Z-List Series Part 2: Get A New Browser

This is the second entry in the Z-List Series, where I will be exploring non A-list blogs that deserve more readers. To learn more, check out the $10,000 blog challenge.

Site 2 up for show is Get A New Browser, a great team blog about “design, web deveolpment, user experiences, and the business of technology.” They claim to be “analyzing the web” and I think they do a great job of it.

I found GANB when TJ Mapes wrote an entry about poor navigation. He had been browsing some design galleries and noticed that many feature nothing more than “previous” and “next” links for digging through the archives. He mentioned Liquid Designs in particular, and the entry showed up in my referrer stats.

To be honest, this was a problem that I never noticed, nor did any of the thousands of users that came across the site before TJ. I think most users just accepted this as typical navigation structure, and I was too inexperienced in it myself to realize it was an issue. This entry was the best user feedback I’ve ever received, and it prompted me to dig through the Wordpress Codex and figure out a scheme for better navigation. That very night, with a few hours of Wordpress coding (and a little hacking), I managed to put to separate the categories, group the gallery entries by month, and set up useful archive pages that just about eliminated the need for “previous” and “next” links. Had it not been for TJ’s insight, I would have never improved my site.

I think this is just one example of the useful insight coming from the guys at Get A New Browser. I know there are a lot of design and webstandards blogs out there, but you should definitely give this one a try. Here’s some great entries to get you started:

• Feature Requests, a great list of features that would greatly improve some of the best web services.
• The Unsurprising Truth About Good Design, , a great response to the whole silliness about websites being successful because of their ugliness.
• Designing for Content, a look at what makes good (and not so good) content-based design.
• Old Media, New Ideas, a look at the move in big media to the web.
• Toss Standards Out the Window?, a discussion on the adoption (and lack of adoption) of web standards by designers.

Do check out GANB today. It’s a great blog for everyone who is interested in web standards and good design. And stay tuned for the next entry in the Z-List Series.

Visit GANB