---
title: "Smashing Magazine Lists 10 Web Usability Guidelines"
date: 2009-09-27
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $("
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2009/09/27/smashing-magazine-lists-10-web-usability-guidelines/
---
# Smashing Magazine Lists 10 Web Usability Guidelines
> 1. Form Labels Work Best Above The Field
> 2. Users Focus On Faces
> 3. Quality Of Design Is An Indicator Of Credibility
> 4. Most Users Do Not Scroll
> 5. Blue Is The Best Color For Links
> 6. The Ideal Search Box Is 27-Characters Wide
> 7. White Space Improves Comprehension
> 8. Effective User Testing Doesn't Have To Be Extensive
> 9. Informative Product Pages Help You Stand Out
> 10. Most Users Are Blind To Advertising

It's good information, though nothing too surprising. In looking at my site, I don't have many forms or faces. The quality of the design is mostly invisible to the content. Users do have to scroll to see all the recent post titles (sidebar ads took a priority with real estate). My links are blue. My search box is 42 pixels wide, mostly because it looked better in the sidebar that way.

The whole theme emphasizes white space, and paragraphs and images have plenty of padding. I haven't done any user testing, but I do receive positive feedback now and then. I don't have product information pages, and as for users being blind to ads, I set the ad order to mix with every page reload (this is supposed to increase visual attention).

At the end of Smashing Magazine's usability guidelines, they also offer some interesting tips on typography. According to a study of about 50 popular websites, Smashing Magazine concludes the following about the optimal typography:

> 

> - Line height (in pixels) ÷ body copy font size (in pixels) = 1.48

> - Line length (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 27.8

> - Space between paragraphs (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 0.754

> - Optimal number of characters per line is 55 to 75

> - Layouts usually have a fixed width (pixel-based) (92%) and are usually centered (94%). The width of fixed layouts varies between 951 and 1000 pixels (56%).

> - The home page shows excerpts of 10 to 20 posts (62%).

> - 58% of a website's overall layout is used to display the main content.

>