Trying to stir up the usability folks, eh John? I confess Yahoo is where I spend a good portion of my time on the web, but I think that statistic is misleading. Most of my time is spent composing e-mail and playing (I confess it) Bejeweled. Very little time is spent navigating the site. I would propose that much of the time people spend on Napster is download time. I do think it is an excelent idea to capitalize on someone else's dollars that are spent on usability, but to say we have no choice but to follow their lead is an oversimplification.

travis brings up a good point. 50% of the web is NOT controlled by the four horsemen. that is also significant. i guess i would say that it's analogous to attitudes about the glass being half empty or half full. in most cases, i lean toward the former. but for this issue i am a glass half full kinda girl. maybe, if we all try really hard and support the part of the web that isn't controlled by the big four, we can have some influence on usability and cut into the other 50%.

i would estimate that i spend about .01% of my time at the big four sites. i'm sure that there are a lot of us, mostly web savants, who do the same. let's unite and fight!!

p.s. john, i would qualify your statement about microsoft owning 92% of the os market by specifying that you're talking about pc's or desktops. most large companies still use mainframes or sun machines for which microsoft doesn't have a product.

I suspect that those designers & developers who are creating sites for "larger" audiences may already be copying the 4 Horsemen of the Web. Those same sites are probably also the ones that pop-up "X-Cam" ads every other page...who needs 'em!

My point is, there are many concurrent webs. I prefer the small, non-corporate, high-quality sites like WebWord and Tomalak's Realm. The downside is that these sites do die off after a while, not unlike flowers. You can't blame these folks for wanting to move on to new projects, only be thankful for the gifts that they've already given.

The 4 horsemen may rule 1/2 the web with their v.c. money, hype, and annoying ads, but don't forget about the "silent 50%"!

While individual elements that these four companies use may not be "usable", doesn't usable, in it's most basic terms, mean that people understand it and can use it efficiently? For example, link colors. The default ones are probably not the best, but to use anything else now is confusing. So, following the example of these larger companies is probably going to result in a more usable site, simply because everyone's learning to use the web via these companies.

What I mean is, can't something become usable that previously wasn't, because it becomes standard?

Brian

As of June 2001, four web properties control more than 50% of all the time spent online by U.S. surfers. This means that you can throw away your usability guidelines and follow these companies. They spend millions on usability testing and they are driving standards by sheer market force. You have no choice but to follow their lead.

What do you think?