Comments on: URL as UI http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/ Adam Darowski is a daddy of two and User Experience Designer for BatchBlue Software. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:29:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Joss Winn http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-212145 Joss Winn Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:30:17 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-212145 <blockquote>When you access a web site, you are generally typing in a URL</blockquote> Nice post, but I don't think this is true for the majority of users on the web. Except for power users, most people use search technology to find a link to a web page and then click on the link, never typing the URL at all. If my mum wants to visit the BBC website, she types 'BBC' into Google and clicks on the link. The URL is increasingly being hidden to users by developments in browsers but at the same time being more deeply integrated into browser technology. As has been observed in the comments above, modern browsers allow you to type in part of the URL or page title and it will suggest pages from your history or even via a search engine. Cool URIs and SEO techniques like those you've usefully discussed are key to this new browser technology, but I don't think the idea of the URL itself is gaining traction with average users. Rather, URLs are following natural language expressions that browser search technology is abstracting into what used to be called 'location bars'. In Chrome, I type BBC and it suggests the BBC website, whether I've visited before or not. Firefox and Safari are going this way, too. We blogged briefly about this here: http://linkingyou.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2011/04/18/the-evolution-of-the-address-bar/

When you access a web site, you are generally typing in a URL

Nice post, but I don’t think this is true for the majority of users on the web. Except for power users, most people use search technology to find a link to a web page and then click on the link, never typing the URL at all. If my mum wants to visit the BBC website, she types ‘BBC’ into Google and clicks on the link.

The URL is increasingly being hidden to users by developments in browsers but at the same time being more deeply integrated into browser technology. As has been observed in the comments above, modern browsers allow you to type in part of the URL or page title and it will suggest pages from your history or even via a search engine. Cool URIs and SEO techniques like those you’ve usefully discussed are key to this new browser technology, but I don’t think the idea of the URL itself is gaining traction with average users. Rather, URLs are following natural language expressions that browser search technology is abstracting into what used to be called ‘location bars’. In Chrome, I type BBC and it suggests the BBC website, whether I’ve visited before or not. Firefox and Safari are going this way, too.

We blogged briefly about this here: http://linkingyou.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2011/04/18/the-evolution-of-the-address-bar/

]]> By: Micheal Koong http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-201730 Micheal Koong Wed, 04 May 2011 18:31:22 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-201730 I want to point out my love for your kind-heartedness giving support to people who absolutely need help with your concern. Your personal dedication to passing the solution around had become exceptionally important and have consistently allowed most people much like me to arrive at their objectives. This informative hints and tips implies a whole lot to me and a whole lot more to my mates. Many thanks; from each one of us. I want to point out my love for your kind-heartedness giving support to people who absolutely need help with your concern. Your personal dedication to passing the solution around had become exceptionally important and have consistently allowed most people much like me to arrive at their objectives. This informative hints and tips implies a whole lot to me and a whole lot more to my mates. Many thanks; from each one of us.

]]> By: URLs als User Interface | dreitehabee http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-197102 URLs als User Interface | dreitehabee Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:30:31 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-197102 [...] eine URL Bestandteil des User Interfaces ist. Diesem Prinzip folgend wurde das Permalink-Schema auf Denna Jones’ Website festgelegt. [...] [...] eine URL Bestandteil des User Interfaces ist. Diesem Prinzip folgend wurde das Permalink-Schema auf Denna Jones’ Website festgelegt. [...]

]]> By: URLs als User Interface ‹ dreitehabee http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-190369 URLs als User Interface ‹ dreitehabee Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:55:32 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-190369 [...] }); }); dreitehabeeNetzkultur, Reisen und Kaffeetrinken in Wien.URLs als User InterfaceWarum eine URL Bestand­teil des User Inter­faces ist. Die­sem Prin­zip fol­gend wurde das Permalink-Schema auf Denna Jones‘ Web­site [...] [...] }); }); dreitehabeeNetzkultur, Reisen und Kaffeetrinken in Wien.URLs als User InterfaceWarum eine URL Bestand­teil des User Inter­faces ist. Die­sem Prin­zip fol­gend wurde das Permalink-Schema auf Denna Jones‘ Web­site [...]

]]> By: URLs als UI ‹ dreitehabee http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-158751 URLs als UI ‹ dreitehabee Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:54:44 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-158751 [...] URLs sind ein Bestandteil des Webdesigns. Logisch und verständlich. Willkommen auf dreitehabee! Wenn dir die Inhalte dieser Seite gefallen, abonniere meinen Newsfeed und versäume keinen neuen Artikel mehr! Dieser Eintrag wurde veröffentlicht in Asides und getagged Design, ui, url, usability. Bookmarken: Permanent-Link. Kommentieren oder ein Trackback hinterlassen: Trackback-URL. [...] [...] URLs sind ein Bestandteil des Webdesigns. Logisch und verständlich. Willkommen auf dreitehabee! Wenn dir die Inhalte dieser Seite gefallen, abonniere meinen Newsfeed und versäume keinen neuen Artikel mehr! Dieser Eintrag wurde veröffentlicht in Asides und getagged Design, ui, url, usability. Bookmarken: Permanent-Link. Kommentieren oder ein Trackback hinterlassen: Trackback-URL. [...]

]]> By: cwxwwwxwwxwx http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-154339 cwxwwwxwwxwx Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:24:46 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-154339 well, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how's life? hope it's introduce branch ;) well, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch ;)

]]> By: Yooblog » Blog Archive » Vers des adresses plus humaines http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-154147 Yooblog » Blog Archive » Vers des adresses plus humaines Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:28:24 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-154147 [...] ça permet d’utiliser l’url comme une vrai interface utilisateur (cf l’article en anglais : URL as UI), ça permet d’accéder à une information à l’intérieur d’un site sans passer par la page [...] [...] ça permet d’utiliser l’url comme une vrai interface utilisateur (cf l’article en anglais : URL as UI), ça permet d’accéder à une information à l’intérieur d’un site sans passer par la page [...]

]]> By: URL for mere mortals | Fucinaweb http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-145445 URL for mere mortals | Fucinaweb Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:10:52 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-145445 [...] i worked 6 years for a publishing company, but I’m not alone. Adam Darowski on his blog explains why an URL has to be considered an integral part of the user [...] [...] i worked 6 years for a publishing company, but I’m not alone. Adam Darowski on his blog explains why an URL has to be considered an integral part of the user [...]

]]> By: Doko http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-142616 Doko Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:18:55 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-142616 Good article. Good article.

]]> By: Design ed Usabilità degli URI ~ Davide Bocci in... http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-121631 Design ed Usabilità degli URI ~ Davide Bocci in... Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:04:08 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-121631 [...] cosa più bella del web è che non sei mai solo: Tina invita a visitare il blog di Darowsky che pensa alle URI come ad una Interfaccia Utente e non la spara neanche tanto grossa. Su questo blog si discute della grande usabilità dei link di [...] [...] cosa più bella del web è che non sei mai solo: Tina invita a visitare il blog di Darowsky che pensa alle URI come ad una Interfaccia Utente e non la spara neanche tanto grossa. Su questo blog si discute della grande usabilità dei link di [...]

]]> By: David Keech http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-96700 David Keech Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:08:13 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-96700 As far as users looking in what they see as "directories" is concerned, I have actually seen the Yahoo crawler doing this. I have a blog with a very similar URI structure to yours: /blog/YYYY/MM/DD/title_of_the_blog and I have seen Slurp requesting URIs like /blog/YYYY/MM/DD/, /blog/YYYY/MM/ and /blog/YYYY/ even though these were not valid URIs and there were no links anywhere pointing to them. Slurp actually assumes that these are real subdirectories the same way a real user would. Of course, I have now made those URIs work just in case a real user ever goes looking for all blog posts in a particular month. As far as users looking in what they see as “directories” is concerned, I have actually seen the Yahoo crawler doing this.

I have a blog with a very similar URI structure to yours: /blog/YYYY/MM/DD/title_of_the_blog and I have seen Slurp requesting URIs like /blog/YYYY/MM/DD/, /blog/YYYY/MM/ and /blog/YYYY/ even though these were not valid URIs and there were no links anywhere pointing to them. Slurp actually assumes that these are real subdirectories the same way a real user would.

Of course, I have now made those URIs work just in case a real user ever goes looking for all blog posts in a particular month.

]]> By: Adam Darowski http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-90690 Adam Darowski Tue, 20 May 2008 20:36:54 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-90690 <strong>@David:</strong> I think it definitely makes sense to use puzzles instead of info. I like how it essentially creates a directory for every puzzle, giving you the flexibility to add more to the file structure at will. @David: I think it definitely makes sense to use puzzles instead of info. I like how it essentially creates a directory for every puzzle, giving you the flexibility to add more to the file structure at will.

]]> By: David Millar http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-2/#comment-90045 David Millar Mon, 19 May 2008 07:09:34 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-90045 Good article. I've been trying to move toward better URLs for my own site. I'm currently thinking of switching up some of my urls from <i>/info/#/</i> and <i>/puzzles/#.pdf</i> to <i>/puzzles/#/</i> and <i>/puzzles/#/download.pdf</i> respectively (and of course keeping the old URLs accessible for a while just in case). Does that seem like a more logical step, especially if I were to add more pages for content and information per entry? Good article. I’ve been trying to move toward better URLs for my own site.

I’m currently thinking of switching up some of my urls from /info/#/ and /puzzles/#.pdf to /puzzles/#/ and /puzzles/#/download.pdf
respectively (and of course keeping the old URLs accessible for a while just in case).

Does that seem like a more logical step, especially if I were to add more pages for content and information per entry?

]]> By: As Seen On The Web: Thoughts On Teaching http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-83761 As Seen On The Web: Thoughts On Teaching Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:25:28 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-83761 [...] If people use your site enough, they’ll want an even faster way to reach the content they want. They’re not browsing anymore. They are power users. They know what they want. Give them a nicely hackable URL to do this. (source) [...] [...] If people use your site enough, they’ll want an even faster way to reach the content they want. They’re not browsing anymore. They are power users. They know what they want. Give them a nicely hackable URL to do this. (source) [...]

]]> By: URL as UI | ckunte.com http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-80093 URL as UI | ckunte.com Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:58:06 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-80093 [...] Adam Darowski: “Computer users have gotten so used to the graphical user interface (GUI) that it is easy to forget that computers basically operate via a series of commands. The web has not only brought the command line back to the surface (with the web browser‚Äôs address bar), it has exposed the concept to an entire generation of users that has never seen a command line.” [via.] [...] [...] Adam Darowski: “Computer users have gotten so used to the graphical user interface (GUI) that it is easy to forget that computers basically operate via a series of commands. The web has not only brought the command line back to the surface (with the web browser‚Äôs address bar), it has exposed the concept to an entire generation of users that has never seen a command line.” [via.] [...]

]]> By: sumit http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-79480 sumit Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:00:21 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-79480 nokia homepage also has one of the most unusable url structure good post nokia homepage also has one of the most unusable url structure

good post

]]> By: Interfeces › Adam Darowski on URLs as UI http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-77007 Interfeces › Adam Darowski on URLs as UI Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:27:27 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-77007 [...] Darowski has an excellent piece on URLs as user interface at his blog, Traces of [...] [...] Darowski has an excellent piece on URLs as user interface at his blog, Traces of [...]

]]> By: Moose http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-76824 Moose Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:13:06 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-76824 When the web had static pages this used to be done loads. Nokia were great - you heard a new phone was coming out www.nokia.com/phones/nnnn would take you straight to the page you needed. When the web had static pages this used to be done loads.

Nokia were great – you heard a new phone was coming out

http://www.nokia.com/phones/nnnn

would take you straight to the page you needed.

]]> By: Brandon http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-76769 Brandon Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:16:12 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-76769 @Morgan: I actually just picked that up over the weekend. Glad to see it's in mentioned in there. @Morgan: I actually just picked that up over the weekend. Glad to see it’s in mentioned in there.

]]> By: Fatih Hayrioƒülu’nun not defteri » 05 Nisan 2008 web’den se√ßme haberler http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-75850 Fatih Hayrioƒülu’nun not defteri » 05 Nisan 2008 web’den se√ßme haberler Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:17:18 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-75850 [...] Anla≈üƒ±labilir internet adresinin avantajlarƒ±. Baƒülantƒ± [...] [...] Anla≈üƒ±labilir internet adresinin avantajlarƒ±. Baƒülantƒ± [...]

]]> By: Morgan Craft http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-75534 Morgan Craft Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:05:58 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-75534 Just found this article. Surprised no one posted this: http://www.amazon.com/RESTful-Web-Services-Leonard-Richardson/dp/0596529260/ A great book that talks about these 'friendly-urls' being used as part of a technology methodology embracing REST. Just found this article. Surprised no one posted this:

http://www.amazon.com/RESTful-Web-Services-Leonard-Richardson/dp/0596529260/

A great book that talks about these ‘friendly-urls’ being used as part of a technology methodology embracing REST.

]]> By: Justin Blanton | URL as UI http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-75237 Justin Blanton | URL as UI Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:18:21 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-75237 [...] URL as UI. If people use your site enough, they‚Äôll want an even faster way to reach the content they want. They‚Äôre not browsing anymore. They are power users. They know what they want. Give them a nicely hackable URL to do this. © 1999-2008 Justin Blanton (e-mail)                    e v e r y t h i n g i s r e l a t i v e                    In partnership with [...] [...] URL as UI. If people use your site enough, they‚Äôll want an even faster way to reach the content they want. They‚Äôre not browsing anymore. They are power users. They know what they want. Give them a nicely hackable URL to do this. © 1999-2008 Justin Blanton (e-mail)                    e v e r y t h i n g i s r e l a t i v e                    In partnership with [...]

]]> By: Luke http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-75211 Luke Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:09:53 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-75211 Well said. This thinking particularly comes into its own on web apps like delicious, flickr etc. where your url effectively becomes your home page / application welcome screen. Well said. This thinking particularly comes into its own on web apps like delicious, flickr etc. where your url effectively becomes your home page / application welcome screen.

]]> By: Subliminal Resource Locators « Scott Robbin http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-75106 Subliminal Resource Locators « Scott Robbin Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:05:39 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-75106 [...] week, Jacob turned me on to an interesting article about readable URLs. It’s been sitting in the back of my mind ever [...] [...] week, Jacob turned me on to an interesting article about readable URLs. It’s been sitting in the back of my mind ever [...]

]]> By: Dave http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/comment-page-1/#comment-75016 Dave Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:05:40 +0000 http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2008/03/16/url-as-ui/#comment-75016 Surprised no one has mentioned how this can be achieved easily! If your server is Apache, the magic is achieved through use of mod rewrite, you can do this by editing (or creating) a htacess file. A quick Google finds this http://corz.org/serv/tricks/htaccess2.php which is one of many ways to do it! Happy rewriting :) Surprised no one has mentioned how this can be achieved easily! If your server is Apache, the magic is achieved through use of mod rewrite, you can do this by editing (or creating) a htacess file.

A quick Google finds this http://corz.org/serv/tricks/htaccess2.php which is one of many ways to do it!

Happy rewriting :)

]]>