| Free Adobe Photoshop website templates by Colorifer.com. Web design articles | |
|
|
|
|
Web Usability: The Basics
What is web usability & why is it important? Web usability is about making your website in such a way that your site users can find what they're looking for quickly and efficiently. A usable website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business. * Every £1 invested in improving your website's usability returns £10 to £100 (source: IBM) * A web usability redesign can increase the sales/conversion rate by 100% (source: Jakob Nielson) Your website has to be easy to navigate Users have gradually become accustomed to particular layouts and phrases on the Internet, for example: * Organisation logo is in the top-left corner and links back to the homepage * The term 'About us' is used for organisation information * Navigation is in the same place on each page and adjacent to the content * Anything flashing or placed above the top logo is often an advertisement * The term 'Shopping cart' is used for items you might wish to purchase There are numerous other conventions like these that enhance your website's usability - can you think of some more? Don't underestimate the importance of these conventions - as the Internet matures we're getting more and more used to things being a certain way. Break these conventions and you may be left with nothing but a website with poor usability and a handful of dissatisfied site visitors. Pages must download quickly Usability studies have shown that 8.6 seconds is the maximum time web users will wait for a page to download (source: Andrew B. King - Speed Up Your Site). As of March 2004 just 25% of UK web users had broadband (source: UK National Statistics) so it's essential for optimal usability that your website downloads quickly. To speed up the download time of your website we recommend you do three things: * Use CSS and not tables to lay out your web page * Use CSS and not images to create fancy navigation items * Read this article about how to speed up the download time of your web pages at http://www.webcredible.co.uk/speed Information should be easy to retrieve We read web pages in a different manner to the way we read printed matter. We generally don't read pages word-for-word - instead we scan. When we scan web pages certain items stand out: * Headings * Link text * Bold text * Bulleted lists Did you notice that images were left out of that list? Contrary to the way in which we read printed matter, we see text before we see images on the Internet. For optimal website usability don't place important information in images as it might go unnoticed. Restrictions must not be placed on users Don't prevent your users from navigating through the Internet in the way that they want to. For example: 1. Every time a link is opened in a new window the back button is disabled. Approximately 60% of Web users employ the back button as their primary means of navigation (source: Usability Interface). If you do this then you're preventing 60% of your users from using their primary navigation - now that can't be good for usability. 2. Don't use frames to lay out your website. Frames can cause a number of usability problems, namely: * Disabling the back button (see above) * Bookmarking not possible * Impossible to e-mail the link to someone else * Problems with printing * Users feel trapped if external links open in the same window * Search engine optimisation issues There are lots of other ways that websites can place restrictions on its users, ultimately damaging their usability - can you think of any more? Just think back to the last time a website really infuriated you - what annoying thing did it do to make you feel that way? This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy ( Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk ) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone. They offer fantastic accessibility & CSS support packages, which you can read all about at http://www.webcredible.co.uk/support .
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Simplify Your Web Site for Clarity and Ease of Use There are plenty of web sites out there in which basic elements of design are ignored. The viewer may experience overkill and frustration, instead of gently receiving the message or information. How To Improve The Professional Look And Feel Of Your Website Projecting a professional image is paramount to your website's success. It can make or break your online business. Website Sales: 10 Strategic Tips To Maximize Your Profits If you've a website but not making a lot of profit from it, cheer up because I have 10 website sales secrets that can help you maximize your sales and profits, starting now:1. Tell people the point or focus of your web site. Hexadecimal Color Notation on the Web When designing elements for your webpage, you will often be called upon to specify a color. For example, the code for a span shown below specifies that the color of the text within the span will be yellow. How to Prepare Your Project Before You Order Website Design Are you serious about get this website done fast and clear and want to make money with your website? Then you will absolutely need some good web design agency to build the website of your dream and that it the aim, right?Web design studios may be local and virtual. Local studio may be your choice if you live in a big city and you know at least couple of web designers across the road. Revising Your Site - What Happened To My Search Engine Placement? As of September, Smartads went through what so many have done before. I changed the entire site. Good Web Design - What Is It? There is unlimited possibilities when it comes to designing a website. Flash, Database, content management, Client Login, etc,etc. Why Not To Use Web Design Templates For Your Website In today's age of fast food and high-speed Internet, a business may be tempted to take the "more convenient" route in launching a website - buying a template and customising it.Website design templates are like off-the-shelf websites and are targeted at people who believe that launching their own, unique and differentiated website is costly and time consuming, which need not be the case. Website Savvy: 10 Key Steps to Turn Your Customers ON! "How to turn "slightly interested" customers into "I've got to have it!" customers!"I am truly amazed as to the lack of information websites contain. You would think that a business would realize that a potential customer would at least like to know how to contact the customer service department. The Next Marketing Tool: Deisgn Design sells. It's something that all of us know, but few of us consciously acknowledge. Small Business Website Design - How to Get Professional Results on a Shoestring Budget Just because you are a small business with an even smaller website design budget, does not mean that you cannot have a professional looking website and presence on the web. All it means is you will have to do some of the work yourself instead of paying some design firm to do it for you. Your Website Could be Letting You Down A professionally presented business website is a powerful and essential marketing tool: it's the first thing prospective customers will look at before they decide to contact you.If the copy on your website is not written to an acceptable standard, it may be losing you customers. Attention Grabbing Web Design Will Kill Your Sale! In the of-line marketing world it is all about trying to get the attention of the potential consumer to a commercial message.The primary goal is to get noticed by the public. Free Online Tools to Design (and Maintain) Your Website These days, it seems that everyone has a website. Unfortunately, many of these websites are either bland, or sloppily designed by people who don't understand how to use HTML effectively or are intimidated by it. You Too Can Have an Amazing Website It is a well-known fact that a successful business depends greatly on how it is marketed. With an ever increasing dependence on the web, the use of a professional website is not only a necessity, but a priority. Using Graphic Design on Your Website Almost everything is available on the web? products, services, e-books, software, audios, videos, membership sites, or newsletters. Regardless of what you're promoting, there's a never-ending supply of prospects and customers on the world-wide-web. Immutable Laws Of Effective Navigation - Part 1 The first immutable law of effective navigation: It's gotta be readily available.Visitors should not have to hunt for your navigation or wonder where to find it. Positive Design Attributes for a Successful Website Designing a website is hard job, and requires you to think out a plan of action, and put in a lot of work to make it successful. There are many different kinds of websites on the Internet, but if you look at all the top performers with high traffic, you will notice that they all have similar design characteristics which place them as the best in the world. Creating a Basic Web Design Template A "template" is simply a design format which you can apply to all (or most) of the pages in your web site. The first advantage of using a "template" system is that it allows you to make your most important design decisions at the beginning, and then just focus on content. 10 Profitable Ways To Recycle Your Content 1. Repackage your web site content in to different products to sell.
|
|
2007-2008 © Copyright colorifer.com. All Rights Reserved. Free Adobe Photoshop templates. Web Design Articles | Site Map | Terms of Use 
|
