To build their Next Mayor of London chart widget, the smart asses at BetFair-TradeFair chose to use the most hated web technology -Flash.

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Homer's brain

Deluxe Corp.

Flash + Usability @ Google Search

Jakob Nielsen (world&#8217-s #1 Internet usability expert)

  • Flash: 99% Bad (Jakob Nielsen&#8217-s Alertbox)
  • In usability tests of 46 Flash applications, we identified several basic issues related to Web-based functionality&#8217-s ephemeral nature. (Jakob Nielsen&#8217-s Alertbox)
  • Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005 – #3 = Flash (Jakob Nielsen&#8217-s Alertbox)

Previously: How BetFair screw up the “Next Mayor Of London” embeddable, enriched, compound chart widget —BIG TIME

What is a usable market?

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A usable market is: a market where you exert the least effort for the greatest understanding possible, that allows you to comfortably engage at the level (and in the role) you wish, results in your maximum possible satisfaction, and where your actions in the market feed back positively into the market.

You can jot down your thoughts on the Usable Markets blog&#8230-

The Formula for Internet Site Success

Jakob Nielsen:

The formula for website success is:

  • B = V ? C ? L

Where:

  • B = amount of business done by the site-
  • V = unique visitors coming to the site-
  • C = conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who become customers)- (Note that the concept of conversion applies not only to e-commerce sites, but to any site where there is something you want users to do.)
  • L = loyalty rate (the degree to which customers return to conduct repeat business).

Read the previous blog posts by Chris. F. Masse:

  • Hilarious.
  • Prediction market sessions of the O’Reilly Money-Tech Conference suffer fatally from the absence of the world’s most knowledgeable, most innovative and most trustworthy prediction market expert.
  • Bet2Give Presidential Widget —REDUX
  • Professor Leighton Vaughan-Williams becomes embroilled in BetFair blog controversy.
  • Bet2Give Presidential Widget
  • Did the BetFair blog use trading data from InTrade to hint at BetFair’s accuracy??
  • WordPress powers the MSM’s blogs: NY Times, WSJ, CNN, Fox, Time and People.

Eye-tracking studies: How people read Midas Oracle and the other websites

No GravatarChristina Laun:

  1. Text attracts attention before graphics.
  2. Initial eye movement focuses on the upper left corner of the page.
  3. Users initially look at the top left and upper portion of the page before moving down and to the right.
  4. Readers ignore banners.
  5. Fancy formatting and fonts are ignored.
  6. Show numbers as numerals.
  7. Type size influences viewing behavior.
  8. Users only look at a sub headline if it interests them.
  9. People generally scan lower portions of the page.
  10. Shorter paragraphs perform better than long ones.
  11. One-column formats perform better in eye-fixation than multi-column formats.
  12. Ads in the top and left portions of a page will receive the most eye fixation.
  13. Ads placed next to the best content are seen more often.
  14. Text ads were viewed mostly intently of all types tested.
  15. Bigger images get more attention.
  16. Clean, clear faces in images attract more eye fixation.
  17. Headings draw the eye.
  18. Users spend a lot of time looking at buttons and menus.
  19. Lists hold reader attention longer.
  20. Large blocks of text are avoided.
  21. Formatting can draw attention.
  22. White space is good.
  23. Navigation tools work better when placed at the top of the page.

Go to her post to read the details on all this.

Read the previous blog posts by Chris F. Masse:

  • Michael Gerber – The E-Myth Revisited
  • Changes to TradeFair prediction markets
  • Eric Zitzewitz, laughing all the way to the bank
  • Michael Bloomberg: I’m not running… but, beware, I am a King maker.
  • Meet the 3 Iowa Electronic Markets co-founders: George Neumann, Forrest Nelson and Robert Forsythe.
  • When Markets Beat The Polls – Scientific American Magazine
  • GLOBAL COOLING