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We create and assist in the creation of Web based Commerce.
We create and assist in the creation of Web based Commerce.
Usability
Usability means ease of use. Before making a Website public, the best way to evaluate its usability is to have naive users try it out. This is the equivalent of market-testing a new product and adjusting the product (or the way it is marketed) to help it succeed.
There are three areas to consider in evaluating the usability of a Website's design:
The clarity of purpose, or meaning of your communication is reflected in the results that you get.
A great Website is one that has been fine tuned at several levels through repeated testing and adjusting to ensure that the combination of text, graphics and links creates the intended message. As one Website user put it, "The better-organized a page is, the more faith I will have in the info."
Shoddy construction and bad graphics are easy to generate; precision and clarity are difficult. The hardest design concept to master is "less is more." It is the responsibility of the Website provider to prioritize the information presented.
Website users routinely skip over material that they deem to be fluff. This includes introductory/welcome messages. They almost always immediately scan for a HyperLink to the information they are seeking.
Speed is function of four variables:
While it is not possible to control the visitor's equipment or Internet traffic, it is possible to manage the other variables.
Website file-size problems are generally due to the use of graphics. The ability to integrate striking pictures into the text leads to large graphics files. Complex corporate logos, multiple icons and fancy backgrounds all have the effect of slowing a Website's performance. Many users' experiences with Websites are an ordeal of waiting.
A good rule of thumb is that file sizes of 10K or less per Website page will cut down on the waiting time. That's 10K total for all graphics on each page. Using larger graphics files generally results in a terrible first impression for Website visitors.
The server is the computer on which your Website resides. Many servers are terribly overburdened, and therefore responsible for slowness in Website response. Yet the only performance evaluation that matters is a user's.
Information design is the art and science of ensuring that your message is communicated to the user without being a burden. Information design includes laying out the information that the user wants in a way that makes it very easy to get. One way to accomplish this is to minimize the number of mouse clicks that users must execute to get the information they need or want. This type of design is not simple to execute, but when it's done well, it makes the Website "feel" simple to use.
Even though the Web allows the provision of seemingly limitless amounts of information, the fundamental usability design principle for a Website is less is more.
