Website Design Principles - Usability

What do we mean by usability? Ensuring that a website user can carry out the task they are focused on as quickly and easily as possible.

At Fearntech, we have the following guidelines:

• who are the important users?
• why has the user come to the website?
• how can we provide the user with what they they are looking for with as little effort as possible from them?

For example, on a recent project for a squash club we performed the following analysis:
Who are the users?

1. club members
2. people looking to join the club

Why has the user come to the website?

1. club members: to arrange matches, to view club news
2. people thinking of joining: find out about the club, get joining detail

How can we provide the user with what they are looking for:

1. club members: latest news on homepage, login takes straight to members area to a single page with relevant details of; arranging matches, see competitions etc
2. people thinking of joining: about us info on homepage, direct link to online joining page.

Sounds obvious, but take a look at some websites around, some are difficult to navigate, difficult to find information. One website we assessed was an online accountant. To view your accounts, follow link from homepage. then follow link on clients page. then login. then latest accounts page. Need to navigate three pages before can see accounts. To better serve existing customers (who are one of main user groups), should have login form on homepage. straight to an important details page, with latest accounts and other items most commonly viewed.

What can I do?
If your homepage is currently an empty page with just "Welcome to our site" and a list of links then you need to apply an analysis as above. Look to get straight to the point, target your users and establish what they are looking for. And provide it!

How can we help?
We can assess the effectiveness of your existing website, by following our guidelines to establish who your targeted users should be, and how to help them. For a no-obligation quote or to discuss our services further please contact us.

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