- WordPress.com was the online free hosted Blogware services out of those evaluated (The Top 5 most used) which had the best usability.
- TypePad Micro was almost as good as WordPress.com but does not offer users the same degree of creative flexibility and freedom, and given the user persona of the Hobbyist Blogger would be the main user, and their key motivation is to ‘express myself’ so this would have a bigger negative impact on the overall user experience than other factors.
Free online hosted Blogware service average usability comparison
- Blogger was the third most successful platform.
- Xanga and LiveJournal had the most usability issues, with LiveJournal being the Blogware service which rated the worst for usability and user experience.
- Overall Online free hosted Blogware service usability averages at 3.6, so generally usable with minor concerns.
- Online free hosted Blogware services overall are generally best at:
- Facilitating learning, so generally follow Internet platform conventions, generally offer good Internal consistency – including visual identity, use of text, supports user control and freedom and actions such as undo and redo.
- Effective error management
- Taking account of human limitations
- Providing effective help resources.
- Online free hosted Blogware services generally need to improve at:
- Ensuring visual elements do not compromise usability
- Providing a simple state space which focuses on users’ needs
- Offering efficient and effective navigation and giving the user greater control AND freedom.
wilddogsandenglishmen
Hmm. Very interesting. I note that you made no mention of Windows Live Spaces in your blogging platform assessment.
Hello Technogran, thank you for your comment. No, Windows Live Spaces are not included in this study because they don’t meet the scope; one of the five most used online free hosted blogging platforms. The survey by Pingdom.com shows the most used plus my own at the time of doing the study which evaluated which blogging platforms had generated the blog in the Technorati Top 100 blogs. My study does not evaluate all blogging platforms, just the top 5, but the findings from the usability evaluations form principles which are still relevant to all blogging services.
Ka