Newsgator: Widget Best Practices That Lead To Success

by Avatar	Stumble this!	October 01st 2008

Newsgator and Widgets?. yes. they are one of the often overlooked options in the Widget Space. but they do have a knack on a lot of  widget data already so they kindly put a a list with Widget Best Practices based on the data they have gathered:

NewsGator Media & Consumer Products tracks a veritable ton of data every day.  That data, among many other applications, helps us to track how individual clients are doing in terms of their widget strategy and performance.  Every month several of us sit down and go through the past month’s “numbers.”

Earlier in the month we reviewed our August numbers.  We put particular focus on widgets that experienced noteworthy upward movement in some of the metrics we track — such as views, interaction, click throughs, etc.  Then we complied a list of best practices that reflect the basis for the positive changes we noticed in these particular widgets.

Below, the list:

• 1.-put your widgets on article pages and areas to which they are related
• 2.-keep it simple; don’t make widgets that try to do ‘everything’
• 3.-plan ahead when launching time sensitive or seasonal widgets
• 4.-don’t hide your widgets — or content — in your widget
• 5.-if the widget has tabs for different areas of content, consider an auto-rotate
• 6.-use animation conservatively and thumbnails liberally
• 7.give your inheritors more than they expect
• 8.-if you have a network, use it

Simple and to the point. there is only two advices i would add  separately to that list in response to #2 and in general:

1.- If Complicated, ensure there is as much coherence in design and execution as possible to ensure a pleasant usability.

2.-Make the experience as portable as possible so the widget can work harder for you and the user.

Widget Best Practices that Lead to Success

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