Making the Web Work: Designing Effective Web Applications

Eliminate Superfluous Text

Before the advent of the Web, superfluous words rarely appeared in application interfaces. As a rule, desktop applications, ATMs, cell phones, dashboards, and other interactive media have minimized labels and eliminated instructions wherever possible. In these mediums, there is the clear expectation that the user is trying to accomplish a task, so the most polite and prudent thing to do is keep the chatter down to a minimum.

Compared to other interactive mediums, the Web is considerably more text-based. However, the Web is also an interactive medium, and Web applications in particular are an interactive task-based medium. If the interface’s ultimate goal is to put the user in control, it must deliver a focused environment ...