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Bjoern Hoehrmann wrote:
> * Ian Graham wrote:
>
>>One observation/result was that a substantial fraction of users expect
>>truncating a URL at 'natural' places to return meaningful results. This,
>>for example, is one of the intuitive 'search' algorithms people use when
>>a link doesn't work. As an example, if
>>
>>http://somewhere.org/US/IL/
>>
>>is a valid URL, then truncating this to
>>
>>http://somewhere.org/US/
>>
>>should both work and provide meaningful information.
>
>
> People who do this commit web architecture crime, the TAG commands
> "People making use of URIs SHOULD NOT attempt to infer properties
> of the referenced resource".
Well, since likely < 0.002% of Web users have read the spec, and since
that recommendation is counter to any intuitive understanding of a URL,
that particular recommendation is .... err... useless.
People do what make sense to them. And since URLs have structure, some
people (and likely some software) naturally look for meaning in it.
I mean how often have you gone to a URL, got a 404, and then chopped
bits off until you found something relevant/useful? And how often were
you pissed when that didn't work?
Designing for what people actually do is, imo, a characteristic of good
design, even if this contradicts a spec.
Ian
--
Ian Graham
H: 416.769.2422 / W: 416.513.5656 / E: <ian . graham AT utoronto . ca>
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