Working at a startup that was trying desperately to get on track with an ad-driven revenue model, the magic word was the medium-size rectangle ad format -- a.k.a. the "mid-rec". Always remember to incorporate ad space in your webpage designs.

This isn't going to be a groundbreaking post but it's just something I want to remember for myself.

Mid-rec primer

The mid-rec is a rectangular ad format is a 300×250 sized ad (300 pixels wide by 250 pixels high). It looks like this:

I purposely used an image-based ad so that you can get a feel for the regular commercial application of this ad. Notice its bulk and perhaps more importantly the presence of the ad. Since I'm using Google ads I don't have control over what you see here, but I'm guessing it's some crazy Flash animation, blinking, or generally in-your-face.

Why care?

The mid-rec is the king of ad formats. You must incorporate it into your pages. Executives at the media company I worked for were obsessed with it. All page designs required mid-recs and that's all I would ever hear coming out of the mouths of the VPs and other executives. Pages lacking the mid-recs were shot down.

• "Where are we going to put the mid-rec?"
• "Is that space big enough for a mid-rec?"
• "Is the mid-rec above the fold?"
• "Can you shrink down that form so that we can stuff a mid-rec next to it?"
• "Can you make the video player bigger so that we put a mid-rec next to it?"
• And many more...

Indeed, the mid-rec is effective. It catches eyeballs and you can cram video ads in there. Use and placement of mid-recs is discussed during ad pricing negotiations. If advertisers pay more for larger more annoying ads then hell yes, a company relying on ad revenue will do whatever it can to place the biggest flash-based mid-rec that it can in the middle of its page.

Judging from the quantity of annoying flash mid-recs on every website imaginable advertisers are paying top dollar for this type of placement and they are becoming ever more popular. Look at the major websites like CNN, Yahoo, MSN, and you will surely notice mid-recs at least on the sides of pages if not integrated into the middle of articles.

Designing for the mid-rec

The difficulty, then is how does one design for this? I don't have the answer but I do know this: mid-recs take up a lot of space. They are often loud in color and/or volume. Product managers and executives prefer these to be above the fold and away from the side of the page. If you could put it smack dab in the middle of the page you are a design genius. If you're producing a portfolio, make sure to cram some mid-recs and other advertisements on your pages. Interviewers will take notice that, yes, this designer is business savvy.

So, in summary, be sure to set aside space in your beautiful designs for a 300×250 ad placement, probably Flash.

While browsing the Raible Designs blog, I came across this interesting article regarding input label placement, at UXMatters.com. Both of these sites are new to me but they have some useful things to say about HCI and interaction design.

The results of the article:

• Form label above input field has least saccade time (I.E. virtually no eye movement, thus faster)
• Right-aligned label next to input field is next fastest
• Left-aligned label with input field took longest (500ms saccade time)

Christina Wodtke has a nice article that relates two crafts: writing and design. She draws parallels from the list of reminders in the E.B. White writing handbook The Elements of Style to user interface design practices.

Link