1. The Intimacy of
User Experience
simple techniques to create a meaningful and
lasting relationship with your web audience
09 July 2013 • #UNHCS13
Neil Larson, Technical Lead, New & Emerging Media
4. Key Concepts
Psychology
• Who your users are, how will they find you, and what are they
looking to learn?
Design
• How your design & layout choices affect your audience
Content
• How your content is perceived by your audience
Usability
• Level of ease in navigating and exploring your site
5.
6. How will they find you?
Hyperlinks
Other site
Social media
Email or IM
QR codes, texts
Typing in a URL
• Short
• No extraneous characters
• Real words with meaning
• Character clarity
Web Search
Google or Bing
SERP snippet
is your calling card…
7. Typing in a URL
This is bad
How will they find you?
13. SERP Snippet
Page Title (Meta Tag)
• Include the name of your site, not just the specific topic.
• Use Vertical Bar to separate entities
• Approximately 65 characters
14. SERP Snippet
Page Title (Meta Tag)
Drupal users take note if changing your title…
Your URL alias may change as well. If you have already shared the link through social media or
otherwise, uncheck the ‘automatic alias’ box so that your URL can remain the same.
15. Webpage URL
• Concise but relevant
• Consider using keywords or phrases
• Separate words with hyphens
• Use real or recognizeable words, keep abbreviations to a
minimum
• Tildes (~) denote amateur websites
SERP Snippet
16. Bad URLs
Since spaces can’t exist in URLs, this
may cause some confusion. Most
people are used to deciphering
strings of text
Avoid tilde characters and try to get
around using “weighty” words like
‘adult’ in your URL.
Link shortener services like bit.ly are great, but
especially for print situations, be sure to
customize them with real words. In this case the
last two characters are unclear. After two failed
attempts to type in a URL, most users will give up
& move on…
18. Description
SERP Snippet
• 150 – 160 characters; think of this with a Tweet-composing mentality.
• In other words, be compelling.
• If description field is non-existent, search engines will grab either the first
text that appears on your site, or possibly some arbitrary text instead,
which might not have a lot of relevance to your site!
• Drupal users: check in with Web Solutions for a way to optimize your meta
descriptions
There is always a personal touchMost users are by themselvesWhat connects us to our users when it feels like such an independent ventureSense of familiarity, do we want to go deeper?
First Impressions / Initial PerceptionYou have seven seconds to make an impact. Use them wisely! First impressions go a long way.Building the RelationshipOnce you’ve gotten their attention, now’s your chance to Commitment & Follow-throughLasting Impressions
UsabilityCan all pages be found? Do you have a search function enabled? Is your navigation clear-cut and organized? Do your headers and links have clarity?DesignIs anything confusing about the way you have your site configured? Does your audience find your style choices pleasing, or are they frightened away by overuse of colors, graphics and fonts? Do text and non-text elements flow together visually & coexist in peace & harmony?ContentDo your text and non-text elements combine nicely in a contextual sense? Do your pictures and videos serve a purpose? Is your text concise, direct and to-the-point? How about your tone? Psychology Why are people on your site?How did they find you, where did they come from, what are they looking to gain from the overall experience of your domain?How long are they on your site? What’s the motivation to them? In what manner is their time spent on your site – frustration from inability to find information; or engagement: learning and experiencing?
Since we’re all on the same team, we aren’t competing for each other’s potential business, this is instead an opportunity to assist our users in finding what they’re looking for.Our ultimate goal is to create a unified identity despite the fact dozens / hundreds of web managers who are all essentially cut from the same cloth.Still aim to relate to the world in the same manner, with the same sense of attractiveness.Our SERP snippet is what we put “out there” for all eyes to see. It’s the first impression we give to the end users who are able to catch a glimpse of what our site might be all about.
Benefits both the user and the search engines
Changes don’t happen immediately. Google & other engines take some time…
Changes don’t happen immediately. Google & other engines take some time…
Text >> texture / fabric. Texture of a website? How does it feel = form, fashion & functionDoes it reflect your message?Too long-winded, or not to the point?Goal = clarity & unification
TLNR
TLNR
Think of this as an accessory. Yourbling. Don’t go cheap! You might have 200 chars in your text, but a picture is worth a cool thousand. Before there were words, there were pictures.Images & other multimedia slideshows are a way to complement your text, your outfit. Exudes an emotional sense, can show what your character is made of.Eyes are drawn to these elements before they attach to any text elements. Comments derive from these interpretations - It’s an attention factor.Who would ever buy a Nat’l Geographic without pictures in it??What not to do:Don’t stretch or squash your images.Offer high-res versions of images you think are gold – let them fill the width of the content containerIf they are merely complementary, like cufflinks, let them remain secondary to your content, and let that text float around your image.Finally - optimize your images for the web – don’t resize a hi-res image as a thumbnail. It doesn’t change the file size! Users on slower connections will suffer. Either the rest of the page won’t load, or they’ll just miss the image altogether.
Don’t stretch, squeeze, expand, contort or otherwise mar your images. It looks ingenuine & feels fabricated b/c it is both of those things
Commitment, charisma, good conversation & story-telling, dynamic, depth of personality …A solid video will make your content tangible.If a picture says a thousand words, then a strong video will add extra dimension to your content. If the user watches the video, it’s a lot more than seven seconds spent getting to know you.
What’s it like getting to know you??Don’t be shallow and one-sided, but don’t be complicated with lots of baggage. Have some depth with a tinge of mystery.In web terms, let your most obvious aspects be front and center. But maintain those qualities that remain initially out of sight - yet still accessible.
Did you properly wine & dine your audience.How well did you entertain? Did you build a sense of trust?Did your users leave your domain with newfound knowledge, resources, did you evoke any emotion?