It’s often considered good usability to include default text in a form text input field, however if you don’t go the extra step to clear the form when the user clicks into the field to begin typing, you force them to first delete your default text before entering their own values.
With all the fancy analytics packages available, most web developers have a pretty good handle on their traffic: where it comes from, how long they stay, what browser they’re using, and which page on the site was the one that failed to hold their attention to the point where they left (exit pages.) These stats are certainly important to understanding what’s working and what...
It’s 2009, and although website usability practices have gotten overwhelmingly better over the past decade, there are a few slip-ups that I still see far more often than I should, even on sites designed by professional agencies. I’m certainly not proclaiming to be a usability guru like Jakob Nielsen, but these usability issues are easily avoided (and won’t sacrifice your design)...
I'm a tech nerd from NY/CA now living in Lisbon, Portugal. I run Grokability, Inc, and run several open source projects, including Snipe-IT Asset Management. Tweet at me @snipeyhead, skeet me at @snipe.lol, or read more...