March 2014

The Frequently Missing Element of a Great Website... Usability!

March 2014

Importance of Usability
Most people do not notice a user-friendly system, however, they do notice if a system encounters a usability problem - for example, we click around in circles trying to find certain information on a website and we can't find what we are looking for. Or worse, we can't figure out how to navigate back to the 'home' page on a website.

If it comes to defining website usability, simply it is the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which users can achieve a certain task on a particular website. In other words: how user-friendly, intuitive and easy to use is a certain website?

Principles of usability
Having an understanding of usability is not enough. In order to have a 'user- friendly' website, we must think about the factors are impactful on a site's usability. If it comes to setting goals, such as 'make a usable website' is easy to say, but unless there is a way of breaking down the elements of usability, we have a poorly defined goal and most likely it won't be achieved.

Here are the most important usability principles:

Provide effective navigation
Provide appropriate functions
Provide access to technical help and support
Minimize errors
Give the user control
Support the user's preferred way of working
Speak the user's language
Keep the user informed
Be consistent
Implement a clear visual design

Usability bottom line
Many think that usability is 'nice to have' but is not necessary. However, companies whose primary focus is on customer experience have shown over and over again that there is a very serious bottom line advantage on placing usability first.

The website world is littered with failed sites because they did not offer anything of value to the user or they were too unclear and difficult to use than let's say a competitor's site. Why build a site that users won't want to use? So the bottom line is, spend some time and have an analysis done to determine a usability of your site.

Archives

May(2015)
April(2015)
March(2015)
February(2015)
January(2015)
December(2014)
November(2014)
October(2014)
September(2014)
August(2014)
July(2014)
June(2014)
May(2014)
April(2014)
March(2014)
February(2014)
January(2014)
December(2013)
November(2013)
October(2013)
September(2013)
August(2013)
July(2013)
June(2013)
May(2013)

We have worked with IDS for over 3 years now, getting almost all of their services including my website, their search engine ranking, local listings, mobile websites and now we have just started a Facebook campaign. I have always been very impressed with their results on their claims, their follow up and best of all, their open approach to direct communication. I rely on them to provide me what I need to be successful online and they never fail to meet this goal. They guaranteed two keywords on page one, but got 32 keywords on page one! I have often stopped by their office and I am always greeted with warm hospitality from the staff. They are always happy to walk me through what they have been doing. Andy and the team are friendly, highly experienced and get the work done. - S & G Cleaning Services

IDS has been there to support my business throughout the years. My business requires frequent updates and strong marketing as the day camp approaches and the whole team has worked with me to continue to grow my business. They have a strong knowledge and great consulting skills to help continue to grow my website. I would highly recommend this company to anyone who needs help getting found online, they got over 1,000 of my keywords on page 1 over the various different search engines, which I really didn't think could be done! They went far beyond my expectations -- Barry Wasserman, Eagle River Day Camp

Chocolate Lovers’ Club would like to thank you for all your help! You’re all very knowledgeable of what you do, and are always there to answer any questions we may have. The mobile site you made for us looks wonderful! We couldn’t have picked a better company to help us with everything we needed! -- Chocolate Lover's Club

Dora and her firm (IDS) designed the website for our statewide association (www.njava.org) and I must say that I was extremely impressed with how she and her team were able to take my simple idea and make it look so professional. They were efficient, timely, and most importantly easy to work with for someone that had very little web design experience and couldn't really tell them what I wanted. I would recommend Dora to anyone, big company or small non-profit, who is looking for a great firm to handle your web design needs.I will certainly be going back to her in the future -- Mike Ferguson