Ask a dozen people and you will get a dozen answers to this
question, but I believe it can be summed up in one sentence:
A good web site puts the needs of its users first.
A pretty simple concept, to be sure, but far too many web
sites ignore it. Examples abound of web sites whose design is
based on marketing hype, gratuitous use of bleeding edge
technology, slavish adherence to a corporate (or academic)
organization chart, graphics standards developed for print,
personal ego, and a host of other priorities that have nothing to
do with the end-user.
How do you, as a budding webmaster, go about designing a
site that puts your users' needs first? Here are a few tips from
the experts.
Know your audience
Good web sites know their users. You can't put users' needs
first if you don't know who your users are. You need to know
more than the usual socioeconomics (age, gender, economic status,
occupation, etc.). You need to know their technology as well.
How are they connected to the Internet? What browser, and what
version of that browser, are they most likely using? What about
monitor size, resolution and color support?
A professor designing web pages for students who access them
through a high-speed connection in a campus lab with known
equipment has far fewer restrictions than does a county extension
office designing pages for the public using unknown browsers and
monitors, 28.8 and or slower modems.
Users' basic questions
Good web sites include the organization's identity on all
pages. Surfers have four basic questions when they connect to a
web page: "Where am I? Where do I want to go? Am I on the right
path? Am I there yet?" (Bachiochi et al.) We have all seen pages
that don't answer even the most important question ("Where am
I?"), let alone the other three. Most users rely on web search
engines to find things (Holman), and come into a page directly
off a list of search results. They may have no clue where they
are unless your page explicitly tells them!
Good web sites use a consistent layout and locate navigation
aids at the top of their pages. A consistent layout builds site
identity in the mind of the user. It also helps them visualize
your site's structure. Users prefer navigation aids (buttons or
text links) at the top of pages (Bachiochi).
If you have a web site, do your users a favor. Look at each
and every page as an outsider and ask yourself the four basic
questions listed above.
Content remains king
Good web sites answer users' questions and problems. Most
web users connect to the web to find information, not to look at
twirling logos. Content should be accurate, timely, concise and
easy to find.
Good web sites are dated and signed. There's a lot of wrong,
misleading, incomplete, outdated and undated material on the web.
Reassure your users that the information you have is current by
dating it. Reassure them that you stand behind it by putting your
and your organization's names to it. Promptly remove outdated
information.
Good web sites use proper spelling and grammar. The web is
rife with poor writing and worse spelling. Bad spelling and
grammar detract from users' perception of the validity of your
pages and lead them to question your commitment to accuracy and
quality. If writing is not your forte, get someone who is good at
it to edit or proof your pages for you.
Good web sites include a contact. Encourage your users to
contact you for more information or with comments and suggestions
about your site. Include a contact name or title ("webmaster" for
example), and at a minimum an e-mail address, and preferably the
complete address, phone and fax. Then respond promptly to user
inquiries.
Page design
Designing for the web is very different than designing for
print. Unlike the printed page, users control much of a web
page's appearance. They can turn graphics off. They can reduce or
enlarge the font size. They can reduce the viewing area. You
don't know what size or resolution monitor they have. You don't
know what browser they're using, and thus what html features they
can see. Screen display is poorer than print publications, so
high resolution graphics are wasted. It is harder to read text on
screen and users are more prone to scan and skip about. You need
to consider all of these factors, and more, in web design.
Good web sites load quickly. Users are impatient beasts.
Most users are willing to wait 10 to 15 seconds for a page to
download, but not much more unless it's a page they really want.
(When was the last time it took you 10 or 15 seconds to turn a
printed page over?) Slow download time is the number one
complaint of users.
Good web sites present their meat in the first one or two
screens. Users don't like to scroll. As few as 10 percent of
users scroll past what they see on the initial screen (Nielsen,
May 1996). Make the top part of your page count. Many users will
decide whether to stay or to leave based on what they see when
the page first loads.
Good web sites use special effects only if they add value.
This includes large image maps, busy background images, scrolling
marquees or text, frames, changing link colors, and animation.
Remember your target audience: what adds value for 12-year-olds
is different than what adds value for their parents or
grandparents. Animation is especially distracting, and frames
make navigation cumbersome. Just because you can do it doesn't
mean you should.
Working links
On a good web site, all the links work. Sure, there are
days when a remote site might be down or busy, preventing a link
from working at any particular moment. But all the links within
your site should work all the time. Test links to remote sites
regularly to make sure they are still valid, and if they're not,
fix them promptly.
Build loyalty
A good web site is one that users come back to again and
again. Bookmarks are used by 83 percent of surfers to revisit
favorite sites, according to one survey (Holman). Another
reported that 57 percent of users visit the same group of sites
regularly. Over half visit a new site based on friends'
recommendations.
In summary
Good web sites:
- know their audience's demographics, in both socioeconomics and technology
- include the organization's name on every page
- use a consistent design throughout
- locate navigation aids at the top of each page
- offer quality content
- date and sign each page
- use proper spelling and grammar
- include a feedback mechanism
- load quickly
- put the "meat" of their pages in the first one or two screens
- use special effects only if they add value
- have working links
- build user loyalty
Follow these guidelines and you can make your site one that is
recommended, bookmarked, visited and revisited.
References
- Bachiochi, D., et al. "Usability Studies and Designing
Navigational Aids for the World Wide Web." Sixth International
World Wide Web Conference. April 1997.
http://proceedings.www6conf.org/
- Clark, Paul. "Systems Magic html Style Guide," April 1997.
http://www.sysmag.com/web/html-style.html
- December, John, and Mark Ginsberg. html 3.2 and CGI Unleashed.
Sams.net. 1996.
- Holman, Karen. "Web surveys yield interesting results." OCTnews. Colorado State
University Extension. May/June 1997.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/SITE/websur1.htm
- Lemay, Laura. Teach Yourself Web Publishing with html in a
Week. Sams.net. 1995.
- Levine, Rick. "Guide to Web Style," Sun Microsystems. December
1995. http://www.sun.com/styleguide
- Lynch, Patrick. "Yale C/AIM Style Guide." Yale University
Center for Advanced Instructional Media. January 1997.
http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/contents.html
- Nielsen, Jakob. "Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design." May 1996.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/
- Nielsen, Jakob. "Why Frames Suck (Most of the Time)." December
1996. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/
- Sano, Darrell. Designing Large-Scale Web Sites. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. 1996.
- "Ten Web Elements We Love to Hate." PC World. November 1996,
p. 112.
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