We all like stuff that works and is easy to handle with. I would like to take this even further and add that we all like stuff that is dummy proof. Whether you really are a dummy or simply to lazy to read the manual: stuff needs to work the way you expect it to work.

That’s why I am an avid fan of the infobox. Not only is it a cool extra feature, it really adds an extra value to a website.

For those who don’t know it, it basically is a little box that pops up with some more info about the matter. You can design it any way you want and make it popup whenever you want but the most logical time to make it pop up is when people do something wrong (incorrect emailadress) or may need some more info (specific vocabulary or a new technique).

For those of you “I-don’t-need-no-infobox sayers” I certainly agree that not every website needs infoboxes but the reason that I make this post is to point out that such an easy-to-make feature can really add an extra value to a website. Maybe some examples can turn you no-sayers over:

example 1:

infoblock example 1

It shows a simple and straightforward message that tells you what went wrong. Ofcourse you could have made the inputfield light up a bit to attract attention but the subscribe box is in a place that isn’t really in the normal field of vision and already pretty small (so a red star or a blinking field would be even smaller). This way everybody that wants to subscribe will really be subscribed.

example 2:

infoblock example 2

Here the infobox comes in the form of a friendly seacreature that also serves as a guide through the website. The website is ment for kids and with the help of Crabby McInfobox they can’t really do anything wrong. It explains, it corrects, it verifies, basically it’s awesome!