How long do users stay on websites? According
to Jakob Nielsen, "not very long."
In an age of information overflow,
user experience can be the key factor that determines whether visitors
get the information they need from your website.
User experience is becoming an
extension of the customer experience model—and, undoubtedly, experience
matters. Companies that will stay ahead of the curve are those that are
constantly refining their content, adapting to an always-changing technology
landscape, and asking their customers what they want and how they want it
delivered.
So, how does the user experience on
your website measure up? Here is a three-step approach to analyzing the
usability of your website, along with key guidelines for improving its
usability.
1. Analyze the content
Odds are you wrote much of the
content for your website. Well, maybe not you, but your marketing team or your
company's management team. The point is that you are very familiar with your
content. But are your users?
Consider
the following when writing or analyzing content for your website:- Does your content pass the "common knowledge"
test? You may be familiar with your
processes and product or service offerings, but visitors to your site may
not be. Use language that a broad audience can understand, and avoid
acronyms or terms that are confusing.
- Don't be long-winded.
Your nine-paragraph description of your top-selling product probably
sounded great when you first wrote it. You included all of the intricacies
and specifications—anything anyone would ever want to know! But do you
think your clients have time to read nine paragraphs? Probably not. Keep
content concise, and break up text with illustrations or photographs when
possible.
- Not all at once. People can't handle information in large chunks. That's why we add hyphens to phone numbers, and why text messaging is so popular. Try implementing a "progressive disclosure" system of displaying information on your site. Show small chunks of information first—enough for the user to get a good understanding of what you're saying. Then, give her the ability to drill down and obtain more detailed information.
2. Look at the layout
One of the biggest hurdles for Web
designers is the ever-changing landscape of devices that can access the Web.
During your last website redesign, your website probably looked great in the
browser you viewed it in. But what does your site look like on an iPhone or an
iPad? How does it look on a projector in a conference room?
Consider that by 2014, more
people are expected to browse the Internet via mobile device than desktop PC.
Making sure websites look good
across all platforms will be one of the biggest challenges for Web designers
over the next couple years. Accordingly, consider the following:
- Investigate a responsive design. A popular trend is responsive design, which uses CSS
(cascading style sheets) and media queries to determine a user's device
resolution (size) and delivers a site's content in a layout appropriate
for that size. Using responsive design is a much more efficient
alternative to having a mobile site and a desktop site.
- Beware of "the fold." The fold is the area of a Web page that the user cannot immediately see without scrolling down. Many users interact with what they see first, so including important information above the fold is an imperative consideration for your design.
3. Run a few tests
Speculating about how your visitors
use your website is very different from actually knowing how they use it.
Usability testing, which will give you that knowledge, can range from
quick-and-simple process to long-and-arduous one. Try to get a good mix of
quantitative information (e.g., website statistics) and qualitative information
(e.g., focus groups).
Here are a few tests that will serve
as a good starting point:
- Website statistics.
If you employ a Web analytics program (Google Analytics is a great one),
look at the statistics. What pages are your users spending the most time
on? Least time on? Where are people leaving your site? That information
will give you quick insights into the effectiveness of various pages on
your site.
- Performance tests.
How easily are visitors able to use your website? If you have the luxury
of gathering a test group of users or a focus group, create simple
exercises to measure the speed and accuracy at which they complete common
tasks. Document common barriers they encounter.
- Subjective tests.
Ask users how they feel about using your site (and always take responses
with a grain of salt). Do they feel comfortable using your site? Are they
satisfied with their ability to complete a task? Be wary of the sample
size and demographics of your group when considering the results.
