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A pdf version of this newsletter (28 KB) is also available. Best PracticesWEB USABILITY: SIMPLICITY RULESA Publication of Roberts & Kay, Inc. Web UsabilityIt used to be enough just to have a website. Being on the web proved that a company was part of the new world. But things are changing, because web users are changing. Now that more of us are turning to the web for both work and play, capable researchers have figured out a good bit about how we behave when we are online. That research has led directly to a set of standards about how to construct websites for greatest usefulness and usability. The bad news first: The site that your sister-in-law's middle school nephew designed may not be advancing your business or nonprofit organization as much as it could. You may need to make some usability improvements, which will take time and effort. The good news: Usability improvements are not mysterious and do not require fancy programming software. Usability is based in simplicity and consistency. Usability relies on common sense and on anticipating how a visitor to your website wants to use it. Why should you bother? Because users are becoming more and more discriminating. If your site is not highly usable, no user will feel compelled to stick around and figure it out. Web visitors are in a hurry. If your site is hard to figure out, difficult to read, slow to load, or poorly written, you are inviting visitors to use their favorite device, the "Back" button. This issue of Best Practices helps you look at your site through a usability lens. We suggest some usable sites to examine and offer ways for you to learn more about making your website easier to use or building your first site with usability in mind. "Users are doing us a favor by visiting our Web sites. . . . We have to give them something of value or they will never come back." -- Philip Greenspun, 
Usability QuizUsability researchers know quite a bit now about what users find appealing in a website. Test your ideas and see whether you find information that will make your site more usable. Here's the quiz: Q1. The number one request of web users is: a) Make your website look appealing. A1. b) People are in a hurry. They will not wait for your site to load, no matter how neat it will be when it is loaded. Q2. When users visit your website, their eyes are first drawn to: a) Any flashing or moving object. A2. c) The text reigns supreme: most users focus on the text first. The first paragraph of your homepage is particularly important; be sure that the text is concise and clear and lets users know what to expect from your site. Usability guru Jakob Nielsen insists that you must devote at least 50 percent of your screen to content, though 80 percent is preferable. That means everything else (ads, navigation links, logo, white space) must fit in the remaining space. This kind of space allocation lets visitors to your site know you have placed their interests first. Q3. Most web users who visit your site are seeking: a) A thoughtful expression of your mission, vision, purpose, and capabilities. A3. b) Web users want answers, and they want help. Offer something of value and make it easy to find and read. If your site tries to force your ideas, beliefs, or creativity on users, they will resent it and hit the "Back" button. Q4. Users are more likely to return to your site if: a) You use familiar color schemes like white background/black text/blue links, and follow the lead of the most-used sites with regard to placement of links and buttons. A4. a) Make the "working parts" of your site function like those on solid workhorse sites (www.amazon.com, for example) and people will stick around and find out what you have to say. Avoid colored backgrounds, unusual button placements, and creative link colors -- these slow people down, irritate them, and send them scrambling for the You Know What button. "Achieving ease of use is essential for any site competing for business on the web. The competition is only a couple of clicks away, and if users become dissatisfied, they can simply go elsewhere." -- IBM Web Design Guidelines
Personally SpeakingI built my first website as part of a summer job. I taught myself using books and online tutorials. I had never heard of "usability" or any of the ideas discussed in this newsletter. In spite of all this, I still produced a usable site that was well-liked by its audience. How did I do it? Simple. I just thought about how people would use the site and then designed it to make those tasks as easy as possible. I used clear links, concise text, and a logical structure. After creating that site, I began to surf the web with a more critical eye. I quickly became frustrated with clumsy and confusing sites. Some sites just felt wrong -- I knew they could be easier to use, but I didn't know exactly how or why. Then I discovered that web usability researchers have been explaining the how and why for years now. Their ideas rang true to me, and I began to incorporate them into my own designs. Now I make usability the core of every new project. -- Liz Jones, RKI Web Designer
ResourcesWe admire the work of usability expert Jakob Nielsen. The ideas in this newsletter were heavily influenced by his book, Designing Web Usability (Indianapolis: New Riders Publishing, 2000), and his website, www.useit.com. Other information-rich usability websites include:
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