom of the page,
and get right into the tutorial through one of two doors.  "Basic
Searching" and "Power Users"  ...you want people to USE THE TUTORIAL,
no?  Then give them no choice on the front page.

After they find it useful, they will seek out the other information on
the site.  Think about how you started using Google.  You went to the
front page and entered a keyword.  No choice, nothing to do but get
started.

2) Think white space.  All the text is VERY scary.  Part of the reason
Google is so successful is because of the simplicity of the front
page.  The simplicity of the front page is not an accident.  As you
get into the Google site, there is a huge amount of information and
text, just not on the front page.  Mimic as much as you can, the look
and feel of Google's own front page.

3) first part, second part, third part.  RENAME, and don't explain
there are parts, people will find them.

4) Acknowledgments, same as testamonials, put behind a text link.

5) About the Author, same as above.

I haven't really gone past the front page, for fear of ruining your
day.  If you don't hate me now, and you think iany of these ideas have
merit, I'll go on...

~~Cynthia

jjb,

This morning I made two versions of the table of contents, a short
version that doesn't list the sections in each part.

Cynthia,

> I haven't really gone past the front page, for fear of ruining your
> day.  If you don't hate me now, and you think any of these ideas have
> merit, I'll go on...

I posted my question in hopes of getting a response like yours that would get 
me to consider other ways of presenting information that users might
find more inviting.  So have no fear about ruining my day, you just
made my day!  And furthermore, if you take a look at Google Guide now,
you'll see that I've
begun paring down the home page by putting the acknowledgments and
about the author on separate pages.  I'll be making more improvements
shortly.

Please continue.

Anxiously awaiting your next set of comments,

Nancy

Nancy,

Wow, I certainly didn't expect such a gracious reply, let alone click
on the Google ~Guide link and see changes!!

I was telling my son about your site, and explaining that I had made
some recommendations...  I clicked on the link to show him what I
meant and you had made so many changes that I had to TELL him how it
was this morning!

Anyway, already, it is much more inviting.  The "ANXIOUS TO GET
STARTED?" is perfect.  I immediately clicked on it and went in a few
pages before I went back to see what changed you had actually made.

It's working...  What I mean is, ...now, a user has the immediate
opportunity, and feels the desire, to click to get started
immediately.  the fact the opportunity is before you need to scroll is
very important.

As I mentioned, I went in a few pages.  Over the next few days, I plan
on going through the tutorial in full to improve my searching skills. 
I will report on ease of use, and make more recommendations along the
way.

It's 11:40pm here in Seattle.  I have to work in the morning, but I'll
get back to your site as soon as I'm able.

~~Cynthia

Cynthia

> Wow, I certainly didn't expect such a gracious reply, 

Why not?  Your suggestions were great and seem so obvious now.  

When I first put Google Guide up on the web, I had a simple home page.
 It was so simple that it matched few queries.  So I added more words
that I thought people might enter when looking for a tutorial on
searching with Google and then I kept on adding more and more until I
received jjb and your comments.

Till next time,

Nanc