There are many blogs, books and guides about how to create a user friendly, content rich, and generally just an outstanding website. Perhaps it is a case of there being too much information that is the reason why some major websites are still falling short.
Having been forced to used a particular website that failed in so many areas, I thought it might be helpful to go back to basics on some fundamental website elements.
- Throughout the entire process of creating a new site, ensure that the usability is always an important factor. There is no point in having a site if the end user cannot use it. This does sound like an obvious point, and I've often wondered why it keeps getting pointed out as it should be second nature by now, but after much research, it became clear that the usability of the site is still not a priority on some websites.
- Make sure you are aware of and cater towards your target audience.
- Do not start the project planning with 'added extras'. It can be beneficial to have aesthetically pleasing features or objects that make your site stand out, but if the basic functionality and information of the site does not exist, then these 'added extras' bring absolutely nothing to the site. If your site does have a strong structure in place, then these objects can certainly enhance the experience if they are used and designed to suit. There is no point dumping them on your site and forgetting about them.
- Make processes as simple as possible. It is very easy to get caught up and make processes more complicated than they need to be.
- If your site requires credit card payment, it is important that confidence is instilled in the user. Even after payment has been made it is still important to keep the user's confidence, which can easily be done by sending out a confirmation email.
- An important part of the design aspect is to be consistent. This refers not just to colours and styles used on the site, but the layout of the content. It is also important not to use too many fonts or sizes. A current trend is using titles which are all lowercase. If this is part of the design, then go right ahead, but make sure it is consistent across the whole site.
- It is possible to have too much information. The right balance needs to be found as if you provide too little information then your users will be uninformed, but too much and it can become confusing and overwhelming.
- Ensure forms are easy to follow and understand. One way to do this is to keep wording consistent. The word 'Select' should be kept for select boxes, check boxes or radio buttons and 'Enter' should refer to any text box.
These may seem like obvious points, but there are still so many sites out there making such simple mistakes.
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