Web usability

Web usability is the result of constructing a website, which enables the user to find what he/she is looking for in the quickest possible time. But what makes the user’s searches successful? There are certainly many factors, which depend on the nature of the search. Still, there are important points for the web usability of any website. If those are taken seriously a site becomes a real pleasure for the interested visitor. If you are operating a commercial enterprise this will most likely transfer into higher sales. If you are lucky, you might have customers who regularly visit your store. And those might spread the word. How good would that be?

If you are to plan a new e-commerce site ask yourself: What will any potential customers look for? What is their main aim? You will agree that more than likely they want to find the desired product quickly and to have all necessary data including detailed images at hand. Then, once they decided on a purchase they do not want to encounter any obstacles. They want a checkout procedure that is as smooth as possible.

Do some market research. Check out your industry. Search for best and worst practices. Try to find a unique selling point, which distinguishes you from your competition. This is particularly important in a competitive market. Always remember the fact that the user is only one click away from your competition. If you are an established seller try to get as much feedback as possible from your existing customers. Once this is done, you can get your hands dirty…

Start by developing your website's navigational structure. As a general rule of thumb a user should not click more than 3 times to find what he/she is looking for. Use an intuitive approach. Class your sales items in sensible categories. Make sure your user never gets lost in your website. Provide clues as to where he/she currently is. Also, avoid dangling pages, where the only way out is the BACK button.

Use a page layout, which enhances the simplicity of your navigational structure. Research has shown that the user looks first at the top left hand corner. This makes it so important to place the important bits in this area. If you decide to place special offers in the bottom right hand corner, do not be surprised when users never even get to see your offers. This is especially true when you consider the fact that some users still have a screen resolution of 800x600!

When it comes down to the look and feel of your website, branding and corporate identity are certainly important factors. But this is not all. Type and certainly the length of a line are important factors. Never place more than 12-13 words in any one line. Use paragraphs and line spacing to enable the user to quickly scan your pages. Most users only pick the bits they need. Flashing text causes irritability and if you are unlucky, this might even give the site visitor a twitch, so he automatically clicks away from your site. The user does not like colours, where he/she instantly searches for shades. Also, if you want to provide some valuable information, do not use text colours, which are similar to the background. Someone might even think it is a bad SEO tactic.

In the testing phase make sure you website’s response time is quick. If you employ the latest technology check that all is working properly. Use all relevant browsers to confirm functionality and look. Involve a number of colleagues or friends in the testing phase. If you can, ask some clients for their opinion. This will show them that they are important to you. Do not instruct them beforehand. Afterwards, ask them if they could quickly find what they were looking for. Also, ask what they think about the site in general. Even if you had the best planning phase in the world one or the other improvement will come up.

After the implementation of any improvements, make sure you test again in order to avoid new shortcomings or errors. Also, it might be the case that something has been overseen before. Once you go live be aware that you are in a process called website life-cycle. There is no escape. In professional website development you will certainly come back again to this stage...