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.
Users have gradually become accustomed to particular layouts and phrases on the Internet, for example:
There are numerous other conventions like these - 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 handful of dissatisfied site visitors.
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 mid-2003 just 17% of UK web users had broadband so it's essential that your website downloads quickly on a dial-up modem.
To speed up the download time of your website we recommend you do three things:
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:
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. Don't place important information in images as it might go unnoticed.
Don't prevent your users from navigating through the Internet in the way that they want to. For example:
There are lots of other ways that websites can place restrictions on its users - 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 to help make the Internet a better place for everyone.
09 dec 2003 - 899