Website usability is about people
by Yuri
October 4th, 2006
Generally, it is assumed that web site usability is about optimizing websites to achieve high Return on Investment. But is usability only that?
Usability principles
The principles of usability form around optimizing websites so site visitors could understand what the site is about, find what they want easily and do whatever they came for. The process of website optimization generally includes using logically complete site structure, clear site content, readable text formatting, etc.
Usability is for the people
Though web site usability is about improving websites, it is done for the people. That’s why you need to consider your target audience demographics, its surfing habits, ability to navigate the website, website comprehension abilities, etc. Of course, your content should reflect their needs as well.
On understanding what your visitors may need (not only to learn something, but to be able to navigate around your site easily), you can broaden the scope of your website usability. By focusing on providing value to your visitors, you can gain an understanding of multiple ways to make your visitor’s life easier by improving your website.
How to improve usability yourself
You can always pretend to be your customer and try to do some basic tasks your visitor might want to do on your website:
- understand what the site offers
- find the right product
- learn the product details
- see how to order the product
- learn how to use the product
For instance, you can see for yourself if text is readable or not. Just try reading it yourself and see if you have trouble reading it, if you have to lean forward to the monitor to read the text or adjust your browser settings. Another moment is website navigation. A simple rule of being able to access any page with three clicks from the homepage is quite efficient in assisting you develop versatile navigation.
Generally, any business site owner should be able to distinguish what’s good for the visitors, as they also understand the reasons why people come to their websites and how to satisfy their needs. Becides clear click paths, the site has to have clear content and simple language so visitors could gauge if they need the product.
Rounding up
As seen from above, optimizing your website usability for the people can be quite easy, if you know what to look. If not, you can learn usability on forums, such as Cre8asite Forums, V7N or SEO Refugee, etc. if you need any assistance. Of course, if you need everything now and fast, you can consult a website usability consultant.
Next Article: The problem with coasting Previous Article: Discovering your customers
October 5th, 2006 at 12:07 am
Welcome Yuri, the latest special guest blogger for 14thC Scout! And what a great start - this is a topic that has been coming up a lot lately as I have been working on the redesign and getting more advanced projects that require an above average level of usability.
These are all great tips and you are right to say “usability is for the people” but personaly I take that a step further and say usability is also for the search engines that guide viewers to your site. Making sure your site is as accomidating to the bots is just as important as making it work for humans. Without one, you don’t get the other.
BTW I am on the lookout for sites so usable the design is practicly invisible. If anyone has any in mind I’d love to see them.
October 5th, 2006 at 12:15 am
Well, with improved rankings, you still get more people visiting your website, but I get your point. My point was, though, to remember who you do it for when you optimize your website.
Basically, any tweaks for the search engines can be adopted for humans as well (such as site accessibility, SEO, etc), but it is humans who use the sites, not bots (for the large part).
P.S. I am guessing for a person, who is excited about a product, site design should be invisible. Depends on the person and the site, I guess. It is hard to determine whether the design is invisible or slightly unusable if you aren’t interested in the website and/or don’t know its product/industry.
October 5th, 2006 at 1:48 am
My issue is taking care of the people before they get to the site, yous is after. I just didn’t want it unsaid for those who might be creating new layouts!
And you are exactly right about the usability being about the persona’s using the site.
For example, I think forums are awful when it comes to usability and something I’ve noticed is the new forum developers are trying to crack the market with more features which makes the thing even more difficult to use. If someone were to create new forum software that was just easier for new users to use I think it would have a much better shot.
But the developers are targeting the geeks that install the software instead of the novices that will eventually use it.
Blogs on the other hand have a much shorter learning curve. WP has it’s famous “6 minute instalation” and you can litteraly be posting content that fast.
I’ve also read comments that Web2.0 is really just Web1.0 “done right” and I think that is pretty fair in some cases. The 2.0 sites tend to appeal to a specific persona, offer a clear benefit and are easy to use.
Anyway, I measure usability in “obviousness”. The less thinking onvolved with navigating and using the site the more usable it is. It’s tough to get designers to drop their ego enough to make that happen though.
October 5th, 2006 at 2:56 am
Umm, can’t imagine website usability before a visitor engages in the site. But search engine friendliness ought to be a part of any website development, that’s what I wholeheartedly agree with.
Most platforms, designed for human interaction, have awful usability. Partly because little attention was paid to usability, partly because it is difficult to determine how visitors will behave (lack of usability testing?). Forums, blogs, social services - all have dreadful usability, to one extent or another.
There was a discussion on blog usability somewhere, forgot where though. The summary would be that blogs are quite unwieldy with unsufficient navigation, same can be said about blogs and most websites.
October 5th, 2006 at 4:02 am
That was at cre8. I read up on it yesterday too.
Usability to me moves beyond just the code and the page and into every interaction the viewer has with the site including promotion. Fail to include a meta description and pay the price. Fail to have all your content indexed and the viewer may only see a portion of what you have to offer.
Bah!
All I was getting at is when you design, build for people but keep the bots in mind.
October 5th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
Well, yes, that’s right. I figured I wouldn’t include this point when the main point of the post was to focus on the customers. It’d make one’s head dizzy a bit, I bet (the post may be a bit confusing for some at the moment, too :) ).