A new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, The Strength of Internet Ties, suggests that Internet use is contributing to a rebound in social capital and community spirit, rather than the decline that some pundits have warned about.

This is good news for nonprofit leaders, who have struggled to cope with Americans’ rising reluctance to volunteer for their church, march for the Sierra Club, coach Little League, join a board of directors, run for public office, or engage in other civic activities. This trend was most convincingly documented in the 2001 book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam, who concluded that Americans were largely abandoning these constructive habits to watch more television.

Among many interesting findings, the Pew researchers found that:

• The Internet, particularly e-mail, plays socially beneficial roles by allowing people to find support and information from a larger network of social contacts
• Most Internet users use e-mail to supplement rather than replace their in-person and phone contacts with friends and family
• The number of Americans relying on the Internet for help with major life decisions has increased by one-third since 2002

The researchers recognize the importance of "communities of interest" online, but find that most users remain invested in "communities of place," as well.

At 50 pages, this is not a quick read. But if you are looking for some food for thought, this report is a tasty meal indeed.

As of late, I’ve been thinking about drop-down and fly-out list design elements. I’ve pinged my network to get an idea of the industry’s thoughts on this matter. As for me, I find they fragment and remove the "big picture" User Experience.

In my research and conversations with IA and Usability professionals I’ve found that drop-downs are OK to use in forms or when the user knows what’s behind the dropdown – as in states. But for main navigation elements, drop-downs and fly-outs should not be used.

Jacob Nielsen states that "Drop-down menus are often more trouble than they are worth and can be
confusing because Web designers use them for several different
purposes. Also, scrolling menus reduce usability when they prevent
users from seeing all their options in a single glance."

An article in the User Interface Engineering site explains that "sites without these [drop-down and fly-out] design elements did a better job of getting users to the content they sought and to valuable content they didn’t previously know existed."

Here are some thoughts from IA and Usability experts:

• Donna Maurer: Familiarity with the domain – When users are
  familiar with the domain it is OK to hide the options in a drop-down
  list – users can determine what they need to supply from the label
  (think of a list of States as an example).
• Todd Warfel: We live by one major guideline – Predict before you click. So,
  if the user can predict what’s going to be in the menu before clicking,
  then you’re 90% on your way to success. This covers things like:
  Months, Days, Years (short lists of years), States, etc. I know before
  I hit that menu what states will be listed. The other 10% of the
  challenge is the navigation of the list – longer lists are difficult to
  navigate and most people we’ve observed don’t know you can type on the
  keyboard to jump down the menu.
• Elton Billings: They are perfect to conserve screen real estate in situations where the user is likely know know EXACTLY what the list contains before they even expand it. For example, selecting your area code to send you to a region-specific site.

Beaconfire is once again co-sponsoring NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference. This year, the keynote speaker is Guy Kawasaki, a well-known Silicon Valley innovator.

With plenty of time before the conference, Guy has helpfully blogged tips for conference presenters. Here is his advice on How to Kick Butt On a Panel, How to Get a Standing Ovation and How to Be a Demo God.

An interesting new study finds that users make "aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site" within a twentieth of a second.

Web sites judged in a blink (CNN)

The article is light on details, but interesting nonetheless.  Here’s more about the author of the study, for what it’s worth:

• Published articles (Interaction-design.org)
• Bio (Dept. of Psychology, Carleton University)

I’ve been talking about the User Experience Network for some time. You’ll find an article in UX Matters describing its goals and mission. I’m one of three LAs in DC and you’ll be happy to know that DC is very active. One of the most active groups is the Usability Professionals Association’s DC Chapter.

Cheers!

As a side benefit of my continuing personal quest to improve my mass transit experience, I offer you this cool mashup of Google Maps and the Metro rail system in Washington DC.