#SPSTC 25 Usability Tips for SharePoint 2013/SharePoint Online Sites by @SharePointWendy
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Presented at SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities on November 22, 2014. Abstract: SharePoint sites out of the box have the capability of being user-friendly, but only if they are designed and configured that way. Wendy shows you 25 simple tips and tricks that site owners or front end SharePoint developers can implement on their SharePoint sites to make them more user-friendly. From navigation best practices, to forms etiquette, to what to put on the home page, to graphics optimization, and much more - you will come away armed with a list of practical usability tips that are easy to implement, and your users will thank you. Accompanying video demos are located here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxSc1uqWwEXly_q8Ae1WzrE8s4l9QQpet
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#SPSTC 25 Usability Tips for SharePoint 2013/SharePoint Online Sites by @SharePointWendy
- 1. 25 Usability Tips for SharePoint 2013/ SharePoint Online Sites Wendy Neal SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities November 22, 2014 @SharePointWendy http://wendy-neal.com
- 2. Wendy Neal Senior SharePoint Consultant McGladrey Cedar Rapids, Iowa @SharePointWendy facebook.com/wendynealblog linkedin/in/wendyneal youtube.com/sharepointwendy plus.google.com/+WendyNeal wendy.neal@outlook.com wendy-neal.com • Co-founder of SharePoint- Community.net • Writer for CMSWire.com • Co-author of Black Magic Solutions for White Hat SharePoint
- 3. Agenda Website usability overview 25 usability tips o Navigation o Forms Etiquette o Content o Design o Metadata Questions
- 4. Website usability overview Rule #1: Don’t make your users think Read this book!!
- 5. Usability Tips (1-6): Navigation
- 6. Navigation Primary navigation links should always be visible and consistent no matter where you are on the site
- 7. Navigation Limit the number of primary navigation links to 9 or less
- 8. Navigation Use function-driven navigation when possible (verbs instead of nouns)
- 9. Navigation You should have a link back to the home page on every page of your site
- 10. Navigation Hyperlinks should open in same window if going to same site, or new window if external site
- 11. Navigation Even though it’s tedious, be sure to test all hyperlinks on your site
- 12. Navigation Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeG1u9FnrjU &list=PLxSc1uqWwEXly_q8Ae1WzrE8s4l9QQpet &index=1
- 13. Usability Tips (7-11): Forms Etiquette
- 14. Forms Etiquette Identify required fields and other validation on forms
- 15. Forms Etiquette Set default values on fields when it makes sense
- 16. Forms Etiquette Group fields logically on forms
- 17. Forms Etiquette Hide unnecessary form data from users
- 18. Forms Etiquette Let users know that their form submission was successful
- 19. Forms Etiquette Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB9ZNhFL1x E&list=PLxSc1uqWwEXly_q8Ae1WzrE8s4l9QQpet &index=2
- 20. Usability Tips (12-16): Content
- 21. Content Avoid too much content on the home page and landing pages
- 22. Content Only show relevant information to the user
- 23. Content Change the default views on lists to a view that is more useful
- 24. Content Use descriptive names for content (lists, libraries, documents, items)
- 25. Content Be sure to continuously add fresh content to your site
- 26. Content Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqIcB7R_Doc &list=PLxSc1uqWwEXly_q8Ae1WzrE8s4l9QQpet &index=3
- 27. Usability Tips (17-21): Design
- 28. Design Your site should have a consistent look and feel across all sub sites and pages
- 29. Design Use good balance of images, text, and white space
- 30. Design Optimize all graphics to reduce page download times
- 31. Design Use contrasting colors in your design to improve readability
- 32. Design Use consistent hyperlink colors and styles
- 33. Design Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLBZQ9g7J9 k&list=PLxSc1uqWwEXly_q8Ae1WzrE8s4l9QQpet &index=4
- 34. Usability Tips (22-25): Metadata
- 35. Metadata Don’t use folders (unless you really need to use folders)
- 36. Metadata If you must use folders, be sure to set default metadata on them
- 37. Metadata Pay attention to what your users are searching for
- 38. Metadata Only index the things that you want to show up in search results
- 39. Metadata Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W92_xcRMm mI&list=PLxSc1uqWwEXly_q8Ae1WzrE8s4l9QQp et&index=5
- 40. Questions…
- 41. Thank you #SPSTC sponsors!
Editor's Notes
- This is a great book on usability by Steve Krug. Quick, easy read. Doesn’t go into a lot of usability theory or other boring stuff. Just a lot of common sense things to make your site better.
- Be careful when creating sub sites, because this is not the default behavior!
- Studies have shown that the max number of links a person can process is 9 before they start to get confused or overwhelmed.
- Instead of using the name of your list in the quick launch, such as “Contracts”, use action words like “Add New Contract” and “View Contracts”
- The default navigation provider handles this. Note if you want the logo to always be a link to your top level home page, you must modify the master page.
- If you have a huge number of hyperlinks, there are programs you can use to automatically check all your links.
- Again the point is to make it as easy for the users as possible. If you have fields that must have data in order for a workflow to operate properly, for example, then force your users to fill out the field.
- You can modify your forms to group like data together and to be more visually pleasing.
- For example you can redirect users to a Thank You page after submitting an item. This is very easy to do using the query string
- For example you can redirect users to a Thank You page after submitting an item. This is very easy to do using the query string
- If you have lots of content editors who may not be as stringent as you, consider creating page layouts so they can just focus on content.
- SharePoint will certainly allow you to specify image dimensions on the pages themselves, however if it’s a very large image, the entire image still has to download before it resizes in the browser.
- There are exceptions, but for the most part you want to avoid folders and use metadata to categorize your data. This will make it easier for your users to find things. Remember, you don’t want to make them think by traversing 4 or 5 layers deep into a folder structure.
- Check your search logs regularly. Knowing what users are searching for can help you optimize search. More importantly, knowing what users are searching for but not finding any results can be very telling.