Is your Web Site Usable?
- Nina Menezes
What is usability?
Usability assesses how easy user interfaces are to use. Web site usability is not just about making sure everything on the site works, but how quickly and easily visitors are able to make use of the site. Web usability should be the top priority in design because if a product is not usable, people will not use it. It is a concern for Web site owners because of its potential impact on marketing which in turn affects profitability. If you want to make your site effective, you must make it usable.
In a recent usability study of 9 top Web sites, most of some 70 test users could not find specific information they were instructed to find a majority of the time.
How can you make your site usable?
A site will be generally usable if the content is relevant, easy to find, the web page is pleasant to look at and well designed. Web sites should be designed with the customers' needs in mind - not the Web site owner's needs. A site with good content, regardless of its subject, is one that provides information that is beneficial to users.
Clear and simple navigation that is consistent and does not confuse visitors contributes to making information easy to find. A good navigation system should answer the following questions:
1. Where am I?
2. Where have I been?
3. Where can I go?
Having clear text links on your site also helps in ease of use.
Common usability mistakes to avoid
Some common usability mistakes are the site does not have a clear purpose, long scrolling pages, animated text, dark backgrounds, long download times and outdated information.
In short, a usable site will:
- help users achieve a goal, usually to find something
- make it easy for them to achieve that goal
- make it possible to achieve the goal quickly
- make achieving that goal a pleasant experience
Identifying problems with usability for your site need be no more complicated than asking a few friends to use your site and, if possible, watching them silently as they do this. Watching users try to find information on your site can be both instructive and quite revealing!
For a free consultation on your Web site usability, contact us at nina@interdream-designs.com.