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Usability

Site Usability Tip #1

If you have serious cash, get in touch with Human Factors, They are probably the biggest, baddest and the longest in business of the software ergonomics folks. They are right here in my home town but I don't get a commission. Say hi to Don.

Site Usability Tip #2

If you have less serious cash, but still have a big project, my team can help you.

Site Usability Tip #3

If you were hoping I'd tell you something for free, here's a few points:

• Try to think of what people may actually want to accomplish on your site, and make that easy
• Organize your site around user needs rather than your business-internal categories and divisions
• Be aware of what you want them to know, but always in the context of their needs. Marketing 101: find their needs and fulfill them
• Establish a look, feel and a navigation structure on the first page that lets people know where they are, and maintain those elements throughout. They should always know where they are.
• Get somebody who's never seen your site and have them try do do something important, like buy a t-shirt, or check a price. Then just watch with no coaching. If they can't do it easily, keep redesigning the site to make it easier. Try several subjects (Human Factors uses 35-40 on some projects).
• Ask users what they want and how they want it and give it to them wherever possible
• Keep refining.

Site Usability Tip #4

There's a lot of websites devoted to usability issues. Do a search on usability or GUI. you'll be glad you did (if you like reading a lot of stuff). And of course there's always Amazon for books.

Site Usability Tip #5

Don't bury your content many layers down. Put the important stuff up on the top of the structure. Try not to have people drill down very far to get what they really want. If they want prices, put the prices on the home page, or at least a link straight to the prices. This is not a captive audience. If you don't give them what they want right away, they will mouse around for someone who will.

Take me back to the top of the page

Site Usability Tip #6

Don't bury your content in a search engine. If you have a lot of information, don't make a search engine the only way to find it. People might not ever get the full range of what you do if you don't have some kind of text-linked representation of the enormity of your product line. If they can't see it, how can they be reminded that they want it? What if when you went to a grocery store you could only go to the front door and ask for things?

Site Usability Tip #7

Don't bury your content at the bottom of the page. If you have exceptionally long pages (and I've seen sites with pages that would measure eight or ten feet long of scrolling text), put links at the top to the various section heads, and "back to top" buttons sprinkled every screen or so throughout the document. Or better yet break the document into shorter pages with a "more" link. Or even better redo the entire manifesto in more digestible chunks. We are not writing an online novel, typically. If you are writing an online novel, break it into chunks, or at least chapters....

Site Usability Tip #8

Think of it as a date. What kind of movies does SHE like? What is HER favorite restaurant/kind of food. I can tell you from experience that you will stand out from the crowd if you just exercise the little used human consideration/empathy muscle. You have one. Just don't let it atrophy. Ask questions and you will be told exactly how to do it right.*