The Ultimate Guide to Choosing WordPress Pros and Cons
How usability can improve your website
1. How Usability can Improve
your Website
Juliet Richardson - Head of Usability
2. Measuring online success
Conversion / Revenue
Engagement / Loyalty
Education / Information
Online self-service
How can usability help?
In order to measure improvement, we need to first define the measures of success. This will
vary depending on the type of website, but there will always be some clear key online
performance indicators for your organisation.
3. Quick
Appropriate Easy to Use
Success
Online
Trustworthy Killer Content
There are five key aspects to get right to achieve success online and improve KPIs. These are
valid whatever the type of website, whether e-commerce, informational, charity or other.
4. Quick
2.5 minutes
6.5 minutes
(actually 15 steps)
People often multi-task while online
It needs to be quick or they will give up!
Ensuring that things can be done quickly doesn’t just apply to online transactions, but to any
goal that a visitor to your site may have.
5. Easy to Use
Don’t make your customers think!
Make it into an exam and they’ll go elsewhere
There are lots of books, websites and patterns to follow to make sure your site is usable and
to help you avoid the worst mistakes. Easy to use does not just refer to form design, but to
all aspects of your site, such as using labels in the navigation that are easy to understand and
content that is easy to read.
6. Killer Content
You need to keep your customers coming back
Great products, services or information that
they can’t get elsewhere
This one speaks for itself - if you don’t have great, unique content, why would people visit
your site or bother to come back? Content can be information, products, reviews,
recommendations, etc, etc.
7. Trustworthy
This is the page for entering credit card details during B&Q’s checkout. They have not really
thought about what will make people feel confident about filling in this form. For example, it
is very hard to find the total amount and there is no breakdown to show how much of this is
the delivery charge. Other essential information such as how to return an item is missing.
8. Trustworthy
New Look have provided lots of reassuring details throughout checkout, such as a helpline,
the items in the basket, the amount being paid, information about returns and so on.
9. Trustworthy
Even the big names are getting this wrong
People will abandon shopping because of trust
issues
- Not being able to find customer support
- Being forced to register
- Credit card security concerns
Trust is a really essential aspect of site design. It’s all about knowing your audience and what
will help to make them feel safe and confident. Again, although the example shown is e-
commerce, trust is an important aspect of any site - for example, if you’re providing
information, people need to know that it’s up-to-date and from a trusted source.
11. Appropriate
Wiltshire Farm Foods has lots of design features that will appeal to their audience (older
people), such as the large basket, the “how to” guide and the “scroll for more” button.
12. Appropriate
This design for National Autistic Society is based on research into one of their key audience
groups - people on the autistic spectrum. Providing lots of information in a straightforward
and predictable layout will support this audience.
13. Appropriate
A matter of opinion (your audience’s opinion!)
Helps build engagement
Design is about providing an appropriate design for your audience, not just something that
you think looks “cool”.
14. Quick
Appropriate Easy to Use
Success
Online
Trustworthy Killer Content
15. It’s not easy
Following the “rules” only gets you so far
Analytics isn’t the whole picture
Design isn’t everything
It’s obviously not easy to achieve success online - lots of people are failing...
Analytics only tells you what people are doing, not why. If you don’t know the reasons why
people are coming and what they want to achieve, it’s hard to interpret the data.
16. How usability helps
User research: Get to know your audience
Appropriate Killer Content Trustworthy
Usability testing: See what is and isn’t working
Quick Easy to Use Appropriate
83% increase in KPIs on average*
* Jakob Nielsen, 2008 (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/roi.html)
17. Understanding your audience
Who they are - not who you think they are
- Their goals
- Their expectations
- Their likes and dislikes
- Their behaviour
- Their environment
Developing a good understanding of your audience segments will help you prioritise their
different needs and ensure that each type of visitor can easily achieve their own personal
goals.
18. Usability testing
See how people use your site in a controlled setting
- Identify issues
- Explore solutions
- Observe real behaviour
- Benchmark User Experience
View an example clip...
