Web‐based logs contain potentially useful empirical data with which World Wide Web (Web) designers and design theorists can assess usability and effectiveness of design choices. Most Web design guidelines from artistic or usability principles feature no empirical validation, while empirical studies of Web use typically rely on observer ratings. Web server logs and client‐side logs can provide naturally‐occurring, unobtrusive usage data, partially amenable to normative use assessments but particularly useful in experimental research comparing alternative Web designs. Identification of types of Web server logs, client logs, types and uses of log data, and issues associated with the validity of these data are enumerated. Frameworks that outline how sources of use‐based data can be triangulated to assess Web design are illustrated. Finally, an approach to experimentation that overcomes many data validity issues is presented and illustrated through a pilot experiment that used server logs to compare user responses to frames, pop‐up, and scrolling arrangements of a single Web site.

The authors conducted a study of three approaches to secondary navigation in software wizards. Secondary navigation refers to user interface navigation controls that are in addition to the standard "Back" and "Next" buttons in a software wizard. We tested three secondary navigation controls: table of contents, tabs, and drop down menu. The goal of this study was to assess the benefits of secondary navigation controls in terms of user success with and user preference for the controls in the context of a software wizard. Thirty participants across three" IBM sites tested prototypes of wizards with secondary navigation controls. We found that study participants were more successful with and preferred the table of contents secondary navigation control, participants continued to rely on the Back and Next buttons for navigation in the wizard, and participants preferred a secondary navigation control to having no secondary navigation control in a wizard.

Web-based logs contain potentially useful data with which designers can assess the usability and effectiveness of their choices. Most guides to World Wide Web (Web) design derived from artistic or usability principles feature no empirical validation, while empirical studies of Web use typically rely on observer ratings. Several sources of unobtrusive usage data are available to Web designers, including Web server logs, client-side logs, and other data. The naturally-occurring traces recorded in these logs offer a rich data source, amenable to normative use assessments and to experimental research comparing alternative Web designs. Identification of types of Web server logs, client logs, types and uses of log data, and issues associated with the validity these data, are enumerated. Finally, frameworks that outline how sources of use-based data can be triangulated to assess Web design are illustrated, and an approach to experimentation that overcomes many log data validity issues is presented.