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Leveraging Usability to Profit in a Down Economy
Written by: Robert PothierArticle Overview: In a down economy, good usability isn't a nice to have, it's a must have. By understanding how your users interact with your applications up front, and designing with the end user in mind, you can save money by getting it right--first.
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Free Download - Who Will Stimulate Broadband Growth, and How? By Robert Pothier |
Leveraging Usability to Profit in a Down Economy
Let’s get the tired, overworked phrases out of the way early. Yes, this is a “down economy;” yes, these are “tough economic times;” and yes, “the economic outlook going forward is uncertain at best.”
Now, with that negativity out of the way, let’s dispense with it entirely. For ebusinesses on the web, economic opportunity abounds—but only for those who plan smartly for it. And those who plan smartly for it know that success depends on employing clear, objective metrics that ensure user satisfaction and eliminate the need for rework—and hence, spending money unnecessarily.
Usability, user experience design, and user-centered design are all part in parcel of the same concept: envisioning, designing, building, and deploying a product—in this case, a website or web-based application—entirely focused on the end user. Long before the first line of code is written, or the first wireframes are drawn, personas are developed to make the website or web-based application’s users as human as you or me. From those personas, use cases are developed—the ways in which users will most likely interact with your site. The better your personas, the more robust, the more useful, and the more cost-effective your use cases will be.
And the better your use cases, the more meaningful the metrics you can attach to them. This is really where the rubber meets the road when it comes to saving money: the better you can define your goals with real numbers, the better you can put systems into place to measure, collect data, analyze that data, and change your design or business tactics in order to achieve the results you want. The benefits of doing a good job here are legion. Not only will time well-spent aligning use cases with meaningful metrics ensure everyone on the team—design, product, marketing, and development—are on the same page, it will also reduce costs in the long run, as your user will be squarely in focus during every point in the process.
After all, a great way to ensure the success of a website or web-based application is to create and deploy something the user wants. And the best way to save money in doing so is by doing it right as early as you can in your product’s lifecycle.
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Article Tags: analyze that, business tactics, down economy, ebusinesses, economic opportunity, economic outlook, economic times, good job, metrics, phrases, product marketing, real numbers, rubber meets the road, saving money, spending money, usability, user centered design, user experience design, web based application, wireframes
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About the Author: Robert Pothier RSS for Robert's articles - Visit Robert's website  Click here to visit Robert's website   Who Will Stimulate Broadband Growth and How Web Analytics Making Sure Your Online Offerings Are Working for You Leveraging Usability to Profit in a Down Economy Quantifying the User Experience When it Comes to Your Health Accurate Personal Health Care Records Are Key |
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