“I’m looking for usability – when it is tough, I
just go the other direction. It just turns me off –
because if you can’t navigate your way through,
if there are too many clicks, there’s gotta be
somebody else who has an easier way to do
this.”
— Brad, User Testing Participant
If visitors do not understand how to use
your Web site, they can’t become customers.
Your Web site is a critical marketing and sales
tool — how much time have you invested in
understanding how your customers use the
site?
Users do not want to be taught how to use a
Web site, or figure out the site like they are
solving a puzzle; they want the site to be intuitive.
Review the following principles of Web
site usability, and make sure your Web site is
doing the job it should to market and sell your
organization.
It’s the Experience, Stupid. What experience
are your customers looking for when they
visit your Web site? All too often, we design
with our own experience in mind. As an author
friend of mine put it, “you need to write for
the reader” — if you want people to read and
buy your book that is. You can always design
for yourself, but don’t count on doubling your
sales unless you are a composite of your target
market.
You Can’t Get There From Here. Going
to college in Maine, I actually heard this phrase
in real life — after I recovered from the shock, I
thought, “Well, now what do I do?” It is at this
point that your customer starts to get frustrated.
Avoid this at all costs.
One of the biggest mistakes in Web design
is the lack of intuitive navigation. Can users
find where they want to go? Do they know
where they are? Do you even know what
they are looking for? Have you provided them
simple, clear directions to find, evaluate and
purchase what you are selling? Review your
navigation: Is it simple, logical and easy to get
around your site? Integrate “breadcrumbs” to
show them where they are in the site hierarchy.
Make it easy for them to get where they
want to go from where they are.
Make It Foolproof. According to usability
author, Steve Krug, most people on the Web
“don’t figure out how things work.” Take programming
the VCR for instance; need I say
more? While tech geeks are adding more features
and functions to the remote control, most
of us don’t know how to use the buttons that
are currently on it.
A comment by one user testing participant,
“Why are you making me think about this?”
succinctly captures this principle. Your customers
don’t have to “muddle through” if
you’ve designed a Web site that is simple to
understand and use. Simply stated, adopt simplicity.
Get Out the Red Pen. Get to the point.
How much fluff is really necessary to create the
picture, describe the product, generate the feeling?
While content may be king for the search
engines, you don’t have to trade a usable site for
search engine rankings.
Keep in mind that while customers may
more easily find your site with keyword-laden
content, they’ll be leaving it shortly if it is not
easy to read. Review your content, edit out
what’s not relevant and ensure it doesn’t read
like a list of keywords.
Standardize the Use of Standards. Companies
often want to be creative and differentiate
their Web site, but sometimes that isn’t the
best choice. In grocery stores, you’ve learned
the standards for item placement. On Web sites,
you’ve learned the standards for navigation,
search, and page names. When these standard
aren’t followed, it’s just plain annoying.
When they’ve switched the mustard from
aisle three to a promotional end-cap, how long
do you look around before you bail? Does your
Web site follow the de facto Internet standards
your customers have come to expect or are you
creatively sidelining your next sale?
Accuracy Counts. Jupiter Research found
one in seven Web site home pages it recently
tested failed a simple link integrity test with one
or more errors severe enough to cause visitor
defection.
Your customers do judge your company by
the image it presents. Broken links, misspelled
words, outdated content, interactive features
that don’t work — all lead to a poor impression
of your organization. When was the last time
you checked your site for these common mistakes?
Provide Clear, Action-Oriented Choices.
Ever wanted to buy something and couldn’t figure
out how to pay? Landed on a home page and
thought, “Where should I start?” In every case,
clear, actionable choices are needed — help your
customers take the next step and guide them;
they’ll thank you for it.
Invest in Usability Analysis. Where the
rubber meets the road is in actually observing
a customer interact with your Web site. What
expectations do users have? How do they actually
use it? What steps do they take to move
forward? How long does it take? And what
experience are they left with? Instead of
guessing, invest in usability analysis that will
help you design with the user in mind.
A Web site is no longer an online brochure
that is nice to have — it is a critical marketing
tool that visitors often use to decide if they will
become customers.
Take action now to develop a better understanding
of your customers and how they use
your Web site. Then, with the customer in
mind, review these usability principles to create
an intuitive Web site that converts visitors into
customers.
Lisa Travis is co-founder Intuitive Websites,
a Colorado Springs Web usability firm that
focuses on improving the user experience on
the Internet. She can be reached by e-mail at
lisa@intuitivewebsites.com.
Mesuring how intuitive your Web site should be - To learn more about this author, visit Thomas Young's Website.
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