.net is really good so I don’t want it to seem that this blog is full of\u00c2\u00a0 rants about it.\u00c2\u00a0This entry is meant to\u00c2\u00a0be seen as constructive criticism. On the positive side, it shows that we are paying attention.<\/p>\n

However, the expert panels are often quite annoying. Contestants in the weekly challenge tend to be reasonably new web designers who want to get their names known, unsurprisingly.\u00c2\u00a0The “expert” judges\u00c2\u00a0get their names known, with an “expert” tag attached, which gives them all the publicity adavantage that the challengers get, plus extra kudos. And sometimes, one suspects that\u00c2\u00a0they are not\u00c2\u00a0so expert after all.<\/p>\n

However, it is the whole idea of the expert panel that is the most dubious part of the exercise. For most sites, appealing to experts is of\u00c2\u00a0little value. The general public is not concerned about the issues that concern web designers.<\/p>\n

As a rule, the\u00c2\u00a0internet-browsing public\u00c2\u00a0don’t care if the site fits the current web\u00c2\u00a0fashions. They don’t care about much except whether\u00c2\u00a0a site does what it is supposed to. If they want information, they expect it to turn up in a readable and usable form.\u00c2\u00a0 If they want to buy goods online, they\u00c2\u00a0expect the process of finding what they want, working out the\u00c2\u00a0cost and how to pay\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0arranging delivery to be straightforward, fast and\u00c2\u00a0secure. They\u00c2\u00a0will just give up and not purchase anything if it seems like more trouble than going to the shops. So why get experts to judge the user interface of an e-commerce site? Stop\u00c2\u00a0a dozen people at random. Choose teenagers, students, pensioners, cleaners,\u00c2\u00a0factory workers,\u00c2\u00a0bar staff and office workers\u00c2\u00a0rather than “experts” and it will be obvious what e-commerce sites work<\/p>\n