May 29, 2007 at 4:19 pm
‘HuffIt,’ Declares HuffingtonPost.com
When Cute Site Names Go Wrong OR Why You Should Test Your Ideas with Broad Demographic Audiences
HuffingtonPost.com debuted a redesign earlier this week that incorporates a “Digg”-esque feature, where logged-in members can vote on stories, indicating if one is of interest to them. The most popular stories appear in a special section of the site.
This model works very well on websites; users like to know what others are reading.
But HuffingtonPost.com chose an unfortunate name for this new feature: “Huff It” (huffit.huffingtonpost.com).
“Huffing” is slang for inhaling intoxicants like glue, paint or aerosol products. Gasoline, lighter fluid, and paint thinner are other common items that get “huffed.” [wiki]
This unfortunately renders much of the new functionality on HuffingtonPost.com rather humorous: “Register or sign in below to start huffing!”
Screenshots
Take Home Message
Cutesy abbreviations for site functionality can confuse readers. In a worst-case scenario, you may unintentionally be incorporating slang into your redesign. Testing your designs out with a broad demographic group is one way to make sure this doesn’t happen to your latest site feature.
More web.aan.org on Arianna Huffington
Illustration by Ben Millen, arcticsounds.com
Tags: arianna huffington, naming, testing
Meghan Dewald:
May 30, 2007 at 11:24 am
Touché!
I can’t believe the Huffington Post people didn’t think of that association, but maybe they discounted how silly it would sound.
So many noxious “huff”ings packed into the “recent users” list also brought on confusion for me re: “Hef” — Hugh Hefner’s nickname?
“Digg It” only works because it was already a slang phrase — as in, “can you dig it?” — but it’s not locked into that one meaning. Digging deeper, etc.
Meghan Dewald
Seven Days Newspaper
Burlington, VT
cresmer:
June 1, 2007 at 8:32 am
Who doesn’t know what huffing is? Guess they missed all those after school specials and very special episodes…
Alex Grogan:
June 2, 2007 at 11:43 am
Sure they thought of it - and who cares.
Fag used to be a cigarette, and gay was happy - but look how you use those words today.
Get over it and yourself.