Users are being given more and more control over how they consume content on a website.  Apple’s latest version of the Safari browser, Safari 5, is a great of example of how we’re evolving in this direction. The new reader feature built into Safari, allows the user to consume content in an easy to read format that subdues all the advertising on a website along with all other extraneous elements.  In an attempt to make the web a more readable experience, the Safari reader presents content to the user in a very elegant and simple format. This is clearly part Apple’s well planned strategy with a view to giving users yet another reason to buy an ipad and let go of print products.  If you never download a single app for your ipad, although I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t, you will still get a clean pleasurable experience reading your favourite content on the Safari browser that comes native with the device.

Of course, it goes further than the ipad. Any device that can run windows will also have access to this version of Safari and the new reader feature. It makes me want to read more online and it’s as easy as clicking one button. It just works – no configuration required.

Being a user experience professional in the digital publishing industry, the first alarm that goes off is, “what happens to our ad impressions?” The initial web page still has to load before the reader button is available so the impression should still register. Although animated ads that string through a number of animations or elaborate take-overs may suffer from this new feature. There is some relief for advertisers however; the reader feature is not available on index pages and other lead pages. In the case of an index page, the reader button is replaced by an RSS button. Only once you have selected an article, will you see the reader button.  Perhaps reader will strike a nice balance between the commercial experience and better web design.  Overall, I think its step in the right direction. This new feature underscores the need for UX designers to employ a simple, clean design approach. If we don’t do this, browser developers might do it for us.

Try it out – Download the new Safari Browser

After playing with an ipad for the first time this past week, I realized two things:

1 .  It’s not just a bigger version of the iphone
2.  The web looks sexier on the device

As I embark on developing my first set of apps for the ipad, many ideas in our design group have been floating around. Our potential mobile development firm alluded to the fact that once you build an app for the iphone, you can reuse around 60% of the code to build an ipad version of the app. That’s all well and good from a cost standpoint but what about the user experience? Because the ipad library of apps is rather sparse right now, Apple makes all the iphone apps available and usable on the ipad. You can choose to run the iphone app in its intended aspect ratio or you can double the size of the interface. The problem is that it seems a bit awkward and it looks stretched on the ipad when you do this.

Although iphone apps run just fine on the ipad, one thing that I decided right then and there is that the ipad deserves a better version of the application to take full advantage of the real estate and all the things the ipad can do. As I head down the path of developing for the ipad, I will be looking at building an interface specifically for the device. Here’s the opportunity we’ve all been waiting for. The ability to develop and shape applications that will drive a new platform and set new standards in user interface design.

My advice to all who want to start working with ipad is to stay away from the easy route of developing another version of your iphone app. Instead, approach it as a blank canvas and create something unique and exciting. Its best not to take a “one size fits all” approach.

I was browsing around this morning, checking out some news stories on the anticipated Apple tablet, when my reading experience was interrupted by a little contextual link widget. We all started seeing these years ago, first, as tool-tips then as hyperlinked definitions. The later of which is helpful if you’re browsing a medical journal and are unfamiliar with some of the terms and jargon. Now, however, they are used as full-on mini-microsites, complete with their own tabs and navigation.

I have no desire to browse a website only to experience another microsite which is the size of my wristwatch. Hyperlinks should always be used in context of the article you’re reading. An example of the proper-use would be when it links to an article that is relevant to the hyper-linked word. It’s when they’re used to advertise that it degrades the reader’s experience. For example, the article I was reading had the word “business development” hyperlinked. As your mouse grazes the link, a little contextual ad for IBM business solutions pops-up. If you were going to tell me that there is a great article on business development waiting for me on the other side of that link, I would say – Thanks for the reminder. Instead, my reading experience was interrupted by a page peppered with these ad links, most of which had little or no relevance to the article I was reading.

As a UX consultant I am always faced with the challenge of how to monetize websites but this really isn’t the best way to do it. Don’t go for the cheesy contextual link-ads to gain a quick win. Especially in the case of a news and information site, you are bound to lose credibility with your readers.