Improving Usability on Your Website

By now, You most likely have realized that your company needs a website to expand your customer base and to enhance the overall customer experience. Within a blink of an eye the yellow pages in the phone book will lay to rest and the online world will be THE place to search for products and services, if it is not already. One thing that most websites that are online right now lack, is usability. I have smothered myself in research in the past few months on usability and recently read an oldy but a goody called “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. I learned some simple concepts from Steve that reminded me of what websites are really built for in the first place. Sometimes we all get caught up in trying to make websites look so good that we forget the goal in mind, to make the customer experience as good as possible. Not saying websites shouldn’t look amazing, but it all has to correlate to an overall project to make the website work for your customers.

When you think of a great overall objective for building a website, Steve Krug puts it best when you shouldn’t make the user think. It really doesn’t matter if the user uses 2 or 3 clicks to get where they want to go, but it does matter if they have to take time to look for the 2nd click and think about what their doing. When a user finds what they are looking for rather easily it gives the consumer more confidence in your site and enchances the chances of them coming back.

One surprising fact I found in my research was that users are willing to put up with hassle and bad websites more than I expected. Users don’t like searching for an alternative once they are on a site that they think has the solution. On the other hand that’s not saying they would buy from that type of website more, and even come back to that site more often than if it were usable and built in a way that people can easily find what they are looking for.

It is also good to note for you Marketing type, much like myself, that Focus Groups are not always the answer. Good one to one Usability tests can be more effectively used, especially if your in a time crunch. How often have we heard from a CEO or Manager “I need the website built and live for customers in two weeks”. First thing you do is laugh because you think its a joke but then after you realize no one else in the room is laughing and the long pause of awkward silence is over, you then swallow and start to sweat a bit. No fear. Simply set up 3-4 different times that you can test people who are accustomed to using the internet that have not seen your website before. I recommend getting Steve Krug’s book if you would like a good sample of how to set up a Usability Test.

If your building a website and want to get it right then don’t cut corners. If you cannot afford a Usability Professional read as much as you can. I often try to spill my thoughts on many of the great articles and books I read, so subscribe to this Blog if you like to learn!

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