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Purpose:
This paper will try to help you understand the elements that make a web site usable. For the
purposes of this paper, we are defining usability as the way in which visitors directly interact
and view web pages. What is it?
At it’s simplest, a usable site is a site that is customer-focused and reduces a visitor’s
frustration as they use the site. Every visitor has a maximum frustration level – reach it and
they are going to leave. The goal of usability is to stay under the level. A usable site is also one that contains certain elements that visitors have come to expect –
these page elements are key in allowing a user to achieve their goals as the visit a web site.
It is assumed that the company IS providing its targeted audience with that information. When we speak of usability, we are talking about how a user directly interacts/views pages –
not load testing or technology-based issues. Usability is like the famous Supreme Court line “I know it when I see it …” Everyone has
definite ideas on what makes a site usable and what doesn’t. During the course of my
business day, I inevitably engage in a conversation with people in which they talk about
visiting sites that were frustrating to use for a variety of reasons, real and imagined.
Usability sounds very easy, but for many companies it is a hard concept to understand. The
dominant themes on the Internet have been that web sites were company-, technology- or
design-focused (in many cases some strange combination of all three). The emphasis on the
customer has been lacking until today – on most sites, it’s all about getting the company
message out, rather than understanding that it is really all about the visitor. Background:
The confusion around usability stems from the history of the Internet, which can be broken
down very roughly into three stages: First generation (funky design-focused): or the “Creative Era.” The Web was fresh and
new and all sorts of flashy, creative, cool things sprouted up, with no thought as to how
people used sites or how information should be presented. In fact most of these sites had no
real information, but were just extremely loud digital bulletin boards. Creative-types ran the
show. The color schemes, the animated graphics… fond childhood memories Second generation (design/company-focused): commercial web sites make their way onto
the scene. Banner ads, Flash intros and money become the dominant themes. Everyone has
an idea of how to profit from the Web, many ideas are tried, most eventually fail. Creative still
dominates, with no thought to the end-users. << previous | next >>
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